Electronic Education Thread

[IWP]

Ypu should put down EBM (Electronic Body Music) as well. I'm slowly starting to get into some of that.

[djchameleon]

Breakbeats

The use of a non-straightened 4/4 drum pattern is one of the defining attributes of the Breakbeat genre. The genre essentially grew from the usage of two sampled drum beats: "Amen, brother" and "Funky drummer (The Winstons, James Brown, respectively). The core element of Breakbeat began with electronic elements centered around the use of those specific samples in terms of identifying attributes, and eventually grew to be unified by the type of drum pattern those breaks represented . Numerous sub-genres spawned in the wake of this genre including; Big beat, Breakcore Broken beat, Funky breaks, Hardcore breaks, Nu Skool breaks and Progressive breaks.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, hip-hop DJs (starting with Kool DJ Herc) began using several of these essential "breaks" (the part of a funk or jazz song in which the music "breaks" to let the rhythm section play unaccompanied) in a row to use as the rhythmic basis for hip-hop songs. Kool DJ Herc's breakbeat style was to play the same record on two turntables and play the break repeatedly by alternating between the two records (letting one play while spinning the second record back to the beginning of the break). This style was copied and improved upon by early hip hop DJs Afrika Bambaataa and Grand Wizard Theodore. This style was extremely popular in clubs and dance halls because the extended breakbeat was the perfect backdrop for break dancers to show their skills.
In the early 1990s, acid house artists and producers started using breakbeat samples in their music to create breakbeat hardcore, also known as rave music. The hardcore scene then diverged into sub-genres like jungle and drum and bass, which generally had a darker sound and focused more on complex sampled drum patterns. A good example of this is Goldie's album 'Timeless'.

In 1992 a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out, trance-like state that the standard, steady 4/4 beats of rave enabled.
In recent times, the term breakbeat has become synonymous with the many genres of breaks music which have become popular within the global dance music scene, including big beat, Nu Skool breaks and Progressive breaks. DJs from a variety of genres, including house and techno, work breaks tracks into their sets. This may occur because the tempo of breaks tracks (ranging from 110 to 150 beats per minute) means they can be readily mixed with these genres, whereas the comparatively fast speed of jungle and drum and bass (160-180 bpm) may have restricted the utility of these subgenres to DJs playing slower-tempo music. Some artists well known for breakbeat include Frankie Bones, The Freestylers, NAPT, Soul Of Man, The Breakfastaz, Ctrl Z, Freq Nasty and the Plump DJ's.

Big Beat

Rescuing the electronica community from a near fall off the edge of its experimental fringe, Big Beat emerged in the mid-'90s as the next wave of big dumb dance music. Regional pockets around the world had emphasized the "less intelligent" side of dance music as early as 1994, in reaction to the growing coterie of chin-stroking intellectuals attached to the drum'n'bass and experimental movements. Big beat as a distinct movement finally coalesced in 1995-96 around two British labels: Brighton's Skint and London's Wall of Sound. The former -- home to releases by Fatboy Slim, Bentley Rhythm Ace, and Lo-Fidelity Allstars -- deserves more honors for innovation and quality, though Wall of Sound was founded slightly earlier and released great singles by Propellerheads, Wiseguys, and Les Rythmes Digitales. Big beat soon proved very popular in America as well, and artists attached to City of Angels Records (the Crystal Method, Überzone, Lunatic Calm, Front BC) gained a higher profile thanks to like-minded Brits. Other than Fatboy Slim, the other superstar artists of big beat were the Chemical Brothers and Prodigy, two groups who predated the style (and assisted its birth). Both the Chemical Brothers and Prodigy were never tight fits either, given productions that often reflected the more intelligent edge of trip-hop, and rarely broke into the mindless arena of true big beat.

The sound of big beat, a rather shameless fusion of old-school party breakbeats with appropriately off-the-wall samples, was reminiscent of house music's sampladelic phase of the late '80s as well as old-school rap and its penchant for silly samples and irresistible breaks. Though the sample programming and overall production was leaps and bounds beyond its predecessors, big beat was nevertheless criticized for dumbing down the electronica wave of the late '90s. Even while recordings by the Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, and Fatboy Slim hit the American charts and earned positive reviews -- granted, from rock critics -- worldwide, many dance fans rejected the style wholesale for being too reliant on gimmicky production values and played-out samples. Big beat lasted a surprisingly long time, given the constraints of a style reliant on the patience of listeners who've heard the same break dozens of times, as well as the patience of DJs to hunt local thrift stores to find interesting samples on old instructional records.

Breakcore

Breakcore is an electronic music style that brings together elements of industrial, jungle, hardcore techno and IDM into a breakbeat-oriented sound that encourages speed, complexity, impact and maximum sonic density. It adheres to a loose set of stylistic rules.
As the early days of "hardcore techno" or just "hardcore" began to settle in Europe, breakcore as a genre began to take more concrete forms in other parts of the world. Inspired by new labels such as Addict, from Milwaukee, USA; Peace Off from Rennes, France; Sonic Belligeranza from Bologna, Italy; and Planet Mu, from London, began to take a new shape, adding in more elements of mashup and IDM to the hardcore sounds. Each of these labels began to draw in aspects of their own social and aesthetic scenes into their music, allowing for an even broader definition of what was possible in the music.
One of the most controversial issues in breakcore is that of the mere existence of the genre. Because it pulls liberally from other musical genres, there is not a consensus on what is and what is not breakcore, or even over the usefulness of the term itself. Because of the fragmentation, the breakcore scene is not centered in any one geographical location, but is rather scattered into disparate groups. Perhaps the one place where breakcore's "voice" can be heard is virtually, through the internet and various online forums, such as those at C8 and Widerstand (Eiterherd's website, now defunct).
According to Simon Reynolds, of The New York Times, breakcore is "purveyed by artists like DJ/Rupture and Teamshadetek, the music combines rumbling bass lines, fidgety beats and grainy ragga vocals to create a home-listening surrogate for the bashment vibe of a Jamaican sound system party. Others within the breakcore genre, like Knifehandchop, Kid 606 and Soundmurderer, hark back to rave's own early days, their music evoking the rowdy fervor of a time when huge crowds flailed their limbs to a barrage of abstract noise and convulsive rhythm. It's a poignant aural mirage of a time when techno music was made for the popular vanguard rather than a connoisseurial elite, as it is today.
In Europe, the breakcore genre was solidified by raves and club events such as Belgium's Breakcore Gives Me Wood featuring local acts such as UndaCova, Sickboy and Droon; Breakcore A Go Go, in the Netherlands, which was run by FFF and Bong-Ra; as well as Anticartel, in Rennes, the seat of PeaceOff, and later, Wasted in Berlin.

[djchameleon]

Hardcore breaks

Hardcore breaks is a genre of electronic music written in the style of old skool rave music or breakbeat hardcore using modern technology. The music is composed of from looped, edited and processed breakbeat samples, intense bassline sounds, staccato synthesizer riffs, and various vocal samples (frequently taken from old house records). The speed of this genre typically falls between the range of 140-150 BPM, although there are exceptions within a 10 BPM buffer on each side, and the DJ will often change the speed when playing at a rave. Originally being produced by a small group of artists with the vision of carrying on where oldskool hardcore left off before the jungle/happy hardcore split using new production techniques and technology, its appeal has now expanded to include artists from the original breakbeat hardcore scene creating new productions. Many large rave promotions now include hardcore breaks on the line up and it is recognised as its own entity. Hardcore Breaks together with Rave Breaks and J-tek is considered to be part of the Nu-Rave scene.

Jungle

Presently the difference between jungle (or oldschool jungle) and Drum and Bass is a common debate within the "junglist" community. There is no universally accepted semantic distinction between the terms "jungle" and "Drum and Bass". Some associate "jungle" with older black sounding material from the first half of the 1990s (sometimes referred to as "jungle techno"), and see Drum and Bass as essentially succeeding Jungle. Others use Jungle as a shorthand for ragga jungle, a specific sub-genre within the broader realm of Drum and Bass. In the U.S., the combined term "jungle drum and bass" (JDB or JDNB) has some popularity, but is not widespread elsewhere.

Proponents of a distinction between jungle and drum and bass usually argue that:

* Drum and Bass has an integrated percussion and bass structure while jungle has a distinct bass line separated from the percussion.
* The relatively simple drum break beats of modern Drum and Bass (generally a two-step beat) are less complex than the 'chopped' 'Amen' breakbeats of jungle
* The usage of ragga and reggae vocals differentiates Drum and Bass from Jungle, but then again not all jungle has ragga/reggae vocals, some have other samples and some have no vocals.

The truth is more complicated than this, however. An often mistaken view of the difference between jungle and drum and bass, is that of making a distinction between two-step beat drum and bass and amen breakbeat drum and bass. This is really a distinction between tech-step drum and bass and the new style of drum & bass which occurred especially late-1994 and 1995. Drum and Bass really first referred to the increased attention to breakbeat editing. Perhaps the first track to explicitly use the term "drum and bass" to refer to itself as a different style was released in 1993.The producer The Invisible Man described it:

"A well edited Amen Break alongside an 808 sub kick and some simple atmospherics just sounded so amazing all on its own, thus the speech sample "strictly drum and bass". A whole new world of possibilities was opening up for the drum programming... It wasn't long before the amen break was being used by practically every producer within the scene, and as time progressed the Belgian style techno stabs and noises disappeared (thankfully!) and the edits and studio trickery got more and more complex. People were at last beginning to call the music Drum and Bass instead of hardcore. This Amen formula certainly helped cement the sound for many of the tracks I went on to produce for Gwange, Q-Project and Spinback on Legend Records. After a while, tracks using the Amen break virtually had a genre all of their own. Foul Play, Peshay, Bukem and DJ Crystal among others were all solid amen addicts back then too."

Since the term jungle was so closely related to the reggae influenced sound, DJs and producers who did not incorporate reggae elements began to adopt the term "drum and bass" to differentiate themselves and their musical styles. This reflected a change in the musical style which incorporated increased drum break editing. Sometimes this was referred to as "intelligence", though this later came to refer to the more relaxed style of drum and bass associated with producers such as LTJ Bukem.

Nu Skool breaks

Nu skool breaks (often abbreviated to nuskool) is a term used to describe a sub-genre of breakbeat. The sub-genre is usually characterized by its darker and heavier bass lines that are normally dominant throughout the track, and tear-out style synths with frenetic energy. Typically, tracks range between 125 to 140 bpm.
The term is widely attributed to Rennie Pilgrem and Adam Freeland, who used it to describe the sound at their night Friction, which was launched at Bar Rumba in 1996, with promoter Ian Williams. In 1998, the label was used on two compilations, Nu Skool Breaks, Volume 1 and 2, compiled with Danny McMillan and released through UK based Kickin Records. The first volume of these was recorded live at th e aforementioned London club night Friction
Recognised nu skool producers include Plump DJs, NAPT, Überzone, Freq Nasty, Ils, and Stanton Warriors. The major producers have remixed and/or produced tracks for acts such as Orbital, Fatboy Slim, 'N Sync, Kelis and New Order.
In the UK the scene has been dominated by acts such as Stanton Warriors, Plump DJs, Evil Nine, Adam Freeland and more recently NAPT, The Rogue Element, The Breakfastaz, The Wrongstar Society, CNTRL-Z, Storm Troopaz, and Far Too Loud. In the USA, known for its more acid-based breaks sound, the sound has gained popularity, especially on the West Coast. North American artists include Pillform, and Überzone. Australia also has a burgeoning scene with popular artists including Kid Kenobi and Dopamine.

Progressive breaks

Progressive breaks essentially grew out of nu skool breaks and progressive house. Due to its origins in those genres, progressive breakbeat typically features atmospheric pads and melodies, lush soundscapes and an unhurried, evolving progressive structure. Most artists working in this genre also work in other closely related genres such as breakbeats and progressive house. Hybrid is one of the most popular artists in this genre. Other popular breaks artists include Digital Witchcraft, Luke Chable, Momu, Nubreed, Plastic Shell, and Way Out West.

Trip Hop

Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music. It began in the mid-1990s, growing out of England's hip hop and house scenes, including that of the Bristol underground. It has been described as "Europe's alternative choice in the second half of the '90s", and a fusion "of Hip-Hop and Electronica until neither genre is recognizable.
Trip hop originated in the mid-1980s in Bristol, England, during a time when American hip hop started to gain increasing popularity there along with the then exploding popularity of the house music and dance scene. The originators of hip hop music in the 1970s had been Jamaican-born New Yorkers, but new US regional forms of MCing and DJing arose, and the genre's rise to mainstream success quickly severed it from direct Caribbean antecedents. The UK hip hop scene tended to sample more deeply from Jamaican influences, due to the larger Caribbean ancestry of the British black population, and the existing mass British popularity of reggae, dancehall and dub in the 1980s. Under the influence of American hip hop from the 1980s, both black and white British youth became consumers of hip hop. Hip hop in the UK, unlike the US, was immediately fused with black soul (R&B) and elements of dancehall.
In Bristol, once one of the most important ports in the Atlantic slave trade and now among Britain's most racially diverse cities, hip hop began to seep into the consciousness of a subculture already well-schooled in Jamaican forms of music. DJs, MCs, b-boys and graffiti artists grouped together into informal soundsystems. Like the pioneering Bronx crews of DJs Kool Herc, Afrika Bambataa and Grandmaster Flash, the soundsystems provided party music for public spaces, often in the economically deprived council estates from which some of their members originated. Bristol's soundsystem DJs, drawing heavily on Jamaican dub music, typically used a laid-back, slow and heavy drum beat ("down tempo").

In the 90s, Massive Attack pretty much brought Trip Hop to the Mainstream.
Massive Attack's first album Blue Lines was released in 1991 to huge success in the UK. Blue Lines was seen widely as the first major manifestation of a uniquely British hip hop movement, but the album's hit single "Unfinished Sympathy" and several other tracks, while their rhythms were largely sample-based, were not seen as hip hop songs in any conventional sense. Shara Nelson, an R&B singer, featured on the orchestral "Unfinished," and Jamaican dancehall star Horace Andy provided vocals on several other tracks, as he would throughout Massive Attack's career. Massive Attack released their second album entitled Protection in 1994. Although Tricky stayed on in a lesser role, and Hooper again produced, the fertile dance music scene of the early '90s had informed the record, and it was seen as an even more significant shift away from the Wild Bunch era.

Examples: Massive Attack, Howie B, Naked Funk, Red Snapper, Portishead,Tricky

Post-Trip Hop

After the success of Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky albums in 1994 and 1995, a new generation of trip hop artists emerged with a more standardized sound. Notable "post-trip-hop" artists include Morcheeba, Sneaker Pimps, Alpha, Mudville and Cibo Matto. They integrated trip hop with other genres - including ambient, R&B, breakbeat, drum 'n' bass, acid jazz, and new age. The first printed record for the use of the term "post-trip hop" was as late as October 2002 when British newspaper The Independent used it to describe Second Person and their hybrid sound. Trip hop developed into a diversified genre that is no longer limited to the "deep, dark style" of the early years, eliminating the original impression of trip hop as "dark and gloomy".

Trip hop has influenced artists outside the genre, including Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Travis, Beth Orton, Bitter:Sweet, Deftones as well as Icelandic singer Björk, who utilized the genre throughout her 1993 album Debut and her 1995 album Post. Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue's 1997 album Impossible Princess featured strong trip hop styles on several tracks, as well as also mixing in sounds of rock and jazz

Editing help from Freebase Dali

[djchameleon]

As you can see BreakBeats has all of its own sub genres so I added that in and I'm going to work on the other suggestions.

[lost hungry sox]

I love techno go techno it just makes me want to dance

[FETCHER.]

ive never been in here but that was really informative. i have a cd that has an intro, which has some bits and pieces of info thats not there, not much, not anything important, just interesting stuff, ill dig it out if you want

[atsmusic]

wow I never knew there were so many genres I never heard of!!!

[HiFi]

I have to say your listed artist for Techno are all what I would consider pop dance & house not techno at all. But then Im a total techno afficianado

[CanwllCorfe]

Originally Posted by HiFi

I have to say your listed artist for Techno are all what I would consider pop dance & house not techno at all. But then Im a total techno afficianado

Ohhh goodie! Maybe you can help me! I've been trying to track down stuff like this:





And these:





But without much success thus far

[HiFi]

Originally Posted by CanwllCorfe

Ohhh goodie! Maybe you can help me! I've been trying to track down stuff like this:



But without much success thus far

Got to say that Sor track by tommy47 is one of my faves this year. Love the brutality of the sounds. Ok dude here are some good resources for techno.

http://technomusicnews.com/ - Good general news, album releases & mixes source.

CLR Podcast One of the best new techno podcasts out there run by Chris Liebing.

WHITENOISE - Dave Clarkes whitenoise podcast this tends to be harder and with more of a focus on detroit techno & daves liking for old school afrika bombata style electro comes out occasionally.

My favourite mix of the last year or so...

http://technomusicnews.com/phil-kier...e-clr-podcast/

Phil Kierans album Shh is well worth checking out too.


here is a list of techno artists Ive been listening to a lot over the last few years...

Adam bayer
Apperat
Audio Injection
Ben Klock
Ben Simms
Billy Nasty
Booka Shade
Brian Senhaji
Carl Cox
Chris Finke
Dave Clarke
Damon Wild
Drumcell
Function
James Ruskin
Joey Beltram /JB3
Marcel Dettmann
Mark Broom
Magda
Modeselektor
Monika Kruse
Monoloc
Pan-Pot
Perc
Phil Kieran
Pfierter
Ricardo Villalobos
Richie Hawtin / Plastickman
Robert Hood
Slam
Space DJs
Speedy J
Stephan Bodzin
Surgeon
Terence Fixmer
Tommy Four Seven
The Advent
UMEK
Wighnomy Brothers

Search em out and enjoy...