I have a gift card to spend and I’ve decided it’s going to be on electronic music. I used to be really into it and over the years I guess I’ve kinda lost touch… I was browsing the section in a local store and I realized I was unfamiliar with most of the names there, which never used to be the case. So, if anyone’s up on this kinda stuff, I’ll give you some guidelines and maybe you can point me in the right direction.
My favorite genres have typically been progressive house and deep house. I think Deep Dish, except George is On and some of their overly-vocal stuff, is brilliant. I have one CD by Pete Tong, and that’s still in heavy rotation after 3 years. I like digital mixed with melodic, I like robotic symphonies, I like dancing, not stomping. I like music that could be considered “sexy”… I do like the Naked Music label and the Om label, but right now I’m looking for something a little less jazzy and a little more electro-. Vocals are fine, but I don’t like them to be overpowering or overdone… to me it cheapens the music. Mix CDs are perfectly ok; I actually seem to enjoy those most.
I absolutely hate a lot of trance… I can generally get into a few songs on John Digweed, Paul van Dyk, and Sasha albums, but their sound as a whole eventually gets to me. In order for me to appreciate trance, it’s got to be very layered and varied. I can’t stand being assaulted with a loud, continuous synthesizer melody over a driving beat. I also in general do not appreciate the dreamy cutoffs in trance where people are expected to just stand there and sway or something.
I hope there’s someone out there who shares (or at least understands) my taste. I feel hopelessly out of the loop, so I would appreciate any help back in.
You could also check out some of the trance/electronica radio shows to see which artists you like. I have used http://di.fm/ a fair amount – they stream multiple types of electronica, house, etc. 24/7, so there should be something you like out there. Once you find the stuff you like, check the playlists to get specifics.
Do you like Paul Oakenfold? I love some of his stuff and can’t stand some others – Voyage Intro Trance and Tranceport are two of my all-time favorites. I also like I like Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance radio show, which I believe DI.fm carries.
When you say “electro” and “robotic symphonies” one particular genre comes to mind, but I’m not sure it is what you are looking for. There is an underground sound here in FL that is has booming bass instead of a 4 count house or trance beat. It also has (what I saw accurately described as) ‘psychotic’ keyboards, along with mechanical, outer space sounds and robotic or demonic voices rapping or chanting over the music. It’s obviously very dark, but it is what everyone listens to here in the more underground dance clubs (not the touristy, trance fueled ones). The style is an offshoot of electro, usually called electro bass, or electro breaks, or sometimes Florida breaks (this is probably the most incorrect term, but some people use it)
some examples:
trailer for a documentary about dark electro:
jackal & hyde in concert:
or check out some of the artists on myspace-
Ghosts in the Machine
Analogue to Future
Dynamix II (yes, the same guys who did “Give the DJ a Break”)
Exzakt:
If this is a sound you would like to find, I can post some CDs to look for, although typically most DJs will post mixes on their websites that you can download.
Oh—and if you want to stay in the deeper trance vibe, look up Anthony Pappa. He plays very deep trance with some breaks and is what I really got into as I moved out of my deep trance (John Digweed) phase but before I really got into the dark/evil/bass type breakbeat
I’m not sure if I’m getting the OP’s drift, but maybe try some Boards of Canada (especially “Music Has The Right to Children”) and Autechre (“Tri Repetae++”, “Incunabula”).
I’m a fan of robot music too. You could give Solvent a try – my fave songs you can hear on that page are Solvently One Listens and My Radio. I’m also a fan of pretty much all the artists on the Morr Music label. Not sure if this is what you’re looking for though!
