Not about me
I hate reading "about me" pages as much as I hate writing them.
This page is not about me.
For that reason, instead of writing some absurdly inane profile page for my blorg, I've decided to write a slightly less inane profile by focusing instead on giving exposure to some of my more obscure interests, with the hope that you might learn something new, or discover some new artist or author or genre that you had not previously known about. In other words, this profile is not really intended to be directly about me, but rather to be about those things that I think are good.
Most links are to Wikipedia. Since this profile delves fairly deep into obscurity, Wikipedia (unfortunately) does not have an article for everything listed here. So if something is not linked and you have no clue what I'm talking about, then try Google. If it's not on Google, then I probably don't know what I'm talking about and you can safely ignore it.
Music
I listen to a lot of music. It's not that I just enjoy a lot of music--I actually listen to it. I've made it a personal goal to be able to intelligently discuss all genres of music. I'm still lagging dreadfully in some areas of rock, but I'm improving in that respect.
I have listed here only music that I consider myself relatively informed about. I have not listed any of the genres of music that I listen to regularly but do not know very much about (opera, various forms of classical, russian folk, ukrainian folk, bulgarian folk, punk rock, postpunk, thrash, metal industrial, medieval music and mitelalter rock, vgm, acid rap and many others).
You should check out some of these artists. Just about all of the artists here should be findable at Amazon. If you just want a nibble, you can try a P2P network or BitTorrent or something along those lines before you buy.
Electronic
I'd consider myself most into and knowledgeable about electronic music, although recently I've been listening to more of other genres than electronic.
This is a little guide to get your whet your feetatite with some good electronic music (read: electronic music that I like). This is not definitive. This is just my opinion. If you'd like to learn more about elctronic music, read the Wikipedia page (link above), and try the humorous, infamously irreverent, and moderately accurate Ishkur's guide.
Notes: Please do not refer to all electronic music as "dance" or "techno", and do not use the term "electronica" at all. "Electronica" as a genre does not exist. Please stop using the word. It is meaningless. "Techno" is a specific type of electronic music, and probably not what you are thinking of, either. "Dance" is a group of electronic subgenres. In fact, unless discussing electronic music with somebody who is not very familiar with the genre, it's usually best just to refer to the subgenres directly, because most people who are into "electronic music" find the term not very useful, as it lumps together wildly different genres with the only common ground being their varying usage of electronics and recorded sound during composition and production. Seriously, just about all music now could be considered electronic music, save that which is performed and listened to live using only acoustic instruments. Also, please do not refer to every electronic music producer as a DJ, or vice versa.
Postjungle
I use the term "Postjungle" to include Breakcore, Glitch, and those genres that are related to Breakcore and Glitch (noisecore/technoid, drill n bass, riot beats, some IDM, some later mashups/plunderphonics).
- Venetian Snares
Despite his brushes with the mainstream (such as the embarrassing mentions from Red Hot Chile Peppers), he still has produced some very good albums, such as Rossz csillag alatt szuletett.
- Exile
Exile is probably the least known of the artists listed here. He hasn't produced very much, but has made some very good Darkstep DnB and trippy Postjungle.
- Jason Forrest/Donna Summer
Jason Forrest (aka Donna Summer) has done some decent plunderphonic breakcore.
- Kid606
Kid606 produces a variety of genres, ranging from roaring noisecore/breakcore (Down With the Scene) to subdued trippy IDM (Resilience).
- Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin has done some decent Drill n Bass, and is really a talented artist if you can get over his occasional chart-topping un-subtly.
Nu Jazz
Here I'm using the term "nu jazz" to refer to just about anything else that isn't postjungle that I like, since "nu jazz" happens to be a very poorly defined term.
- Amon Tobin
Amon Tobin is a brilliant composer, writing nu jazz with some of the craziest and freshest beats I've ever heard. One of the best things about Amon Tobin is his stuff is just oozing art and skill and at the same time is totally accessible (he even wrote a soundtrack).
- Mouse on Mars
Nice trippy spacy idmish junk.
Non electronic
Various Jazzes
- Miles Davis
Yeah, so what if everybody already listens to him. He rocks.
- Barry Sisters
The Barry Sisters are probably my favorite Yiddish swing band. Klezmer + jazz = smiles.
More coming soon!