It’s hard to write about yourself and something so personal as musical taste, but I continue to do so. FOR YOU!!1! Don’t forget about Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Believe it or not, there’s more to electronic music than just going OONTS OONTS OONTS over and over again. In fact, this is a genre I never thought I’d like growing up; at the time, it just seemed like so much noise. But I’ve developed an appreciation as time goes on.
I’ll repeat: categorizing genres sucks. Luckily this time I have help, in the form of Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music. If you’re curious, have a few minutes, and don’t mind listening to song samples, it’s a great way to pass the time. I was really surprised by how many of the songs I had been exposed to without knowing it. It’s definitely a blast-from-the-internet-past in terms of interface, and doesn’t include newer genres like dubstep, but it’s still useful.
Anyway, on to the genres.
Trance
It’s amazing how encompassing this genre is. So encompassing, in fact, that I really had no idea where to start. Luckily a friend lent me some of her music collection to get me started. For me, this genre includes the more dreamy (trance-inducing, if you will) tracks. You know, music you could put on in the background and just float away with. Or dance to by way of swaying back and forth. I find it relaxing (despite the tempo), yet not sleep-inducing. Artists like Robert Miles, VNV Nation, Front 242, are some of the bands I would include in here off the top of my head. And while it may not be completely orthodox, I’d probably lump Kraftwerk in here as well.
One thing that surprised me was how fond I’ve become of Goa Trance. It’s… trippy. It doesn’t tend to relax me the same way as other Trance music does, and sometimes seems to bleed into the next category.
House
If you lived through the 90s, and especially if you were into martial arts at that time, you probably heard this track. I think of this genre as a bit more “dance-able” than Trance, in that it inspires me to move more. Maybe some jumping up and down instead of swaying side to side (am I even making sense any more? I can’t tell). Artists I would put in this category would be people like Ryöksopp, George Acosta, Deadmau5, and of course Daft Punk
Daft Punk is interesting in how they seem to vary in style between albums. Homework was very funky, while Discovery scratched a lot of the same itch that Disco used to (did you know that album got made in to an anime movie?). Human After All swung back towards the funk, and Random Access Memories back towards disco. Interesting, no?
Chiptune
Oh man, right in the nostalgia feels. You remember the type of music that video games used in the NES era? Well, people are writing new music that sounds like that. Sometimes even using original hardware. And it is awesome. Admittedly, I often have to limit how much I listen to (the lo-fi stylings tend to grate after a while), but it’s a fun genre.