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Artists similar to Pendulum

post #1 of 28
8/31/11 at 7:21pm
Thread Starter 
If you say Noisia, you lose.

Pendulum isnt really what I would define as 'drum and bass'. they are a lot more pop/dance oriented. Theres tons of melody to many of their songs instead of a bunch of random blips and beeps and noises on top of some crazy drum kit loop in foreground. There is a dedicated bass line. They put more emphasis on the bass than the drums, and more emphasis on the tune/melody than the bass.

So with that being said, any suggestions?

BTW, i'm also looking for some chiptune sort of stuff, but newer. Like that one Mike Posner song "please dont go". but with more blisteringly low sine wave bass.

Did I mention I love bass liines?
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post #2 of 28
8/31/11 at 9:48pm

Pendulum has a really unique sound but this might interest you.

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post #3 of 28
9/1/11 at 4:49pm
Thread Starter 
It didnt really interest me. It was just pendulum remixed...

Perhaps there is someone else who has a unique sound that is more melody oriented? My biggest beefs with electronic music is the repetitiveness and lack of actual notes compared to beeps and boops.
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post #4 of 28
9/1/11 at 5:37pm

I agree, its hard to say which musical genre pendulum is. Their songs are very singular. 

 

Try tastekid. It finds similar artists/groups. 

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post #5 of 28
9/1/11 at 6:15pm
Pendulum is Arena DnB.

Give ShockOne a try...and maybe Reso.

Try...Crucify Me (pt. 1) by Shock One. Very similar to Pendulum.

Edit: Not Reso. Got them confused. I meant to recommend Delta Heavy.
Edited by MorbidToaster - 9/1/11 at 6:16pm
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post #6 of 28
9/1/11 at 6:22pm
In relation to the Chiptunes request.

Unicorn Kid - Wild Life. One of my favorite songs since its release. Very Chip sound. All the official remixes are amazing, too.
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post #7 of 28
9/5/11 at 1:10am
Thread Starter 
Alright so since I cant find anything similar to pendulum no matter how hard I look, perhaps there is a recomendation for some more lyrical dance-able electronic music? Honestly, I love the BPM that pendulum uses and the fact that their songs arent repetitive. I cant stand it when people play the same random group of noises for 32-64 measures at a time. I'm coming from a background of playing classical music and listening to artists like Pink Floyd and Radiohead. I also really like System Of A Down and Maximum The Hormone. All of these bands manage to keep their songs ever-changing and non repetitive. An example of repetitive would be Linkin Park, who basically released exactly the same 4 songs 3 times per album, then released the same album 4 times after that.

I hate dubstep, to me its just noise. I feel like an old fart saying that but its just not my thing. I really dislike rap for the same repetitive reason stated prior. Dislike country also.

I jsut got a bunch of soundtracks (star wars OG trilogy, LOTR trilogy, inception) but those are hardly worth listening to while working out or lawnmowing. It makes driving and homework and sleeping rather epic though.

I'll check out that chiptune song, btw. I like some chip stuff just because you can do so much unique stuff if you clock an 8 bit processor fast enough. like play through an arpegio fast enough to make your mind think its a full chord.

That reminds me, I also really really like chord changes. That is a requirement for music I listen to, otherwise I get bored. Radiohead breaks this rule several times and SOAD uses a lot of the same powerchords over and over but they dont overdo it.
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post #8 of 28
9/5/11 at 1:19am

The only one that comes to mind is Justice, but they aren't really jungleish.

 

The closest might be big beat groups (Chemical Brothers, Fluke, The Crystal Method).  You might like Skrillex and similar artists.

 

(Some Skillrex)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of-i5RmwoHE&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlpz0G1kjQY&hd=1

 

Electropop/Synthpop/New Wave bands might be another place to look towards (Ladytron, Metric, The Limousines).

 

I have a feeling Dev Pandya (Alaska, Paradox) and Seba probably won't be up your alley, though they're a lot more interesting than Pendulum.

(some of their melodic tunes with vocals)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F4DXf2p28g&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuzTX4B13fU&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlPWXzS3m14&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YA8zEim0A8&hd=1

 

Of course, for danceable stuff, there's always Parov Stelar :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twqM56f_cVo&hd=1


Edited by Elysian - 9/5/11 at 1:45am
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post #9 of 28
9/5/11 at 6:31am

Unicorn Kid - Wild Life

 

Shock One - Crucify Me (Part 1)

 

Delta Heavy - Abort

 

You didn't comment on anything I recommended and obviously didn't listen to the Unicorn Kid song so here's all 3. Really surprised if you don't get into that Shock One song. Delta Heavy is close to being a little too repetitive, but I think Abort changes it up enough to sound similar (though there are no vocals).

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post #10 of 28
9/5/11 at 10:41am
Thread Starter 
The shock one song was pretty much spot on. I'll have a listen to their other youtube stuff.

The unicorn song was catchy and melodical but I prefer my chip stuff to be part of the background noise rather than the central focus of the song. like use regular MIDI files for bass and various other instruments, regular human for vocals if there are any (vocals prefered), and have the 8 bit stuff in the background providing chords and effects. Example of this would be a dance remix of Mike Posner's Baby Please Dont Go. The regular song is fine and catchy and I'll listen to it but it doesnt hold much appeal after a few listens because it does nothing to get the blood pumping, its kind of just there.

The Delta Heavy song was too repetitive and close to dubstep for me to like.

@elysian
I rather detest skrillex. Scary monsters and nice sprites was decent until it got to the dubstep breakdowns. I tried listening to his album but (and this is my personal opinion, not some fact that i'm stating) i thought it was absolute crap.

the electropop/synth/new wave is closer to what I was looking for but its still too laid back. I'm not looking for 90's era music with most instruments replaced by a keyboard, i'm looking for something......i dunno. New and Exciting. Little Boots has some stuff that was really catchy but too downtempo. She does wonderfully on the chords and everything. Ellie Goulding's song Lights gets stuck in my head like no other but I wish it was a bit more uptempo also as I'm in a period of my life where dancy upbeat music makes the day go by quicker.

The stuff you suggested at the end was way too unimaginative. Maybe there is something in there that i'm missing but all I heard was the exact same drum sequence repeated over and over until the end of the song with some trancy vocals thrown in there. Theres a single bass line that shifts but the entire song sounds as if it was thrown together on the spot with no thought put in to it. That goes for all of them.

With pendulum i'm not trying to aim at Drum and Bass. I like the chord changes, tempo, and "scheme" changes. Take Midnight Runner for example. The song is repetitive but they change it up like 3 times in there so it sounds like 3 different short songs that transition seamlessly into each other.I'm looking for songs by them such as "the fountain" and "the island Pt. 1". Try more like this.



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post #11 of 28
9/5/11 at 11:15am
Immersion was an amazing album, but some of Pendulum's best stuff is the things you say you dislike. Sounds of Life for instance is one of my favorite Pendulum songs (but I'm a huge Liquid DnB fan).

I get more what you're going for now. Not too sure what to suggest though. Lol
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post #12 of 28
9/5/11 at 11:19am
Thread Starter 
I do like the songs on Hold your color a lot. There are some on there that I just skip over such as Through the Fire (that one willy wonka song) but there are songs on there that i use for testing too because I listen to them so much that I know what to listen for. Songs include Slam, Hold your color, tarantula and others. Sounds of Life is one of those that i'm not terribly a fan of. Same with Still Grey.
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post #13 of 28
9/5/11 at 12:08pm

There's not really many out there who do mainstream arena dnb like Pendulum, and Pendulum has significantly changed their sound in the last few years (becoming more and more mainstream, and moving on from their jungle roots).  You can look at related artists on Amazon and music listening sites (Last.fm, Pandora, Tastekid, maybe Grooveshark or Spotify), but it mostly links to other artists that have some electronica background, but also have crossed firmly into mainstream pop.

 

From what you're describing, you like melodic electronica which is easily palatable (which is why deadmau5 and Tiesto are so popular. deadmau5 might be up your alley).  Just look at whatever's popular on the European charts and you might stumble across something.  All the top-100 electronica guys (Chemical Brothers, Pendulum, The Crystal Method) are all converging onto the same place, with vocals, cheesy melodies, and really busy production.

 

The chiptune suggestions are good given your requirements.

 

You started narrowing things down, but just saying Pendulum is tough to focus on, since their early work is clearly inspired from the Australian dnb/jungle sound, but they've gotten really generic with their latest release.  Very few dnb groups have crossed into the mainstream, and you won't like Goldie or LTJ Bukem, I can't think of any off the top of my head who have mostly left their roots and gone pop music like Pendulum.  I'm not saying that Pendulum is bad, but you're looking for electronica crossover artists, and that doesn't happen too often.  There's a limited market for arena dnb, and Pendulum has that cornered.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention, there's a lot of clear inspiration from earlier BT (ESCM, Still Life in Motion) and Way Out West (Intensify, Don't Look Now) in with how Pendulum structured the flow of their albums in their latest releases, but newcomers to electronica would probably find BT and WOW boring.  The funny thing about the genre is that a lot of people (especially Americans) get into it with the mainstream and bombastic stuff, but you start to appreciate the more interesting and layered pieces once the initial rush wears off.  I got into the genre through nrg and UK hard house, and I can't stand either genre anymore.


Edited by Elysian - 9/5/11 at 12:15pm
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post #14 of 28
9/5/11 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elysian View Post

There's not really many out there who do mainstream arena dnb like Pendulum, and Pendulum has significantly changed their sound in the last few years (becoming more and more mainstream, and moving on from their jungle roots).  You can look at related artists on Amazon and music listening sites (Last.fm, Pandora, Tastekid, maybe Grooveshark or Spotify), but it mostly links to other artists that have some electronica background, but also have crossed firmly into mainstream pop.

 

From what you're describing, you like melodic electronica which is easily palatable (which is why deadmau5 and Tiesto are so popular. deadmau5 might be up your alley).  Just look at whatever's popular on the European charts and you might stumble across something.  All the top-100 electronica guys (Chemical Brothers, Pendulum, The Crystal Method) are all converging onto the same place, with vocals, cheesy melodies, and really busy production.

 

The chiptune suggestions are good given your requirements.

 

You started narrowing things down, but just saying Pendulum is tough to focus on, since their early work is clearly inspired from the Australian dnb/jungle sound, but they've gotten really generic with their latest release.  Very few dnb groups have crossed into the mainstream, and you won't like Goldie or LTJ Bukem, I can't think of any off the top of my head who have mostly left their roots and gone pop music like Pendulum.  I'm not saying that Pendulum is bad, but you're looking for electronica crossover artists, and that doesn't happen too often.  There's a limited market for arena dnb, and Pendulum has that cornered.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention, there's a lot of clear inspiration from earlier BT (ESCM, Still Life in Motion) and Way Out West (Intensify, Don't Look Now) in with how Pendulum structured the flow of their albums in their latest releases, but newcomers to electronica would probably find BT and WOW boring.  The funny thing about the genre is that a lot of people (especially Americans) get into it with the mainstream and bombastic stuff, but you start to appreciate the more interesting and layered pieces once the initial rush wears off.  I got into the genre through nrg and UK hard house, and I can't stand either genre anymore.


I'm a big FINRG fan though the genre is tough to grasp for some.

Also BT is my favorite artist of all time and I recommend trying his work. You may like Emotional Technology more than Still Life or Machines. I do agree that newcomers may find it boring though (which is why I'd suggest Emotional Technology).
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post #15 of 28
9/5/11 at 1:13pm

FINRG might be a good place for him to start, too.  It reminds me a bit of happy hardcore which is a bit hit-or-miss with most folks :)

 

I love BT and have a lot of his work on 12" (from official releases to white labels).  It's pretty undeniable the influence his early work on Ima and ESCM had on the whole concept of a single, flowing concept album (for electronica).  Both albums probably will sound a bit dated now (kind of like Sasha & Digweed's first Northern Exposure), and given current expectations on the genre, it probably will take a bit of an open mind and repeated listening to appreciate.

 

I agree that the newer BT is much more easily digestible.

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