Playlists
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ALTERNATIVE INDIE ROCK-NEO PSYCHEDELIA-GARAGE ROCK REVIVAL
Alternative pop/rock is essentially a catch-all term for post-punk bands from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s. There is a multitude of musical styles within alternative rock, from the sweet melodies of jangle-pop to the disturbing metallic grind of industrial, yet are all tied together by a similar aesthetic -- they all existed and operated oustide of the mainstream. Neo-psychedelia covers a diverse array of artists from the end of the punk era to the present day, all of whom drew from the equally diverse original sounds of '60s psychedelia. Whether they played trippy psychedelic pop (à la the Beatles, early Pink Floyd, and countless others), jangly Byrds-influenced guitar rock, distortion-drenched free-form jams, or mind-bending sonic experiments, these groups looked to psychedelia as a wellspring of evocative, unusual sounds, and either updated or unabashedly copied the original artists' approaches. Some neo-psychedelia was explicitly druggy, while for others it was simply a logical c…
6 tracks
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SINGER/SONGWRITER+ALTERNATIVE SINGER SONGWRITER
With the explosion of alternative rock in the early '90s, a new kind of singer/songwriter emerged. While there were elements of introspection and personal politics held over from the early-'70s era of singer/songwriteres, the alternative singer/songwriters were also influenced by the loud guitars of punk and hard rock, inspired by the rootsy approach of the burgeoning Americana movement, and informed by the indie-rock attitude of "anything goes," both lyrically and sonically. Unlike contemporary singer/songwriters, who followed the trends of mainstream pop, alternative artists like Liz Phair, Will Oldham (in his many guises), and Elliott Smith garnered widespread acclaim, and even a measure of mass popularity, but remained firmly rooted outsde of the mainstream.
5 tracks
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ALT-CONTRY+FOLK ROCK+URBAN FOLK+ANTI FOLK+SINGER/SONGWRITER
With the explosion of alternative rock in the early '90s, a new kind of singer/songwriter emerged. While there were elements of introspection and personal politics held over from the early-'70s era of singer/songwriteres, the alternative singer/songwriters were also influenced by the loud guitars of punk and hard rock, inspired by the rootsy approach of the burgeoning Americana movement, and informed by the indie-rock attitude of "anything goes," both lyrically and sonically. Although many vocalists sang their own songs, including early rock & rollers like Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, the term Singer/Songwriter refers to the legions of performers that followed Bob Dylan in the late 60s and early 70s. Most of the original singer/songwriters performed alone with an acoustic guitar or a piano but some had small groups for backing. Their lyrics were personal, although they were often veiled by layers of metaphors and obscure imagery. Singer/songwriters drew primarily from folk and coun…
1 track
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ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENTAL+AMBIENT+MINIMALISM+PROGESSIVE ELECTRONIC
Reaching back to grab the grooves of '70s disco/funk and the gadgets of electronic composition, Electronica soon became a whole new entity in and of itself, spinning off new sounds and subgenres with no end in sight two decades down the pike. Its beginnings came in the post-disco environment of Chicago/New York and Detroit, the cities who spawned house and techno (respectively) during the 1980s. Later that decade, club-goers in Britain latched onto the fusion of mechanical and sensual, and returned the favor to hungry Americans with new styles like jungle/drum'n'bass and trip-hop. Though most all early electronica was danceable, by the beginning of the '90s, producers were also making music for the headphones and chill-out areas as well, resulting in dozens of stylistic fusions like ambient-house, experimental techno, tech-house, electro-techno, etc.
15 tracks
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AVANT ROCK+OBSCURO+NO WAVE+ART-ROCK
No Wave was a short-lived, avant-garde offshoot of '70s punk, based almost entirely in New York City's Lower East Side from about 1978-1982. Like the post-punk movement that was primarily centered in Britain, no wave drew from the artier side of punk -- but where British post-punk was mostly cold and despairing, no wave was harsh, abrasive, and aggressively confrontational. Most no wave bands were fascinated by the pure noise that could be produced by an electric guitar, making it an important component of their music (and oftentimes the central focus). Unlike punk, melody was as unimportant as instrumental technique, as most no wavers concentrated on producing an atonal, dissonant (yet often rhythmic) racket. With its assaultive artiness and theatrical angst, no wave was as much performance art as it was music. Two of no wave's central figures were vocalist/guitarist Lydia Lunch and saxophonist James Chance, who performed together in Teenage Jesus and the Jerks; Lunch went on to a lo…
51 tracks
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EXPERIMENTAL INDIE ROCK+AVANT ROCK+ALTERNATIVE/INDIE ROCK,
As the name suggests, Experimental Rock is music pushing the envelope of the form, far removed from the classic pop sensibilities of before. Typically, experimental rock is the diametric opposite of standard "verse-chorus-verse" music. Because the whole point is to liberate and innovate, no hard and fast rules apply, but distinguishing characteristics include improvisational performances, avant-garde influences, odd instrumentation, opaque lyrics (or no lyrics at all), strange compositional structures and rhythms, and an underlying rejection of commercial aspirations. Experimental Music is a general label for any music that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions, be it in rock, jazz, modern composition or any other style. When a musician or composer's approach is a hybrid of disparate styles, or incorporates unorthodox, new, distinctly unique ingredients, the music could be classified as experimental. Alternative pop/rock is essentially a catch-all term for pos…
80 tracks
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INDIE ROCK+LO FI+POP-ROCK+INDIE POP
Indie rock takes its name from "independent," which describes both the do-it-yourself attitudes of its bands and the small, lower-budget nature of the labels that release the music. The biggest indie labels might strike distribution deals with major corporate labels, but their decision-making processes remain autonomous. As such, indie rock is free to explore sounds, emotions, and lyrical subjects that don't appeal to large, mainstream audiences -- profit isn't as much of a concern as personal taste (though the labels do, after all, want to stay in business). It's very much rooted in the sound and sensibility of American underground and alternative rock of the '80s, albeit with a few differences that account for the changes in underground rock since then. In the sense that the term is most widely used, indie rock truly separated itself from alternative rock around the time that Nirvana hit the mainstream. Mainstream tastes gradually reshaped alternative into a new form of serious-mind…
82 tracks
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AMERICAN UNDERGROUND+PROTO PUNK+NOISE ROCK+SPACE ROCK+ALTERNATIVE INDIE ROCK…
At the dawn of the 1980s, as the first wave of punk bands began to play themselves out and the burgeoning alternative rock scene became increasingly dominated by British post-punk groups and polished new wave acts, a number of American bands began making new music that was a deliberate reaction to these developments. While weaned on punk, the American underground bands tended to favor a broader musical palate (hard rock, psychedelia, roots rock, folk-rock, and country-rock influences were the most common), though they continued to be dominated by electric guitars and a lyrical perspective that reached for intelligence without outward pretension. These bands also tended to favor independent labels and low-budget touring, as much out of necessity as any dominant philosophical tenant, since nearly all of them were ignored by major labels, forcing them to find other avenues to present their music. As the name suggests, Experimental Rock is music pushing the envelope of the form, far re…
948 tracks