More like this please!

March 21, 2007 9:43 AM

What kind of electronic music am I looking for?

I really, really like the first track on the Orb's album Bicycles & Tricycles, "Orb is (Shopping Version)". However, the rest of the album sounds nothing like that song. I don't know how to describe this kind of music so I am not sure how to find more of what I like. Another example of a song that I think I like for similar reasons: "Intro," the first track on Cloud Cult's Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus. Pandora has been no help because it doesn't seem have either of these songs indexed. Can anyone point me in the right direction? What is this kind of music called? Are there any specific songs or artists I should check out?

posted by puffin to Media & Arts (19 answers total)

Dub / Downtempo
posted by davebush at 10:16 AM on March 21, 2007

I used to listen to The Orb back in the 90s but kinda missed out on their new stuff, so I bought this track just now to see what you're on about.

And.. "Orb Is (Shopping Version)", to me, has a lot more in common with acts like DJ Shadow, Leftfield, Lamb and Squarepusher than older Orb stuff. Electronically mixed acoustic drums, jazz influences, etc.

I'll try to use my human Pandora skills and recommend these tracks as being somewhat similar:

DJ Shadow - Changeling
DJ Shadow - Meets His Maker
DJ Shadow - Walkie Talkie
DJ Shadow - Mongrel
DJ Shadow - Mutual Slump
DJ Shadow - What Does Your Soul Look Like
Lamb - Gold
Red Snapper - The Sleepless
Leftfield - Dusted
Dzihan & Kamien - Ford Transit
Leonard J. Paul - Theme (Feature) (from The Corporation soundtrack)
Prodigy - The Way It Is (at a stretch)
Red Snapper - Regrettable

Sorry for the absolute dump truck of DJ Shadow in there, but there's definitely some parallels.
posted by wackybrit at 10:28 AM on March 21, 2007

A reference of every kind of electronica.

To help you better tack down your urges.
posted by disillusioned at 10:40 AM on March 21, 2007

I am fairly unfamiliar with the new Orb sound. However, if Wackybrit has it right you may want to check out acts like Kruder and Dorfmeister (and related projects Peace Orchestra and Tosca)and Thievery Corporation. Those groups will take you in the more organic dubby direction of things.

If this is your first taste of The Orb, I would highly recommend checking out all of their albums pre-Orblivion. My favorite one being Orbus Terrarum.
posted by Sandor Clegane at 10:53 AM on March 21, 2007

You could always try exploring via allmusic.com (musical gineology), pandora.com or last.fm (finds "similar" music for you).

If you like downtempo/trip hop however, check out the following:

Nightmares on Wax
Lemon Jelly
Future Sounds Of London
Infected Mushroom
Royksopp
posted by aeighty at 11:09 AM on March 21, 2007

Ishkur's guide rocks my world. Just be prepared to spend hours sampling random music.

I think di.fm (the station hosting Ishkur's guide) would be a good Internet music station to check out some streaming.
posted by jmd82 at 11:18 AM on March 21, 2007

"The album begins with 'Orb Is (Shopping Version)', a relatively sparse exercise in mid-tempo breakbeat soundscaping à la the Future Sound of London's 'Papua New Guinea'. It's one of a few tracks, alongside 'Abstractions' and 'From a Distance', that betray the studio presence of Jack Dangers, the mastermind behind the legendary Meat Beat Manifesto and one of Paterson's few true peers." -PopMatters
posted by Dean King at 11:50 AM on March 21, 2007

Have a listen to soma.fm's Groove Salad channel - sometimes it gets a tag too new-agey for me but they often hit a nice run of the kind of electronica you describe.
posted by zadcat at 12:09 PM on March 21, 2007

Definitely Future Sound of London (ISDN is a good one to start with). I also think "Orb Is" is reminiscent of some Meat Beat Manifesto (like "Transmission"). The classic Autechre album "Amber" also might fit into this feel.
posted by biscotti at 12:10 PM on March 21, 2007

wow. i check out that orb is track and the first thing that popped in my head was: Blade Runner.

anyway, you might enjoy all of Amon Tobin's music. And you should take a look at Ninja Tune's roster of artists.
posted by phaedon at 12:21 PM on March 21, 2007

Haven't heard that track yet. However, I was a big fan of early orb. The 'downtempo starter set' that I usually recommend to friends starts with Kruder and Dorfmeister's K&D Sessions in it. It's got downtempo, dub and remixes of 'popular' songs in a more downtempo style.
posted by kookywon at 12:24 PM on March 21, 2007

I like Sounds from the Ground. You might check them out.
posted by 4ster at 1:25 PM on March 21, 2007

Wow - downtempo/chillout is my kind of musical scene. Some recommendations (in no particular order):

Massive Attack
Portishead
Morcheeba
Zero 7
Sia
The Dining Rooms
Airlock
Purple Penguin
Mono
Statik Sound System
Alpha
Thievery Corporation
DJ Cam

There are also 2 great compilations by Cup of Tea Records which feature some of the artists listed above.

I love this music - doesn't seem to be as much coming out any more but many of the classics are still great!
posted by snatchos at 1:40 PM on March 21, 2007

Aromabar - "Catch Her Flame"

solid, solid track.
posted by cowbellemoo at 2:02 PM on March 21, 2007

Depending on what you like about these two songs, you might like Pae Paoe from Bola's Fyuti. IMO you can't go wrong with Bola.

Also maybe check out Thomas Fehlmann's stuff. He's part of the Orb. A lot of it has this bassy laid back feel.

If the sax is a significant part of what you like about this, yeah look around on Ninja tune.
posted by aubilenon at 2:35 PM on March 21, 2007

I haven't heard from this particular song, but from what other people are suggesting, I'll also throw in (in no order):

Four Tet
Ulrich Schnauss
Gas
Prefuse 73
Fennesz
Jan Jelinek (though probably a bit more minimalist)
Matmos
Dntel
Air
Junior Boys
Telefon Tel Aviv
Markus Guentner
posted by JacksonEsquire at 2:50 PM on March 21, 2007

Without having heard that specific song I would say check out:

Boards of Canada
Bonobo
Kraftwerk
Squarepusher
UNKLE
Dosh
Coldcut

But I'll get back to you.
posted by sneakyalien at 6:19 PM on March 21, 2007

My recent favourite two electronic albums are Jon Hopkins' Opalescent and Contact Note. They both have a beautifully chilled out ambient-with-beats atmosphere. William Orbit's Strange Cargo series of albums are similar, and are positively dripping with crunchy, sunny analog warmth.

You should also go and listen to most things Orbital have ever done. If you don't immediately fall in love with Orbital's The Girl With The Sun In Her Head from In Sides, there is no hope for you, and you should stop listening to electronic music.

Their earlier albums Snivilisation and The Brown Album also have a fair bit in common with the earlier Orb sound, and are very, very good indeed, though they are more uptempo and less dub influenced than most of the Orb's tracks.

If it's the patchwork, scratchy, cut and paste aspects of that Orb album which appeal, then Let Us Play by Coldcut is likely to provide you with much joy, as well has having some truly excellent sampled/synchronised videos, and some of the most amusingly recontextualisd classical-riff sampling I've ever heard, when they drop in a little bit of Peter And The Wolf on More Beats'n'Pieces. Genius.

Future Sound Of London is another great suggestion. Their Lifeforms is a dubby, tripped out masterpiece. It's showing it's age a little, but it's still superb.

One album I'd forgotten about until today, but which never fails to cheer me up is Luke Vibert's Tally Ho!. It's just such a joyous, squelchy, wiggly, funky, breaky workout of an album.

Run, do not walk, to Bleep, and go nuts. There's so much good music on there it hurts me to think about it.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:51 AM on March 22, 2007

Boards of Canada?
Mum? (Might be getting a bit too spacy for you though.)
Brian Eno even? (Don't laugh, try Music for Airports.)
Mogwai.
Autchre.
Even Sigur Ros maybe.
posted by jasperella at 3:42 AM on March 22, 2007