Background
Porter Robinson is a well-established name in electronic music. He began producing at 12 and was already a famous DJ by 18. While his newer projects have broken away from traditional EDM, "Spitfire" is the embodiment of a typical club EP; early Porter Robinson was defined by his glitched out electro house, dubstep, and moombahton basslines. "Spitfire's" success skyrocketed because it was the first release on OWSLA, Skrillex's label, and, naturally, Skrillex himself supported the album.
Review
Listen to "Spitfire"
Porter Robinson is no stranger here around Detour EDM, and for good reason: not only is he my favorite artist, but he's a talented producer with a diverse track record and, in addition to the certain quality needed for tracks to sell, he's found his own niche and his own way to make not just music but art, whether that be in the club scene or the newer, synthpop style that he's made his own. "Spitfire" starts off with the title track, interestingly enough, in "Spitfire," a mysterious plucky opening that makes way for Robinson's huge, glitchy dubstep basses. It's a powerful way to open such a massive EP, but it's kind of deceptive, since most of the originals on this EP are electro house. Speaking of electro house, "Unison" is next up on the EP, and is my favorite electro house track ever and one of the reasons I started producing music myself. In a perfect blend of melody and classic electro house sawtooth bass goodness, Robinson weaves a catchy, danceable melody intertwined with a grooving bassline which, when combined with the melodic breakdown before and between the drops, makes for an electro house track for the ages. Robinson offers a humorous song next with "100% In the Bitch," a head-bobbing moombahton 4-on-the-floor beat with vocal samples detailing a Japanese test that needs to be taken and passed with 100%. Even though the vocal samples are supposed to be funny, it's still a clean, well-produced track, something that a lot of producers overlook when creating a gimmick track. Coming in at 7 minutes and 20 seconds, "Vandalism (feat. Amba Shepherd)" is the longest track on the EP, but, as a trancey electro house track, the genre more than allows it. Shepherd's vocals compliment Robinson's energetic track nicely, and the sawtooth melody is enough to get anybody moving. We get a taste of more dubstep with "The State," and, in typical Porter Robinson fashion, it's dark, moody, and ridiculously heavy. After deep vocals describing and ranting about "The State," some kind of dictator-type regime, in come the massive glitches, wobbles, and growls that define Porter Robinson's short-lived dubstep career. The song ends as the bass glitches into oblivion. "The Seconds (feat. Jano)" ends the dubstep regime with more tasty electro house. Jano's ethereal voice floats on top of a chopped bassline, which transitions into a beautiful chord breakdown. Naturally, the beat drops and those glitched saws return, and a traditional drum outro ends the originals on the album.
From here on out, the rest of the EP consists of notable remixes, so, luckily, I've already got my "Notable Remixes" section done for me. Knife Party kick off the remixes with "Unison (Knife Party Remix)." In their take, they switch up the beat and, naturally, they bring their classic electro-moombahton bass sound that can be heard on their "100% No Modern Talking EP." Mikkas also choose to remix "Unison" with "Unison (Mikkas Remix)." It's still electro house, and while the melody has an interesting chord progression beneath it, the drop is much more focused on a new melodic line in tight, dissonant supersaw synths. Downlink brings moombahton to a whole new level in "100% In The Bitch (Downlink Remix)." The original was moombahton, too, but Downlink's beat has a lot more pop to it, and the lasers at the drop go crazy. "The State (Skism Remix)" is also true to the original, dubstep, but Skism's all-over-the-place crazy bass drops make an appearance in his remix. The king of the modern American drum and bass sound Kill The Noise finishes off the EP with "Spitfire (Kill The Noise Remix)." It starts off with a drumstep drop chock-full of all the wobbles and growls you can imagine. Luckily, the switch between drumstep and drum and bass is as easy as the beats the drums are placed on, and the second drop is the classic drum and bass sound that we all expect from Kill The Noise. In between the drops is a nice synth solo. And with that, "Spitfire" ends as it started.
Whether he's making the synthpop of tomorrow or the club tracks of yesterday, Porter Robinson is and continues to define the sounds that he helps create. "Spitfire" spawned the electro house sound of the early 2010's, and artists today continue to be inspired by the nostalgic ring of "Worlds." Even though it was a heavy EP designed for the club floor, "Spitfire" manages to walk the line between entertainment and art (a line much more explored in his later works). "Spirfire" was the sound of club music, and it is and will continue to be a fantastic example of dance music done right. 8.5/10
Source
Wikipedia | Porter Robinson
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