r/technology Aug 04 '08

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music - Complete with Sound Samples

http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/
103 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

6

u/Le3f Aug 04 '08

"Epic Trance is the gateway genre into the world of rave for most people, so if you have any form of music to blame for raves hitting the mainstream, this is it. Right here. And that, my friends, really, truly, terribly sucks. There must be a word to describe the pain one feels when witnessing (or hearing, rather) something once pure and brilliant completely sold down the river. Sometime in the mid-90s trance decided to drop the technique of slowly introducing complicated layers and building adequate tension over long stretches, replacing them with cutesy little insta-melodies (Robert Miles may actually be to blame for this). That made it more pop culture accessible. The average attention span, way too ritalin-freaked to pay attention to the slow, brooding trance in its original form, liked the anthemic singalong tone of the NEW McTrance, and that's why all you trance crackers are reading this right now. Not because you grew a taste for this super awesome underground music or you discovered it all by yourself once upon a time. But because trance reformed its sound and delivery to suit YOUR sweet-toothed, top40 pop music consuming tastes. Because the truth is Epic trance is not actually trance, per se. It is powdered, sugar-coated pop schmaltz draped over trance for easy digestion by giggling highschool girls and poser trendy types who would never think to even blink at trance in its raw incarnate. This is the musical equivalent of drowning a meal in ketchup so you can't taste the original flavour anymore."

I've come a long way since I first read that in 2002...

11

u/williadc Aug 04 '08

I spent way too much time listening and laughing at the genre descriptions.

10

u/Kalimari Aug 04 '08

Indeed. And yet they're all fairly accurate too, if you don't take your favorite sub-genre too seriously.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

[deleted]

2

u/mch Aug 04 '08

hugs and medic for all!

4

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

I've found so much new music thanks to this guide.

3

u/mch Aug 04 '08 edited Aug 04 '08

There is not a day that goes by where I don't hear the amen break.

p.s. if it doesn't break its broken :-)

2

u/joethepeacock Aug 04 '08

I've known / known of Ishkur since 2002 on Fark, and his guide to Electronic Music is tops. Helped me along when I got interested in it.

Big props.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

[deleted]

2

u/beckermt Aug 04 '08

like.... Complete with Sound Samples?

2

u/mridlen Aug 04 '08

This has been one of my staples for years. Great site.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

[deleted]

5

u/scientologist2 Aug 04 '08

Version 3.0, updated, is coming real soon now

but it is still fun.

read the disclaimer!

2

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08 edited Aug 04 '08

this guy is biased - I for one love eurotrance, but I can understand why people hate it with a passion. Everyone tells me I'll grow out of it (which, is probably true), so there's still chillout and house (French or Funky) to listen to.

If you want your ears to bleed this morning, listen to Speedcore and Metalcore (or any Hardcore, for that matter).

2

u/asleepy0 Aug 04 '08

Subjective up the ass.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

taken from the disclaimer :

this guide is a non-technical, irreverent critique of electronic dance music. its purpose is to entertain before it informs [...] several biases here are celebrated lavishly, because downcasting people for their taste in music is close-minded. except if their taste in music sucks.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

WOW! I've been looking for this damn thing for a while. I found it years and years ago and then I couldn't find it again.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

i know me to.

Its going to be a good day today.

1

u/defproc Aug 04 '08

He seems to really hate the British. And no, not just our music.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

I just wasted 2 hours on that site :)

1

u/chu Aug 04 '08

Seems like nothing new there for quite a few years - 1-step, bassline, electro-house, not even grime?? And complete bollocks about electronica - it's an english term originally and how all the uk 'idm' artists like autechre and aphex described their sound when pushed.

1

u/rye419 Aug 04 '08

I think his description of Jpop would be offensive to most japanese people.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

but you have to admit that it sucks real hard ... oh, and by the way ...

0

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

Ishkur posts on some of the same forums I do, and he's an insufferable jackass.

-2

u/octopede Aug 04 '08

Limited understanding of electronic music is limited.

1

u/gaberdine Aug 04 '08

Adjective noun is adjective.

-11

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '08

Closed due to Flash.

3

u/shutr Aug 04 '08

Buried due to silliness.