Interesting that you would include Black Box Recorder as 'Electronica', Tower Records also makes this assumption as I was perusing that section yesterday.

The only upbeat songs with kicking beats, that is danceable, are "These are the things" and "School song". I would describe their music as laid back dark pop.

You should also check out and buy the B-sides album:

"The Worst of Black Box Recorder"

1. Seasons in the Sun
2. Watch the Angel Not the Wire
3. Jackie Sixty
4. Start as You Mean to Go On
5. Facts of Life [Chocolate Layers Remix] [Remix]
6. Lord Lucan Is Missing
7. Wonderful Life
8. Uptown Top Ranking [Black Box Recorder Remix] [Remix]
9. Brutality
10. Factory Radio
11. Soul Boy
12. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
13. Facts of Life [Multimedia Track]
14. Child Psychology [Multimedia Track]
15. Art of Driving [Multimedia Track]
16. England Made Me [Multimedia Track]

well..I also recommended Black Box Recorder...obviously yeah it's not eletronica, nor do I think we were assuming it was..it's a hybrid of styles. But the initial post mentioned portishead, so in a way it can be comparable, much in the way Goldfrapp is. So that if you like portishead you would probably like black box recorder, at least somewhat.

so then if we are talking hybrid music styles/genres one could also include:

Beth Orton
Supreme Beings of Leisure
Olive
Moloko
Breakbeat Era
Dubstar
Uncut
Hybrid
4-Hero
Blue States
Mono
Smith & Mighty

You know, I only included Portishead because it was included on this website http://www.ishkur.com/features/music/index.htm#, and he included trip hop under the larger umbrella of electronic music.

The problem (well part of it anyway) is that I don't know what electronica is. Is there a difference between electronica and "electronic music?" What is electronica referring to, anyway?

By the way, I listened to some Paul Oakenfold (sp?) and it didn't do anything for me in a positive way.

"Electronica" is a cheesy media-devised term that arose around 1997 when everyone predicted the Chems and such were poised to take over the world, or some such crap. It was basically a term used when the press, who were around 10 years late to the scene, thought they had discovered something. So, no, it means nothing other than the general envelope of "electronic music."

Paul Oakenfold used to be pretty damn good, in the days when he produced under the moniker Perfecto with Steve Osborne. The remixes they did for the likes of U2 and New Order were phenomenal. This was in the very early 90's. Now, he produces pop cheese such as Starry Eyed Surprise. Although, I have to admit that Oliver Lieb's remix of that track is quite nice (most of his are). Basically, if you realize that Oakie is not particularly great, you are learning quickly.

Photek - Risc vs Reward

and check out Source Direct

At the time, U2 said they were heavily influenced by British electronic bands like Leftfield, specifically the Leftism album. So that may be a starting point, especially since it is a great album.

I'll add recommendations for:

Orbital: 2, the definitive electronic album, ten years old and still sounds great

Avalanches: Since I left You, everything and the kitchen sink sampling, lots of humor.

Notwist: Neon Golden, great twitchy IDM stuff, very current sound.

808 State: Don Solaris (one of the most underrated electronic albums, IMO), a classic album by one of the greats in electronica

Lemon Jelly:.ky, lighthearted and engaging, lots of fun to listen to, kind of like the Flaming Lips of electronica.

any Gavin Hardkiss mix, particularly "Weekend", very inventive beats and editing, not your typical boring trance blast (see Paul Oakenfold for what I'm talking about). Hardkiss is the premier DJ in San Francisco and probably my personal favorite.

DJ Shadow: Endtroducing (kind of a combination of turntabalism and enectronica), a classic of the genre. Jazzy and driving at the same time. The ultimate "digger" album.

Orb: UFORB, the ambient classic, more focused then their debut.

Daft Punk: Discovery, a (slightly) ignored masterpiece, IMO. One of the best albums of the past few year. Pure pop and lots of hard beats.

Matmos: Civil War- inventive IDM. Amazing music.

Aphex Twin: I Care Because You Do. How to expalin Aphex...he's definitely a little bizarre and the music is challenging. But no one can do what Richard James does.

Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express: inspired lots of early hip-hop, great electronica from the 70s.

Lemon Jelly's KY is great but 'Lost Horizon' is alot giddier, the song 'Nice Weather for Ducks' is probably the funniest and most infectious songs they have written. As I noted before, if you're a fan of Lemon Jelly than if you have to own Bent's 'Programmed to Love' - 'Always' is the standout track.


In terms of one of the craziest mix CD's that is crowned to 2 Many DJ's (Soulwax) 'As Heard on the Radio Soulwax Part 2'

Track Listings
1. Cant Get You Out Of My Head (Soulwax Elektronic Remix) - Kyl
2. Wheres Your Head At (Head A Pella) - Basement Jaxx
3. **** The Pain Away - Peaches
4. Im Waiting For The Man - Velvet Underground
5. J Aime Regarder Les Mecs - Polyester
6. Dance To The Music - Sly And The Family Stone
7. Oh Sheila - Ready For The World
8. I Wanna Be Your Dog - Dakar And Grinser
9. Disko Kings - Ural 13 Diktators
10. The O Medley - Bobby Orlando
11. Silverscreen Shower Scenes - Felix Da Housecat
12. No Fun - The Stooges
13. Push It - Salt N Pepa
14. Joe Le Taxi - Hanayo With Jurgen Paape
15. Crush On You - The Jets
16. Funkacise - Funkacise Gang
17. Motocross Madness - Soul Grabber
18. French Kiss - Lil Louis And The World
19. Serious Trouble - Zongamin
20. Androgyny Thee Glitz Mix By Felix Da Housecat - Garbage
21. Disc Jockeys Delight Vol 2 - Frank Delour
22. Kaw Liga (Prairie Mix) - The Residents
23. Shake Your Body - Carlos Morgan
24. Into The Stars (Firebirds Remix) - Alapawezen
25. Concepts - Interstelllar
26. 99 Luftballoons - Nena
27. Independent Women Part 1 - Destinys Child
28. Dreadlock Holiday - 10cc
29. 9 To 5 - Dolly Parton
30. Eple - Royksopp
31. Death Disco - Arbeid Adelt
32. Keine Melodien Feat MJ Lan - Jeans Team
33. I Wish - Skee Lo
34. My Gigolo - Maurice Fulton Presents Stress
35. Cannonball - The Breeders
36. Human Fly - The Cramps
37. Danger High Voltage - The Wildbunch
38. Dont Bring Me Down - Op 1 Bastards
39. Hand To Phone - Adult
40. La Rock 01 - Vitalic
41. I Was Made For Loving You - Queen Of Japan
42. The Beach - New Order
43. Sandwiches - Detroit Grand Pubahs
44. I Sit On Acid - Lords Of Acid
45. Start Button - Streamer Feat Private Thoughts In Public Place

However the highlight and the Kings of the 'surreal and amusing'
goes to Coldcut - to see them in concert is a real treat and privelige.

The standout of the concert I saw them at was a video montage of the infamous Nancy/Ronald Reagan anti-drug speach, where they manipulated the video so as the message was completely reversed and promoted the use of drugs - throwing in a techno beat it was unreal.

The second standout was the merging of video/sound bites of 'I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)' from Disney's "The Jungle Book" to a baseline that made you both dance and laugh - wow!

Check out their fantastic mix CD: 'Journeys By DJ: 70 Minutes of Madness'

Album Description from Amazon.com

Coldcut's 70 Minutes of Madness is widely credited as 'the best DJ mix album of all time'. Blending funk, hip-hop, techno and just about everything else, the album rewrote the rulebook on mixes, clearly defining trip hop along the way. The production was suspended in 1998, while demand got out of control, with copies going for $70 on Ebay. So here it is, back by public demand.

Track Listing:
1. Bola - Philorene
2. Street Beats, Vol. 2
3. One Blood - Junior Reid
4. Jam on Revenge (The Wikki Wikki Song) - Newcleus
5. Extreme Possibilities [Wagon Christ Remix] -
6. King Ashabanapal [Dillinja Mix] - Funki Porcini
7. Noddy Holder - Jedi Knights
8. Fuk - Plastikman
9. Mo Beats - Coldcut
10. Manganese in Deep Violet - Bedouin Ascent
11. African Drug - Bob Holroyd
12. If There Was No Gravity - Air Liquide
13. Beats and Pieces - Coldcut
14. Greedy Beat - Coldcut
15. Music Maker - Coldcut
16. Find a Way [Acapella] - Queen Latifah
17. King of the Beats - Mantronix
18. Mag - Gescom
19. Blood Vibes [Kenny Dope Mix] - Masters at Work
20. Trumpet Riff
21. Luke Slater's 7th Plain
22. First Time I Ever Saw Your Face - Joanna Law
23. Balthus Bemused
24. Into the 90's - Photek
25. Bridge Is Over - BDP Posse
26. Nu Blud - DJ Food
27. Friendly Pressure [Acapella] - Jhelisa
28. Freshmess [Bandulu Mix]
29. Message from Our Sponsor
30. Unify - Pressure Drop
31. Again Son
32. Hot Flush - Red Snapper
33. Theme from Dr. Who
34. Free - Moody Boyz
35. Dusk - DJ Food



DJ Food's mix CD: Now, Listen! is another standout and likewise greatly recommended as he highlights Ninja Tune label artists. It's a little more laid back as the tone of the CD veers towards fusion jazz, rap, d&B, it's an odd mixture of genres and styles yet it works.

Track Listing:
1. Solid Steel Theme [Deluxe Version] Listen Listen Listen
2. Come Clean/Channel One Suite - Cinematic Orchestra Listen Listen Listen
3. Beached - Neotropic Listen Listen Listen
4. X1 [Underdog Mix] Listen Listen Listen
5. Musica Negra [Black Music Accapella] - The X-Ecutioners Listen Listen Listen
6. Taking of Pelham 123 (End Title) - David Shire
7. Solid Steel Intermission: Marionettes Inc. - Ray Bradbury
8. Ug/The Terrorist [Acappella] - DJ Vadim
9. Miles from Home [Underdog Mix] - Peshay
10. Square Off/Mirror in the Bathroom
11. Hotel Alyssa-Sousse, Tunisia - Sabú Martínez
12. Ritmo 2 - Dominique Dalcan
13. Lucy's Song - Flying Fish
14. Solid Steel School Assembly: Calm Down/Assembly Line - The Commodores
15. House of Mirrors - David McCallum
16. Solid Steel School Break: Let's Play Drums
17. Alphabet Aerobics - Blackalicious
18. Glasshead - Four Tet
19. Nobu - Herbie Hancock
20. Amenity
21. Moments in Love - The Art of Noise
22. Color of the Fire - Boards of Canada
23. Riding High

Art of Noise fans should treat themselves to the recently released SuperAudioCD import edition of 'Daft' as the surprise (and unpublicized fact) is that the songs have been remixed in 5.1 surround sound.

I heard that Mr Scruff also throws in some fun into his live dj gigs his most recent album is also great and highly recommended 'Trouser Jazz'. His alter-ego incarnation Mr. Oizo 'Analog Worms Attack' produced the popular techno hit 'Flat Beat' (the commerical and video made the puppet an international star for Levi's). (its the bonus track on the CD)

Both Les Rhythmes Digitales 'Darkdancer' and The Wiseguys 'Antidote' are also two fun dance albums.

Jacques Lu Cont's ( Les Rhythmes Digitales ) mix cd for Fabric (Fabric Live 9) is another entertaining disc.

Other albums:

Mutiny UK 'In the Now' (they sound just like Basement Jaxx but less bombastic)
Timo Maas 'Loud'
Mint Royale 'On the Ropes' (for Fatboy Slim fans)
I Monster 'Neveroddoreven' (import)

__________________

I agree completely. The 3 Hardkiss brothers (not really bro's) pretty much defined the west coast sound. Scott moved to New York in the last few years and hasn't put out much material other than remixes. I can also recommend "Weekend", but the definitive Hardkiss release is "Delusions Of Grandeur" which is a compilation of tracks released on their label. It might be quite hard to find, but it's one of the defining must-haves of all electronic music.
Jon

For an intro to trance I'd suggest BT's Ima, pretty incredible stuff for being formulaic IMO.

On a related note does anyone have suggestions for any goa trance? I like the sound but know nothing about it.

Although "In Sides" is pretty much on the same level imo.

Paul Oakenfold's Goa Mix is really good. And although not quite 'goa trance' Astral Projection is worth checking out for some good psy-trance.

I love the band Republica they put out one kick ass electronica album then dissapeared. Most people have heard their one big hit Ready to Go which is played at alot of sporting events, but this whole album rocks, I am able to play it from beginning to end and not want to turn it off. You should give them a try if you can find the cd, it is a few years old and probably out of print by now.

Electronica is a catch-all term used to describe so many disparate sounds that it's really become meaningless. I'll try to describe the sound of each of my recommendations below.

Best recent electronic albums:

Four Tet - Rounds - this one is a mellow yet chaotic, almost organic sounding IDM (intelligent dance music) disc and is my favorite album of 2003, of any genre

Lexaunculpt - The Blurring of Trees - another IDM effort, but fused with classical orchestrations as well

Venetian Snares - self-titled (aka the chocolate wheelchair album due to the cover art) - this one I'll admit may not be to everyone's taste as it is extremely chaotic, songs featuring hundreds of samples, some lasting less than a second

Royksopp - Melody A.M. - gorgeous, almost ethereal IDM-esque meditations

Other favorites:
Mouse on Mars - Idiology - almost as insane as Venetian Snares and these guys have to be seen live to be appreciated

Mum - Finally We Are No One - relaxing and mellow with downbeat and triphop influences mixed with live instrumentation

Add N to (X) - Loud Like Nature - more musical chaos

Alva.Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto - Vrioon - minimalist electronic soundscapes at their finest, you don't dance to this, you let it envelop you and take you places you didn't know existed

Antipop Consortium - Arrhythmia - what happens when you mix intelligent lyricism, rap and IDM

Aphex Twin - Classics - a great intro to early Aphex Twin singles, the Twin being the godfather of the whole IDM movement

Astrobotnia - Part 01 - spaced out electronic grooves with some funny samples

Autechre - Tri Repetae++ - landmark and revered early IDM album

Autechre - Draft 7.30 - I loved it, many hated it, as they seem to have purposely made their music inscrutable.

Biosphere - Substrata - cold, alienation, deep space are words that spring to mind

Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children - one of the best recent electronic albums, like a more mellow, softened mix of IDM and triphop

Boards of Canada - In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country - an EP along the same lines

Boards of Canada - Geogaddi - can you tell I really like them?

Coil - Musick to Play in the Dark Volumes 1 and 2, Moon's Milk (in Four Phases) and Astral Disaster - can't really explain these 4 albums, you just have to hear them. Very unique sound blending electronics, mysticism, magic, nocturnal wanderings and gibberish lyrics. Most people scratch their heads but those of us who like them love them.

Cornelius - Fantasma and Point - brilliant mashups of genres with a frenetic energy (again, he is great live)

Dntel - Life is Full of Possibilities - a mellow electronic piece with some songs featuring soothing vocals and a collaboration with indie pop band Death Cab for Cutie (they also combined to form the band The Postal Service and I recommend that album as well)

Fischerspooner - #1 - sleazy, drugged out post-disco, post dance, post everything technoclash. Makes you want to dance and f**k at the same time.

As for Moby, skip the overrated Play and the piece of trash 18 and get his best album ever, Everything Is Wrong. Back when he still wrote songs instead of commercial jingles.

If you want more, just ask.

Holy crap. Can't believe the length of some of these posts. Guess I'll keep mine short and sweet:

Another Mellow Spring -- Mellow

Nothing Changes Under The Sun (also try Man Mountain) -- Blue States

Peach Head -- Natural Calamity

The SSSound of MMMusic -- Bertrand Burgalat

Young Machines -- Her Space Holiday

Hey, keep the suggestions coming, if you want!! I'm confused, but pleasantly so. And I'm sure I'll have questions as I start trying to figure all this out.

Also check out Mucho Macho 'The Limehouse Link' although flawed by some eighties sounding sound effects/music cues early on slowly transforms into some of the gritiest, funkiest techno stompers of songs.

Well, here's another (dead?) music recommendation thread that has wound up costing me big kahunas I'm not complaining at all. Being able to hunt down good new music CDs is a full-time job and threads like these make it much easier. Props OP, and to all who made suggestions

-Gunshy

Well I'm off to order a bunch of these now.