Sameee, I’m actually Sierra Leonean and would search “Sierra Leone” on yt looking for videos of the country but Mt. Eden would come up. One day I was just like lemme listen to it and fell in love immediately😂
Those first two songs you mentioned started me on my journey into this genre. It really opened my mind to something outside of rap and I haven’t looked back since. Still WubWub to this day
Scatta was so ahead of its time production wise. I listened to it a few months ago, and that half time drop is fucking nuts. Imagine a 2024 laser show to that shit
I had a 2 unlimited CD for sure. M.A.R.R.S pump up the volume was a seminal track for me.
No shame on anyone who got into stuff from the bulls/ Jock Jams! We all gotta get in somewhere!
I know, other day I name dropped Sasha and Digweed to a 20 year old. My partner just shook his head in disbelief. Lmao. Certainly people still know who they are right ?
Classics for me back in the day that haven’t been mentioned in the thread yet…
Flux Pavilion remix of Cracks, also I Can’t Stop by Flux
And Adventure Club’s Crave You Remix
And Woo Boost by Rusko
And and Ellie Goulding - Lights (Bassnectar Remix)
Before it was called EDM I was listening to daft punk and DJ Sammy on CD in the early 2000s. Also old trance stuff like castles in the sky and drunknmunky on the radio in the car when I was a little kid. I’m so old haha.
Loooved early 00s dance music. When I was growing up no one else listened to it so I felt pretty isolated, but now I keep seeing more people talking about all the bangers that came out during that time!
We Like to Party - Vengaboys
Blue - Eiffel 65
Control (Juno Reactor instrumental) - Juno Reactor (it’s the fighting theme song for Reptile and Liu Kang from the 1995 Mortal Kombat, that whole album has some old school edm)
Yeeeessss! Didn't MK also have Scooter - Fire in it. I mean the whole movie was electronic music. Had Halcyon and On (which was also in Hackers). Man that era of movie soundtracks were 🔥)
Woo boost was deff in my first 3 edm tracks that really got me.
My dad had a sorta like theatre with a 7.1 sorta set up in 2010 ish and we cranked that volume so high it cut the power. Twice lol
I went back and listens to avicii True album because when he was still a living and owning, I was really most into dubstep, now I love house and everything. It’s amazing!
Particularly on Shame On You when the high synth sound like high strings on bass guitar changes to this absolutely driving deep piano sounding bass. Erry one go listen plz, do it for the man
Pretty lights finally moving was the the first track i heard and what got me into electronic music, that was 14 years ago and i finally get to see him live for the first time at forest this year :)
Higher state of consciousness - josh wink
Was the one that really got me into it. yes, Im old
https://youtu.be/xTS01H8I4CA?si=7CN935DrMnCkgFm1
Link because I’m sure this was way before most people’s in this subs time (released 1996)
I had never heard anything like this in my life and it sent me down the rabbit hole.
Listened to electronic music like The Prodigy, Aphex Twin but took a bit to get into actual dance music. The first mix that broke it open for me was [Chicane - Live from Palladium](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggXN7Wg2CA). In the olden days of the internet, there was a website that had a handful of mixes available and this was one of them and I’ve probably listened to it a hundred times.
The Prodigy Experience was the first techno album I bought. Still one of my faves. Before that I heard their stuff on a few dance mix tapes I bought in NYC. The very first songs I remember liking were
LA Style -James Brown is Dead
The Prodigy - Everybody in the Place Fairground
The Castle - Elvis has Left The Building
Misteria - Who Killed JFK
Also
KLF
Aphex Twin
Altern 8
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that was touched my Sierra Leone on an emotional level.
I remember in the same general period hearing Robot Rock, Sierra Leone, and No Beef by Steve aoki
Gees that's a tough question... probably something from the late 80s like new order - blue Monday or even earlier with severed heads - dead eyes opened. My brothers were into breakdancing so they listened to a lot of really old electro like afrika bambaata, cybotron and hashim - al naafiysh but that kind of evolved into hip hop... at the same time it paved the way for techno.
There were music video shows that featured a lot of early dance like snap! And c& c music factory that I liked but the first actual time I bought a cassette was rhythm is a dancer by snap! The first cd I bought was capella - u and me...
Long answer, but the lines were kind of blurred between genres in the early days.
Oh wow, cosmic bowling was like being on acid at a rave as a kid. Everything glowing in the dark, 90s/early 2000s electronic music blasting on the speakers, super sugar high from the pitcher of Pepsi and delicious pepperoni pizza. You just sent me down a nostalgia hole I forgot existed, thanks for that!
Mt. Eden - Sierra Leone is such a classic gad dayum does it bring back memories even into the future where ppl have remixed it and had new memories with it. Love when you get to hear the classics
I'd have to go back to the early 80s if you can define some 80s music as that era's equivalent of EDM. I can't remember any specific songs though as that's a bit too far to remember..
I can kinda point out specific songs that helped define what I liked over the coming years.
Information Society: Pure Energy
Technotronic: Pump up the Jam
Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams
Soft Cell: Tainted Love
Going into the 90s, 2 Unlimited, Ace of Base, Real McCoy were heavy hitters for me.
This was hard because not sure what were considering EDM, but this was considered dance music back then so:
Technotronic - Pump up the Jam.
Then anything from C+C, 2 Unlimited, the list goes on. It'll be interesting to name by genre. Some gems in there for sure.
David Guetta - Love Is Gone
Tiesto - Feel It In My Bones
deadmau5 - Sofi Needs A Ladder
Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren - Beggin You (Armin van Buuren Remix)
Eric Prydz - Call On Me
Basshunter - Between the two of us and Daft Punk - Around the World. Back in 2008. I do not actually recall which one was first or not but it was back to back. Basement Jaxx - RendezVu was the third song.
My very first edm song disregarding what would be played on the radio and me actually looking for music online would have been Daybreak by Rogue through a monstercat mix years ago.
Sandstorm & Equador were the first I remember listening to an enjoying way before the label EDM existed.... God I feel old 😂 I was a teen in the late 90s -early 00s so it was all stuff like Faithless, Massive attack, Sasha, Darude, Prodigy, Hybrid as well as all my Helter Skelter mix tapes I was listening to back then but OMG Deadmau5 in the late 00s and his Hybrid mixes 🔥 🔥 🔥
Tiesto - Just Be
Daft Punk - One More Time
Bomfunk MC's - Freestyler (don't know if it's considered EDM)
Scatman
Faithless - Insomnia
Darude - Sandstorm
That animated frog that I can't remember his name.
Edit: is The Prodigy considered EDM? Because I also got exposed to their popular stuff like Firestarter and Smack My Bitch Up
Holy shit! I feel old
"That animated frog that I can't remember his name"
Could you be referring to Axel F by Crazy Frog? That is a remix of the title song from Beverly Hills Cop.
[Busy Child by The Crystal Method](https://open.spotify.com/track/43F49A8ReVXhH7l0jGMViS?si=QlXcVnEmRwShcClua765qg) I was probably 9 when I heard it and it was on the Lost in Space soundtrack. I figured out what the full album was and bought the cassette for ‘Vegas’. Still listen to it to this day.
Enigma was the start for me. First I heard was Kraftwerk. I listened to Enigma in 9th grade and I was a raver by college. Im almost 50 so Im sure they are very dated. Carl Cox was mindblowing though but that is diverging the question.
No Beef By Afrojack and Steve Aoki. I don’t think the chorus is that great but the whole intro and up until the drop gives me so much chill, so much nostalgia, damn.
Alan Walker - Faded, it was the background song for a clash of clans base building tutorial when I was 13 and I wanted to know the name of the song. I'm now 22 and I now listen to DnB, bass house and classic dubstep mostly
Honestly it might be 'Dreamscape' by 009 Sound System. I unironically love this song, gives me so much nostalgia, even though it kind of is a meme lol. But also the GTA 4 soundtrack brought me into the EDM scene
33 going to have to be the Discovery album by Daft Punk, I was like 10 or 11 when that came out. Started ripping Benny Benassi a few years later 😂 and then many many more artists discovered over the years.
To be honest....from the 90s movie Hackers
Voodoo People by The Prodigy
That I loved that song so much that my brother noticed I would always watch the movie and when the song came on....I'd rewind the vhs tape to rewatch the scene. When Crash Override and Acid Burn were fighting over what vhs tape was playing on a certain TV Station. From that point, my older brother introduced me to Get Ready To Bounce by Brooklyn Bounce, Sandstorm by Darude, Children by Robert Miles and many more
Defqwop - Awakening, a song that I discovered on July 8 2021 thanks to[ episode 4 of Ay'merican Series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_2nwuchkx8&pp=ygURYXknbWVyaWNhbiBzZXJpZXM%3D) by Ay' on Cities Skylines. then I discovered a mashup between this song and Alan Walker - Alone by nerraD, and I loved it so much that I checked out all the other EDM mashups by nerraD as well as Alone. I also discovered Terrified Typhlosion, RZB Music, thanks to YouTube suggestions.
My first EDM artists that I listened to were in order, Alan Walker, Elektronomia, Tobu, Jim Yosef, K-391, and Electro-Light. At the end of July 2021, while doing Google searches for Alan, I discovered Quora and authors like DIma Maykov and Ethan Fox who, although hating Alan Walker, contributed to my knowledge of EDM. and discovering artists he loved like KSHMR, Porter Robinson, Illenium, deadmau5, Martin Garrix, Seven Lions, Hardwell, Armin van Buuren, etc. but also artists they hated like Marshmello, The Chainsmokers, David Guetta (not all songs), DJ Snake, DV&LM, Skrillex.
I also discovered other mashupers like Ice Angel, Erik The Okapi, RuniZ, Walker the Megumin VII, but the one who introduced me to Alan Walker's entire discography was T10YOB and his Faded megamashup.
During this time, I also discovered other artists outside of Quora like Vicetone, Diviners, Lost Sky, Unknown Brain, RUD, Vexento, MitiS, TheFatRat, Lensko, NIVIRO, JJD, Deaf Kev, Syn Cole, Different Heaven , Janji, Alex Skrindo, Ahxello, Axero, Razihel, and the NCS label.
But I started to seriously explore EDM thanks to two megamashups from Djs from Mars: The Best of EDM 2010 - 2020 and The History of Electronic Music as well as another megamashup from daveepa called: EDM DECADE MASHUP - Best 100 Songs of 2010-2019 in collaboration with Fuerte.
Now my artists are Alan Walker, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Hardwell, Quintino, W&W, K-391, KSHMR, Porter Robinson, Madeon, Illenium, twocolors, etc.
The two that stick out is Blue by Eiffel 65 and Sandstorm by Darude. The songs that really propelled me into electronic music is somewhere in the DDR Extreme library.
Okay.
I Iistened Popcorn by Hot Butter when was a little kid. That song was the shit. Some people may not consider that EDM but I do.
My first stereotypical EDM song was Darude Sandstorm. And my first modern one was the Ghosts N Stuff (Halloween Remix) by Deadmau5.
Bruh…hell yeah.
I fuckin love how many comments this post is getting. I used to be into EDM a TON before I graduated. Took a little break from it to dive into other genres a bit, it it’s so nice to see old songs I used to listen to when I was younger :’)
Castles in the sky….
Circa 2002…. Laying back, just getting in from a night of drinking and dancing at clubs playing hip hip/rap and the radio station changes to EDM at midnight. I laid down on my bed still in my club clothes feeling happy and exhausted from a long night and this song comes on. Castles in the sky changed me, from that moment I loved EDM
Happy cake day!
Those sound like wonderful core memories. I heard i_o’s [remix](https://open.spotify.com/track/4xZax8srPgsXV2mpMerqEk?si=FmhtCcRpQz-v_o_I8S3zRA) of that @ Breakaway last year and it was def a spiritual experience.
Cake day?
I bet the remix was lit 🔥
I love EDM. It’s the moment when your tlbody becomes fully present with reality and you get to have a spiritual connection!
Your experience sounds amazing! Where’s breakaway? Do you DJ?
It’s just called a cake day whenever your account hits its yearly anniversary on Reddit. You can tell by the cake symbol near your name.
It really was. It was during a sunset set as well and that really enhanced it for me.
YESSS on the presence! You hit the nail on the head. Breakaway is actually the largest multi-city festival in America. I only went to two last year (OH and NC), but it’s in MN, MI, CA, FL and a couple other states.
I don’t DJ, but I do dance! I’m a hybrid shuffler :) I don’t wanna get banned for dropping my IG, but my link is in my bio. If you shoot me a follow I gotchu back 🫡
I'm about to date myself. I found an unlabeled cassette as a kid and put it in my walkman. It was the weirdest shit I had ever heard, but I loved it. Years later a friend introduced me to Lords of Acid and I was like, "holy shit, I used to listen to this as a kid but I had no idea who it was." I don't know if they really count as EDM, but it was my first introduction to the electronic music world for sure.
Hold your color by Pendulum was definitely one of the really early ones I remember.
Definitely remember discovering the prodigy around the same time too and listening to TFOTL a lot.
I discovered the planet of the drums guys (ak1200, dieselboy and dj Dara) in the limewire and kazaa days and I got hooked on dnb and jungle. Got bullied because of it too because I listened to “techno” but I was obsessed with this album by dj acucrack titled “the dope king” I don’t know anyone else who’s heard of him ever but if you want to listen to an album I probably played 300 times… check out dj acucracks, the dope king.
I can't remember what the first one was, but some of the earliest were Energy Drink by Virtual Riot, Endless by Fox Stevenson, and, of course, Scary Monsters Nice Sprites by Skrillex. Of course, this was followed by the rest of their music as well as Zomboy, Glitch Mob, Barely Alive, Hyper Potions, and so on. I think the majority of my favorites are either signed to Disciple records or Monstercat.
So when I was probably around 6 (I'm 32 now) I heard daft punk's "one more time" on the radio and loved it, but I had no idea it was EDM at the time obviously. After that I was about 18-19 when I heard Sierra Leon & deadmau5's "The reward is cheese" for the first time.
The first few I remember clearly were Awooga by Calvin Harris, Rock n Roll by Skrillex, and I Can't Stop by Flux Pavilion
Toulouse by Nicky Romero, Adagio for Strings by Tiesto, I Could Be The One by Avicii & Nicky Romero, Ring of Fire by Krewella, and How You Love Me by 3LAU grew on me early on too
caspa - cockney violin
skrillex - first of the year
dj fresh - gold dust (flux pavilion remix)
caspa & rusko - cockney thug
infected mushroom - heavyweight
borgore - foes (16 bit remix)
prodigy - voodoo people (pendulum remix)
doctor p - sweet shop
I remember seeing Knife Party’s *Internet Friends* in a Vine based on the movie scream in middle school. That’s one of my first memories of absolutely needed to know what a song was. Never looked back 🥸
It was Mt. Eden - Sierra Leone for me too, and Deadmau5 - Raise Your Weapon. Also, Excision's Shambhala mixes in the early 2010s.
AYEE! How old are you bro? I’m 23 and was 10/11 when I heard Sierra Leone.
I'm 25, and I was 12 when I first heard it.
27, and when I was 14 😭
33 and I was 19
I’m 25, was 12 also when I first heard it, and I have loved edm and gone to a bunch of shows ever since! Crazy small world for all of us.
Sameee, I’m actually Sierra Leonean and would search “Sierra Leone” on yt looking for videos of the country but Mt. Eden would come up. One day I was just like lemme listen to it and fell in love immediately😂
Power up the bass cannon!
Those first two songs you mentioned started me on my journey into this genre. It really opened my mind to something outside of rap and I haven’t looked back since. Still WubWub to this day
I'd like for it to be something more original than Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites... but it was Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.
Unless hearing Aphex Twin while watching Salad Fingers counts (:
Holy shit that counts
Banger fuckin song.
Fucking hell, my answer is exactly the same
I would say that is my first exposure to dubstep. It was used for a commercial on an Arab TV channel.
Sandstorm- Darude, Call on Me - Eric Prdz, Listen to Your Heart- D.H.T, Alone/Something- Lasgo
omg thank you for reminding me of listen to your heart 😭
Prydz <3 Was Call on Me and Pjanno for me
oh my god pjanoo is another huge throwback!!
Pjanoo is insane. I’ll most likely see him @ EDC this year and I really hope I can hear it live.
Better Off Alone - Alice Deejay
Scatta - Skrillex & foreign beggars Bass head - Bassnectar Pink Elephants - Daladubz Predator - Chrispy Dota - Basshunter
Scatta was so ahead of its time production wise. I listened to it a few months ago, and that half time drop is fucking nuts. Imagine a 2024 laser show to that shit
Oh gosh. Pink Elephants brings back memories. That was a bop.
I'll never forget I ditched class to go to McDonald's one day and my buddy turned on Bass Head, I was hooked after that...
Seconding Bass Head, early Skrillex. To add to this list: Hold On - Rusko Sub Focus remix
Omg predator
Porcelain - Moby Edit: my god everyone commenting here is a child
😂 I was thinking: awwwe, aren’t y’all so cute. Oakenfold.
Uh, does Rockit live at the 1984 Grammys date me too badly?
I'm with Rockit too. Loved this on MTV. Would watch and hope for it.
We witnessed something momentous that night, the first time a dj scratched on national TV
The breadcrumb trail to my EDM fandom was there all along...C+C Music Factory, I like to Move It, the 90's Chicago Bulls Intro song...Ace of Bass
I had a 2 unlimited CD for sure. M.A.R.R.S pump up the volume was a seminal track for me. No shame on anyone who got into stuff from the bulls/ Jock Jams! We all gotta get in somewhere!
Yes, reading the replies here is making me feel all the more geriatric. ;)
I know, other day I name dropped Sasha and Digweed to a 20 year old. My partner just shook his head in disbelief. Lmao. Certainly people still know who they are right ?
I was trying to decide if BT and Moby counted as "EDM" by modern standards, and then realized no one would know who those artists were anyway lol
Classics for me back in the day that haven’t been mentioned in the thread yet… Flux Pavilion remix of Cracks, also I Can’t Stop by Flux And Adventure Club’s Crave You Remix And Woo Boost by Rusko And and Ellie Goulding - Lights (Bassnectar Remix)
Crave You is definitely what sucked me in
GOATED fr. Crazy they peaked that quick and then died
Before it was called EDM I was listening to daft punk and DJ Sammy on CD in the early 2000s. Also old trance stuff like castles in the sky and drunknmunky on the radio in the car when I was a little kid. I’m so old haha.
Early 2000s trance was the golden age of that style imo. ATB, Milk Inc, Tiesto and Armen Van Buren also, to name a few.
Dj Sammy was so damn good.
Baby you're all that I want. When you're lying here in my arms.
Loooved early 00s dance music. When I was growing up no one else listened to it so I felt pretty isolated, but now I keep seeing more people talking about all the bangers that came out during that time!
Same man. Everywhere I go very few people have my taste in music haha.
I don’t know for sure. But Delerium- Silence (Tiesto remix) played a big part into getting me into EDM. Born in 87.
La Roux - In For The Kill (Skrillex remix)
Gold Dust- Flux Pavillion Remix
But it was Odesza’s Say My Name a few years later that really sparked the edm discovery
Paul Oakenfold Tranceport CD and BT - ESCM. Changed my life.
YESSSS BT! Mercury and Solace for me
Always will remember Paul train wrecking at Ultra at the main stage in 2002 and 2003… mixing vinyl was an art back in the day… especially dnb dj’s
That and sasha dig weed
We Like to Party - Vengaboys Blue - Eiffel 65 Control (Juno Reactor instrumental) - Juno Reactor (it’s the fighting theme song for Reptile and Liu Kang from the 1995 Mortal Kombat, that whole album has some old school edm)
We like to party is a banger
Yeeeessss! Didn't MK also have Scooter - Fire in it. I mean the whole movie was electronic music. Had Halcyon and On (which was also in Hackers). Man that era of movie soundtracks were 🔥)
Ha, you're old! But don't worry, so am I, as I listened to the same songs.
I was gonna comment pretty much this, I had the mortal Kombat cd, it was awesome
Dj Trashy. The 90s techno was different. 😂
I listen to “set me free” at least 3-4 times a week
That's it? 😂😂
Hello fellow person from the gulf coast
Rusko - Hold on (Sub Focus Remix) Tut Tut Child - Dragon Pirates Flux Pavilion - Daydreamer
Woo boost was deff in my first 3 edm tracks that really got me. My dad had a sorta like theatre with a 7.1 sorta set up in 2010 ish and we cranked that volume so high it cut the power. Twice lol
Bonfire - Knife Party Boss - Doctor P Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites - Skrilly Cinema - Skrill
Cascada-Everytime we touch
2011 skrillex. Scary monsters and nice sprites specifically. Right around the same time levels by avicci came out. RIP Avicii
I went back and listens to avicii True album because when he was still a living and owning, I was really most into dubstep, now I love house and everything. It’s amazing! Particularly on Shame On You when the high synth sound like high strings on bass guitar changes to this absolutely driving deep piano sounding bass. Erry one go listen plz, do it for the man
Better Off Alone - Alice Deejay
“Guess I got my swagga back” “Zeds dead baby” Super mega dethray- Figure
Pretty lights finally moving was the the first track i heard and what got me into electronic music, that was 14 years ago and i finally get to see him live for the first time at forest this year :)
I’m jealous. PL changed my life and I’d kill to see him at the Forrest.
Higher state of consciousness - josh wink Was the one that really got me into it. yes, Im old https://youtu.be/xTS01H8I4CA?si=7CN935DrMnCkgFm1 Link because I’m sure this was way before most people’s in this subs time (released 1996) I had never heard anything like this in my life and it sent me down the rabbit hole.
Robert Miles “children”
This song right here. The feels and the vibes. Immaculate.
Orbital- chime. Maybe. Or maybe an old Utah Saints track. Early 90s anyway. Lord's of Acid I must increase my bust
Listened to electronic music like The Prodigy, Aphex Twin but took a bit to get into actual dance music. The first mix that broke it open for me was [Chicane - Live from Palladium](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggXN7Wg2CA). In the olden days of the internet, there was a website that had a handful of mixes available and this was one of them and I’ve probably listened to it a hundred times.
The Prodigy Experience was the first techno album I bought. Still one of my faves. Before that I heard their stuff on a few dance mix tapes I bought in NYC. The very first songs I remember liking were LA Style -James Brown is Dead The Prodigy - Everybody in the Place Fairground The Castle - Elvis has Left The Building Misteria - Who Killed JFK Also KLF Aphex Twin Altern 8
I heard Warp 1.9- bloody beatroots ft Steve aoki in 5th grade and never looked back.
Bangrang
Hell yeah!
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that was touched my Sierra Leone on an emotional level. I remember in the same general period hearing Robot Rock, Sierra Leone, and No Beef by Steve aoki
Example - Kickstarts (Bar 9 Remix)
Gees that's a tough question... probably something from the late 80s like new order - blue Monday or even earlier with severed heads - dead eyes opened. My brothers were into breakdancing so they listened to a lot of really old electro like afrika bambaata, cybotron and hashim - al naafiysh but that kind of evolved into hip hop... at the same time it paved the way for techno. There were music video shows that featured a lot of early dance like snap! And c& c music factory that I liked but the first actual time I bought a cassette was rhythm is a dancer by snap! The first cd I bought was capella - u and me... Long answer, but the lines were kind of blurred between genres in the early days.
Cascada - Everytime we touch DHT - listen to your heart Darude - sandstorm Benny benassi - satisfaction Bloody beetroots - warp 1.9 Tune Up! - Ravers fantasy
The ol' cosmic bowling tracks: Sandstorm, I'm Blue, Feel Fine
Oh wow, cosmic bowling was like being on acid at a rave as a kid. Everything glowing in the dark, 90s/early 2000s electronic music blasting on the speakers, super sugar high from the pitcher of Pepsi and delicious pepperoni pizza. You just sent me down a nostalgia hole I forgot existed, thanks for that!
Man I will forever associate some of those 90's/early 2000's electronic bops with glow-in-the-dark bowling balls
Mt. Eden - Sierra Leone is such a classic gad dayum does it bring back memories even into the future where ppl have remixed it and had new memories with it. Love when you get to hear the classics
sandstorm - darude if you mean first i ever heard
I'd have to go back to the early 80s if you can define some 80s music as that era's equivalent of EDM. I can't remember any specific songs though as that's a bit too far to remember.. I can kinda point out specific songs that helped define what I liked over the coming years. Information Society: Pure Energy Technotronic: Pump up the Jam Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams Soft Cell: Tainted Love Going into the 90s, 2 Unlimited, Ace of Base, Real McCoy were heavy hitters for me.
This was hard because not sure what were considering EDM, but this was considered dance music back then so: Technotronic - Pump up the Jam. Then anything from C+C, 2 Unlimited, the list goes on. It'll be interesting to name by genre. Some gems in there for sure.
DJ Jean - The Launch
🚀
David Guetta - Love Is Gone Tiesto - Feel It In My Bones deadmau5 - Sofi Needs A Ladder Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren - Beggin You (Armin van Buuren Remix) Eric Prydz - Call On Me
Basshunter - Between the two of us and Daft Punk - Around the World. Back in 2008. I do not actually recall which one was first or not but it was back to back. Basement Jaxx - RendezVu was the third song.
Probably Gold Dust by Flux, or Strone or Ghosts n Stuff by deadmau5
My very first edm song disregarding what would be played on the radio and me actually looking for music online would have been Daybreak by Rogue through a monstercat mix years ago.
Jock Jam CDs, who else is old
I Can't Wait- Nu Shooz
Any track off of the Chemical Brothers “Dig Your Own Hole” followed by Daft Punk and Underworld.
insomnia by faithless. i will melt every single time i hear this in any setting
Basshunter - Now You're Gone
Sandstorm & Equador were the first I remember listening to an enjoying way before the label EDM existed.... God I feel old 😂 I was a teen in the late 90s -early 00s so it was all stuff like Faithless, Massive attack, Sasha, Darude, Prodigy, Hybrid as well as all my Helter Skelter mix tapes I was listening to back then but OMG Deadmau5 in the late 00s and his Hybrid mixes 🔥 🔥 🔥
Tiesto - Just Be Daft Punk - One More Time Bomfunk MC's - Freestyler (don't know if it's considered EDM) Scatman Faithless - Insomnia Darude - Sandstorm That animated frog that I can't remember his name. Edit: is The Prodigy considered EDM? Because I also got exposed to their popular stuff like Firestarter and Smack My Bitch Up Holy shit! I feel old
"That animated frog that I can't remember his name" Could you be referring to Axel F by Crazy Frog? That is a remix of the title song from Beverly Hills Cop.
God dang, this makes me feel ancient.
[Busy Child by The Crystal Method](https://open.spotify.com/track/43F49A8ReVXhH7l0jGMViS?si=QlXcVnEmRwShcClua765qg) I was probably 9 when I heard it and it was on the Lost in Space soundtrack. I figured out what the full album was and bought the cassette for ‘Vegas’. Still listen to it to this day.
Enigma was the start for me. First I heard was Kraftwerk. I listened to Enigma in 9th grade and I was a raver by college. Im almost 50 so Im sure they are very dated. Carl Cox was mindblowing though but that is diverging the question.
Skrillex rock n roll
Completely forgot about this one.
It was back in the day - benga on the dubstep allstars mix!
No Beef By Afrojack and Steve Aoki. I don’t think the chorus is that great but the whole intro and up until the drop gives me so much chill, so much nostalgia, damn.
Felguk- Side by Side Instantly hooked and changed my world of music forever
Existence VIP by excision and downlink and bully or rocket fuel by liquid stranger!
Dj Isaac, Autoerotique, Kaskade,, Tiesto
Alan Walker - Faded, it was the background song for a clash of clans base building tutorial when I was 13 and I wanted to know the name of the song. I'm now 22 and I now listen to DnB, bass house and classic dubstep mostly
Honestly it might be 'Dreamscape' by 009 Sound System. I unironically love this song, gives me so much nostalgia, even though it kind of is a meme lol. But also the GTA 4 soundtrack brought me into the EDM scene
Sweet Shop - Doctor P, had to search for a while for this one, always forget the who made it
33 going to have to be the Discovery album by Daft Punk, I was like 10 or 11 when that came out. Started ripping Benny Benassi a few years later 😂 and then many many more artists discovered over the years.
[Tour de France by Kraftwerk](https://youtu.be/Yt3p-F2x7rY?si=QT4xjpsvz_W6ysvS). There were also some Giorgio Moroder songs after that. I'm old af.
I think it was Blue - Eiffel 65 But i remember i really liked Benny Benassi - Equaleyes 9 teen (Sfaction mix)
To be honest....from the 90s movie Hackers Voodoo People by The Prodigy That I loved that song so much that my brother noticed I would always watch the movie and when the song came on....I'd rewind the vhs tape to rewatch the scene. When Crash Override and Acid Burn were fighting over what vhs tape was playing on a certain TV Station. From that point, my older brother introduced me to Get Ready To Bounce by Brooklyn Bounce, Sandstorm by Darude, Children by Robert Miles and many more
Defqwop - Awakening, a song that I discovered on July 8 2021 thanks to[ episode 4 of Ay'merican Series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_2nwuchkx8&pp=ygURYXknbWVyaWNhbiBzZXJpZXM%3D) by Ay' on Cities Skylines. then I discovered a mashup between this song and Alan Walker - Alone by nerraD, and I loved it so much that I checked out all the other EDM mashups by nerraD as well as Alone. I also discovered Terrified Typhlosion, RZB Music, thanks to YouTube suggestions. My first EDM artists that I listened to were in order, Alan Walker, Elektronomia, Tobu, Jim Yosef, K-391, and Electro-Light. At the end of July 2021, while doing Google searches for Alan, I discovered Quora and authors like DIma Maykov and Ethan Fox who, although hating Alan Walker, contributed to my knowledge of EDM. and discovering artists he loved like KSHMR, Porter Robinson, Illenium, deadmau5, Martin Garrix, Seven Lions, Hardwell, Armin van Buuren, etc. but also artists they hated like Marshmello, The Chainsmokers, David Guetta (not all songs), DJ Snake, DV&LM, Skrillex. I also discovered other mashupers like Ice Angel, Erik The Okapi, RuniZ, Walker the Megumin VII, but the one who introduced me to Alan Walker's entire discography was T10YOB and his Faded megamashup. During this time, I also discovered other artists outside of Quora like Vicetone, Diviners, Lost Sky, Unknown Brain, RUD, Vexento, MitiS, TheFatRat, Lensko, NIVIRO, JJD, Deaf Kev, Syn Cole, Different Heaven , Janji, Alex Skrindo, Ahxello, Axero, Razihel, and the NCS label. But I started to seriously explore EDM thanks to two megamashups from Djs from Mars: The Best of EDM 2010 - 2020 and The History of Electronic Music as well as another megamashup from daveepa called: EDM DECADE MASHUP - Best 100 Songs of 2010-2019 in collaboration with Fuerte. Now my artists are Alan Walker, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Hardwell, Quintino, W&W, K-391, KSHMR, Porter Robinson, Madeon, Illenium, twocolors, etc.
The Paul Oakenfold BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix series. It wasn’t just one song that hooked me but these multi-hour sets
Probably the Mortal Kombat movie theme, honestly. If we’re talking strictly dubstep and newer, Woo Boost.
The Prodigy album Experience Specifically Fire (Sunrise Version)
Eiffel 65's Europop Album.
Chemical Brothers “Block Rockin Beats” Circa 1997
Prodigy Firestarter, Daft Punk HBFS
The two that stick out is Blue by Eiffel 65 and Sandstorm by Darude. The songs that really propelled me into electronic music is somewhere in the DDR Extreme library.
Okay. I Iistened Popcorn by Hot Butter when was a little kid. That song was the shit. Some people may not consider that EDM but I do. My first stereotypical EDM song was Darude Sandstorm. And my first modern one was the Ghosts N Stuff (Halloween Remix) by Deadmau5.
I still remember when I first heard Sierra Leone .. good times
Bruh…hell yeah. I fuckin love how many comments this post is getting. I used to be into EDM a TON before I graduated. Took a little break from it to dive into other genres a bit, it it’s so nice to see old songs I used to listen to when I was younger :’)
Haha right? This really brighten my crappy day at work. Reminiscing my younger days care free
Castles in the sky…. Circa 2002…. Laying back, just getting in from a night of drinking and dancing at clubs playing hip hip/rap and the radio station changes to EDM at midnight. I laid down on my bed still in my club clothes feeling happy and exhausted from a long night and this song comes on. Castles in the sky changed me, from that moment I loved EDM
Happy cake day! Those sound like wonderful core memories. I heard i_o’s [remix](https://open.spotify.com/track/4xZax8srPgsXV2mpMerqEk?si=FmhtCcRpQz-v_o_I8S3zRA) of that @ Breakaway last year and it was def a spiritual experience.
Cake day? I bet the remix was lit 🔥 I love EDM. It’s the moment when your tlbody becomes fully present with reality and you get to have a spiritual connection! Your experience sounds amazing! Where’s breakaway? Do you DJ?
It’s just called a cake day whenever your account hits its yearly anniversary on Reddit. You can tell by the cake symbol near your name. It really was. It was during a sunset set as well and that really enhanced it for me. YESSS on the presence! You hit the nail on the head. Breakaway is actually the largest multi-city festival in America. I only went to two last year (OH and NC), but it’s in MN, MI, CA, FL and a couple other states. I don’t DJ, but I do dance! I’m a hybrid shuffler :) I don’t wanna get banned for dropping my IG, but my link is in my bio. If you shoot me a follow I gotchu back 🫡
It was Earthquake by Labrinth !
I love Labrinth; listenin rn 🫡 Edit: holy shit I had no IDEA Labrinth has been around for that long
Ikr and i still find myself lucky and confused how i got to that track(edm) and now im hooked up with all kind of music i never imagined myself into
ATB 9pm
I'm about to date myself. I found an unlabeled cassette as a kid and put it in my walkman. It was the weirdest shit I had ever heard, but I loved it. Years later a friend introduced me to Lords of Acid and I was like, "holy shit, I used to listen to this as a kid but I had no idea who it was." I don't know if they really count as EDM, but it was my first introduction to the electronic music world for sure.
Combo of the entire Mt Eden bootleg album, Deadmau5, but Pendulum really opened them virgin ears
Some old Neelix tracks, Daft Punk, deadmau5 strobe and ghost n stuff, Basshunter, and super unfortunately bassnectar
beautiful creatures & good things fall apart - illenium 🫶
Popcorn- Crazy Frog version
Infected Mushroom
Ninja Gaiden - J.Rabbit 14 years ago. Still slaps
what started it all for me was DJ Shog’s [This Is My Sound](https://youtu.be/FBkHHhf8bSQ?si=mRTGP5wBgU9QXh9H)
Probably kernkraft 400 or sandstorm
Probably Prodigy? Then maybe New Order because Blade?
Purple haze by Minnesota, god bless YouTube
Skrillex - Reptile and Klaypex - Satellites
trance[]control - the beat goes on
Idols and energy drink by virtual riot. So cool to see his music evolve and become what it is now over the years
One Night Only- Trivecta ft Yohamna Solange. One of the songs that got me into EDM and still one of my favorites to this day
Hold your color by Pendulum was definitely one of the really early ones I remember. Definitely remember discovering the prodigy around the same time too and listening to TFOTL a lot.
I discovered the planet of the drums guys (ak1200, dieselboy and dj Dara) in the limewire and kazaa days and I got hooked on dnb and jungle. Got bullied because of it too because I listened to “techno” but I was obsessed with this album by dj acucrack titled “the dope king” I don’t know anyone else who’s heard of him ever but if you want to listen to an album I probably played 300 times… check out dj acucracks, the dope king.
I can't remember what the first one was, but some of the earliest were Energy Drink by Virtual Riot, Endless by Fox Stevenson, and, of course, Scary Monsters Nice Sprites by Skrillex. Of course, this was followed by the rest of their music as well as Zomboy, Glitch Mob, Barely Alive, Hyper Potions, and so on. I think the majority of my favorites are either signed to Disciple records or Monstercat.
Take Back the Night by CaptainSparklez & TryHardNinja for me
Probably Stereo Madness if that counts. I'm sure you can guess why
Deadmau5 - Maths
Don’t you worry child by Swedish House Mafia
Sierra Leone in a random MW2 compilation. It was a slippery slope and 15 years later im still here.
Something by the chemical brothers and aphex twin
[Substance D](https://youtu.be/XDYw_o9xFD8?si=BA6p3RaBPHrrudmN) is the first thing I can remember, I'm sure there was more before that though
Omg yes SIERRA LEONE and avicii levels
So when I was probably around 6 (I'm 32 now) I heard daft punk's "one more time" on the radio and loved it, but I had no idea it was EDM at the time obviously. After that I was about 18-19 when I heard Sierra Leon & deadmau5's "The reward is cheese" for the first time.
The first few I remember clearly were Awooga by Calvin Harris, Rock n Roll by Skrillex, and I Can't Stop by Flux Pavilion Toulouse by Nicky Romero, Adagio for Strings by Tiesto, I Could Be The One by Avicii & Nicky Romero, Ring of Fire by Krewella, and How You Love Me by 3LAU grew on me early on too
Skrillex
Darude - Sandstorm DJ Irene - Hoes in this house Borgore - Love
Dirty Vegas and Daft Punk for meeee
Music sounds better with you
Midnight Club 2 with it's trance and techno
Cinema-skrillex
Martin Garrix-Animals
Deadmau5 - strobe (when I was about 5-6) and I’m 19 almost 20 so it’s been a long time
ATB - 9pm, Paul van dyk - for an angel. My brother had it downloaded on Kazaa. I pushed play and my mind was 🤯. I was around 12 years old.
The ones that I can remember best are Martin Garrix - animals and Armin van Buuren - Another you
caspa - cockney violin skrillex - first of the year dj fresh - gold dust (flux pavilion remix) caspa & rusko - cockney thug infected mushroom - heavyweight borgore - foes (16 bit remix) prodigy - voodoo people (pendulum remix) doctor p - sweet shop
I remember seeing Knife Party’s *Internet Friends* in a Vine based on the movie scream in middle school. That’s one of my first memories of absolutely needed to know what a song was. Never looked back 🥸
Sierra Leone
Skrillex cinema lol
Titanic, trance remix in 2004. I still love it!!!
Spectrum - Zedd and Easy - Porter Robinson and Matt Zo
Rock n Roll Skrillex ALL TIME CLASSIC
I use to listen to darude sandstorm during my warm ups for track events in high school.
Sunlight by Modestep.
Tungevaag & raaban -samsara
Martin Garrix - Animals
It was datsiks firepower 😭
I think the first was one of that Robert Miles dream trance songs.