Please explain Electronic music

[Thistlehart]

I enjoy the genre, but I must admit that my knowledge is limited on the subject of music in general. Moreso with this. I know there are several subgenres to Electronic (dubstep and such). Honestly, I don't even know if Electronic is the broad term.

So please, Escapists, enlighten me to the various shades of Electronic music available to enjoy.
What are some examples of Electronic music?
What are the subgenres, and what are some examples of those?
Who are your favorites?

If you provide samples, please use spoiler tags. Thanks all. Let's have some fun with this.

 

[BringBackBuck]

Back in my day it was all doof doof doof. Now it's all wub wub wub. It's hard to keep up.

 

[purf]

...and then there's the krztlblip.

 

[Fishyash]

Electronic music is pretty damn big as a whole, and IMO it's more than just a genre.

There is A LOT to it... like, a lot lot. Describing electronic music is like describing classical music on a smaller scale.

It's pretty simple what electronic music is though. Use of electronic instruments and electronic music technology (sampling, for example) as a central base for your music.

An early example would probably be something like this:

Spoiler: by no means an earliest example

I am assuming you're talking about electronic dance music though, they mainly came from dance genres of music from the 50s & 60s(??? I have no bloody clue really) like Disco, funk... rock?

Wikipedia is your best friend here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_dance_music where you can find a lot of this.

My personal favourite genre of EDM is house. I mainly like house that maintains a really strong connection to its predecessor, Disco (another genre of music I am highly fond of). Daft Punk is a very good example of this, most notably in their Discovery album.

Recently? I don't really listen to much, my favourite genres would be House and Drum & Bass. Personally one of my favourite house tracks lately was this one:

Spoiler: an example of what kind of house music I like

 

[Raven's Nest]

Electronic music in the UK describes quite a range of musical genres and styles, some of which can be very different from eachother. All however, predominantly feature electronic instruments such as keyboards, synthesisers, drum machines and computer software...

Well of the particular sub-genres I like:

There's Big-Beat, popularised by The Prodigy who are one of the most successful dance acts in the UK


There's the House/Trance hybrid, one of the most prolific artists that I like being Faithless.


Trip-hop, which is something I'm really fond of. Massive Attack are probably the most well-known trip hop artists

Spoiler

Electro, which is best describe as dance music which uses purely electronic sounds. Daft Punk are fairly synomonous with this genre.

You also get a real 80's style of electronic music whose proper name eludes me, anyway here's Tangerine Dream

Spoiler

Drum and Bass became very popular in the UK around 18 years ago and is still going strong. Here is one of the better examples of the genre, Pendulum

Spoiler

I'm done for now but if I suddenly remember something awesome and different, I'll post it.

 

[ubersyanyde]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_dance_music

This page will have all the information on all the specifics of each genre and a list of most sub-genres as well.

My favourite sub-genres would be Drumstep (Varien - Mirrors) and Glitch-hop (Tut Tut Child - Mysterious Stranger).

 

[Jazoni89]

I can help you with that.

The prominent genre's you have are, House, Ambient, Techno, Hardcore, Industrial, Breakbeat, Downtempo, Dance, Disco, Trance, Dub and Rave.

Everything else is broke down into sub genre's that are either a fusion, a derivative, or are influenced on these styles.

These styles include (but not limited to) Jungle, Drum and Bass, UK Garage, Trip-Hop, Grime, Big Beat, Glitch, Dubstep, and Acid House.

My personal favourites are Drum and Bass, and Trip-Hop.

Especially Trip-Hop, which a great fusion of Downtempo, with Hip-Hop beats and scratches. The genre has some truly classic albums which contains some of the best electronic music ever made.

Here's a great example of a Trip-Hop tune.

Spoiler

Also, an incredible song by Bowery Electric, which fuses Trip-Hop with another one of my favourite genre's Shoegazing. This needs to be played on headphones for maximum effect.

Spoiler

I have to share this, because Natalie Walker has an amazing voice, and she is vastly underrated as a Trip-Hop artist, which is a crying shame.

Spoiler

I can't forget the old Pimps, they are so 90's.

Spoiler

 

[Vault101]

ohhh boy

I thourght this was going ot be one of those "I dont get why people like it? tell me why do people like it?" threads


anyway..all I can say is that electronic music as a whole should never be refered too as simply techno

also glitch mob...

...seriously glitch mob

[spoiler/]

[/spoiler]

 

[purf]

Is it really so important or necessary or even helpful to shoehorn stuff into genres?

Electronic dance music (EDM) is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment. The music is largely created for use by disc jockeys and is produced with the intention of it being heard in the context of a continuous DJ set; wherein the DJ progresses from one record to the next via a synchronized segue or "mix".[1]

A couple of electronic or electronically produced things I listen to, none of them fitting the above description.

Spoiler: Autechre - Rettic AC (1997)

Spoiler: Bauri - Vintetar (2002)

Spoiler: Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy (2005)

Spoiler: Aphex Twin - Plenty Harmonium (2001)

I see what I did here.

Spoiler: Animals on Wheels - Soluble Ducks (1997)

Spoiler: Clifford Gilberto Rhythm Combination - Soulbath (1998)

10 albums to take on the lonely island? This is one of them.

Spoiler: Daniel Maze - Glass Fingers (2010)

Spoiler: Funkstörung @ Tocotronic - Morgen wird wie heute sein (2000)

Spoiler: Irish - Frustrations (2009)

http://www.monocromatica.com/netlabel/releases/tube184.htm

Spoiler: Ulver - Tomorrow Never Knows (2000)

Spoiler: sounded like this in '93

Spoiler: James Blake - Limit to Your Love (2011)

the common label is "dubstep".

 

[Thistlehart]

Is it really so important or necessary or even helpful to shoehorn stuff into genres?

I think calling it "shoehorning" is a bit crass. Why do we have names for colors? Why do we classify animals and plants, and come up with identifiers for molecules? Why bother differentiating between a resistor, a transmiter, and a transistor?

It is important, necessary, and helpful to classify and name things so that we have a basis for understanding. That sometimes these ideas congeal into stereotypes and such is merely an unfortunate side-effect proliferated by the ignorant and lazy.

Please do not look down on me for attempting to establish a basis for inquiry. It's really quite unbecoming.

But also, thank you for the samples. They were quite interesting.

 

[Thistlehart]

ohhh boy

I thourght this was going ot be one of those "I dont get why people like it? tell me why do people like it?" threads


anyway..all I can say is that electronic music as a whole should never be refered too as simply techno

Heh, I hadn't realized I'd worded it quite that way. Oh well, it now serves a dual purpose.

So is "techno" a dirty word in the EM lexicon? Please educate me.

 

[purf]

Is it really so important or necessary or even helpful to shoehorn stuff into genres?

snip

Didn't want to come across condescending or something, but you see, if you say "bird" or "red", then we both know what you're talking about. If you say, for example, "dubstep", you could refer to the aforementioned James Blake or to some unrelated funfair music to ride bumper cars by.

edit, as for "techno":

Spoiler: these two are certainly both called Techno

one of them makes my brain suffocate.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

I like breakcore, or something. I don't really know what it is because whenever I see people talking about it in relation to genre nobody really knows. An example would be Venetian Snares or Kashiwa Daisuke.

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I see IDM thrown around a lot in relation to some electronic music, it means "intelligent dance music", which is kinda fucking arrogant but it at least covers a large amount of musicians like Flying Lotus, Aphex Twin, 65daysofstatic etc. I'd rather have a few subgenres that cover a large amount of musicians than have a shitload of subgenres that differ very little from one another.

 

[Thistlehart]

Didn't want to come across condescending or something, but you see, if you say "bird" or "red", then we both know what you're talking about. If you say, for example, "dubstep", you could refer to the aforementioned James Blake or to some unrelated funfair music to ride bumber cars by.

Fair enough.

Though I posit this thought. If both represent dubstep, and James Blake is of higher quality (as I assume you suggest by your comparison), certainly there is value in the "funfair" tune despite it's apparent inferiority. Even if what it provides is a list of "don'ts". Yes?

It would say, "This is also dubstep, but it shows how the elements of the genre can be poorly implemented."

Ultimately, that becomes an aspect of taste and preference. I've heard some funfair music that was quite... well... fun.

But I digress. This is also why I asked for samples, if people were willing.

 

[Launcelot111]

There's a lot of subgenres if you're looking for just electronic dance music, and I have a hard time differentiating between them. Just using the term electronic music pretty much invites anyone who's ever used a synthesizer. Let's take a look:

Spoiler: Flying Lotus

Spoiler: M83

Spoiler: Squarepusher

Spoiler: Anamanaguchi

Spoiler: Royksopp

Spoiler: Washed Out

Spoiler: Caribou

All of these guys count as electronic, but I don't find them particularly dancey. It's a very broad category

Also, you get a captcha error if the word you use to describe Chanel products is "stupid"

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I have a preference for electronic music that's mixed with other genres.


Just past the 2 minute mark, the track introduces some electronic sounds, and shit just gets awesome. Who thought violins and synth would go so well together?

Enter Shikari is my favourite band, they mix rock and electronics perfectly.

Thems is some sexy wub wubs

 

[DugMachine]

Just make sure you call the music by their genres. It's really annoying when somebody calls something like Industrial or Trance and someone goes "hurr this is some good techno." I don't say anything about it because not everyone is into the genre and has done any research but if you can help it, don't be that guy.

 

[GiantRaven]

I see IDM thrown around a lot in relation to some electronic music, it means "intelligent dance music", which is kinda fucking arrogant but it at least covers a large amount of musicians like Flying Lotus, Aphex Twin, 65daysofstatic etc. I'd rather have a few subgenres that cover a large amount of musicians than have a shitload of subgenres that differ very little from one another.

I really wish IDM was called something other than 'IDM'. I always feel like a right twat when I try to explain what kind of music I like.

 

[Raven's Nest]

I see IDM thrown around a lot in relation to some electronic music, it means "intelligent dance music", which is kinda fucking arrogant but it at least covers a large amount of musicians like Flying Lotus, Aphex Twin, 65daysofstatic etc. I'd rather have a few subgenres that cover a large amount of musicians than have a shitload of subgenres that differ very little from one another.

I really wish IDM was called something other than 'IDM'. I always feel like a right twat when I try to explain what kind of music I like.

I don't know the other artists but Aphex Twin is classed as experimental or occasionally avant-garde.