Chenier's Electric Hustle

At first, Zydeco and electronic dance music may seem to occupy opposite ends of the musical world.

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One evokes accordion bellows, corrugated metal, wooden dance floors, humid Louisiana nights, electric bass and musicians responding to one another in real time. The other evokes synthesizers, sequencers, sub-bass, drum machines, filters and precisely constructed electronic environments.

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Listen beneath the instruments, however, and something interesting happens.

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The two traditions begin to look remarkably compatible.

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Both are fundamentally concerned with repetition, syncopation, timbre, physical movement and the relationship between a repeating rhythmic foundation and constantly changing material above it. Both understand that a groove does not have to change chords every few measures to remain interesting. A rhythm can repeat for minutes while tiny changes in articulation, texture and emphasis continually renew it.

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That idea became the musical experiment behind Chenier’s Electric Hustle, a ten-track project by DJ Luna Grayce that asks a deceptively simple question:

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What would happen if Zydeco were not placed on top of electronic dance music, but allowed to become electronic dance music?

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