#TBT | deadmau5 - Strobe

Strobe, deadmau5’s pièce de résistance still stuns listeners nearly 8 years after its release

In honor of today’s general on-sale for his ‘lots of shows in a row: pt 2’ tour, I’m elated to share with you my favorite track from my favorite artist: Joel Zimmerman, better known as deadmau5. Known for his masterful producing abilities, dazzling stage production, and a minor cube addiction, deadmau5’s music resonates on a level seldom achieved by others. His penultimate track, “Strobe“, is just one example of his sound. Released in 2009 by Ultra Records on the For Lack of a Better Name album, “Strobe”’s beauty can be found in its simplicity.

The eerie, yet soothing melody gradually builds as new layers are added one after the other until they are stripped away to reveal a driving kick drum and baseline. The true beauty of the track is revealed when all the individual components are stacked together creating a crescendo of sound that leaves one in awe and wonder. Re-released in 2016 by deadmau5’s label, mau5trap records, “Strobe” received remixes from the likes of Feed Me, Com Truise, Dimension, Lane 8, and ATTLAS.

Seeing deadmau5 in concert is an experience that everyone should partake in. He prides himself on producing all of his music live, eschewing CD-J’s in favor of a massive touch screen, numerous synthesizers, and of course, his trademark LED mau5head. In addition to his rather unique live production setup, deadmau5 also produces the video elements for cube 2.1. This results in a show that is truly something to behold and will ‘wow’ you from start to finish. If you are lucky enough to catch deadmau5 performing an unhooked set, you are in for yet another treat as he is just as skilled as a traditional DJ.

You can check out Erin’s review of his ‘lots of shows in a row’ tour here.