This article about genres is long overdue. First off, we’re tired of all the blanket genre labels that keep popping up. Take the genre “electro,” for example. Wikipedia lists so-called “electro” artists such as DMX Krew, Kraftwerk, Afrika Bambaataa, Cylob and even Cat Stevens as artists related to the genre. Electro isn’t listed under any of Cat Stevens’ main Wikipedia page genres, and rightfully so. Apparently he dropped some album called “Was Dog a Doughnut,” that was allegedly a precursor to the “electro music genre of the 1980′s.”

At the end of the day, what is electro? Just some bullshit (for lack of a better adjective) commercial term that was developed by record labels to try and put various artists in a box. When artists are nicely packaged in a box, it’s easier to say what kind of music you like, and therefore figure out what kind of music you’d purchase. However, does that mean it’s accurate to do so?

Ever ask someone, “Hey, what kind of music do you like?” Only to get a response like, “Oh, I listen to everything,” or “Oh, I listen to everything but country,” or everything “but rap,” etc. Everything but country. Why’s that, because country is “uncool,” in some circles? It could also be that country is extremely popular in the US, and was the number one genre of music before hip hop or “rap” took its throne. Calling hip hop “rap,” really is kind of inaccurate as well, because “rap” refers to “rapping,” which is a trend in hip hop music. Calling hip hop “rap,” is kind of a thing of the 90′s though, back when music stores were still brick-and-mortar and not overtaken by digital storefronts.

I actually designed the font for the “rap” genre header on the Universal Music Group page back in 2008, just with a handwritten then digitally edited font, because theirs was struggling. Don’t believe me? Here’s a screenshot of my font on their genre header:

Here’s what their previous genre headers were…

Yes, I took time away from studying for law school finals to work on a genre font for UMG. Why not?

Also, just because I’m a digital packrat and nerdy enough to save screenshots of my desktop, here’s the full shot of my desktop at the time as well as the rough font sketch.

Of course, UMG has since revamped their site–after all it has been four years–but graphic design bragging-rights tangent aside, the mainstream labels package music in genres for sales purposes, even if what genre a musician’s songs fit is debatable. It goes beyond that though, mainstream genres are not even correct or accurate anymore.

The genre “electro” is garbage, and referring to hip hop as “rap” is also lamely imprecise, but let’s take a look at the “chillwave” genre. Aside from being a terribly cheesy name for a genre, since any reference to music with the word “chill” in it has always made us cringe, even the musicians at the forefront of the alleged “chillwave” genre do not even classify their music as such. Back to Wikipedia,

The Wall Street Journal quoted Alan Palomo of Neon Indian on genre, “Whereas musical movements were once determined by a city or venue where the bands congregated, ‘now it’s just a blogger or some journalist that can find three or four random bands around the country and tie together a few commonalities between them and call it a genre,’.”[5] Despite the stylistic similarities listed above, Palomo and other artists have questioned whether chillwave actually constitutes a discrete genre.

So there you have it, now we have random people on the Internet trying to put music in boxes as well, and those genres can become “real,” in that people actually use them? Come on! It’s bad enough that genres are imprecise as it is, but now anyone with a web site that gets traffic can create them?

Human nature makes us want to put everything in a box, from music to gender, even though life can’t just all be lumped together. Trying to simplify the world this way is a terribly unintelligent idea. If someone sees a baby boy on a train dressed in pink clothes that are arguably “girly” it can frustrate them because they can’t tell if the kid is a boy or a girl. That’s straight from the professor of a graduate level anthropology class. The tendency to want to see things in black and white is because it’s just easier that way, aside from that fact that human nature is completely irrational.

People who don’t care about music very much don’t listen enough to actually be able to discern differences between different genres and I also cringe at the number of times I’ve heard people say “it all sounds the same,” about a genre when if you actually follow that type of music, you will notice differences that are substantial enough to split into all kinds of sub-genres. Even then though, with experimental music, and even new music that is more conventional, it is best to classify music with multiple genres and sub genres.

The only reason to use sweeping genres that lump together a bunch of pre-existing genres that truly are different is to dumb things down for people who don’t really listen to music, but just skim through it. That’s right. I’ve heard people refer to all electronic music as “house” or “trance.” Again, come on! Really? It’s those same lazy people with typically dull taste in music that use commercially created terms like “electro” and “chillwave.”

So IDM is a stylistic origin of chill wave? Really? As someone who has been listening to IDM since the 90′s, that sounds absurd to me. This Autechre track, “Gantz Graf,” is IDM. So then, shouldn’t we be able to hear some influence from it in Neon Indian’s music? I can’t.

Just because Autechre used a lot of editing in the sequencer and digital sound processing to make that track doesn’t really make it anything at all like Neon Indian’s music. Think back to that person who goes around telling people “Uh, yeah, I listen to a little bit of everything, except country.” For reals? So, we might find them in their car rocking out to the Autechre track above? Doubt it. They probably don’t listen to anything that’s experimental at all. Oh the things we say that are driven by our insecurities.

So in conclusion, the question we pose is this: are you a dumbed-down herd follower of a person when it comes to music? Do you actually have enough passion for music that you spend a reasonable amount of time seeking it out, listening to it without talking over it, and enjoying it? If so, maybe then you will hear enough differences from one musician to the next that it will feel completely wrong to throw a musician in a smorgasbord sack of shit genre. <3.

Michael Clarke’s footage of a private jump session after the Sammy Calson Invitational was a fail due to poor weather conditions. Skip the BBQ stuff if you want to see some amazing air!

Who knew freestyle skiing could be so awesome?

Phace & Misanthrop – “What’s Wrong:”

Phace & Misanthrop – “Out of Focus feat. Spor:”

Fairly raw. Would you expect any less from these producers though?

Dang. Already over a year old. Still, if you haven’t heard it already… enjoy!

Oh, you heard it here first? Well, the official video for this now radio jam came out. Enjoy!

Cool video. Notice Katy Perry is in it?

Happy, uptempo, commercial, pop music that works and does what its design intended. Good song. Sounds like The Killers at times, but that’s fine because it’s made up for by the beautiful Coldplay sound at other points.

Also, they’ve got a show coming up next month–February 12–at The Wiltern in LA with Young the Giant. Click here for more information and tickets.

The third release from the Noisy Meditation label and we’re loving it! Within just a few weeks of release, it has already climbed to a #2 spot in the UK Funky Garage genre on digital-tunes.net, and with good reason. Listen for yourself!

The best place to buy this record is here on Juno.

Amberscape EP (NMD003) – Out Now by Noisy Meditation

Australia has been a little slow to catch on to the whole post-dubstep thing, with garage inspired bass with a broken beat yet to truly catch on in the Southern Hemisphere. However, with the release of Sydney artist Amberscape, it looks as if that may be changing. Although comparisons with Burial are likely to come thick and fast, mainly due to the EP’s rich atmospherics and haunted vocals, Sepalcure might be a more useful reference point: “Yuki-onna”, with its sun-drenched chords and bone dry snares, is a prime example. Elsewhere, “Howiloathe” stands out with its deep house-influenced bass and 2-step rhythm, while “Kino” combines pressure cooker atmospherics with mournful vocals and “Maerd” rounds off a fine EP with a shimmering exercise in tension with all the production mastery of his North American peers. Recommended.

MACHINEDRUM – SXLND by LuckyMe Music Art Parties

LuckyMe is proud to present SXLND, the new 5 track EP from Machinedrum.

It’s been a great 18 months for Travis Stewart. Since we released his Many Faces EP in 2010 we’ve seen a succession of new hip hop, juke & 2step projects on labels Hot Flush, Planet Mu and of course LuckyMe. In Summer 2011 we released his underground smash Alarmaa which featured as part of Jackmaster’s FABRICLIVE 57 CD and tore apart Sonar Festival, clubs and Boiler Rooms alike. But now Stewart is back with Lucky Us for a project 2 years in the making – a sparkling take on Deep Chicago and Modern UK House entitled SXLND.

12” EP comes with Digital Download Card with exclusive Scuba Remix and cut-out Geisha inner sleeve.

Head over to thisisluckyme.com to Pre-order the vinyl copy now!

Happy 2012! As we all embark on this exciting (and perhaps historic) new year, we would like to take a moment to share our intentions for the Do LaB community and Lightning in a Bottle festival. Whether prophesied, or simply the true state of affairs, our community, our nation, and our planet face great change at this particular moment in time. We invite you all to embrace this change and continue celebrating life and our incredible human spirit during these tumultuous times. Though our problems seem many, and solutions difficult, we must remember to approach them with grace, love and celebration for in this attitude lies our best way forward.

LIB has always been about discovering and enacting a different way of living. A way that is more in touch with the earth, with each other, and with ourselves. As the pace of change continues to accelerate all around us, and old ways of thinking begin to reach their logical and useful ends, LIB continues to expand its spiritual and educational aspects so that we, as a community, may boldly embrace and lead the way into this new world. The Temple of Consciousness will be bigger than ever this year and will include inspiring new structures for the yoga and meditation area, as well as the beautiful area for speakers and workshops in the heart of the Temple. At the same time, we have a music and performance lineup brewing (scheduled to be released in March) that could be our best yet and is sure to awaken the celebration of dance that we hold so dear.

We are so happy and proud of the way LIB has been able to continue to grow and mature, while continuing to preserve that indescribable vibe we have all come to love so much. We thank everyone that participates in this event, from the volunteers and the musicians, to the painters, builders, artists and crew, and especially to you for contributing to that feeling that makes everyone feel so welcome and happy to join us in capturing lightning in a bottle, year after year.

It is to all of you that understand and reinforce the intention of the festival that we offer our early bird discount tickets for 24 hours starting on Monday, January 16th at 7am. We can’t be absolutely sure, but all indications point to the festival becoming sold out earlier than ever before this year. We don’t want you, our valuable core of festival goers, to miss out on tickets this year. We want to see you smiling again, bringing your incredible energy and understanding to help us make Lightning in a Bottle 2012 our greatest year ever.

Video created by Manifest Media.

Thanks for reading and be sure to Rush n Get em!

LIB 2012 info page: Click Here

Rush n Get em pre-sale event: Share and RSVP Here

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This is a win… more or less.

Morgan Page – Fight For You (Odmark & HOHME Bootleg Remix) by HOHME

Fall-Ladybugs-You (Fade Out) by praveensharma

Get your New Year’s party on with these four dancey videos.

ALL I WANT IS MOOG PORN FOR CHRISTMAS (FREE DOWNLOAD) by Mochipet

This interview runs through Ellie Goulding’s favorites, including her favorite: beauty product, cocktail, movie, date activity, food, way to unwind, item in her house, childhood memory, TV show, Twitter, vacation spot and album. The interview was conducted by idolator.com – a Buzz Media web property.