obscure music genres

It is a broad type of rock music that emerged in the 1970s in which artists departed from the simplicity & traditionalism of punk rock to adopt avant garde influences & diverse sounds. The post-punk movement has been characterized by its "conceptual assault" on rock conventions and rejection of...

Enka is a form of Japanese music that resembles traditional Japanese music stylistically. It is based on the "minor scale without four & seven" which is a modified version of the "major scale without four & seven". It is further based on the pentatonic scale, & archetypal enka singers employ a...

PC music is a form of music based off the label of the same name that originated first in 2013. The form of music features high & light pitch-shifted vocals, instrumentation inspired by video game & 8-bit sounds, & synthetic textures. It uses state-of-the-art music resources in its production &...

Trance is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the late 1980s & early 1990s in Great Britain, Germany, & Goa, India. It characterized by a tempo lying between 110–150 BPM repeating melodic phrases and a musical form that distinctly builds tension and elements throughout a track often...

Musique concrète (literally translating to "concrete music") is the art of utilising recorded samples to create music which originated in France in the 1920s & 1930s. It features sounds derived from recordings of musical instruments, the human voice, & the natural environment as well as those...

Lo-fi, derived from the term "low fidelity", is a genre in which audible imperfections are heightened as a deliberate aesthetic choice. Its aesthetic is actually defined by the inclusion of elements normally viewed as undesirable in professional contexts, such as misplayed notes, environmental...

Indietronica is a genre of music combining elements of rock, electronic, indie, & pop music that originated in the early 1990s. It includes rock musicians that share an affinity for electronic music using samplers, synthesizers, drum machines, and computer programs. The term has been heavily...

Psychedelic rock is a diverse style of rock music that originated in the mid 1960s in the United States & the United Kingdom. It is centred around perception altering hallucinogenic drugs. The sounds of psychedelic rock invoke three core effects of LSD: depersonalisation, dechronicization, and...

Ambient music is a form of music that favours tone & atmosphere over musical structure & rhythm. It focuses on creating a mood or atmosphere through synthesizers and timbral qualities, often lacking the presence of any net composition, beat, or structured melody. It originated in the United...

Trip Hop is a musical genre that emerged in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. It is described as a more experimental variant of breakbeat with soul, jazz, & funk. It has a sombre sound including aesthetics like bass-heavy drumbeats. The vocals are predominantly female emulating styles of...

Minimal music is a form of art music that makes minimal usage of music materials. It originated in the 1960s in New York & is characterised by the focus on the internal processes of music, which lack goals. Stasis, motifs, consonant harmony, & steady pulse are prominent features with phase...

Synthwave is a genre of electronic music influenced by 1980s films, video games, cartoons, & comics that originated in the mid 2000s. It takes inspiration from 1980s science fiction, & is often compared to the "cyberpunk" theme. It attempts to emulate the atmosphere of the 1980s. Vaporwave is...

Art Rock/Progressive Rock is a broad subgenre of rock music that developed in the U.S. & the U.K. in the mid to late 1960s. It correlates to an avant garde or experimental approach to rock music with emphasis on classical influences, elevating rock from music for entertainment to an artistic...

"Avant Pop" is the label given to music that has been identified as experimental, state-of-the-art, & distinct from the previous styles of music. However, it manages to offer an immediate accessibility to the listener at the same time. It correlates to avant garde music with stylistic elements...

Math Rock is a subgenre of Indie Rock that emerged in the U.S. in the late 1980s. It is characterized by usage of non-standard time signatures, which is seen as *mathematical* in character to listeners & critics alike, giving the genre its peculiar name. Other characteristics include dissonant...

Death Metal is an an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that emerged from black metal & thrash metal in the mid-1980s. It employs heavy & low guitars, fast & powerful drumming techniques like blast beat & machine gun, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, & minor keys, showing chromaticism...

Baroque Pop is a genre that is centered around rock music with heavy classical influences. It is identifiable from its adoption of an early orchestral sound & instruments that adhere to an orchestra, that is, appropriating Baroque styles. Common instruments in the genre include the harpsichord...

Intelligent Dance Music is a genre of electronic music that in the UK & Japan in the early 1990s. It is a form of electronic music that is more for cognitive listening than other recreational purposes like dancing. It emerges from styles like techno, breakbeat, & ambient & focuses on...

Dark wave is a genre that arose from the new wave & post-punk genres in the late 1970s. The tendency of music of the genre to stay in the minor key is maximum. It takes up a style that gives the listener brooding, introspective, gloomy, & melancholy vibes. It is characterised by instruments like...

Dream pop is a subgenre of the alternative & psychedelic music genres that arose in the 1980s in the United Kingdom. It is a music genre that relates to complete engrossment in the music owing to its dreamy & wispy characteristics. Generally, dream pop is characterised by vocals with high...