[shrimants]

I understand that they went kinda sellout-ish/generic with In Silico, and completely generic with Immersion. But if they are so generic, why can I find nothing similar to them? I dont really care about listening to music that is appreciated because it isnt mainstream. If it is a good catchy song, it will sell. Selling music to the masses and catering to the tastes of the general public might be considered selling out but I dont see why it is a bad thing to cater to those peoples' tastes.

Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with layered music, for example Radiohead's In Rainbows. but when 5 suggestions from different bands, different songs all sound exactly the same (to me), there is nothing for me to listen to. I like listening to various hidden things in layers. What I dont like is having to sift through the same drum/hi-hat rhythm for a whole 5 minute song to find the single hidden note they play. I dont consider any of those songs in Elysian's first-ish post to be very different because the exact same drum pattern is playing at the exact same tempo on the exact same chord. Clicking through 5-10 second increments of the song, I cant tell that there is really anythign new happening. There are some songs that have a breakdown but that only works for a few seconds and these bands seem to stretch breakdowns into entire movements in the song. To me, its like listening to rap without vocals.

People say most newcomers find the aforementioned songs boring, but thats not something I can change because i AM a newcomor. I need chord changes, good vocals, and talent, not some 40year old with fruityloops studio on his macbook whining about how artists that are willing and able to sell music to the general public are sellouts (Goldie). I'm getting kind of tired of this whole superior elitist attitude with genres of music. Some people enjoy country, others classical, others rap or jazz. There isnt anythign wrong with them and its not really a reason to push out a snobbish attitude/opinion towards one's own musical preference. regardless, It is this exact attitude that I find as I search through various google results for similar artists. Everyone either has no clue who is similar, or they are mad at pendulum for selling out and suggest "pure" drum and bass. There is nothing wrong with drum and bass, but I need more substance to my music. Drum and bass, to me, is only half the band.

That being said, i'll try some more of the stuff that was suggested, esp. more mainstream stuff. I tried deadmau5 a long time ago but I had a problem with his repetitiveness and trancyness. I like my music engaging and complex.

EDIT: you guys used a bunch of acronyms that I dont recognize....FINRG, BT, WOW....

 

[Elysian]

You're getting the attitude because you're copping one yourself, particularly given that you've come asking for suggestions from people who have been listening to this general genre of music much longer than yourself.
 
When I linked those Dev Pandya and Seba youtube links, those are the most easily accessible and straightforward of their work.  Go check out Discogs.  Each of those guys literally have hundreds of productions and remixes, which evolve quite a bit with both the genre and the producer's own interests.
 
You're asking for pop music, not electronica.  You've stated upfront that you're not the biggest fan of dnb.  Pendulum is a confused band because they started heavily entrenched in the jungle scene, and quickly went the pop/mainstream route, while still having the trappings of arena dnb.
 
Your attitude really confuses me because you come off pretending you have an open mind about these things, but constantly go back to ridiculing and belittling about repetition and Fruity Loops and whatnot.  Pendulum is NOT dnb any longer, which is why you're hitting a brick wall.  You seem like you're getting angry because people out there are withholding pots of gold from you.
 
Listen to what people suggest, stop going in with preconceived notions (and skipping around every 5-10 seconds), and let things grow on you.  I'm not sure why you're coming into this with a chip on your shoulder.

 

[shrimants]

I know pendulum isnt DnB anymore, and I thought I stated up front that i was specifically not looking for DnB music because it wasnt my thing. From what I understand, Noisia is one of the better known bands in the DnB genre, while Skrillex is generally recommended for newcomers to dubstep. I tried listening to both 'Split The Atom' by Noisia and 'Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites' (the album) by Skrillex. I tried multiple times to listen to the albums and unfortunately it was not to my tastes. I liked exactly 1 song on each album. (Machine gun and Scary Monsters)

I'm not trying to ridicule anyone's tastes in music, and just to be clear, I AM looking for a very exact sweet spot in electronic/pop music. I say I skipped around in the songs suggested but the first time I listen I always listen all the way through. I found that most of those songs flat out bore me as I listen through them even though I try to concentrate on them. This doesnt mean I think those songs have bad music, I just dislike that style for day-to-day listening. It took me a while to get into bands like SOAD and Radiohead too. I didnt like immersion at all the first few times I listened to it because I was evaluating it as an album rather than a bunch of single tracks. Once I listened to it on shuffle it made more sense and I found that I liked it more than In Silico.

I'm not angry in the slightest. If anything I am somewhat frustrated and mostly perplexed that something that sounds as good as Immersion (to me) is only just being invented (for lack of a better word). I am only getting frustrated because since pendulum has its roots in DnB, people try to consider them DnB and offer DnB suggestions when they've actually migrated away from DnB into a weird mainstream line that seemingly only they are a part of.

I included Goldie as a reference because he publicly spoke out against Pendulum specifically for "selling out". I tried listening to a few of his songs to see what he considers music and I was unimpressed. There is a female artist called 'Little Boots' who i stumbled across last night. She got a simple sequencer and made an entire song on it within minutes and it was more complex than some of the recommendations for 'complex music' i've seen recommended by DnB fans.

The synthpop stuff was the closest thing i've found to what i was looking for and now I just need to find some that stays north of the 152 beats per minute border rather than dipping down into the 'casual music' tempo range.

Also, I'd like to offer a personal apology to Elysian if I offended him.

 

[Elysian]

Thanks, and I apologize if my most recent post came across as harsh.  Pendulum's In Silico and Hold Your Colour are some of my favorite albums, too, and I regularly use Hold Your Colour and Propane Nightmares when testing new equipment.  I also like all the bands you've listed, from Radiohead to SOAD, so I think I have some idea of where you're coming from in terms of musical preferences.
 
Honestly, I think you're on a fruitless quest.  I've spent a lot of time also trying to find albums like In Silico and Hold Your Colour, but haven't run across anything, and I have a pretty immense collection of electronica on analog and digital formats.  I'd love to find something else but I just don't think it exists.  Pendulum is popular, but even then, arena dnb is pretty niche, and even Pendulum were very lucky to have broken out and gotten some notice and acclaim (especially as an Australian group).
 
There are albums out there which I think have a similar sort of energy, such as The Crystal Method's Tweekend and Chemical Brothers' Push the Button (like the track Galvanize), but you're probably going to have to look elsewhere or see if you can broaden your tolerance of other hybridized electronica artists.  There are some interesting Pendulum-esque traits across everyone from Daft Punk and Justice to Mr. Oizo and Rob Dougan, but they're just shades of overlap.
 
If you do run across that magical album like Hold Your Colour, though, I'll be the first one who will want to hear your discovery

 

[shrimants]

The latest stuff I got were 3 soundtracks: The star wars trilogy, Inception, and Lord of the Rings. I also got Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

Artists I listen to:
Daft Punk - Alive 2007 (didnt get into their regular stuff, much prefered this concert album)
Disney - Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 OST
Led Zeppelin - Early Days, Latter Days (again, just a quick sampler of their best work, wasnt interested in all of it, though I gave it a few listens)
Maximum The Hormone - Buiiki Kaesu, Hou (EP), Kusoban, Mimi Kajiru, Rokkinpo Goroshi
Muse - Absolution, Black Holes and Revelations, Origin of Symetry, The Resistance
Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy VII Advent Children OST, 'The Black Mages'
Pendulum - Hold Your Color, Immersion, In Silico
Pink Floyd - Animals, Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief, In Rainbows, OK Computer (dont like OK as much as I used to, though. Still a nicely done album)
System of a Down - Hypnotize, Mezmerize, Steal This Album!, System of a down, Toxicity
The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (dont listen to this band as much as I used to)
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium, Frances the mute, Tremulant (EP) (Havent listened to them in quite a while, didnt like their new stuff after Frances the Mute because it went from complexity to chaos)

These are the albums i've kept around for years. They have songs that, assuming I am in the correct mood/frame of mind, I never tire of listening to them.

The sound tracks and the bit of classical music has a good chance of being deleted. It should also be noted that I usually listen to an artist's discography from beginning to end, repeating listens of each album multiple times before I decide if i like it or not. This is what was left over.

I do like Rob Dougan's stuff, I might look into him and Paul Oakenfold. Their stuff isnt really in line with my general mood/spirit these days but it was nice music when I had it.

If you are a major bass head, Elysian, I suggest you listen to 'Shuttle Tydirium Approaches Endor' from Star Wars Return of the Jedi in FLAC. They must have used a bass drum and string bass as big as a building because that is the first time i've actually heard a song that has like a 6 hz bass tone in it. I felt slightly nauseated after listening to it . I probably would throw up if I listened to it on a proper pair of speakers. It could also just be that my ear canal had that note as a resonant frequency, I dunno.

I'm going to be giving these soundtracks and classical music a thorough listening to to see if they earn a spot in my music library, so I have until that time to find some suitable electronic music OR change my mood/outlook on life such that there is electronic music available that reflects it heheh.

EDIT: If you like SOAD you might really really enjoy maximum the hormone. Their style takes a bit of getting used to but its so unique and likeable that I have yet to skip any one of their songs when it comes on during 'shuffle'. They are one of the few bands that manage to make NuMetal sound good 100% of the time.

 

[Elysian]

Hmm... yeah, I can tell you definitely like melody-centric music   If you haven't checked it out yet, you might have some fun with Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music:
http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/
 
It's very cheeky, but it's the best crash course I've ever seen in what's out there, and it gives a lot of artist recommendations.
 
Re the VGM stuff, you'll probably lso like anything JDK Band (they did a lot of awesome arranged Ys tunes and Sorcerian)... really, any redbook or AST from Falcom (the Japanese action-RPG game developer), the arranged King of Fighters soundtracks (ASTs), Noriyuki Iwadare (Grandia 2 + 3), Motoi Sakabura (Valkyrie Profile), and last but certainly not least, Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Shadow Hearts).  The arranged Castlevania/Dracula soundtracks are a lot of fun, too.
 
I'll have to check out the SWRotJ track   I haven't listened to any John Williams in a really long-time, and from what you described, it sounds like a really good reference track.

 

[shrimants]

Yeah. It will definately be on my reference track list for any future headphones I get. I tried playing it on my audioengines and they definately didnt pick up the vibration there. My monster turbines out of my ipod classic 160gb have it rather clearly in there.

Another good reference track is Lord of the Rings, The Passing Of The Elves from Fellowship Of The Ring Disc 1. It will test the crap out of your high range. The entire track is A-capella plus a tuba/sousaphone/string bass that comes in. About half way through a male choir joins the female one and it becomes a rather taxing song on any speaker/headphone. Excellent way to find out the balance of the speaker/heaphone and to test for fatigueing highs or underpowered lows.

 

[MorbidToaster]

Just thought I'd make a comment about the acronyms. BT is actually his stage name. He actually goes by that. lol
 
FINRG is Finish NRG (Like energy, get it?)
 
Also, totally check out the Crystal Method and Chemical Brothers suggestions. You may like Prodigy as well now that I think about it. 
 
90s Big Beat was an amazing time, and full of things you might like, to be honest.

 

[controlmajortom]

Okay, so I'm kinda bumping this. I'm getting more and more into electronic music. Like the OP, I really like Pendulum, but more of their older stuff. 
 
From reading this thread, it seems Pendulum is pretty isolated as far as genre goes, but can someone recommend me groups that may sound similar, even just a little bit to these songs:
 
Slam
Plastic World
Hold you Seatbelt
Sounds of Life
Blood Sugar
Tarantula 
The Vulture
The Island (Part 2)
Salt in the Wounds
 
I don't particularly like In Silico.

 

[shrimants]

Try to listen to the entire album "Welcome Reality" by Nero. Thats what I settled on, and its DARN close to pendulum's stuff.

Aside from that, I'm still looking, but I've found that the best way to find an artist is to listen to their entire album in questin 3-5 times, front to back, in various settings. just make it a goal before throwing the album out the window. You can always "acquire" it, try it out, and if you like it then purchase it. heck, if you do it that way, you can even acquire it in sub par quality so when you actually buy the CD you'll be paying for an upgrade for songs you already know you like.

EDIT: for people who have something to contribue, rather than saying "try artist's stuff", can you suggest a full album/artist combo?

 

[Aynjell]

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.

Ferry Corsten comes to mind, but he's going to be a mixed bag for you. His stuff like Punk, Junk, & Whatever you would probably love. his softer smoother stuff will bore you as both styles by both artists are almost duplicates.
 
Both artists have a smoother softer side resembling each other.
 
Both artists have a harder more club sound resembling each other with a lot of trance/dnb influence.
 
I'd say you prefer L.E.F. from Ferry Corsten. I'm gonna go ahead and say though that I may be way off, but to me they seem similar, but Ferry is far more trance than DNB.
 
http://www.amazon.com/L-F-Ferry-Corsten/dp/B000FOPPS8/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1322773202&sr=8-11
 
How come nobody has suggested the prodigy? It's almost EXACTLY what hes' looking for. I didn't suggest it first thing because prodigy is so old if you don't know who they are are what they're like I'd be shocked.
 
Seriously, try The Prodigy. The Their Law compilation is actually quite good.

 

[controlmajortom]

Quote:

Try to listen to the entire album "Welcome Reality" by Nero. Thats what I settled on, and its DARN close to pendulum's stuff.
Aside from that, I'm still looking, but I've found that the best way to find an artist is to listen to their entire album in questin 3-5 times, front to back, in various settings. just make it a goal before throwing the album out the window. You can always "acquire" it, try it out, and if you like it then purchase it. heck, if you do it that way, you can even acquire it in sub par quality so when you actually buy the CD you'll be paying for an upgrade for songs you already know you like.
EDIT: for people who have something to contribue, rather than saying "try artist's stuff", can you suggest a full album/artist combo?

 
This is what I was looking for. I don't really like the girl vocalists's voice that much, but the rest of it is real good!
 
Btw, Angst sounds exactly like a slower paced version of Stress by Justice. Is it a remix?

 

[MorbidToaster]

ShockOne
Sub Focus
Delta Heavy
 
Since you liked Sound of Life I'd suggest looking at other Liquid DnB stuff as well. Netsky and Logistics come to mind. If those are a little too plain try the Brookes Brother or Camo & Krooked.
 
Quote:

 
This is what I was looking for. I don't really like the girl vocalists's voice that much, but the rest of it is real good!
 
Btw, Angst sounds exactly like a slower paced version of Stress by Justice. Is it a remix?

Quote:

Okay, so I'm kinda bumping this. I'm getting more and more into electronic music. Like the OP, I really like Pendulum, but more of their older stuff. 
 
From reading this thread, it seems Pendulum is pretty isolated as far as genre goes, but can someone recommend me groups that may sound similar, even just a little bit to these songs:
 
Slam
Plastic World
Hold you Seatbelt
Sounds of Life
Blood Sugar
Tarantula 
The Vulture
The Island (Part 2)
Salt in the Wounds
 
I don't particularly like In Silico.