Note: I’m sure you all know by now that we are nearing the end of our 2010 ‘So You Think You Can Bump’ throwdown. Voting will commence soon, so be sure to give yourself enough time to review all the candidates on our SYTYCB 2010 page.

We normally don’t draw much attention to record labels here on the Beatery, but I feel we have to acknowledge one here. Mau5trap, the young but fast-growing label started by Deadmau5, went on what I can only describe as a fucking tear in 2010. With major releases from Moguai, fellow SYTYCB nominees Wolfgang Gartner and Skrillex, not to mention Deadmau5 himself, Mau5trap is arguably the hottest label in electronic music at the moment. And now you can add one more Mau5trap artist to our SYTYCB list…

Just squeaking into our 2010 contest with a release on Christmas Day is Feed Me, a dark electro/progressive/dubstep side-project of Jon Gooch, better known as drum’n'bass producer Spor. Gooch’s Feed Me alias first appeared in 2008 with the rough and dirty electro house ass-kicker ‘The Spell’*, and while the attitude of that single is certainly present on his new album “Feed Me’s Big Adventure”, he expands on it ten-fold; pushing all the right buttons as he moves from pounding electro to progressive house to aggressive growling dubstep. Genre standards are given fresh twists, and catchy hooks and interesting sonic touches abound. The EP is rock solid from beginning to end, so naturally I found it hard to narrow my selections down to the three tracks below…

*Self-plug: You can hear “The Spell” at the very end of my Electric Mayhem set.

Grand Theft Ecstasy

Go ahead and get used to this track now, because you’re going to be hearing me play it a hell of a lot in 2011. It’s got everything… a dark rolling baseline, stabbing electro synths, fun samples and a powerful and memorable hook. One interesting thing to note about this track is despite the lack of vocals, it follows a classic pop-song structure. Intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-out. This makes for a familiar and approachable flow through the track; one not often heard in instrumental dance music. And I just love the distorted guitar lick that announces the chorus. Brilliant.

Cloudburn

I’m well known ’round these parts for being a hater of both dubstep and cheesy female vocals. So why can’t I get enough of this track? Maybe it’s the perfectly balanced back and forth dialog between the synthy ethereal vocal section and the angry, almost vengeful dubstep bass that mirrors the eternal inner conflict within us all. Maybe I’m reading too much into it.

Green Bottle

Another track with a satisfying juxtaposition, this time between the melodic arpeggiating synth line and the bassy, driving house sections. This one reminds me a lot of Fukkk Offf in its upbeat catchiness.

PLAY ALL

So there’s your sampler. Like I said above, the entire album is fantastic and really makes the case for Feed Me to be our SYTYCB producer of the year. However, I limited myself to three selections because the EP is only 8 tracks long, and posting half the album just seemed wrong. If you like what you’ve heard here, you can listen to short samples of all the tracks HERE, or just take my word for it and buy the full album at Beatport. I personally guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

What do you think? Is one incredibly awesome EP enough to beat out the likes of Bassnectar, Leon Bolier, or Wolfgang Gartner? You’ll have your chance to rock the vote soon, but until then, let us know what you think using the stars rating and comments section below.