Emancipator/Eliot Lipp/Tor

Though the music trends of today are focused on fist-pumping, sweat-inducing electronic dance music, there’s a whole other less-intense — but still intriguing — side to that umbrella-term of a genre. Doug Appling, a.k.a. Emancipator, is on that other side, with his productions falling under the downtempo and trip-hop categories. Downtempo is certainly not the EDM that you’ll encounter at the club, and trip-hop is tough to define other than pointing out that it’s most popular use is for background music of conspiracy theory videos on Youtube. But Appling’s productions combine classical music-inspired melodies of violins and pianos with drum beats ranging from jazz-inspired to old-school hip-hop-inspired. The beautiful harmonies on his single “Minor Cause” are a profound statement on his productions, while the drum beats make you feel like less of a wussy. (Sam Mendez)