Idiot's Guide to Industrial (and similar) Music

[The Idiot's Guide to Industrial (and similar) Music]

This is for young rivetheads who don't have the benefit of being old enough to have been around at the inception of the genre some refer to as industrial music (or for those who got bored of one subculture and decided to try something different).

You don't actually have to listen to any of the artists named (apart from NIN and Wumpscut, and if you decided to become a rivethead after a stint as a goth, you'll probably already own the NIN albums anyway). As stated, the names of artists listed are strictly to impress your friends with. Also try making up names and then act all elitist and superior when your friends haven't heard of the (fictional) artist.

Note: Industrial music can be damaging to your hearing (and sanity). The faint hearted may wish to try something a little less abrasive. Perhaps a Cliff Richard CD or a nice emo album (*gags*).

First, a brief history of industrial music in 7 words and a smiley...

Throbbing Gristle, Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails

;-)

Secondly, a slightly more detailed (but not much) explanation of the above explanation...

Throbbing Gristle started it off making some weird noises and stuff on a label called Industrial Records. Then 2 guys named Kevin, influenced by Throbbing Gristle amongst others, got together and formed Skinny Puppy. Then a guy called Trent got a little depressed, copied Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails was born. NIN influenced everybody, now the world and his wife are claiming to be industrial just because they use a computer and a drum machine to create their music...

Now some definitions and advice:

Industrial: Sounds like (and usually is) irate foreigners banging on scrap metal. Vocals may consist of snarling and moaning. If you can hum the tune, it's probably not industrial.

Names to impress your friends with: Throbbing Gristle, Einsturzende Neubauten, SPK, Skinny Puppy, Coil plus of course, let us not forget the other possibly slightly more commercial stuff such as Wumpscut, Leaether Strip, Nine Inch Nails and so on. However, bands such as NIN may divide the rivethead community into those rivetheads who like them and class them as industrial, and those who think NIN is nothing more than a whiny poser ripping off a bunch of talented bands/musicians and diluting an original and innovative genre of music into a bland easily digestible commercial mush. Either is right because you are a rivethead and you are better than everyone else so therefore everyone else must be wrong no matter what stance you take.

However, it may also be said that bands such as NIN might come under the category of:

Industrial rock: If you hear an industrial rock song on the radio, you may actually remember what it sounded like 10 minutes later because it *may* actually have a tune.

or perhaps:

Industrial metal: Industrial metal is a combination of the two genres industrial and metal, obviously, where you may have electronic beats combined with heavy guitars. Sometimes this works, sometimes it results in shitty nu-metal bands getting labelled industrial by the ignorant music press. An example of an industrial metal band would be Ministry. Some people will try to tell you Ministry are industrial. They aren't. You know this because you are elitist and you know everything. They are industrial metal. Apart from their first album which was some sucky synthpop. And Twitch which was, well, no Psalm 69.

or maybe in the category known as:

EBM: Electronic Body Music - electronic music that makes you want to move your body. Geddit? Good. Front 242 for instance would be an example of this. Be aware that what most people class as EBM, for example VNV Nation, is not really EBM though (even if VNV Nation did cover a Front 242 song). Because most people are stupid, whereas you are a rivethead and you know everything. What they class as EBM is probably some dancey or synthpoppy crap, and likely to be the kind of stuff goths are more inclined to like. Therefore it is not acceptable for you to like it. Remember to be elitist and show your superior knowledge by denying that anything anyone tells you is EBM is actually EBM.

~ ~ ~

Similar forms of music:

IDM: Intelligent Dance Music. Not industrial but has some similarities (like being totally f***ing weird and quite often bloody noisy too). If you are looking to expand your musical horizons a little but still wish to be a rivethead, you could do worse than listen to some IDM artists.

Because most dance music is repetitive crap made by any old moron with the latest copy of "cut-and-paste-cliched-dance music" installed on their computer, we have to distinguish between the commercial rubbish that they play in Ibiza or wherever and dance music that actually has some creativity and depth to it. Oh and by the way you can't actually dance to it.

Names to impress your friends with: Autechre (pronounced aw-teck-er, for the bemused, unless you'd like to be different), Aphex Twin

~ ~ ~

Noise/Noize: Noise is pretty straightforward. It's noise. Structured noise; textured noise but it's still noise. Noise is good. :-)

Also, powernoise. Someone once said to me Imminent Starvation sounds like feedback. If that is so, think of powernoise as feedback with rhythm. Which is why sometimes it's called rhythmic noise, probably.

Names to impress your friends with: Merzbow, Imminent Starvation, Tarmvred

~ ~ ~

Experimental:

Well it's self-explanatory really, isn't it? Can apply to various industrial, IDM, noise artists, etc. Emphasis should usually be put on the 'mental' part.

What industrial isn't (to save you any embarassment in front of your unforgiving rivethead 'mates'):

Techno is not industrial.

Synthpop is not industrial.

Marilyn Manson is not industrial (despite what anyone told you - they were probably trying to convert you into a goth).

Using small snatches of electronica, keyboards or samples does not automatically make a band industrial. This means that all of the following bands are not industrial (even though certain magazines or websites claimed that they were): Incubus (yes I know, how the hell could anyone think they're industrial?), Slipknot, Disturbed, Soil, actually all nu-metal bands

Also, amongst some rivethead circles, NIN is not industrial. But in others NIN is considered to be an industrial pioneer. Pick one and stand by your decision. You're right, everyone else is wrong.

Warning - not to be taken seriously, but I hate all those elitist people who like to spend hours arguing about what industrial is and at the end of their ranting you figure out by their standards there is no band that is industrial and then they disown you cos you mention that you like Marilyn Manson like you somehow implied that you think the sun shines out of Mazz's backside and you listen to his albums 24/7 and have an altar in your bedroom where you sacrifice babies to him and you think he's the most pioneering, innovative musician ever and he never copied anyone when all you actually said was you quite like Marilyn Manson but you think Antichrist Superstar is overrated and your fav band is Skinny Puppy anyway. Yes, this rant was based on personal experience.

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