Electronic music

[DoubleNecker]

So.....how come nobody talks about eletronic bands like Kraftwerk, Cluster, and others? I've recently fallen in love with Kraftwerk. Autobahn was so damned great and Trans-Europe Express was great as well. However, after recently hearing Ralf and Florian, that's my favorite by them so far. And how about Cluster? Zuckerziet is pretty good from what I'm hearing. I think electronic music from the 70s is good, but this stuff now adays is trash.

Anybody else?

[Swede]

I think bands like Kraftwerk is intresting, but electronic music in general isn't really my cup of tea. If you're intrested in electronic music I recomend you to check this album out, it's a masterpiece. I purchased the original vinyl, which is quite rare, a couple of months ago, but I know it's avalible on CD as well. It was released in 1968.

Info from allmusic.com:

Despite releasing only one LP, the United States of America was among the most revolutionary bands of the late '60s — grounded equally in psychedelia and the avant-garde, their music eschewed guitars in favor of strings, keyboards and haunting electronics, predating the ambient pop of the modern era by several decades. The United States of America was led by composer and keyboardist Joseph Byrd, a Kentucky native raised in Tucson, Arizona; there he appeared with a series of rock and country bands while attending high school, subsequently playing vibes in a jazz outfit as a student at the University of Arizona. Despite winning a fellowship to study music at Stanford, Byrd instead relocated to New York, intrigued by the avant-garde experiments emerging from the city's downtown music scene; there he began earning international notoriety for his own compositions, at the same time working as a conductor, arranger, associate producer and assistant to critic Virgil Thomson.

Byrd eventually returned to the west coast, accepting an assistant teaching position at UCLA and moving into a beachfront commune populated by a group of grad students, artists and Indian musicians. He soon began studying acoustics, psychology and Indian music, but quickly turned back to experimental composition, leaving the university in the summer of 1967 to write music full-time and produce "happenings." To perform his new songs — material inspired in no small part by the psychedelic sounds produced during the Summer of Love — Byrd recruited a group of UCLA students (vocalist Dorothy Moskowitz, bassist Rand Forbes, electric violinist Gordon Marron and drummer Craig Woodson) to form the United States of America; the group's lone self-titled LP, produced by David Rubinson, was recorded for CBS in 1968, its unique ambience due largely to their pioneering use of the ring modulator, a primitive synthesizer later popularized by the Krautrock sound.

The subject of critical acclaim, the album spent over two months in the lower regions of the Billboard charts; still, the United States of America disbanded soon after, with Byrd resurfacing in 1969 with The American Metaphysical Circus, credited to Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies, a group of a dozen musicians including vocalists Susan de Lange, Victoria Bond and Christie Thompson. A critical and commercial failure, the LP was his last until 1975, at which time he released Yankee Transcendoodle, a collection of synthesizer pieces. Three years later Byrd also produced Ry Cooder's Jazz album, and in 1980 he issued another synthesizer record, Christmas Yet to Come. He additionally wrote for films, television and advertising jingles. Fellow United States of America alum Dorothy Moskowitz, meanwhile, later resurfaced in Country Joe McDonald's All-Star Band, with the remaining members of the group essentially disappearing from the contemporary music scene.

[Mjolnir]

I love Kraftwerk. I also enjoy Tangerine Dream, Klause Shculze, and Jean-Michel Jarre.

[The Pagemeister]

Newer stuff is worth checking out:

[DoubleNecker]

I think bands like Kraftwerk is intresting, but electronic music in general isn't really my cup of tea. If you're intrested in electronic music I recomend you to check this album out, it's a masterpiece. I purchased the original vinyl, which is quite rare, a couple of months ago, but I know it's avalible on CD as well. It was released in 1968.

I actually saw a link for that yesterday. I might get it later.

[Matthew!]

I think electronic music from the 70s is good, but this stuff now adays is trash.

But Ricky, there is SO MUCH out there! There's techno (which I personally tend to stay away from), electronica, and then lots of experimental bands that mix those genres with others. Check out 65daysofstatic, they're an instrumental post rock band that uses electronic elements in their music. And I love that. Laid back but energetic, and very current. Lemme know what you think.

[Jarlaxle 56]

I like bands that heavily incorporate electronica into their music

DJ Shadow

Gorillaz

Incubus

Nine Inch Nails

Pigface

Kyoto Jazz Massive (new band I just got into, their from Japan, fucking awesome)

Portishead

Radiohead

And other bands of that nature

[Charles_Obscure]

I like bands that heavily incorporate electronica into their music

DJ Shadow

Gorillaz

Incubus

Nine Inch Nails

Pigface

Kyoto Jazz Massive (new band I just got into, their from Japan, fucking awesome)

Portishead

Radiohead

And other bands of that nature

Great bands there, my friend!

There is one good electronica band (or techno, I dunno) from Montreal. They're called Plaster.

Some others:

Amon Tobin

Kid Koala

Jaga Jazzist

[DoubleNecker]

Swede, I just got done listening to that album you suggested. It was pretty cool. And yeah, I can hear the electronic when it's there, and obviously they were ahead of their time.

[ally]

How about St. Germaine and Zero 7.

[tom kid]

Theres no way electronic music today is shit. Genres like Drum and bass, Dubstep, Breakbeat etc. are all awesome. I've mostly been listening to dubstep and drum and bass recently.

Heres an example of dubstep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4D-hCO8Y2k

It is heavily centered around big bass lines, heres a better example of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5jebTBYA6M

Vex'd is about the darkest dubstep out there. That link is only half of that song but you'll see what I mean about the bass.

So yeah, before you say electronic music today is shit actually take some time to listen to it, instead of just listening to the mainstream stuff on TV and the radio.

I'll make another post later on and give some more examples.

[Reggie29]

Listen to Trans by Neil Young.

[Swede]

Swede, I just got done listening to that album you suggested. It was pretty cool. And yeah, I can hear the electronic when it's there, and obviously they were ahead of their time.

Cool. It sure was a progressive album. I bet they had a lot of fun in the studio while recording it.

[DoubleNecker]

Klaus Schulze is my new electronic god. His stuff has blown my mind. I wonder if anyone here listens to his epic songs?

Mirage is my favorite so far, I'm listening to X right now.

I remember looking at a picture of the cover of Moondawn and thought it was cool, so I read a bit about it and gave some of his albums a try, and I'm so glad, because this guy just blows me away, not only musically but the fact that it was just one man!

[LukeTheDuke]

I love Faust!

(is it ya ya for german yes? I guess it's "ja")

[Roxie]

I'm a HUGE Prodigy fan. Amazing band to see live.

[The Pagemeister]

First Listen: Kevin Saunderson