Electronica Discussion Thread

[Nev]

Thanks for the tipoff on the latest Way Out West CD. I got the whole thing off Napster and I'm enjoying it tremendously.

Any other picks in that general vein (trance-oriented electronica, possibly with awesome vocals)?

[SineSwiper]

Hybrid - Very similar style to Way Out West. Very progressive and polished in their ability to layer chords/tracks throughout their songs, and they seem to use a lot of sounds I like (lots of string instruments layered with mixing effects, etc.). Mostly instrumental, but they have several vocal tracks. Songs to sample:

Blackout (vocal)
We Are In Control
If I Survive (vocal)
Dreaming Your Dreams
(lots of good mixes from other bands: Moby's Southside, Fresh Prince's Summertime, Crys Meth's Name Of The Game)

Lamb - A husband/wife duo. She sings, and he mixes. He tends to favor drum&bass tracks and does them skillfully. She has a sultry voice that reminds me of a 1930's lounge singer. Mostly vocal throughout, but he usually puts out a really good instrumental per album. Samples:

Gorecki
Five (5/4, 5/4, 5/4, 4/4, 5/4, I love the measures on this one)
B Line
Cotton Wool

Hooverphonic - Really good vocals combined with strings and mixing. Similar to Hybrid, but less electronic and more focused on the vocal aspect. They have a knack for putting real emotional beauty in their tracks. Switched singers on the 2nd album, but both are good. Samples:

Battersea
Autoharp
Magenta
Inhaler (first album)
2 Wicky (also on the 1st; I like the lyrics on this one)
The Magnificent Tree
(also a bunch of good remixes)

Other albums worth investigating:

Frou Frou (very impressed with this group, but All Of MP3 doesn't have them yet; check out the Garden State OST)
BT (somewhat similar to Hybrid; kinda hit&miss for me, but there's a lot of good stuff among his albums)
Delerium - Karma (esp. the first couple of tracks)
Sarah McLachlan - Remixed (another awesome Hybrid mix on here, as well as others from BT, DJ Tiёsto, William Orbit, etc.)
Bjork (wasn't impressed with Medulla, though)
Massive Attack - Protection
Tori Amos - From The Choirgirl Hotel & To Venus And Back (mixing experiment albums before switching back to her old piano riffs; check out some of her remixes, too)
Natalie Imbruglia - Left Of The Middle (seems to be a mixing experiment, as the others are rather different)
Madonna - Ray of Light (believe it or not; William Orbit mixes on her only mixing experiment)

[SineSwiper]

You get a chance to try any of these out, Mental?

[Nev]

I completely missed your original reply for some reason, so this is the first time I've seen the post. I'll check them out over the next few days. Thanks!

I have Ray of Light and enjoy it, and I love Silence (Delerium/McLachlan) - I have Boys for Pele and A Sorta Fairytale from Scarlet's Walk (Amos), and I used to have Natalie Imbruglia's Left of the Middle, which I also loved, but lost it at some point. Bjork treads the fine line between awesome and bizarre for me, but i have a few tracks that I like. If the rest are in a similar vein, I bet I'll find some winners!

[Nev]

Well, I checked out Lamb, Hybrid, and Hooverphonic, but didn't find anything that really moved me. All very good, just didn't have that je ne sais quoi for me. Still, thanks for the tips, Sine.

[SineSwiper]

Wow, that's really weird. To have a lot of similar tastes in music, and then just kinda crash&burn with those three. Which Way Out West songs did you like specifically? Maybe you just needed to try out a few more samples of those three bands.

Also, check out Sasha's Airdrawndagger, if you're a fan of warm chorded melodies. Definately a favorite for me. Have you listened to any Orbital? (Older stuff, like In Sides, Snivilisation, and Middle of Nowhere.)

[Nev]

Looooove Orbital. I actually found them off an old tip of yours (like five years ago). Have every album except one (the very first, I think).

Way Out West - the singles I liked were "Anything But You", "Don't Forget Me", and "Melt". I wasn't a big fan of the middle of the album (Chasing Rainbows through Northern Lights), but I really liked the parts I liked.

Never heard Sasha so I will have to give him a try.

[SineSwiper]

Sasha's normally a good trance DJ. (Usually hangs out with John Digweed.) On this album, he teamed up with Junkie XL and produced a great musician album. Unlike Oakenfold's lackluster musician effort, it doesn't suck. There's probably more of Junkie XL's influence than Sasha's, but it's really really good. (Junkie XL is a pretty good artist to begin with anyway.)

The very first Orbital album is forgettable. I hardly listen to it.

Hmmm, my favorites were most of them in that middle: Apollo, Fear, Killa, Northern Lights. It's really a matter of what kind of sounds and effects you like, even though it really hard for even me to track that sort of thing.

I think if there was some sort of system of identifying songs by the various types of sounds and effects they use, it would be nearly flawless for picking out music that people would really like, based on a Bayesian model of song selection. Alas, trying to formulate an algorthym to identify stuff like instruments is near impossible. Having humans do it is also too hard, as we would use too simplistic of terms to be able to track, and they wouldn't match well.

[SineSwiper]

Listening to your selections, I think you really like the singer on Way Out West's album. You might be interested in Curve (try Gift), Republica (try the self-titled album), and Garbage - Version 2.0. All of these are more rock-based bands, but very well developed in the mixing departments.

Hey, Curve actually has two "web only" released albums I've never heard of...

[Nev]

I do like dreamy/passionate female vocals over trance...is that what your recommendations are?

I used to like Garbage but haven't heard them in awhile.

[SineSwiper]

Actually, most of my recommendations aren't trance, including the Sasha album. Hybrid could be considered trance, but at their worst they are a very progressive trance, as all of their songs are nicely polished.

Still surprised you didn't dig Hooverphonic. Battersea? Eden? Vinegar & Salt? I love the singer in this band, including the first one.

[Shellie]

Portishead? Massive Attack? 2 of my favs.

[SineSwiper]

Those two tend to be minimalistic, especially Portishead, but there are plenty of songs that I like from those groups, like Teardrop, Protection, Only You.

Oh, nevermind. I didn't realize that I was talking to my wife. It's about time somebody else posted on this thread. Does anybody else like electronic music besides us?

[Shellie]

Morcheeba, Olive, and Zero 7 are pretty good too.

Im big into Chillout and female vocalists.

[Imakeholesinu]

Everything But The Girl I would have to suggest. BT's got some excellent female vocalists on "Movement in a Still Life". Hybrid did several remixes including an extended version of "Running Down the Way Up." Which I absoutely love. FC Kahuna did a great song on the soundtrack to Confidence.

[Nev]

Sera: I have a Zero 7 album, and generally I like it (though I can't listen to them for too long or I start to zone, it's very dreamy). I haven't heard the others. What's Chillout?

Barret: I do like EBTG, especially "Missing", but I owned Amplified Heart for awhile and it seemed really pretty good. I ought to check them out again. Haven't heard the remixes, and haven't heard of FC Kahuna.

Sine: I haven't checked your other selections because my Napster's down, lost my bank card last week and can't renew my subscription 'til next week...

[Shellie]

What's Chillout?

I guess I should say I really like Downbeat...it includes Chillout, Trip-Hop, and slow electronica...

Most of the artists I mentioned are in one of those categories.

[SineSwiper]

Downbeat/Chillout/etc is usually in the 90BPM (or less) range, and is generally slower music.

[Nev]

I almost wish I lived in the UK. Two out of my free favorite artists/groups are based there (Orbital/Seal), and I really think the electronica influence is what sets Seal apart from other soul singers in my...well, ears, I suppose. I understand electronica is just absolutely huge over there.

[SineSwiper]

Yeah, the rave scene is totally dead in Louisville. It was kicking alive and screaming five years ago. It might be still going in major cities, but it seems like it's more accepted in the UK, where we don't have such a fear-mongering mindset towards the whole "rave = drugs" things. The UK court system would never try to prosecute rave promoters under crackhouse laws, or consider glowsticks as "drug paraphernalia". (I think the whole concept of "drug paraphernalia" is completely whacked out, but that's another discussion.)

[Nev]

Glowsticks being drug paraphernelia is completely psychotic, but then again, so is the drug policy of the current administration of our country, in my opinion. That is a bit sad. For all that raves get bad press, I think they are a valid form of cultural expression if done well.

[Nev]

Hey Sine,

Rudeness in Daily Stuph notwithstanding, I checked out the new Sasha album (I got both Airdrawndagger and the new one, Fundacion, from AllOfMP3) and I like it quite a bit. It's a continuous mix album, very well done and interesting - he's using a new software that I own and have used, Ableton Live, which has new and interesting mixing features. I'd be interested in your opinion on it.

[SineSwiper]

Rudeness in Daily Stuph notwithstanding

Comment on the message, not the person.

I checked out the new Sasha album (I got both Airdrawndagger and the new one, Fundacion, from AllOfMP3) and I like it quite a bit. It's a continuous mix album, very well done and interesting - he's using a new software that I own and have used, Ableton Live, which has new and interesting mixing features. I'd be interested in your opinion on it.

In regards with Airdrawndagger or Fundacion? I haven't heard the latter yet. Haven't played around with Ableton, either. Speaking of mixing toys, I found this to be very cool.

[Nev]

Fundacion.

I usually can't stand continuous trance mix CDs, because to me most are very repetitive. This one I would say is slightly repetitive, but for some reason it's still interesting enough to listen to, and the beats and effects and vocals are very good. First really "trance" CD that I've really liked. Listening to it now.

I wonder if he's coming to the States anytime soon.

Oh, and I saw that link a few months ago - my boss (the one with the electronica album) showed it to me. He said he loves stuff like that. Did you ever check out his album, by the way?

[SineSwiper]

Actually no. Where's the link to it again?

On trance, yeah, some of it can be repetitive, but it really depends on if the stuff is progressive enough and/or the type of trance. Sasha is usually pretty progressive, as is Max Graham, Christopher Lawrence, Paul Van Dyk, and others. (I was kinda bored with Van Dyk's Out There and Back, except for a few songs, but his live sets seem to be very very good.)

[Nev]

www.unity303.com