I’ve long been amused by both extremes of music categorisation. Shops that have “Rock” categories so vague they may as well just label it “music”, or categories so precise they have two CDs in them.
A lot of music shops in the USA, and music websites (the iTunes bundle included) lump a lot of music together under the “Electronica” category. In Europe, we often take the other extreme - beyond the charts with their awful compilations, there’s a strange world of frankly obsessive categorisation. House music pseuds endlessly building a strange taxonomy of music genres. Some people take it all way too seriously.
I lost my way years ago, which can cause difficulties, because both my favourite music and music that makes me feel physically ill are both buried within Electronica.
Ishkur.com has a great guide to the dance music genres, with sarcastic commentary, maps, and samples. It’s easy to explore the genres and work out what you like and dislike. It isn’t accurate, scientific or unbiased because that’s impossible. It’s useful, and even better, it’s fun, and that’s the whole point.
Link: Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic music (Direct link to avoid porn adverts, and you’ll need a fast connection for this.)
