AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Sometimes, dreams do come true if you're electronic musician Drew Daniel. He performs in the duo Matmos and, last week, had a vivid dream.
DREW DANIEL: In which I was at a rave and met a girl who was excitedly telling me about a genre of music that she said was called hit 'em. And what distinguishes the genre is that it's always in a 5/4 time signature at 212 beats per minute and features very crunched-out, distorted sounds.
RASCOE: Now, that's crazy fast and not exactly danceable. Here's a taste on a metronome.
(SOUNDBITE OF METRONOME)
RASCOE: Daniel couldn't shake the dream, so he sent a tweet about it. When he woke for good, electronic musicians and producers from all over had responded with musical creations set to the beat of his vision.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
DANIEL: I was stunned. The first day, there was already many people making songs. I think Alex Reed was the first and Jetski pretty soon after. My jaw dropped when Eprom made one. He's a producer I've always admired, and it just blew my mind.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
DANIEL: It's got a strange, frantic quality because it's so fast. But there's something kind of wonky about the weirdness of 5/4 as a time signature, so it always seems to be coalescing and falling apart at the same time.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: Other favorites for Daniel include a version by a user on X known as Jane Plane, who keeps repeating, hit 'em, over the track.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HIT EM")
JANE PLANE: (Singing) Hit 'em, hit 'em, hit 'em. Hit 'em where it hurts. Hit 'em, hit 'em, hit 'em. Hit 'em where it hurts.
DANIEL: The phrase hit 'em is about impact, and it's a form that has to have some impact on a crowd, you know, whether they're dancing or whether it's somebody who's just listening at home. Hit 'em is committed to caring about the listener and trying to come at them with everything you've got.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
DANIEL: That's the way I understand it. But, you know, honestly, it was my dream, but it was the dream girl's idea. So really, you should try to interview her (laughter).
RASCOE: The girl from his dream could not be reached for comment.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: As for Daniel, he's already embracing the new genre.
DANIEL: I have started to make some hit 'em music with this guy Machinedrum. So we're working on some hit 'em tracks, and we're also encouraging people to send us their examples so we can make a compilation record.
RASCOE: Until then, maybe you can dance in 5/4 time to a hit 'em track at a club near you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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