There are a lot of misconceptions in this thread that I want to clear up a bit.
So, genres. Generally it's not necessary to even use the concept of genres if you don't want to, and getting into pedantic arguments over whether something is techstep or neurofunk is largely pointless. However, if you want to use a genre descriptor, it should be accurate.
Genres in electronic music are largely defined by tempo, percussive patterns ("four to the floor" house and techno beats, or broken beats as in hip-hop, breaks, DnB, and dubstep), and aesthetic (is the tune soulful and pretty, or is it dark? Are there a lot of reggae samples and airhorns, or maybe glitchy computer noises?).
Here's a nifty though dated chart:
Artists may or may not make music that exclusively fits into one of these categories. Deadmau5 is mostly progressive house, for instance, but a given Bonobo album, while generally (and somewhat unhelpfully) described as 'trip hop' or 'downtempo', will have a large range of tempo and energy level across different tracks.
Interested in broken beat genres? Watch this video about
the drum beat that started it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac
Examples:
(these are extremely general and lengthy articles can and have been written about sub-genres for each of these broad categories; also this is not going to be complete since I'm headed out the door)
House
Techno
Trance
Generally cheesy as fuck, very melodic, and ranging from very ambient to in-your-face psytrance
Check out: Armen Van Buren, Liquid Soul
Breaks
Drum and Bass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzYlQFGAb24
Note the higher tempo and the "bm, tsh, bm tsh" pattern. This tune shows a lot of the ragga jungle roots, with Jamaican slang and hip-hop influences.
Check out: Dieselboy, LTJ Bukem
Posts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFXg1o04qA0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MZmPoPvJYE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nwRSv7uWjQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3966Om2rhU&list
more trance is nice.
and not always cheesy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGuvdPgYcCc
Then I asked for guidance on how to differentiate talent from Steve Aoki in the Help section
But sticky fingers is insultingly bad.
They were doing an acoustic tour... ish for the new album. I heard that was good.
Yes, I heard that for the first time that night and thought to myself "WTF is this?"
This is more like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAouQH-34hs
All of the feels.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=khQ7OydC2Yw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FAs4wXY6P4I
Aphex Twin has a new album in the mix.
this genre gets called "atmospheric breaks" on di.fm and whatever it is it's precisely my jam for uptempo gaming music:
Airwave - Pain Is My Relief
http://youtu.be/JMvdKYttOpQ
Omauha - Victoria (starts at 1:00)
http://youtu.be/UNeFmKTQMQs
E Mantra - Minimal Butterfly
http://youtu.be/Wx6dNFYLhm0
- - -
another thing I've started listening to more is trip hop, which as TL DR noted above is kind of a difficult genre to pin down. you get artists that actually perform songs live with a band in addition to the usual DJs. one such producer that also tours with a band is Emancipator (who you've probably heard at some point in the last few years). his Emancipator Ensemble show in 2014 is probably the most fun I've had at a show in my life
Minor Cause
http://youtu.be/fULXi348-jI
Maps
http://youtu.be/k7Z7USWo2Lk
- - -
lastly (for now) is another kind of blurrily defined genre called "downtempo" or "chillout" and it's exactly that. good stuff to unwind to, although some of it can have a kind of sinister vibe.
Ulrich Schnauss - Blumenwiese Neben Autobahn
http://youtu.be/v8l6uEdCTGM
Koan - Odysseus Under The Old Tree
http://youtu.be/a-YgxXc9_w0
Zero Cult - Absolute Zero
http://youtu.be/ZnrJBSkdRuI
Holly Drummond - Fade (Fejká Remix) [if you only listen to one song in this post make it this one]
http://youtu.be/Ywsdfltiwis
I have much more to share but that's a good start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca93bp-jpn8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHLsDX7Gu5E
https://youtu.be/baEusxJ8D0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zlQYQ0ecA4
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
or really accessible trap in the vein of Major Lazer / Diplo
or, as other have mentioned, EDM / festival house
Now as for what I've been into lately, it's been sexy downtempo as in Aliza Baraz's latest album (which will get somebody pregnant 5/7 times)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TphlwFup5YE
Cold Busted is a good label with lots of hip-hop tempos and often free sample albums
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV-hSgL1R74
Mortal Kombat and Hackers totally led me to it, but it's withstood the test of time for me.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8F1iO0_tno
He does a lot of cool stuff visually for his live show as you can see here. Tells a story. Live show is absolutely incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozB10JuuB1U
I've had a real thing for noise-ish stuff lately, but I still want it rhythmic, so no Merzbow please. :rotate:
Comaduster was my favorite find for 2014. A bit breakcore, a tiny bit dubstep-ish, some rhythmic noise stuff... and some actual not-awful vocals on top of that.
Also the guy was an audio engineer on Mass Effect 2 and did some music for the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ_fN_-ci4Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmfLC_0uSN0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcvtMB10IIU
Aww, I was watching that thinking it would be one story. I feel cockblocked.
It's an absolute classic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4eav7dFvc8
music wise, one of my favorite bands right now is a group called crystal fighters. No idea how to characterize it. Maybe, electrofolk? idk. They play this crazy two person Basque percussion instrument called a txalaparta as well, which is insane to see live. Anyway check 'em out why not. Will spoiler some videos below. Thems a trip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRn4tS2_2_A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdiwi2mKVaA
Rising Appalachia's collab album with The Human Experience is delightful
Zap Mama's tune 'Rafiki' has a world vibe and definitely bumps in a way that will be familiar to modern American ears
And while I'm at it, why not talk about a few more obscure genres?
Psybient
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hjCOM2LAdM
Psydub
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPO4eohy8Es
Jamtronica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjzSbiqlSZs
* goddaayum that black thought verse is hot tho.
I'm going to try to go to this: http://moonrisefestival.com/
I should post more for-real EDM later
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
my new favorite techno song
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
with a genere name like Psydub, I want to like it. But i need more dealies in my music.
what's poppin'?
you should lay some phat tracks on the thread, homie.
ok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvUOmKIKsUc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccYHViDzeNg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq1ZYSuEnu8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB5h5Z8peDs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlq4J1ww_Ck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_4TwcD7g1s&list=PLK5MMxLeUGDC4eNRnCJqwqIpa03KCrADU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0f96HQbCY4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHezT3Q62vc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0i1Szq6GM8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IrHzrg4qdQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEWGRwFrjD8
to start
over the top trance is kind of my guilty pleasure. but even I have my limits; if you go by Ishkur's guide that was posted in the H/A thread (holy shit that thing takes me back) the stuff you'd call "Epic Trance" is something I can only tolerate in small doses, and "Dutch Trance" grates on my nerves after a track or two. even so, I kind of dig the stuff.
this isn't the post for that, though. for me it all started with Sasha & John Digweed's Northern Exposure, which is a kind of weird entry point to Trance but now considered a classic. my favorite track features the incomparable William Orbit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGfmTTEZh-c
around the same time I ran into Sandra Collins' Tranceport 3 which was also pretty minimal, except that a few of the later tracks in the mix were epic as all get out. like this one, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjzKDX7bNXE
after that it was Tiesto. of course it was Tiesto, if you were listening to EDM in the late 90s/early 00s he was fucking everywhere. if you're looking for straightforward throwback trance without any complexity, he's your guy. yeah, he became something of a joke later on but this mix album from 2000 was my jam for a good long while
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdBGPCTvOHs&list=PLUqjxGQMgMTq9MipfcK9oI-LxwOO4rKVA
after that there was a lot of kind of disposable trance music served up to me non-stop by di.fm, some of it was pretty good but little of it memorable enough to post here. the next thing that really made an impact for me was Paul Oakenfold's Creamfields which had two tracks that especially stood out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih7pC3s5Z88
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZUyon81kC4
around 2010 I sort of fell out of love with Trance. there's more interesting music being made these days in the same vein. some of these classics still hold up through the years, though.
he samples trance and throws big booming MPC hip hop beats underneath and its just the best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQnBvSy58G4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmdCCRpCG3w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF_60jBDs7M
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
Music that a computer made or something?
no, sometimes you make it with a washing machine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS1Ii77n8iA
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
like a computer could ever make music without drugs
and this one which has a waytoobig poster
Vertex looks like the better lineup for me. Buena Vista is a gorgeous part of the state, too.