Feeling sick of listening to the same half-whispered, slurred English singers who pronounce every ‘s’ as ‘sh’? Are you looking to expand your musical horizons to the extent that you can find yourself in another universe? Take a look at these different music genres, drop the idea that ‘current’ and ‘new’ means ‘good’, and you very well might just find your latest old jam.
Japanoise
Well, let’s just cut out all that happy roofing, shall we? Let’s pump some blood! When it comes to extreme avant-garde metal, Japan has a solid pedigree. This is most apparent in the amber, ever-changing genre of Japanoise (Japan – Noise).
Noise music is complicated and difficult to understand. Most people tend not to enjoy “extreme” genres of music. Japanoise music has always felt a little more accessible to non-metalheads for its value of musical expertise and innovation.
Nonetheless, it can be difficult when you would like your grandmother to listen. Just try to imagine listening to bands like ‘Merzbow’ or ‘Melt Banana’ as a great, haunted concept art show (they exist, promise). There’ no need to love it, but allow the complexity and disagreement to make you think. Stay tuned for more different music genres.
Traditional Georgian folk music
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. With this century-old musical tradition, the beauty is in the ear of the listener. The ancient history of polyphonic folk singing in Georgia dates back to Christianity, which arrived in Georgia in the 4th century. As early as 2001, Georgian polyphonic music was featured as one of the first entries on UNESCO’s list of “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”.
The genre has been used by both Werner Herzog and the Coen Brothers in their movies, who have balanced their counter-culture films with songs that sound not only like they were from a time before we knew what time it was, but also like they were coming down from the sky. Hamlet Gonashvili, the owner of one of the sweetest voices ever recorded, was a huge star in the genre.
Gonashvili died in 1985, at the height of his fame and acclaim outside his home country, as a result of falling from an apple tree. When you listen to the atmospheric, tragic-sounding songs he recorded, you will see how appropriate this way of dying seems.
Zeuhl
Lots of people really hate “Prog rock”. Those who love prog will frequently argue that any kind of hatred directed at bands like ‘Emerson, Lake and Palmer’ or ‘Yes’ must derive from ignorance; you just don’t get it losers The elitism and the apologetic embrace of intellectualism can put off the uninitiated, in exactly the same way that the bar-destroying, bad-mouthed and saliva-soaked masses of awkward teenagers have been a turn-off to punk for many.
Is there a barrier to entry into the ‘Zeuhl’ sub-genre of Prog? The avant-garde musician and writer Dominique Leone summed it up quite well: ‘Zeuhl’ is about “what you’d normally expect an alien rock opera to sound like”. You’re human, how could you possibly ‘get’ that?
Originally from France in the late 1960s, Zeuhl translates to “heavenly” in the language of “Kobaïan”, a “foreign” language that was created by Christian Vander, a drummer in the band “Magma”. The musical vibratory qualities certainly induce a sense of alienness (or maybe it should be the world) together with a sense of magnificence that reflects the boundlessness of the universe … or something like that. Cosmic. Stay tuned for more different music genres.
Bardcore
To take an existing song and reinvent it in a new, often older genre has been an emerging phenomenon for a while now. Typically, this trend is restricted to recording contemporary songs and then making them look like 20th-century-style songs. But what if we go much further back? Way further back? Well, please welcome us to the beautiful world of Bardcore.
While nostalgia can be seen as the main driver behind the success of reverse engineering modern pop songs, who will be feeling nostalgic for music from the Middle Ages? It is partly the encounter with this somewhat familiar era and the availability of the modern song that makes listening to bardcore as much a journey of discovery as simply listening to good music.
Before long, you’ll forget the original lyrics to Lady GaGa’s “Hips Don’t Lie” and be singing Hildegard von Blingin’s version instead: “I want your horror, I want your design / you’re a criminal while you’re mine.”
Gypsy punk
When listening to Django Reinhardt’s recordings, you feel revolutionary at the moment. That sounds explosive knowing that his music was released about the same time that Cole Porter and Bing Crosby were hitting the charts. The throwback, free, happy sounds Reinhardt provided the world, which was based on traditional Roma music, continues to strike a chord and get people moving in the form of gypsy punk.
Their cultural influences go beyond Roma music – polka, klezmer, rockabilly, English folk music, it’s truly the “world music” of punk. A major theme you’ll find is the idea that your life is about seeking out new experiences so that restful lust can drive your impulses. The next time you get married, ensure that the band is a gypsy punk outfit and you can make sure the party is remembered forever. Stay tuned for more different music genres.
Time Lord Rock
Strongly inspired by the work of JRR Tolkien, Led Zeppelin introduced Middle Earth to the hordes of rock music lovers as a good companion to their music, together with cannabis and without a haircut. Will the likes of ‘Chameleon Circuit’ do the same for Doctor Who? Absolutely no. However, as far as IP fans are concerned, Time Lord Rock isn’t bad. So why does it hurt to write this?
Because the best way to enjoy this is to try and get over Doctor Who (if you’re not a fan, you’re in heaven). That hits most other types of fandom pop in a pointy hat; with these bands being pretty good. That also goes to prove once and for all that Potterheads are the very least creative, the least open to new experiences, and the least gifted people in all of fandom culture. Stay tuned for more different music genres.
Chillhop
If you want to relax and fall asleep, this is a great genre. This is also good when you want to sit down and study. It is also excellent for waking up to a loud, ringing alarm clock. This is such a relaxed genre, so chilled out that it’s hard not to like it. In fact, you can’t think of a person who really hates Chillhop (unless you understand that definitions of art are not generated by a specific person).
On the other hand, it’s difficult to imagine a person whose whole life is determined by hearing this micro-genre as a punk or a metalhead. This is the beauty of Chillhop; do not think too much for a while, recharge your batteries, Wagner can wait. Now plug in your earbuds, hold your cup of coffee, close your eyes and get yourself ready for what comes next. Stay tuned for more different music genres.
Dark Cabaret
This one might be the most commercialized of all the different music genres on the list (maybe) since it provoked a sensation in 1998 with the hit musical “Shockheaded Peter” by the group Tiger Lilies, singing about the crucifixion of Jesus (unnerving!), or the appeal of bands like “Dresden dolls”.
Nevertheless, it’s difficult to envision this kind of music ranking anywhere near 1-10 on the Billboard charts. Assuming, of course, that we don’t go through some sort of Armageddon so that the new, dark troubadours can roam the wastelands and revel in the madness of man with accordion-driven songs.
Italian occult psychedelia
The horror genre is one that plays well in literature. Horror would probably work better in film (given that the goal of the horror genre is to induce fear, so that the visual nature of the film would allow fear to enter the bloodstream, so to speak). And it tends to suck in music. When bands carry “horror” themes, it’s usually cheesy (excessive use of fake blood, shitty costumes and plaintive band names) or excessively reliant on a sensual homage. It’s not scary.
The Italian occult psychedelia movement seems to have addressed this problem. Such music can be very disturbing and even creepy while still avoiding the loss of translation from the musical literary and cinematic tropes that shape the music, in particular the work of legendary Italian film director Dario Argento, Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini, along with the forbidden “cannibals” of the ’70s and ’80s films and sometimes even spaghetti westerns.
You will either love hugging shivers that make your back jump up and down, or you will toss your earplugs against a wall and run and hide in a closet (that’s where the serial killer wants you to hide). Stay tuned for more different music genres.
Witch House
That’s what Blade holds onto after a hard day with vampires full of silver. It is the music the CIA would be playing in buildings that have important targets they want to flush out. Dear God with a goat’s head, this music is disturbing. And yet… This unholy union of EBM (electric body music), trance, and industrial metal are practiced in the truest sense of the word.
So why is it so hard to stop listening to this? Perhaps it’s apart with black magic that imprisons your soul and binds it to the melodies? Alternatively, if you can get past the compelling sense of foreboding and the eerie, they’re actually pretty good songs. Good as a soundtrack for your next community victim, goat or baby!
Do you know any other different music genres that can have a place in this list? Let us know in the comments section below.
