Now that you know the positives and negatives of the drug, it’s time to learn what you should do with yourself if you do decide to take it. Most people take MDMA in a setting that is conducive to the experience. You want to be around people: Preferably some you know, but making friends is pretty easy when you love everyone and have a million and one things to talk about. You need lights: Colors, strobes, and patterns of waving fluorescence that can influence just how amazing you feel and can change the environment drastically in a single moment. On top of everything you need the most important thing: Music. The music ties the lights and people together into a constantly shifting ocean of moods, tones, and orgasmic climaxes. So, what kind of music should you listen to if you decide to take the plunge? Well, it’s personal preference really, but I can point you in the right direction.
7. House/Techno
Most people find these to be the most fitting categories for them. It’s not too far removed from the dance hits you hear over the radio, just less focused on lyrics and more focused on pounding the beat into your soul. It’s a good starting point for a first timer, but most of the time doesn’t have that orgasmic build and break formula that you can find in other music. It has the potential to get repetitive quickly if not done well, and if the music loses its momentum, you could also lose that good feeling you had going. Everything is connected, you know. DJ’s like Deadmau5, David Guetta, Benny Benassi, Sasha, Eric Prydz, and even Daft Punk fit in here. But in electronic music, genres are always coming together, so fitting any artist into one specific category is increasingly difficult.
6. Trance/Psytrance
If you want to move on from house, but like the pure four-on-the-floor, heart-pounding action that characterizes it, then maybe these types of music are right for you. Neither of these just repeats endlessly without reason; They have clear and apparent climaxes and breakdowns that they intend on reaching from the very start, and when they get there your brains might explode in ecstatic bliss. Also, as stated right in the name of the genre, part of the ultimate goal is to entrance you in a vortex of spinning visual and auditory energy and induce a state of hypnosis. Some of the world’s greatest DJ’s are included in this genre: Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold, Armin Van Buuren, Infected Mushroom, and Paul Van Dyk, among countless others.
5. Downtempo/Ambient
If crazy, pounding beats and wild dancing aren’t for you, then maybe these are. Both are more gentle than the previously mentioned types of music. That heavy feeling that keeps your feet connected to the ground is replaced by an ambience that allows you to float through the air. You can even sit and groove to these guys (although many people say that you can’t stop dancing on MDMA, sitting and laying are also two of the most amazing activities one can take part in). A lot of these artists have the ability to break through into the mainstream music world because of the change of pace in speed and mood: Moby and Bjork being prime examples of that crossover into the pop world. But there are still endless others: Massive Attack, Thievery Corporation, Brian Eno, Bonobo, etc.
4. Drum and Bass
If everything above is still too slow for you, then maybe it’s time you looked into drum and bass, DnB or D&B for short. If you’re stubborn about having lyrics or vocals in the music you enjoy, then you’ve probably gone too far. Characterized by fast breakbeats, heavy bass and sub-bass, and intense climaxes, this music is sure to get you amped. Like, super duper crackhead amped. It makes you move around and sweat it out like nothing else. It should really be considered as a type of exercise, because you can lose pounds just from dancing. Add in lots of blinding, endlessly strobing lights, and you’ve got yourself the most awesome seizure you’ve ever experienced (D&B is definitely not for the faint of heart or health). It originated from the UK’s rave scene in the mid 90’s, and has since become a staple of British music culture. Across the pond, artists like Pendulum (though people constantly argue whether they still make DnB music), Sub Focus, Spor, Chase & Status, Noisia, Netsky, and Black Sun Empire are leading the way in the ever-growing genre of electronic music, which is spawning more subgenres every day.
3. Dubstep
One of the subgenres, or perhaps the dirtier twin, of Drum and Bass is Dubstep. You might not have heard of it yet, but it’s all the rage in the UK, just like its older brother. In fact, these two types of music work so well together that most DJ’s that play one also play the other. The combination provides an interesting change in pace between ecstatic jumping and unusual grooving. What differentiates dubstep from DnB are the drums: the tempo is slowed and the breakbeat is replaced by a 2-step beat (thus the “step”). The overwhelming bassline and climatic builds remain, and just for kicks an upbeat reggae groove is usually added (thus the “dub”). It’s really the most uncontrollable musical nonsense ever; A collection of noises and sounds that come together to create a coherent rhythm. Occasionally, you’ll hear some vocal samples or an entire remix of a popular song. Prepare to move your body in outrageous and robotic ways. I’ve heard a lot of people attempting to describe the sounds you hear when you attend a dubstep concert, and among my favorites are “Dinosaurs wearing body armor and battling with lasers” and “transformers frickin.” If you’re curious then you should check out some of today’s biggest dubstep acts: Rusko, Caspa, Excision, Datsik, Benga, Skream, Plastician, and Bassnectar (this last one is iffy because he has a more eclectic style that sits on the precipice of many genres, or as he calls it: “omni-tempo maximalism”).
2. Jamtronica
The popularity of electronic elements in modern music has even warped traditional improvisional rock, or what you might know as jam. If you didn’t already know, drugs of all kinds have lent themselves to the jam scene for the past forty years, since The Grateful Dead played at the first Acid Tests. So it makes sense that this culture would lovingly embrace everything having to do with MDMA: Which includes all the electronic music associated with it. The result is a beast of a genre that is really not a genre at all, but a collection of hundreds of interwoven musical styles that play off of each other to build something grander than the sum of its parts. Jazz, metal, hip-hop, rhythm and blues, progressive rock, funk, reggae, pop, punk, and all of the aforementioned genres all combine into a monster of epic proportions. Of course you probably can’t just listen to it and like it. In fact, upon first listening, most people are turned off by the fact that most songs have few or no lyrics, are upwards of ten minutes in length, and segue into each other. You just have to be there. Experiencing it will quite likely change your life, as these bands have the ability to alter your mood, environment, and emotions from one second to the next. The slightest change in sound and color can turn you from excitingly happy to begrudgingly evil. Flagship bands like The Disco Biscuits, Sound Tribe Sector 9, The New Deal, and Lotus champion this style, but it’s a quickly growing movement that finds its momentum in the burgeoning festival scene.
1. Your Favorite Music
When all else fails, you can always just listen to something that you have deep connection with: Maybe something from when you were younger, or that has meaningful lyrics to you. It probably won’t get you dancing, but rolling is about seeing the beauty in everything – music, colors, friends – more than anything else. And isn’t that what’s important? You get to have a great time and enjoy things that you usually take for granted when you’re grinding out work in the real world. So, in the end, do what you feel is right for your mood.
On a side note, I wanted to work Pretty Lights into one of these categories, but decided that I’d probably get yelled at if I put him into downtempo, drum and bass, or dubstep. Realistically, he plays a clever mix of hip-hop with elements from each of the previously mentioned genres.
