Music is the space between the notes

-Claude Debussy

Genres, sub-genres, and crossovers; while these are present in all types of music, it’s fairly rampant in electronic music. Progressive, house, trance, acid house, progressive house, electro, dubstep, techno (and here you thought it was all “techno”- Wrong, buzzard breath!). And let’s not leave out glitch, psy-trance, drum & bass, chill-out, and minimal.

My recent preferred sub-sub-genre (or maybe sub-sub-sub-genre) is ambient minimal techno, German specifically. A few composers have truly risen to the top of the heap, bringing this sound to a full expression, instead of something you would hear occasionally from stalwarts of other genres. Autechre, pioneers of the IDM and glitch styles, are an example. Out of several of their studio albums, I found just enough examples of ambient minimalism to put together a single CD-length playlist.

It’s probably due to Zen practice as much as anything that I’m interested in this particular flavor. It has a stream-of-consciousness, edge-of-your-perception quality, a negative surface tension that strikes me as an auditory counterpart to meditative states. It’s not really music to drive to, and good headphones are required for full appreciation. It’s as effective an expression of Claude Debussy’s quote above as any other flavor of music. I would also say the same thing about some prime 70s-style funk, but I’m usually tempted to fill the space between those notes with rum martinis.

Obviously, this isn’t to everyone’s liking, but there’s plenty of exploration one can do around the edges and crevices of any musical genre. Time for some examples…

To get a taste of some of the better work being done in ambient, minimal techno-

I mentioned funk, but not all good funk is from 30+ years ago. Here’s how to lay down the groove in the 21st century-

Country fans, you aren’t left out. It’s surprising how many people still haven’t heard of Wilco and similar “alt country” acts-

This is just a fraction of what’s out there if you go exploring the outer limits of your own favorite musical genres. There’s plenty of space between the notes!