Spitfire | ||||
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Released | September 13, 2011 | |||
Length | 1:01:54 [lower-alpha 1] | |||
Label | Owsla | |||
Producer |
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Porter Robinson chronology | ||||
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Spitfire is the debut extended play (EP) by American electronic music producer Porter Robinson, released on September 13, 2011, through Owsla. After releasing his 2010 single "Say My Name", Robinson expressed desire to explore different musical genres by producing an EP, diverging from his traditional eurodance style. Spanning a range of genres, Spitfire marked the inaugural release on Owsla and caused Beatport to crash following its promotion by musicians Skrillex and Tiësto. The EP charted at UK Dance Albums, Dance/Electronic Albums and Heatseekers Albums, with Robinson subsequently embarking on a tour to promote it. Songs "The State" and "Unison" received particular attention for their libertarian themes and use in DJ sets, respectively.
In 2010, Porter Robinson released his first hit, "Say My Name", which topped Beatport's electro house charts. [1] Robinson expressed desire to produce an extended play (EP), as it provided an opportunity to experiment with different musical styles that could not necessarily appeal to his fans. [2] While his first music had influences from "the cheesiest Eurodance", he later discovered bass-heavy acts such as Wolfgang Gartner, Skrillex, and Deadmau5, who became his new inspirations. [3] Robinson wished for Spitfire to be "something fresh, something energetic and detailed", but with less glitch-like, random elements compared to his previous works. [2]
Kerri Mason wrote for Billboard that the EP "toes the line between irresistible pop songcraft and dirty electronic throwdown with beyond-his-years craftiness", [4] while also describing it as "brazenly bombastic". [5] David Marchese of Spin said that the album adds "blasts of Moombahton and dubstep to intricately detailed bangers", such as the title track and "The State". [3] John Ochoa of DJ Mag found that the EP's songs spanned multiple genres: aggressive dubstep (with the title track), heavy electro house (with "Unison"), moombahcore (with "100% In the Bitch"), progressive house (with "Vandalism"), and trance (with "The Seconds"). [6]
After capturing Skrillex's interest with "Say My Name", [6] Robinson signed with Skrillex's then-new label, Owsla, in the summer of 2011; [3] Robinson said he liked Owsla's approach to its artists, being more informal. [2] Spitfire was released on September 13 as the label's first release. [2] After Skrillex and Tiësto tweeted a link to it, Beatport crashed. [1] The album had more first-week album sales on the platform than any other since Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (2010), by Skrillex. [2] In less than two weeks, the EP's tracks had received 27,115 sales on the platform. [2] It peaked at number 30 on Official Charts Company's UK Dance Albums, [7] 11 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums, [8] and 10 on the same magazine's Heatseekers Albums. [9] Robinson later toured North America in support of Spitfire. [2] A remix EP, Spitfire EP Bonus Remixes, was released on July 3, 2012, containing three remixes. [10]
Akshay Bhansali of MTV described it as "an exceptional array of music". [11] After the EP's release, libertarian websites including The Daily Paul, Lew Rockwell's blog, and Reason expressed interest towards "The State", highlighting its incorporation of excerpts from For a New Liberty by Murray N. Rothbard, as voiced by Jeff Riggenbach. LA Weekly and Reason subsequently named Robinson the "libertarian dubstep guy". [12] [13] Retrospectively, DJ Mag 's John Ochoa thought that the EP was bold, "giving an early glimpse into the budding producer's fearless approach to sonic experimentalism". [6] In 2017, Tatiana Cirisano of Billboard chose "100% In the Bitch" and "Unison" as the ninth and seventh best tracks in Robinson's discography at the time, respectively. Regarding "Unison", Cirisano said that the track was "near-universally recognized among dance club crowds", "a force in the genre" and a "standout song". [14] The Knife Party remix of the song, which is included in the EP, also became popular, [11] [14] with Bhansali describing it as "among the more popular DJ set staples" in 2012. [11]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Spitfire" | 6:45 |
2. | "Unison" | 5:50 |
3. | "100% In the Bitch" | 4:11 |
4. | "Vandalism" (featuring Amba Shepherd) | 7:20 |
5. | "The State" | 5:57 |
6. | "The Seconds" (featuring Jano) | 5:43 |
7. | "Unison" (Knife Party Remix) | 4:58 |
8. | "Unison" (Mikkas Remix) | 6:02 |
9. | "100% In the Bitch" (Downlink Remix) | 5:33 |
10. | "The State" (SKisM Remix) | 5:24 |
11. | "Spitfire" (Kill The Noise Remix) | 4:11 |
Total length: | 1:01:54 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Vandalism" (Lazy Rich Remix) | 6:15 |
2. | "Vandalism" (Dirtyloud Remix) | 4:31 |
3. | "Spitfire" (Bjorn Akesson Remix) | 8:54 |
Total length: | 19:40 |
Chart (2011) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Dance Albums (OCC) [7] | 30 |
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) [8] | 11 |
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [9] | 10 |
Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites is the second extended play (EP) by American electronic music producer Skrillex. It was released exclusively through Beatport on October 22, 2010, through mau5trap and Big Beat Records, while being released on December 20 for digital download via other online retailers and on March 1, 2011, as a physical release. It was recorded in 2010 at Skrillex's apartment using a laptop. The EP features guest contributions from pennybirdrabbit, Foreign Beggars and Bare Noize as well as remixes done by Noisia, Zedd and Bare Noize. It won two Grammys at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards: one for Best Dance Recording, and another for Best Dance/Electronica Album.
Porter Weston Robinson is an American DJ, record producer, and singer-songwriter. Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Robinson began producing electronic music during his adolescence. He signed to Skrillex's record label OWSLA at the age of 18, and released the extended play Spitfire in 2011. He appeared on Billboard's 21 Under 21 list in 2012.
"Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" is a song recorded by the American producer Skrillex. It is the second track from his second extended play, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, released on October 22, 2010, through Mau5trap and Big Beat. The song began as a test for the Native Instruments synthesizer FM8 and was the first written for the EP. A dubstep track, critics noted the contrast between the beginning of the song and its drop. In 2012, it was used in multiple media and won the Best Dance Recording category at the 54th Grammy Awards. The song charted in multiple countries and received a double platinum certification in Australia, Sweden, and the United States (RIAA). It has since been named as a highly influential electronic dance music (EDM) and dubstep song.
Sonny John Moore, known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, and singer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as its lead vocalist in 2004, and recorded two studio albums with the band—Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount (2004) and Heroine in (2006)—before leaving to pursue a solo career in 2007. He began his first tour as a solo artist in late 2007. After recruiting a new band lineup, Moore joined the Alternative Press Tour to support bands such as All Time Low and the Rocket Summer, and appeared on the cover of Alternative Press's annual "100 Bands You Need to Know" issue.
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Owsla is an American record label and creative collective. It was founded by Skrillex, Tim Smith, Kathryn Frazier, and Clayton Blaha in 2011. Skrillex announced the label on August 17, 2011. The label's first release was Porter Robinson's Spitfire.
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