This is one the two main subgenres I’ve been spending a lot of time with since discovering Good Headphones exist. Didn’t want to drown it in the general Electronica topic because that’s a colossal genre and only getting larger by the day.
I hope I’m not amateurishly redefining what’s been called “IDM”, but what I mean is:
Electronic Soundscape = the music creates a space of its own and moves you completely to that space and out of wherever you were when you pressed Play
Detail Porn = interesting sounds and instruments click, tinkle, swish and pop in various places on the soundstage, hooking your attention completely and making you forget anything else exists beyond the currently playing track. (Here I should mention that if it’s too random/“experimental” and doesn’t stay reasonably rhythmic and reasonably melodic it loses me and fails to qualify for this subgenre. Your threshold for where this happens may vary.)
The first obvious example, already known to many here (so I might as well just get it out of the way): Yosi Horikawa https://yosihorikawa.bandcamp.com
(I only like about half of what he’s made so far, so I won’t mention any album in particular. But when I say “like” I mean I’ve bought something and I intend to listen to it again many many times.)
Yeah, the first 4 minutes of Los Recuerdos fit what I’m talking about. Those could’ve been a perfectly good song on their own, but then that annoying guy starts talking and then it turns into something symphonic that has nothing to do with the first half.
Not really though - the BPM is too high (or too bipolar and anxiety-inducing in the first case), the beat is constricting the music and not allowing the details enough space to develop and to be perceived clearly. In general the soundscape+detail stuff I’m talking about is rather on the chill side, not this frantic and techno-y.
There are busier examples, like “Parks on Fire” above, or this:
… but they tend to have symphonic qualities, where the instruments are harmoniously working together, including the percussion, and nobody’s stealing anyone else’s air.
Sometimes it works in high-BPM, high-energy tracks, but it’s very rare, and I think it still relies on having substantial quiet sections in the same piece. This comes to mind:
I have to thank you for Yosi Horikawa. I listened to some of the Wandering EP and it’s some sweet sweet ear candy on the 58X. Gotta check out the other recs from this thread when I have time.
Worth a mention as it’s a fcuking awesome album soundscape and recording wise, but also because they burnt £1m of their music revenues on the Island of Jura in 1994 …Enjoy
Spaceplan OST slot of little twinkls/clinks/cymbals along with wonderful warm bass. (Contiguous and home are monotonous in my opinion but every other song is great).
Holy crap. I just listened to ‘Bubbles’ by Yosi Horikawa for the first time. Somehow I had overlooked that particular song of his until now. This one’s not as popular as ‘Letter’, so perhaps I’m not the only one to miss it.
…Enjoy 