Hello again! Hope the electronica suggestions I’ve provided have kept you satisfied between posts. Now we get to dive into the FuN genres! 

PSY-TRANCE: This is electronica on drugs…Isn’t most trance on drugs you ask? Yes, I agree with you, but I am referring to trance on a DIFFERENT sort of drugs.. An example would be the artist Hallucinogen, or my personal favorite, the Israeli “Infected Mushroom”. Also I would include the UK’s “Shpongle” (he also does solo work as “Simon Posford”) as well as “Astral Projection” and “Juno Reactor. Dark Soho is less popular, though their song “The Fusion” provides a wonderful soundtrack for driving 100mph on the freeway. This music is… intense. There is a lot of bass and a lot of sound waves that are manipulated in such a way as to give the sensation of aliens drilling at your brain. A whole new concept of ‘expanding your mind’ perhaps? 

 
IDM: This stands for Intelligent Dance Music, though it is arguable how ‘danceable’ these tunes really are. Purely synthetic and claiming a range between electronic elevator music and someone’s twisted joke of an emergency alarm system, one of the best examples can be found in the artist “Autechre”.  IDM is a strange genre, not really inclusive but for a few exceptions, it mainly names a specific sound, but few artists limit themselves solely to that sound. For example, the popular Death Cab For Cutie is occasionally slotted under IDM. Autechre is quite an experience as the IDM sound is bent to include jazzy riffs and hip hop beats. Anyone who is familiar with the workings of a synthesizer will recognize this genre as the most ‘raw’. That is, the effects a synthesizer can produce, such as the arpeggiator, which turns a single note into a “flurry of sounds” is easily recognizable within the music itself. Honestly, I find IDM the most difficult to describe, I recommend checking out the sound sample on Amazon.com.

DOWNTEMPO: Also accused at times of being elevator music, this genre is also known as CHILLOUT. It is more focused on atmosphere creation than on the music itself, though some downtempo can be quite involved and conducive to heavy introspection. Zero 7 provides a general example. Try Mum for a more complex experience. Boards of Canada is a good choice as well. If you are looking for the soundtrack for sweeping landscapes and powerful aspects of nature, try the Icelandic group Sigur Ros. Sigur Ros is more often slotted as AMBIENT, though, truthfully, they are a genre all their own, somehow combining NEW ROCK, AMBIENT, and massive orchestral arrangements.

 
INDUSTRIAL (DANCE): Grinding, depressing, with often apocalypse style motifs, this is not stuff for the faint of heart… or those with little patience for emo. Apoptygma Berzerk is my personal favorite, though VA nation is generally more popular. If you are familiar with the chain store “Hot Topic”, this is the sort of electronica that you might find playing on their stereo system. For those of you unfamiliar, Hot Topic is a goth/emo/fairy/bondage/gamer store popular here in California.

 
I do not have an official title for this genre, I would refer to it as HOUSEFUNK, specially created for such artists as DAFT PUNK and BASEMENT JAXX. Daft Punk in particular can have a DISCO flavor at times.

All right, thank you all for your interest, that will be all for now. Please feel free to comment and suggest music (I am always fiending for more), or if you find a new artist you like from these articles, please tell me! I would love nothing more.

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