Weird and Wonderful Music Genres

[carl_harris]

Hello all!

Lately I've been listening to many different genres on Spotify and it struck me how many music genres I'd never heard of. We all know the popular genres like Pop, Rap and Classical but who'd of thought that the list would go on and on. 

I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday who introduced me to an album called Tropical 2 by BBK (Boy Better Know). The albums been knocking about for a while now since it was released back in 2011... However, I have really got into it very recently. He raised an interesting point that all the songs come under the genre of Liquid Grime. He described that this sort of music is more instrumental with longer hooks and pauses compared to mainstream grime. 

I carried on my persuit to find some weird and wonderful genres which I've never heard of. When I went UKF's Dubstep page on Youtube, the comments were interesting me because people were describing what genre certain songs fell under specifically. Again, you've most likely to have listened to/heard of Dubstep, but I had no idea about genres like Chillstep, Drumstep, 2-step garage, Brostep, Reggaestep, Future garage and Bassline.

Comment below an interesting genre/sub-genre and an example tune! Lets see how many genres we can come up with!!

Carl 🙂

https://open.spotify.com/track/7cMFjxhbXBpOlais7KMF3j

[klee1214]

I have a hard time categorizing songs into genre's especially since that now people have the easiest access to a wide variety of music than ever before and therefore artists are able to pull from so many influences to create their own style.

However, one genre I do like and don't know if it would truly be considered weird is math pop.  Which is sort of like math rock, but obviously more "pop" lol.  

spotify:track:2RymKMgHV36cB2ny32vzv5

[carl_harris]

This is awesome @klee1214!

[fduniho]

This is a great idea for a topic. Like you, one of the reasons I subscribe to Spotify is to discover new music. I already have a large music collection but still frequently prefer something new to something familiar. In addition to giving one example of a genre, I think it would be helpful to describe the genre, to mention prominent artists in the genre, and to give more than one example.

The genre for this post is exotica. Performed by big bands during the mid 20th century, this is small-scale orchestral music that tries to capture the feel and ambiance of exotic locations -- such as Africa, Hawaii, Asia, the Middle East, and South America -- without actually trying to sound like the traditional music of those areas. It's more a Hollywood-style interpretation of exotic locales than any kind of authentic representation of the music in foreign countries. It is a subgenre of lounge music, and it intersects with space age bachelor pad music. As a form of lounge music, it is about creating a pleasant, relaxing ambiance through your hifi. As bachelor pad music, it is generally intended for creating a romantic, enchanting environment for wooing a date. Here are some examples from the most popular exotica artists.

Martin Denny

spotify:track:5yBOcyO1BKyUFFoQEdUVCe

Les Baxter

spotify:track:0aAApn09tplGMYEHzy1Nda

Esquivel

spotify:track:4362zYcmMtbExfaWjmAp0h

Arthur Lyman

spotify:track:2wtkQ0fMeh6KG6xrLwjAyb

[crematedman]

@klee1214 that's a fascinating genre! never heard it used before - i am a huge fan of math rock artists though.

good choice of track too, enjoyed that album

[crematedman]

@fduniho awesome example dude! great tracks too ^_^

and great topic @carl_harris

one that fascinates me is vaporwave, an extremely surreal genre

spotify:track:3CwK0oEtu9bCl0R5nuMzjx

several artists have received critical acclaim for the approach, stylising the media of decades ago. it's a very self-conscious genre as the samples it uses are often satirical of what was popular or obsessed over at the time - in this case the idea of a stereotypical Hawaii getaway often found in workplace posters/screensavers.

spotify:track:4oiYXJWdg0rqo3qbWTH6uX

some artists that have touched the mainstream have dabbled in the genre, like Arca, Shlohmo, Ariel Pink, HEALTH etc. 

spotify:track:2Jje9bVoX67OpUPIpYsJGY

[MartinStoichkov]

This is more for the heretical thread, but since I quite enjoyed it, I'll post this here. 

This is the weirdest track I heard recently. 

Some sort of Dancehall reggae, Trap and Drum .. I don't know, I lost myself descriping this piece of weirdness xD 

Also, thanks @carl_harris, this thread is just for me, I have so much to share here haha

spotify:track:3V2cMbrDXMQ1gbibz5IKqS

[carl_harris]

@MartinStoichkov Thank you! and thank you for your post too. It's great to learn about new music 

[klee1214]

@crematedman Thanks! I'm a big fan of math rock too 🙂 I really enjoyed Com Truise and not just for the name haha!

[crematedman]

@klee1214 how could you not be! it's brilliant ^_^

Right? It's pretty damn good...

[user-removed]

I discovered a new genre but don't know the specific name for it

https://open.spotify.com/track/1lQFbajQ63uwQtUieazTnm

[carl_harris]

Thanks @user-removed for your post! This is a pretty interesting song, sounds like underground techno music to me 

[LionScale]

My favorite unusual genre is hands down Surf Rock. It originated in Southern California and probably the most well known  group is The Beach Boys. The Beach Boys popularized this genre and added vocals to mostly instrumental music. The instrumentals as well as all Surf Rock has clear Mexican influences. It has a distinct twang which is what I love about Surf Rock. I think hollywood has also contributed to why it evokes images of the beach and surfing. All of these songs I feel like would fit right into Psycho Beach Party or some surf contest movie.

spotify:track:70UswvUKYFCuN2YkUAy7ql:small

spotify:track:4tY78MNaREcLLNkwM4wuV5:small

spotify:track:3IYMLGs4YHzCGEdPwdFCCy:small

Similarly, punk bands like The Frights and Wavves are some of my favorite that use this surf twang.

spotify:track:0h6BfcH3Tgy78qZ7aMX12X:small

spotify:track:1xWaqyIuOgvEWAKq9cTNO4:small

[fduniho]

The genre this time is what I call Chamber Rock, which is rock played on chamber music instruments, particularly bowed string instruments and the piano. It is generally a subgenre of instrumental rock, though it may sometimes include vocals.

My first introduction to this kind was music was through the singer/songwriter Jorane, whose instrument is the cello.

spotify:track:41L4BX8F05Hh3JdeRfGBME

Wanting more rock like this, I eventually found the Vitamin String Quartet, which has released countless albums covering rock music with a string quartet.

spotify:track:7GVejbFQknqZnqd7zuyAFB

spotify:track:26nN3bAVFIKacZuXz2PHLV

In time, I also discovered The Piano Guys, a duo who play a piano and cello, and 2Cellos, a duo who both play the cello.

spotify:track:7k0KOplnvXm5GUkw7RXYg0

spotify:track:1taz71WL8grTxW6JLiL1i8

While artists like The Vitamin String Quartet, The Piano Guys, and 2Cellos focus on covers of rock music, some artists produce original music in the genre.

Coming from Rochester's Eastman School of Music is Break of Reality, a band with three cellists and a percussionist.

spotify:track:0BUylABpm9KiWfgK3sSTfZ

Describing herself as a hip-hop violinist, Lindsey Stirling sometimes does covers but usually composes original music.

spotify:track:5JFkuKQsPps2ZaZzaLx63d

[carl_harris]

Great post @fduniho thanks for sharing your music!

[guitarlancer]

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5KFXAufcOTSKibMfLnmyYC

[LukeSkyFAKER]

The first thing i thought of when you said ''Weird'' was Death Grips. Now I'm not sure if you know of them or not but Death Grips is basically a post modern Hip Hop band. I know Hip Hop is a pretty mainstream Genre, but I feel like Death Grips is so out there I have to post it when the topic of ''Weird'' comes up :D.     https://open.spotify.com/track/781V2Y5LPtcpgONEOadadE 

Now that I think of it, Death Grips do have a big following, so you might already have heard of them. 

[juandavidb]

nice tag for all views

[aktiveight]

Hey there!

the music i have released are a mixture of genres like electronic pop, hip hop, and dance music. 

 https://play.spotify.com/album/5jXjApB4M8U7r6ojO98p1P

[lucbropez]

German Death Reggae