One of our main reasons for being is to find new and interesting music by contemporary producers doing new and interesting things. When it comes to picking a few tracks for the playlist each month, we set off to write a few words about stuff that inherently cannot be described in words. This is, of course, why we make music … there are emotions to explore that go beyond the dictionary. But whilst the purist musician most likely eschews classification of their music, listeners searching for original sounds may find that classification important.
Everyone has their own interpretation of genres and sub-genres. These are becoming so diverse that they are made up on a daily basis – and we too are guilty of it. Describing contemporary music styles is now something so unstable, any music that can’t be put in a pigeon-hole requires its own tag. At the same time, music that nestles comfortably within a pigeon-hole can be passed over as MOR.
Some music stations don’t venture beyond the “dance” or “rock” labels; but some end up with such tag-noise that all useful meaning from the classification is removed. How many times have you searched for music using emojis? Have a go in Soundcloud and see if it helps.
After ruminating on all this for a while, we thought we’d go back to skool and learn a bit about how music is tagged. For the next wee while, Voxel Records will be studying tags, terms, classifications and genres; trying to work out what makes the music behind the label. Our intention is to stick to remain oriented to the electronic, but don’t be surprised if we wander off into metal, funk, jazz or punk. Watch this category for the first installment, coming soon!
