a guide to electronic music makala
It’s no secret that Electronic music is becoming more and more popular. Quite a few cities in the Basque Country play host to Electronic festivals; Musica Ex Machina in Bilbo, Elektronikaldia in Donostia, the Ertz shebang in Bera, Aktivität in Iruña and so on. At these festivals the punters are regaled with the latest musical tendencies and they also get the chance to bop their bots off. In much the same vein is the growing Basque club scene in cities, towns and villages. Every weekend sees DJs doing their “thang” for the hordes. Yes, Electronic music is alive and kicking hard in these parts. We’re also starting to get a real grasp of what Electronic music is all about. All the same, there are still many uninitiated out there who don’t know the different styles and origins of all electronic. The guys at the rag have decided to get this little guide-book together, so you can wade safely through the world of Electronic. afrobeat afrohop:
The Nigerians Fela Kuti and Tony Allen came up with afrobeat in the seventies. Fela died five years age and his son, Femi Kutik, carried on from he left off. The difference is that he mixes in elements of electronic. Comet Records, from Paris, dug up Tony Allen and are behind Allen’s Brotherhood Ensemble and Pysco on da Bus. A lot of DJs (Osunlade, Oba Funke) started mixing afro, house and broken beats. It’s also being mixed with hip-hop and is called afrohop, e.g. rapper Ty.
ambient chill out:
Brian Eno was the main man in this style at the start of the seventies. The British group KLF later brought out a record titled “chill out” and the title was soon adopted to label this laid back ambient music. Mix Master Morris was the chill out specialist in the nineties, although others were more successful (e.g. Jose Padilla from “Café del Mar” in Ibiza). There aren’t many big name bands performing live ambient at the moment. One of the few is Boards of Canada.
break beat:
The backbone of hip-hop. James Brown’s “Funky drummer” shed the limelight on these rhythms. The song has been sampled thousands of times. This strain of music comes from Great Britain and many artists have used this rhythm to mix with other styles like Jazz, Funk, House, etc... The biggest names are to be found on Ninja Tune Records; Coldcut, Up Bustle & Out, Funki Porcini, Mr Scruff,...
big beat:
Big beat has grown out of break beat. There are two main record labels on the scene. You have Skint Records, home to Fat Boy Slim and Bentley Rhythm Ace, and Wall of Sound where we can find Propellerheads and Wiseguys. Loads of others play this type of music... Freestylers, Groove Armada... but the most famous exponents of this style are Chemical Brothers.
electroclash:
The birth of the XXI Century also heralded the arrival of many revivals in music, fashion and tendencies. This style of music is becoming more and more popular in New York and other cities (London, Paris, Barcelona...). It mixes techno pop and the essence of punk rock with modern electronic elements. A few examples: Fischerspooner, Peaches, Miss Kittin & The Hacker...
broken beats:
These new sounds recently saw the light of day in the clubs in West London. It’s only about two years old. Phil Asher is probably the most known name in these circles. Alex Attias, Recloose, Zero Db are some names to take note of and Fluid Once and People Records are the labels to look out for. Broken beats is influenced by House, break beats, drum 'n' bass, Jazz and afro.
click´n´cuts:
Mille Plateaux Records brought out a compilation of the different artists on the label about two years ago. SND, Thomas Brinkman, Terre Taemiltz and Vadislav Delay are just some of those featured. This lot used laptops to create a new type of music. They used special software to digitally rework sound in an effort to create warmth inside the cold.
disco:
Munich at the start of the seventies witnessed the arrival of this style. It was the logical follow on from the then popular soul and R & B. The music centred on repetitive rhythms and simple choruses. Some of the people responsible were Cerrone, Village People, Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder. Revivals are ten-a-penny today. Disco today is normally mixed with Techno and the like. The Munich based record label International Deejay Gigoló will show you what I mean.
downtempo:
Or slow tempos mixed together with ambient melodies. This style is heavily influenced by dub. The Viennese duo Kruder & Dorfmeister are an example of this. It’s also used hand in hand with bossa nova as is demonstrated by Americans Thievery Corporation. This type of music is used in TV ads and fashion shows a lot.
gabber:
Gabber sprang from the world of the German hardcore-punk scene. Musically similar but with a difference: the music is made with machines. Gabber music is really fast and furious. Atari Teenagee Riot are the best known purveyors of gabber. They are on the Digital Hardcore label.
electro:
Afro-American Afrika Bambaata ran the Kraftwerk sound through his then recently purchased Roland TB-303 20 years ago. The result: electro. You wouldn’t be far wrong if you said that this style is closely tied to rap and hip-hop. The difference lies in the melody. It’s much colder and much more electronic and the vocals are always slave to the “vocoder” effect. These last few years have seen the likes of DMX Crew behind many electro revivals.
illbient:
This sprang up in the inner-city areas in New York in the 90s, it soon became known by the nickname illbient. DJ Spooky, DJ Wally, Sensational and others are involved in the production end of things. They mix instrumental hiphop and ambience in a no-frills style. There are two record labels to look out for: Asphodel and Wordsound, both to be found in the Big Apple.
dub:
This style of music from Jamaica has been the basis for many other types (trip hop, jungle, downtempo). It’s basically instrumental reggae with bucket loads of effects (delay, reverb, echo). Dub was the first time that mixing a record became a style in itself. King Tubby was both the inventor and king. Some of those who followed in his footsteps: Scientists, Prince Jammy, Mad Professor, Adrian Sherwood...
house:
House, based on 4x4 timing, was first heard in the Warehouse club in Chicago at the beginning of the 80s. The great DJ Frankie Knuckles< b> used to play there. House has a whole lot to do with Black American culture and is also influenced by disco, funk and European techno. Ever since it first appeared House has been used and mixed non-stop. A whole heap of sub-styles have been created: in acid house, Jungle Brothers; in deep house, Blaze,; in Latin house, Masters at Works; disco house, Daft Punk and in jazz house, St Germain.
garage/2 step:
This is a combination of house, disco and soul. What’s special about it is the presence of a house “diva”. When it first appeared it was widely popular in Chicago, Detroit and other cities in the USA. It was also popular in the UK and Europe. 2 step is the name given to the current revival. British group MJ Cole are one of the best examples of this kind of music.
industrial:
Industrial is what we have inherited from the German Kraut movement from the end of the 70s. Can, SPK and Throbbling Gristle are chiefly responsible for all of this. This style of Electronic is a mixture of noise pushed to the limit, the sounds of machinery and city vibes. The 80s group D.A.F. are a clear example of industrial. Esplendor Geometrico from Madrid have been quite successful on the international scene.
e.b.m.:
Or electronic body music. This style of music picked up where industrial left off. It first appeared in Brussels as the acid house boom came to an end at the close of the 80s. The most popular bands are Front 242, A Split Second, Front Line Assembly, Nitzer Ebb...
experimental extreme noise:
Experimental music is starting to become a major force on the electronic scene. Both the amount of music and the number of fans is steadily increasing. The use of laptop computers has become widespread in this type of music. A couple of groups: Pan Sonic, Merzbow; Francisco Lopez, Fenno´berg, Otomo Yoshiside...
hip hop:
A logical evolution of rap. It softened the harshness of rap while using the same technique. It has moved on from being a style of music to being a way of life with thousands of followers all over the world. De la Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets were the biggest exponents of hip hop at the end of the 80s. Since then thousands of groups have made their presence felt. The most amazing thing about this originally underground phenomenon is the huge jump it has made to commercial success. The current king of MTV, the non-black Eminem, has been incredibly successful.
turntablism:
The turntable is the one and only instrument in this style. Scratchin’ to hip-hop rhythms is the bread and butter of turntablism. An amazing spectacle to see. The X-Ecutioners are an example of this: three blokes with two turn tables each making music by mixing, moving and scratching records. They aren’t the only masters. Check out Mix Master Mike, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Q-Bert, DJ Vadim, Kid Koala and so on...
r´n´b:
No, this has nothing whatsoever to do with Rhythm and Blues. The letters are used in the USA to describe the result of mixing hiphop and soul. Female artists like Missy Elliot, Ashanti and Aaliyah are the ones who normally gain fame. This is more than likely down to their voices. That is not to say there are no male stars; Craig David is one. This is also mostly dominated by the black community and is considered as “mainstream” music due to the coverage given by TVs and radios all over the world.
ragga dancehall:
Jamaican music was really popular in the England of the early 80s down to the punk and mod movements. That’s where the first sound systems came about. Very soon toasters and Jamaican rappers soon got involved. The result of this was what we have today: dub background with rapping layered on top. Sometimes the rapping can be quite violent, or even over the top at times. That’s the ragga element. Shinehead, Cocoa Tea, Shaba Ranks were the first batch of groups. These were followed by Sizzla, Capleton, Buju Banton, Chaka Demus and many others.
trip hop:
Born in Bristol in the mid 90s. This is basically a mixture of elements of dub and hip hop played in a rock format. The music conjures up melancholic airs of epic proportions. The clearest examples of this style are Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky. They are not the only ones; watch out for Moloko, Morcheeba, fila Brasilia, DJ Food,...
jungle drum´n´bass:
This type of music was first heard in the London ghettos at the beginning of the 90s. Bass and drums are the stars of this fast and powerful music. This is where the name comes from. A Guy Called Gerald, Goldie and a few other musicians soon started releasing records of this music. Record company Talkin’ Loud releases jazz influenced stuff by Roni Size, DJ Krust and 4 Hero. Nowadays, Jungle culture is successful all over the planet and there are many famous DJs: DJ Hype, Aphrodite, DJ Marky, Patife, MC Dynamite, Suv...
nu dub sub dub:
The smoky melodies of sub dub first heard in Berlin are heavily influenced by dub, the difference being the use of modern technology; computers and special software like Reaktor, Modulator,...all brought to you by German company Native Instruments. Two Berlin record companies are the main men in this field. One of them is made up of Scape, Pole, Burnt Friedman & The Nu Dub Players and Jan Jelinek. The other offers Rhythm & Sound, Tikiman and some others.
techno:
Kraftwerk first appeared on the scene at the start of the seventies in German city Düsseldorf. The group used computers, synthesisers and all other kinds of things to come up with Electronic music. Repetitive rhythms, short melodies and lines (heavy on content) resulted in this new form of music. The 80s saw them being paid homage by many techno pop bands like Depeche Mode, Softcell, OMD, etc. Techno has really spread out since those days with Detroit and Chicago being the major homes to this style. Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson at first and Kenny Larkin, Jeff Mills, Plastikman and others later on.
nu jazz:
Acid jazz-aren garapena da. Jazz, funk eta soul-aren oinarriak hartuz, hainbat estilo elektronikoekin (house, down tempo, break beats) nahastu eta estilo hau sortzen da. Europan nu-jazz jarraitzaile asko dago, bereziki Alemanian eta Austrian, Compost diskoetxeko artistak dira ezagunenak. Jazzanova, Rainer Truby, Fauna Flash, Les Gammas,... eta gerturago, etxean, Wagon Cookin´iruñearrak.
indietronica:
Almost every type of music carries something electronic. This style is just another example. Indie-Pop and electronic music all together. Donna Regina from Germany, Lali Puna, Tarwater and a few others are the most popular lot on this scene.
rap:
The birth of Rap is directly connected to funk music and culture in the Black ghettos of the USA in the 70s. Rap came on the scene, as did drum machines with the vocals pushed to the fore (like Improvised Verse Singing in Basque). The always acrobatic break-dancing went hand in hand with the music and graffiti was another form of artistic expression tied into rap. Grand Master Flash and Public Enemy became known for the protest lyrics and political stance. Other sub styles were created: Run DMC mix rock and rap, LL Cool J and Ice T with their “gangsta” rapping, Beastie Boys and Hardcore...
The Nigerians Fela Kuti and Tony Allen came up with afrobeat in the seventies. Fela died five years age and his son, Femi Kutik, carried on from he left off. The difference is that he mixes in elements of electronic. Comet Records, from Paris, dug up Tony Allen and are behind Allen’s Brotherhood Ensemble and Pysco on da Bus. A lot of DJs (Osunlade, Oba Funke) started mixing afro, house and broken beats. It’s also being mixed with hip-hop and is called afrohop, e.g. rapper Ty.
ambient chill out:
Brian Eno was the main man in this style at the start of the seventies. The British group KLF later brought out a record titled “chill out” and the title was soon adopted to label this laid back ambient music. Mix Master Morris was the chill out specialist in the nineties, although others were more successful (e.g. Jose Padilla from “Café del Mar” in Ibiza). There aren’t many big name bands performing live ambient at the moment. One of the few is Boards of Canada.
break beat:
The backbone of hip-hop. James Brown’s “Funky drummer” shed the limelight on these rhythms. The song has been sampled thousands of times. This strain of music comes from Great Britain and many artists have used this rhythm to mix with other styles like Jazz, Funk, House, etc... The biggest names are to be found on Ninja Tune Records; Coldcut, Up Bustle & Out, Funki Porcini, Mr Scruff,...
big beat:
Big beat has grown out of break beat. There are two main record labels on the scene. You have Skint Records, home to Fat Boy Slim and Bentley Rhythm Ace, and Wall of Sound where we can find Propellerheads and Wiseguys. Loads of others play this type of music... Freestylers, Groove Armada... but the most famous exponents of this style are Chemical Brothers.
electroclash:
The birth of the XXI Century also heralded the arrival of many revivals in music, fashion and tendencies. This style of music is becoming more and more popular in New York and other cities (London, Paris, Barcelona...). It mixes techno pop and the essence of punk rock with modern electronic elements. A few examples: Fischerspooner, Peaches, Miss Kittin & The Hacker...
broken beats:
These new sounds recently saw the light of day in the clubs in West London. It’s only about two years old. Phil Asher is probably the most known name in these circles. Alex Attias, Recloose, Zero Db are some names to take note of and Fluid Once and People Records are the labels to look out for. Broken beats is influenced by House, break beats, drum 'n' bass, Jazz and afro.
click´n´cuts:
Mille Plateaux Records brought out a compilation of the different artists on the label about two years ago. SND, Thomas Brinkman, Terre Taemiltz and Vadislav Delay are just some of those featured. This lot used laptops to create a new type of music. They used special software to digitally rework sound in an effort to create warmth inside the cold.
disco:
Munich at the start of the seventies witnessed the arrival of this style. It was the logical follow on from the then popular soul and R & B. The music centred on repetitive rhythms and simple choruses. Some of the people responsible were Cerrone, Village People, Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder. Revivals are ten-a-penny today. Disco today is normally mixed with Techno and the like. The Munich based record label International Deejay Gigoló will show you what I mean.
downtempo:
Or slow tempos mixed together with ambient melodies. This style is heavily influenced by dub. The Viennese duo Kruder & Dorfmeister are an example of this. It’s also used hand in hand with bossa nova as is demonstrated by Americans Thievery Corporation. This type of music is used in TV ads and fashion shows a lot.
gabber:
Gabber sprang from the world of the German hardcore-punk scene. Musically similar but with a difference: the music is made with machines. Gabber music is really fast and furious. Atari Teenagee Riot are the best known purveyors of gabber. They are on the Digital Hardcore label.
electro:
Afro-American Afrika Bambaata ran the Kraftwerk sound through his then recently purchased Roland TB-303 20 years ago. The result: electro. You wouldn’t be far wrong if you said that this style is closely tied to rap and hip-hop. The difference lies in the melody. It’s much colder and much more electronic and the vocals are always slave to the “vocoder” effect. These last few years have seen the likes of DMX Crew behind many electro revivals.
illbient:
This sprang up in the inner-city areas in New York in the 90s, it soon became known by the nickname illbient. DJ Spooky, DJ Wally, Sensational and others are involved in the production end of things. They mix instrumental hiphop and ambience in a no-frills style. There are two record labels to look out for: Asphodel and Wordsound, both to be found in the Big Apple.
dub:
This style of music from Jamaica has been the basis for many other types (trip hop, jungle, downtempo). It’s basically instrumental reggae with bucket loads of effects (delay, reverb, echo). Dub was the first time that mixing a record became a style in itself. King Tubby was both the inventor and king. Some of those who followed in his footsteps: Scientists, Prince Jammy, Mad Professor, Adrian Sherwood...
house:
House, based on 4x4 timing, was first heard in the Warehouse club in Chicago at the beginning of the 80s. The great DJ Frankie Knuckles< b> used to play there. House has a whole lot to do with Black American culture and is also influenced by disco, funk and European techno. Ever since it first appeared House has been used and mixed non-stop. A whole heap of sub-styles have been created: in acid house, Jungle Brothers; in deep house, Blaze,; in Latin house, Masters at Works; disco house, Daft Punk and in jazz house, St Germain.
garage/2 step:
This is a combination of house, disco and soul. What’s special about it is the presence of a house “diva”. When it first appeared it was widely popular in Chicago, Detroit and other cities in the USA. It was also popular in the UK and Europe. 2 step is the name given to the current revival. British group MJ Cole are one of the best examples of this kind of music.
industrial:
Industrial is what we have inherited from the German Kraut movement from the end of the 70s. Can, SPK and Throbbling Gristle are chiefly responsible for all of this. This style of Electronic is a mixture of noise pushed to the limit, the sounds of machinery and city vibes. The 80s group D.A.F. are a clear example of industrial. Esplendor Geometrico from Madrid have been quite successful on the international scene.
e.b.m.:
Or electronic body music. This style of music picked up where industrial left off. It first appeared in Brussels as the acid house boom came to an end at the close of the 80s. The most popular bands are Front 242, A Split Second, Front Line Assembly, Nitzer Ebb...
experimental extreme noise:
Experimental music is starting to become a major force on the electronic scene. Both the amount of music and the number of fans is steadily increasing. The use of laptop computers has become widespread in this type of music. A couple of groups: Pan Sonic, Merzbow; Francisco Lopez, Fenno´berg, Otomo Yoshiside...
hip hop:
A logical evolution of rap. It softened the harshness of rap while using the same technique. It has moved on from being a style of music to being a way of life with thousands of followers all over the world. De la Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets were the biggest exponents of hip hop at the end of the 80s. Since then thousands of groups have made their presence felt. The most amazing thing about this originally underground phenomenon is the huge jump it has made to commercial success. The current king of MTV, the non-black Eminem, has been incredibly successful.
turntablism:
The turntable is the one and only instrument in this style. Scratchin’ to hip-hop rhythms is the bread and butter of turntablism. An amazing spectacle to see. The X-Ecutioners are an example of this: three blokes with two turn tables each making music by mixing, moving and scratching records. They aren’t the only masters. Check out Mix Master Mike, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Q-Bert, DJ Vadim, Kid Koala and so on...
r´n´b:
No, this has nothing whatsoever to do with Rhythm and Blues. The letters are used in the USA to describe the result of mixing hiphop and soul. Female artists like Missy Elliot, Ashanti and Aaliyah are the ones who normally gain fame. This is more than likely down to their voices. That is not to say there are no male stars; Craig David is one. This is also mostly dominated by the black community and is considered as “mainstream” music due to the coverage given by TVs and radios all over the world.
ragga dancehall:
Jamaican music was really popular in the England of the early 80s down to the punk and mod movements. That’s where the first sound systems came about. Very soon toasters and Jamaican rappers soon got involved. The result of this was what we have today: dub background with rapping layered on top. Sometimes the rapping can be quite violent, or even over the top at times. That’s the ragga element. Shinehead, Cocoa Tea, Shaba Ranks were the first batch of groups. These were followed by Sizzla, Capleton, Buju Banton, Chaka Demus and many others.
trip hop:
Born in Bristol in the mid 90s. This is basically a mixture of elements of dub and hip hop played in a rock format. The music conjures up melancholic airs of epic proportions. The clearest examples of this style are Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky. They are not the only ones; watch out for Moloko, Morcheeba, fila Brasilia, DJ Food,...
jungle drum´n´bass:
This type of music was first heard in the London ghettos at the beginning of the 90s. Bass and drums are the stars of this fast and powerful music. This is where the name comes from. A Guy Called Gerald, Goldie and a few other musicians soon started releasing records of this music. Record company Talkin’ Loud releases jazz influenced stuff by Roni Size, DJ Krust and 4 Hero. Nowadays, Jungle culture is successful all over the planet and there are many famous DJs: DJ Hype, Aphrodite, DJ Marky, Patife, MC Dynamite, Suv...
nu dub sub dub:
The smoky melodies of sub dub first heard in Berlin are heavily influenced by dub, the difference being the use of modern technology; computers and special software like Reaktor, Modulator,...all brought to you by German company Native Instruments. Two Berlin record companies are the main men in this field. One of them is made up of Scape, Pole, Burnt Friedman & The Nu Dub Players and Jan Jelinek. The other offers Rhythm & Sound, Tikiman and some others.
techno:
Kraftwerk first appeared on the scene at the start of the seventies in German city Düsseldorf. The group used computers, synthesisers and all other kinds of things to come up with Electronic music. Repetitive rhythms, short melodies and lines (heavy on content) resulted in this new form of music. The 80s saw them being paid homage by many techno pop bands like Depeche Mode, Softcell, OMD, etc. Techno has really spread out since those days with Detroit and Chicago being the major homes to this style. Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson at first and Kenny Larkin, Jeff Mills, Plastikman and others later on.
nu jazz:
Acid jazz-aren garapena da. Jazz, funk eta soul-aren oinarriak hartuz, hainbat estilo elektronikoekin (house, down tempo, break beats) nahastu eta estilo hau sortzen da. Europan nu-jazz jarraitzaile asko dago, bereziki Alemanian eta Austrian, Compost diskoetxeko artistak dira ezagunenak. Jazzanova, Rainer Truby, Fauna Flash, Les Gammas,... eta gerturago, etxean, Wagon Cookin´iruñearrak.
indietronica:
Almost every type of music carries something electronic. This style is just another example. Indie-Pop and electronic music all together. Donna Regina from Germany, Lali Puna, Tarwater and a few others are the most popular lot on this scene.
rap:
The birth of Rap is directly connected to funk music and culture in the Black ghettos of the USA in the 70s. Rap came on the scene, as did drum machines with the vocals pushed to the fore (like Improvised Verse Singing in Basque). The always acrobatic break-dancing went hand in hand with the music and graffiti was another form of artistic expression tied into rap. Grand Master Flash and Public Enemy became known for the protest lyrics and political stance. Other sub styles were created: Run DMC mix rock and rap, LL Cool J and Ice T with their “gangsta” rapping, Beastie Boys and Hardcore...
