The age of the vanilla DJ

Can I admit something embarrassing? I’m fascinated by the “Funk Wav Bounces” series. On the one hand, Calvin Harris’s duology of beach-ready pop anthems could not be further from what many would consider “artistic” or even “high-quality.” The production uses famous features and basic basslines as crutches to prop up a formula that never evolves in interesting ways. On the other hand, it is an unmistakably specific work that, through its sheer charisma, has earned millions of fans. I’m one of them. This is not the first time I’ve written about this strange contradiction at the core of “Funk Wav,” but this story is not about this pair of albums. At least, not yet. When Harris was set to release “Funk Wav Bounces,” there was a troubling trend in the music industry that made it seem like the duology was destined for failure. As the album was developing, a series of electro-pop tracks had formed a toxic tidal wave that washed over the music industry for the better part of a decade. This is a retrospective of that time, which I’ve chosen to refer to as the Age of the Vanilla DJ. Allow me to be very clear: This is...