here is some classic (and classy) aphex-esque idm (the artist was/is friends with richard (d) james, from what i have heard). all song on this album are great, and many (with a few drum-machine exceptions) show a great amount of effort splicing and juggling and destroying old funk loops. this album is a wonderful example of what some early english idm was like, and why it was so great :)
a bit odd for this post, as this is not a singular album, but a collection of albums, an anthology, of noise and electronic music. a must have for any lover of noise and experimental electronic music, this anthology (of 6 different parts, the first is the only one i feature here because, well, its the first) is a very complete set of works, detailing a very complete history of the evolution of experiments in electronic music and noise. many artists, from sonic youth, to john cage, to evolution control committee, all make an appearance in this collection. this collection is a great introduction to the vast world of the eclectic electronic (heh).
benn jordan, otherwise known as "the flashbulb", is a great electronic musician, known for his insane programmed beats that don't (usually) utilize any drum loops at all. However, while he is usually categorized under the genre of "drill n' bass", he released this album not too long ago in honor of brilliant astronomer Carl Sagan, and, in this album, in which he chooses not to use his well known pseudonym, he also chooses to step away from his frantic style of music for which he is generally known. in this album, beautiful ambient soundscapes, appropriately space-y leads, and minimal drum patterns create a majority of the great atmosphere throughout this album (with several major exceptions in style and instrumentation, but you will have to listen to understand completely).
though this is definitely not the general style the flashbulb is known for (though, neither was his latest album, "Love as a Dark Hallway", which can be categorized as jazz, more than electronic music), it is very nice to hear jordan experimenting with other styles and genres, and his professional and complex sound remains consistent throughout these experiments.
glitch/noise music made by scratching a cd, in the same way a dj would scratch a record. cuts, pops, and retriggers, along with the noisy sound of the data being transfered, create a very interesting electronic atmosphere, as long as you are not easily annoyed by repetition.
pioneers in sampling, layering, and having a complete disregard for all musical copyrights ever made, the tape-beatles were the first musicians (other than negativland, and perhaps john cage) to create music categorized in a genre known as soundcollage, or plunderphonics, if you'd rather call it that. they used analog tape recorders to steal from pretty much everything, often messing with it, and blending it with other samples, nearly beyond the point of recognition. they also experimented with other forms of media, notably a very interesting audio-visual technique that involved 3 or more projectors overlapping each other's images (seen below), creating visual collages almost as strange as their audio ones!
a conceptual piece by Ryoji Ikeda, an experimental/glitch electronic musician who has had some very interesting ideas throughout his career (this being no exception!). this piece is an exercise in very limiting minimalism, focusing entirely on rhythm and dynamics, and totally ignoring timbre (texture) and pitch, by using the purest sound that can be synthesized, the sine wave, at 440Hz, or A (above middle C). an interesting listen, but probably not something you'd listen to more than once unless you are VERY into conceptual art and very extreme minimalism.
p.s. use stereo headphones for this piece! the interplay between the left and right sides makes up one of the main features of this album, and without it, the piece becomes even more repetitive :P
ok, i understand many of my readers have a strong aversion to anything by venetian snares (for some weird reason), which is why i haven't posted anything by him here yet, but i must say that this is quite different from snares' usual amen break slicing madness. harshly chopped samples from reggae music intersect with warm analog sounding synths and strange chanting to create a very unique sound that one would definitely not expect from aaron funk. a very enjoyable ep, whether or not you like funk's previous works.
a great introduction to noise, using a traditional rock setup (despite some very un-traditional guitar tunings!). pioneers in punk rock that are a bit underrated.
some intense braindance from france (that rhymed!)
not as entirely loop focused as some other artists, doc colibri tends to use more drum machines and glitchy device sounds, along with samples from french media, to make his music. his tracks ("danse avec les nains" in particular) even involve him giving his own freakish take on the genre of dubstep. very much worth the download, which you can get/stream legally for free from over here!
concept album by the residents with some really great (and really bizarre) lyrics. this originally had some sort of computer program to go along with the album with freaky avant-garde graphics flying all over the place, but i find that the album is great even without it. "everything was okay before mtv" :)
