Electronic music sets online?

April 28, 2005 5:54 PM

Where can I find extended electronic music sets online, or what CDs should I look for offline?

For some ungodly reason, the only music that keeps my energy up without distracting me from studying is techno. Preferably in long, DJ-mixed sets that run on seamlessly for an hour or more, rather than a in a jumble of tracks like on an album.

Where can I find this format online? I'm willing to pay, but iTunes seems useless. Or, what mix / set CDs do you like in this genre?

More info for techno dorks: I usually go for house, minimal techno, and "Detroit style," but I'm pretty flexible. I'm not a huge fan of trance or anything else with bombastic sappy melodies. A long long time ago there was a site that had streams of the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, and those were perfect.

posted by rkent to media & arts (13 comments total)

You heard of hybridized.org?
posted by sjvilla79 at 6:08 PM on April 28, 2005

I like Proton Radio for streaming progressive house -- though your milage may vary as far as consistent quality of mixes. Generally not too trancy or sappy.
posted by treebjen at 6:14 PM on April 28, 2005

http://www.di.fm/

FYI, not all trance--in fact, only a small amount--is 'bombastic sappy melodies.' Take a look at psytrance and tech-trance. Might be right up your alley.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 7:06 PM on April 28, 2005

Chicago Fever is a great house music show that's broadcast on WNUR in Chicago. They have MP3s that you can play and I think a podcast too. I have a friend who was a DJ there when we were at Northwestern. You can also listen to the show live from the station's website here.
posted by orangskye at 7:27 PM on April 28, 2005

Thetastates has great mp3 sets. You can skip the hiphop ones (although they are excellent.)

Also, BetaLounge, which has been around forever, has enough streaming techno sets to last you thorugh a few PhDs...
posted by gwint at 7:31 PM on April 28, 2005

there are plenty of live/DJ sets for download at Bentwave, some quite good, although I'm not sure it's exactly what you're looking for. Plenty of downloads at Thinner (no sets though), and an absolute must by Philip Sherburne.
posted by hellbient at 7:41 PM on April 28, 2005

oh, and Kompakt is a great German minimal techno label. There's streaming mp3s on the site now, but the CDs I'd recommend are anything by Michael Mayer (especially Immer, although it might be kinda chill for you), the Speicher (more acidic) and Total compilations. As far as I know, Michael Mayer does all the mixes on these, btw.
posted by hellbient at 8:03 PM on April 28, 2005

Oh! And I almost forgot. Ministry of Sound has a radio station that's free and has some amazing djs spinning, everything from hard house to chill out. It's gotten me through some pretty rough study sessions, especially since it's on UK time and the more chill bits are played during the evening here.
posted by orangskye at 8:05 PM on April 28, 2005

somafm has a few streams that might be of interest. Check out cliqhop idm and beat blender.

And I second the thetastates suggestion.
posted by googly at 8:44 PM on April 28, 2005

Haven't been there for a while, but dublab.com used to have loads of dj sets by top dj's.
posted by DelusionsofGrandeur at 11:36 PM on April 28, 2005

D*I*R*T*Y
posted by blag at 1:46 AM on April 29, 2005

Jeff Bennett, who has releases on netlabels Epsilonlab and thinnerism has some live mixes on his website. Both thinner and epsilonlab have some excellent releases (as well as mediocre ones) that are all free to download. It's a good place to try lots of unsigned artists.

Heiko Laux's excellent "real" label Kanzleramt has added downloadable mp3s. Try this Mixcentrate for a good taste of their style. I've found lots of new artists through Kanzleramt. It's basically the kind of small label where if you like one artist, you will probably like most of them. Fabrice Lig, for example, who has some free mixes on Pulsation which has lots of interesting mixes from various labels. And I should mention Dennis Desantis who cut his teeth on the old mp3.com (remember them?), and combines commercial releases with netlabel mixes and releases.

The real point of my post is...lots of talented artists are releasing original works and mixes for free, either through netlabels or their own websites. Once you find a mix or artist you like, you can quickly collect tons of high quality music, legally and freely. If you don't like my suggestions, there are many more out there ;)
posted by amarshwren at 8:33 AM on April 29, 2005

At the risk of being tangential, The Hype Machine is listed on del.icio.us popular allowing music streaming from various mp3 blogs on a choice of players. But I haven't delved.
posted by peacay at 11:36 AM on April 29, 2005