[effgee]

During the heydays of Front 242, Laibach, Fad Gadget etc. I used to know pretty much everything there was to know about electronic music. As the years went by, I had less and less time to pay attention to what's going on in that particular corner of the music "scene" and have increasingly relied on friends to recommend the occasional album that I would add to my small collection.

The problem is now that over the last year or so their taste has changed/evolved into a direction that no longer strikes my fancy - I like minimalistic techno but couldn't listen to it exclusively and after an hour or so I usually get annoyed.

So what I'm looking for is a couple of recommendations (artists, albums, etc.) that are somewhat similar in style to the kind of electronic music I normally listen to. Here's a couple of my favorites (in no particular order):

• Kraftwerk (I think I have pretty much every album ever released)
• Photosynthese (Lebensstrom)
• Sender Berlin (Gestern, Heute, Morgen)
• Afrogalaktik (Alien Safari)
• Blue Room Compilations
• Some of the older Tresor compilations

Any ideas?

[bubblewrap]

Chemical Brothers
Crystal Method
Aphex Twin

[effgee]

Originally posted by bubblewrap:
Chemical Brothers
Crystal Method
Aphex Twin

Uhmm ... yes and no. I like Crystal Method and Aphex Twin (have never really checked out Chemical Brothers, will do so next chance I get) but what I'm specifically looking for is a slower, more ambient/background kind of music. Something I can listen to all day while working. For me personally, Kraftwerk is the perfect music for that purpose: Not too hectic, not too slow, not too complex, yet (almost) always inspiring and never too boring when you lean back in your chair for a minute or two to actually listen to the music more consciously.

I should've been a bit more specific about that (and probably shouldn't have included the Blue Room/Tresor stuff) - apologies.

[Albert Pujols]

Paul Oakenfold
Tiesto
Benny Benassi

and definitely check out Chemical Brothers, you don't know what you're missing.

[CD Hanks]

Apollo Four Fourty
BT
Dave Ralph
Death in Vegas
Deep Dish
Leftfield
Moby (eh)
The Orb
Orbital
Paul Oakenfold
Paul van Dyk
Sandra Collins
Sasha
John Digweed
Telefon Tel Aviv (absolutely beautiful)
Tiesto
Underworld

That's a start.

[Nivag]

you should give M83 a shot, the latest album is excellent.

also try
New Order
Spiritualized
Sneaker Pimps
Portishead
Nightmares On Wax
Moloko
Leftfield
Zero 7
Kruder & Dorfmeister
David Holmes

[Randman]

An oldie but goodie, Jean-Michel Jarre.

[Sherwin]

Tangerine Dream?

[Angus_D]

Ministry of Sound do some good compilations like the Chillout Annuals, take a look at those if you get the chance... But they're probably expensive imports if you're in the US

[Oisín]

I don't really know much (okay, anything) about those "oldies" you name, but a few suggestions nonetheless (being ever so slightly patriotic here, seeing as how Scandinavia has a lot of good, but not very well-known, music in that genre, and I know you happen to like my country ):

Massive Attack (they're obvious, and you probably know them quite well already, but just in case)
efterklang (a fairly unknown Danish band that have been getting great reviews by all and sundry. I'm currently waiting for their CD "Tripper" to arrive in my mailbox...)
Under Byen (another Danish, slightly more well-known, band. Less electronic/techno-ish, but more mellow and still amazing music)
Sorten Muld (what do you know, Danish again. They mix traditional Danish folk music [like, really old stuff with a "Viking-ish" feel to it] with electronica)
Múm (an Icelandic band, also perhaps more mellow than electronic, but good; you might know them already)

[demograph68]

Daft Punk

[yakkiebah]

Gridlock 'Formless'
L'ombre 'Simulations 1.0 & 2.0'
Bitcrush 'Enarc'
Architect 'I went out shopping to get some noise'
Ulrich Schnauss 'A strangely isolated place'
Abfahrt Hinwill 'Links Berge Rechts Seen'
Beefcake (All albums)
Autechre 'Incunabula'
cEvin Key 'The dragon experience'
M² (All albums)
The young gods 'Music For Artificial Clouds'
Boards of canada 'Geogaddi'
Ab Ovo 'Le Temps Suspendu'
Clock DVA 'Buried dreams, Man-amplified'

[digiology2]

Air
Zero 7
Afro Celt Sound System
Boards of Canada
Massive attack

[effgee]

Wow, that's quite the list for me to check out - thanks a lot, guys!

One last, specific question - when rummaging through my CD's earlier, I found a (near) perfect example of what I'm looking for - it's a track from the Blue Room compilation "More signs of life" from 1998, called "Rules of Hypothalamus" by "Sri Pravana" - here's a sample (**). If anyone knows artists/albums similar in style, all hints/pointers would be most appreciated.

Thanks again!!




(** - the quality is extremely bad on purpose, plus it's only the first 90secs of the song so nobody tries to construe this as me illegally distributing music.)

[Mafia]

been said already but BT, they are really good.
also i like robert miles but i may be alone on that one.

[Albert Pujols]

Originally posted by Mafia:
been said already but BT, they are really good.

[SimpleLife]

Francis Dhomont. "Les Cycles de l'errance" and "Les Dérives du Signe"

Although Dhomont is rather attached to Concrete Experimental music, "Les Cycles de l'Errance" is really something to listen to.

Also,

Alain Thibeault. "Volt"

You will have a hard time finding this stuff in popular stores, and have more luck through the distributor:

empreintes DIGITALes

These are really worth it.

[IceEnclosure]

Originally posted by CD Hanks:
Telefon Tel Aviv (absolutely beautiful)

agreed.

also, some mentioned, some not yet in this thread:

Desmond Williams

Gotan Project

Kruder Dorfmeister or Tosca or Peace Orchestra (all great, all same guys)

Thievery Corporation

[rozwado1]

Check out Hed Kandi records for some chill sessions.

They also have hot (albeit cartoon) girls on all their albums.

[SamuraiDL]

Boards of Canada and aphex twin. Oh and also air, not really electronic, more smooth. And definitely Squarepusher!!!!!

[macintologist]

"Fahrenheit Fair Enough" by Telefon Tel Aviv

[macintologist]

Also try anything by the electro-acoustic band called The New Deal.

They were featured on TechTV once and that's how I knew about them.

[sugar_coated]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38,
39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56,
57, 58, 59, 60, 70, 80, 81, 90, 100, 101, 102, 110, 111, 120, 130, 140,
150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000,
1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960, 1968, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2001, 2002,
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 3000, 4000, 5000, 808 state, a
guy called gerald, a split second, john acquaviva, acid, Acid, rob acid,
acidhouse, Acidhouse, the advent, air, Air, album, alien sex fiend,
marc, almond, alphaville, altern8,ambient, Ambient, and one, antiloop,
aphex twin, aquagen, armageddon dildos, art of noise, artist, Artist,
astralasia, atb, juan atkins, austria, Austria, avi, autechre, awex,
backdoors, banco de gaia, banner, Banner, bannerrotation,
Bannerrotation, Banner-Rotation, Banner-rotation, banners, Banners,
bannerexchange, Bannersexchange, Banners-Exchange, Banners-exchange,
bass, bazooka joe, berlin, bigod 20, bild, bilder, bildersammlung,
blancmange, blank & jones, cj bolland, boom, borghesia, boyd rice,
bronski beat, brooklyn bounce, bt, steve bug, alex butcher, cabaret
voltaire, cafe carina, cafe del mar, cannabis, Cannabis, roland casper,
cassandra complex, cassius, chat, Chat, chart, Chart, Charthits,
Charthit, cgi, CGI, chemical brothers, chris & city, cosey, clan of
xymox, dave clarke, click click, clip, clock dva, club, Club, clubbing,
Clubbing, clubing, Clubing, coil, Coil, cosmic baby, cosmic music,
Cosmic Music, carl cox, cumshot, chumshut, current 93, cybotron, d.j.,
daddy dj, daf, DAF, dafdos, d.a.f., daft punk, gigi d agostino, dj dag,
dance, Dance, dancemusic, Dancemusic, dans, darude, nathalie de borah,
de phazz, deejay, Deejay, deejays, Deejays, deepdance, Deepdance,
deephouse, Deephouse, de/vision, delerium, depeche mode, Depech Mode,
depeche mod, depeche mod, delirium, Delirium, dildogirl, Dildoslut,
dilirium, disco, dj, d-n-a, d.n.a., dna, Dna, DNA, dope, Dope, DOPE,
andreas dorau, dos-klang, dosklang, down-load, download, Download,
DOWNLOAD, downloads, Downloads, DOWNLOADS, dr. motte, der dritte raum,
der 3 raum, dune, dvd, dvd-film, dvd-video, andy d x, electronic,
Electronic, Electronic Music, electronic music, music electronica,
musica electronica, Electronica, electric universe, elektrochemie lk, dj
paul elstak, emf, e.m.f., eintragen, hier eintragen, trad dich ein, url
eintragn URL eintragen, english, englisch, brian eno, erasure, euro,
eurodance, event, Event, events, Events, Eventszene, eventszene,
eventscene, eventscene, ever, fake, Fake, fatboy slim, felix da
housecat, fetus, file, File, floorfila, floorfilla, fluke, foetus, dj
food, force, Force, f tus, fragma, frankfurt, free, Free, FREE, frei,
Frei, front242, front 242, front line assembly, fun, Fun, future breeze,
future sound of london, fsol, f.s.o.l., ****, ****, ****ing, ****ing,
****a, ****house, ****you, **** you, **** your, phil fuldner, funk d
void, gabber, Gabber, Gabbercore, gabbercore, Gabba, gabba, gaba, Gaba,
gapa, gabberhouse, gallery, Gallery, g stebuch, G stebuch,
Gaestebuch, gaestebuch, garage, Garage, garagehouse, Garagehouse, gary
d., laurent garnier, genlog, goa gil, german, German, Girl, girl, goa,
Goa, Goatrance, goatrance, goahouse, Goahouse, goldie, gratis, Gratis,
GRATIS, green velvet, group, groupsex, google, gto, g.t.o., gotan
project, guestbook, Guestbook, hardcor, hardcore, Hardcore,
hardcorehouse, Hardcorehouse, Hardcor, hardcor, hardfloor, tom harding,
hardkor, Hardkor, hardy hard, richie hawtin, larry heard, mr.fingers, mr
fingers, thomas p. heckmann, dj hell, dj. hell, d.j., hits, Hits,
hitmusic, hitmusik, Hitmusik, hit-music, homepage, Homepage,
homepagemaster, homepagemeister, House, house, houze, Houze, Houseparty,
houseparty, houzeparty, in the nursery, intermix, invisible limits, ken
ishii, takkyu ishino, jam and spoon, jam&spoon, jam & spoon, jam el mar,
marc spoon, dj dag, dj jean, jeyenne, xpq21, xpq-21, judge jules,
Kannabis, kannabis, kaylab, keywords, kid loco, david klein, oliver
klein, klick, klingelt ne, klingelton, klingeltoene, klinglton,
Klingelton, Kingelt ne, Klingeltoene, Klinglt ne, Klinglton, the
klinik, klubheads, klubbheads, clubheads, clubbheads, frankie knuckles,
komakino, koks, Koks, dani koenig, k nig, koxbox, koksbox, kraftwerk,
Kraftwerk, kruder and dorfmeister, kruder&dorfmeister, kruder &
Dorfmeister, Kruder dorfmeister, monika kruse, label, Label, labels,
Lables, laibach, lassigue, bendthaus, logo, Logo, gabriel el mar,
leatherstrip, leonies, lexy k-paul, oliver lieb, liebe, Liebe, chris
liebing, Liebing, Liebling, link, Link, linkhitlist, Linkhitlist,
link-hit-list, Link-hit-list, Link-Hit-List, linklist, Linklist, linkz,
Linkz, listen, live, living, Living, mark loop, marc loop, lords of
acid, love, Loveparade, charly lownoise, lsd, LSD, lydia lunch, lyric,
Lyric, lyrics, Lyrics, timo maas, mabel, marijuana, Marijuana,
mariuhana, marusha, Marzihana, massive attack, massive attak, masters at
work, meat beat manifesto, man 2nd, meierei im stadtpark, men2nd, metro,
Metro, midi, robert miles, jeff mills, ministry of sound, dj misjah,
miss djax, miss shiva, mixing, moev, model 500, moguai, mohn, molela,
mollela, moody man, moody mann, george morel, mouse on mars, movie, m
p3, mp3, MP3, Mp3, mp3.com, mP3, m p 3, music, Music, MUSIC, musik,
Musik, n-trance, n trance, neo, Neo, neo-pop, Neo-pop, Neo-Pop, neon
judgement, neon judgment, neopop, Neopop, neu, Neu, NEU, neue, Neue, new
order, nightmare on wax, nightmares on wax, nitzer ebb, nitzer eb, tom
novy, now, Now, NOW, nrg, NRG, gary numan, paul oakenfold, oe, Oe, OE,
official, offical, ooe, OOE, Ooe, okenfold, oomph, omph, ompf, on, On,
ON, oo, OO, Oo, orb, Orb, o.r.b, mfg, official, william orbit, orbital,
paper, Paper, terrence parker, terence parker, party, Party, partyhouse,
Partyhouse, sexparty, password, Password, passwords, Passwords,
PASSWORT, PASSWORD, passwort, Passwort, phtas and small, phatt, mauro
picotto, mauro pikotto, mario piu, plastic angel, plastikman, player,
poesie noire, ian pooley, popkomm, porn, Porn, Porno, porno, portishead,
praga khan, prezioso, privat, the prodigy, prodigi, the Prodigy,
Prodigy, Prodigi, psyche, psychic tv, pulsedriver, quicksilver, radio,
raduno, Raduno, raduna, Raduna, afroraduno, afroraduna, raver, Raver,
rave, Rave, ravehouse, ravershouse, Ravehouse, Ravershouse, recoil,
residents, resitance d, pascal feos, pascal f.e.o.s., maik maurice,
records, Records, recordings, remix, r-e-m-i-x, re-mix, Re-mix, Remix,
REMIX, remixed, Remixed, remixer Remixer, review, Review, rozalla,
rosalla, rush, Rush, safri, Safri, Safriduo, safriduo, safri duo,
sammlung, sampler, sammy, roger sanchez, sanches, sash, sasha, schranz,
Schranz, schranzhouse, schranztechno, Schranzhouse, Schranztechno,
schanz, schrans, Schans, scharnz, klaus schulze, scooter, second decay,
mp3sampler, search, Search, session, set, Set, sex, Sex, Sexvideo,
sexvideo, shawdow, the shamen, the shaman, schamane, siglo xx, sign up,
sign, Sign up, signup, roni size, skateboy, skinny puppy, spk, sneak,
sofa surfers, soma, song, Song, speedy j, spielfilm, starsplash,
steindl, Steindl, steve stoll, c.j. stone, cj stone, streaming,
Streaming, street, Street, streetparade, Streeparde, street-parade,
Street-Pradade, such, Such, suche, Suche, suchen, Suchen, sunbeam,
system 7, systhem7, szene wien, talla 2xl, tangerine dream, tanith,
tatana, taucher, techno, Techno, technoparty, Technoparty, Technopartie,
techno party, Techno Party, technofest, Technofest, music techno,
Techno, technohead, Trance, trancehouse, trancetechno, trancegoa,
technoveranstaltung, Technoveranstaltung, techno-veranstaltung,
Techno-Veranstaltung, Techno-veranstaltung, technoveranstaltungen,
Technoveranstaltungen, techno-veranstaltungen, thomas, trance triphop,
Trancepop, Trance-house, technotronic, tekkno, tekkkno, technotrance,
techno, danny tenaglia, dany, todd terry, thc, Thc, THC, t.h.c.,
thievery corpoation - eighteenth street lounge music, thomas, Thomas,
throbbing gristle, dj tiesto - black hole, tillmann uhrmacher, dj
tomcraft, pete tong, dj tonka, emmanuel top, toplist, top-list,
Top-list, top.list, Toplist, toplists, Toplists, frank tovey - fad
gadget, kai tracid, trailer, Trailer, trance, Trance, trancemusic,
Trancemusic, trancegoa, Trancegoa, goahouse, Goahouse, Goatrance,
transglobal underground, tune brothers, free password underground,
Underground, tribal drift, tricky, turntableartist, turntable,
turntables, Turntableartist, Turntablerocker, Turntables, Technis,
Technicx, Technics, time, Time, the twins, 2 unlimited, 2unlimited,
underground resistance, underground free-sites, undergroundlinks,
underworld, universal, Universal, utah saints, unofficial, sven v th,
sven vaet, sven vaeth, van, Van, mark van dale, marc van dale, mijk van
dijk, marmion, microglobe,unofficial, paul van dyk, woody van eyden,
armand van helden, der verfall, video, Video, videoclip, videoklip,
vidoe, Vidoe, videofilme, Videofilm, vienna, Vienna, privatvideo,
Privatvideo, virgin prunes, vol, vol., volume, vomito negro, von, Von,
dj voodoo, vodo, voodo, vodoo, warner, Warner, warp brothers, wavy, tom
wax, the weatherman, the weathermen, the weathermen - belgian pop and
rock archives, web, webradio, web-radio, Webradio, Web-radio, 1210,
1210er, westbam, hotwax, Hotwax, hot-wax, umsonst, Umsonst, young,
school, wien, Wien, windows media player, xxx, xxxmusic, josh wink -
ovum records, yello, marco zaffarano, marco zafarano, zion train
----

go nuts.

[effgee]

Originally posted by sugar_coated:
...

go nuts.

Looks like you already rook care of that one for the population of the entire forum.

[CD Hanks]

Originally posted by sugar_coated:
i broke my return key. i am also a retard

What. The. ****.

[ort888]

While not exactly mellow, you should really check out T. Raumschmiere, Dabrye and Rip Off Artist. They are actually making electronic music that sounds different.

[Phanguye]

Quasi Electronic but:

Godspeed You Black Emperor!
Mogwai
The Faint
Frou Frou
Air
Portishead

or get some essential mixes from www.freshlymixed.com

[OreoCookie]

Cosmic Baby (also check for his latest project, Blüchel & Von Deylen)
Ken Ishii
Tangerine Dream
Brian Eno

[turtle777]

Originally posted by IceEnclosure:
Kruder Dorfmeister or Tosca or Peace Orchestra (all great, all same guys)
Thievery Corporation

Especially K&D, they are a MUST in any collection.

-t

[Naplander]

Biosphere
Pete Namlook
Vector Lovers
Visna
Brothomstates
Casino vs Japan
Faction (the end of tel aviv)
Fennesz
Four Tet
Norken


just a few recommendations from browsing at my iTunes library. Listening to that sample I am pretty sure you would like most of these artists.

[Nivag]

i'm not sure how, but i forgot about this guy Ryuichi Sakamoto - he has influenced loads of artists.

[finboy]

Wendy Carlos.

[Secret__Police]

Flyin' Ryan Brothers
Evolution Control Committee
Heavyconfetti

[SimpleLife]

Originally posted by Phanguye:
Quasi Electronic but:

Godspeed You Black Emperor!

Those guys are really good; band from Montreal!

In the not so electronic but really worth a listen: Terry Riley, "In C", by "Bang on a Can".

[E's Lil Theorem]

Originally posted by effgee:
...If anyone knows artists/albums similar in style, all hints/pointers would be most appreciated....

From the sounds of it, I'd say you're looking for ambient and/or trip hop. Visit your local record store, listen to stuff under those genres and you're likely to find music you enjoy.

[B Gallagher]

BT