Sixunder7=GoodValernaMusic

Valerna
Snakes/Ladders EP
Tasty Bytes Records, released December 18, 2009

I want to give Sixunder7's electronic outfit, Valerna, a fair shake of things, so I feel it necessary to confess that I know shit about electronic music. Valerna's new EP, Snakes/Ladders, is available through a digital electronic distributor called Beatport. Beatport divides their artists into electronic subgenres, all of which were adjectives I had previously planned to use to describe Valerna's sound. I couldn't tell you the difference between house and trance, let alone some of the more specific and technical species.

That being said, Valerna co-producers RJ Buchanan and Brett Sorrentino make dance music that I can dig. It's got a fresh beat, and I can get down to it. RJ and Brett have been making music together since for quite some time now, in various different capacities, but started making music under the Sixunder7 moniker sometime around 2003, when they were producing hip-hop tracks in Boston with a crew of local MCs. Relocating to Los Angeles, they were reborn into club music and started both writing and remixing under the name Valerna, but maintaining the umbrella of Sixunder7 productions, which at this point had expanded to include film as well.

Valerna's latest concoction, the Snakes/Ladders EP, is a nice spacey dance record, much in the same vein as their self released, self titled demo album, and premier on Tasty Bytes Records, Oquataninwan. Snakes/Ladders is definitely designed for the club, where it would be sure to be a success with the right crowd, but it has enough pop sensibility to appeal to someone like myself, a casual electronic listener. Both tracks are quality and build to a crescendo at just the right rate. You really can't help but be inspired to shake your ass to this. It's fun, and while it's seriously good, it doesn't take itself too seriously. Highly recommended for driving, running, working out, going to the club, in the club, back home from the club...You get the idea.

In addition to their own releases, Valerna are also constantly remixing other peoples songs, from other electronic/dance artists like Oh Snap!! and Pance Party to Busta Rhymes and Nine Inch Nails. Some of it comes out on actual records, some of it is released just for fun via the internet. (I haven't heard We have Explosive, by Future Sounds of London in years, but when I found Valerna's remix on YouTube, it brought me back to high school.)

They played a string of shows last summer and fall and are planning more dates in January, plus they have something going with South by Southwest 2010. There is also some new remix work with Oh Snap!! ready to be distributed; details are still pending. So all of you west coast Squeamies, assuming there are some west coast Squeamies, put on some nice shoes, cause you can't wear sneakers in the club.

Sixunder7
Valerna MySpace
Beatport

PS- Prophet, one of the MC's Sixunder7 worked with in Boston, has relocated to the west coast and writes his own blog, My Life with Valerna. Subjects include, but are not limited to, Valerna, hip hop music and peanut butter. Apparently there is a different selection of peanut butter on the west coast, and it does not meet Proph's approval. Read up on this disturbing situation.

My Life with Valerna