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" Pat Grossi has a far different background than the average electronic music producer. He began his project Active Child in 2010 as a medium for combining experimental music, indie pop, and R&amp;amp;amp;B, as well as his skills as a harpist, but after establishing a decent amount of underground credibility, he&amp;#039;s taken a hard right turn into making more broadly crowd-pleasing stuff. While his new Rapor EP is full of icy synthetic textures, aggressively deep bass, and other hallmarks of the contemporary electronic avant-garde (not to mention more harp than the average pop album), it also features turns by Mikky Ekko (best known for his appearance on Rihanna&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Stay&amp;quot;) and Ellie &amp;quot;Lights&amp;quot; Goulding (who&amp;#039;s recorded a cover of Grossi&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Hanging On&amp;quot;) and big enough hooks to support both. The results are sure to fill floors at big clubs with more subtle charm that his competition could ever hope to summon. We asked Grossi to make us a playlist of what he&amp;#039;s been listening to. &amp;quot;Thought I&amp;#039;d put together some ambling icy tracks,&amp;quot; he responded, &amp;quot;since winter is quickly approaching. Plus those tend to be the songs I make and the songs I listen to most.&amp;quot; Plus: Listen to a Spotify playlist here or scroll down. The Knife, &amp;quot;A Tooth for an Eye&amp;quot;      &amp;quot;The Knife are one of my favorite groups and their sound is something I continually look to for inspiration. I put on their records and it makes me want to go and write new music, and that&amp;#039;s what it&amp;#039;s all about I think. This song was the first released from their latest album, and I can remember hearing it for the first time and slowly increasing the volume until the speakers in my studio started to give. Definitely the sign of a great song, in my opinion.&amp;quot; Caretaker, &amp;quot;An Empty Bliss Beyond This World&amp;quot;      &amp;quot;The music of Caretaker was introduced to me by a friend who knew I was a huge fan of the film The Shining. Apparently the artist was so taken with a specific scene in the film that he decided to recreate that world over and over in his own music. That scene being when Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) walks into the empty ballroom and orders a drink from the imaginary bartender. The ballroom comes to life in Jack&amp;#039;s mind and the eerie music that pours out of Caretaker&amp;#039;s psyche is a perfect companion for a snowy day. This is a link to the full album, so please listen in doses.&amp;quot; FKA Twigs, &amp;quot;Water Me&amp;quot;      &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s pretty rare that I find an artist whose videos and songs I love almost equally. Almost. Twigs teases my tender romantic side but with a raw, almost violent production that is so unique. That combined with her soft, sensual almost-whisper of a voice, and I melt. I&amp;#039;ve been listening to her EP2 on the road a ton.&amp;quot;  Oneohtrix Point Never, &amp;quot;I Only Have Eyes for You&amp;quot;      &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;ve all heard the classic track, but I promise you&amp;#039;ve never heard it reworked and reimagined like this. Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix takes the a cappella and twists and turns it around a bed of synthesized voices. The way the chord progressions dissolve and resolve into one another is mesmerizing.&amp;quot; Nico, &amp;quot;My Funny Valentine&amp;quot;      &amp;quot;Another old classic reinvented by one of my favorite voices. Nico&amp;#039;s delivery and accent give the lyrics an eerie feeling, as though she is crooning just for you from some dark, dusky lounge in Cologne.&amp;quot; Holy Other, &amp;quot;U Know&amp;quot;      &amp;quot;Holy Other&amp;#039;s debut Held has been in and out of my mind since I first bought it. It&amp;#039;s an unassuming record that creeps up on you slowly. One of the greats, that in time becomes a permanent fixture of your collection. This track sits in the middle of the album and always struck me with its precision and timing, while still leaving you floating high above the world.&amp;quot;  Chromatics, &amp;quot;Lady&amp;quot;      &amp;quot;This song and really most of the Chromatics&amp;#039; catalogue has been a staple since I first heard their record label&amp;#039;s After Dark mix a few years back. They were on there along with a group of other amazing artists under the same Italo-disco-electronic umbrella. Johnny Jewel&amp;#039;s production has been a big inspiration for me, especially his use of repetition and arpeggiated synthesizers.&amp;quot;  Fever Ray, &amp;quot;Concrete Walls&amp;quot;      &amp;quot;When I first moved back to L.A. from Denver, I went to a Fever Ray show at the Fonda. I was by myself, sitting in the balcony, and it was one of the best concert experiences I&amp;#039;ve ever had. Karin Dreijer Andersson came out in the shape of a tree, her voice pitched into a dark drawl, lights softly flickering around her. It sounds weird, but if you were there it made complete sense.&amp;quot; Angel Olsen, &amp;quot;Tiniest Seed&amp;quot;      Follow The Culture Blog on RSS and on Twitter at @ESQCulture. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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