Mind Map

Electronic Music

I don't update this section anymore. I did update the links to local event schedules because so many of them were dead now.

Sections

Electronic Music Show & Event Reviews - Most of the fun of electronic music is dancing to it, so here's a list of djs I've seen and special event reviews.
Electronic Music Songs & Albums - So what's worth spending money on? This section might give you an idea.
Electronic Music Videos - Good videos are hard to find, but I've found some.
Event Schedules - All sorts of event calendars to keep you busy.
Resources - Links to cool and useful stuff.
Personal History - or "How did I get here?" Read about it if you're interested.

Event Schedules

Local Events (Phoenix area)

Swell Events Calendar (rave/club) - It only shows Swell sponsored events now

Freshline Events Calendar (rave/club) - Also has national and international events

National Schedules

Golden Voice

Resources

Online Record Stores

Buying records sucks. Spending hours searching through bins of records, listening to them and not finding anything is too disappointing. Doing is online makes the process a little less painful and a lot faster.

Planet X Records - The main online record store I used to use. (+) Good selection and not a bad fill rate. They also have streaming samples of songs. (-) Their catalog contains every record they've ever had so you never know if you're going to get what you order.

Groove Tech - I've never used them, but Noah swears by them. (+) Their catalog is up to date so what you order should be what you get. They also tell you specific information about which tracks are on the album and they have longer streaming samples of songs than Planet X. (-) Their search engine can make things hard to find. Their selection doesn't seem as good as Planet X.

Hard to Find Records - UK record store that specializes in hard to find records (duh). (+) Good selection. If you really want something that you can't find anywhere else, you might find it here. (-) Shipping from England is a killer. Also, if you order something that's out of stock you may unexpectedly receive it in the mail three months later.

A list of other online record stores from IGN for Men.

New Music

When you don't feel like putting in the work of looking for new tunes, let someone else do it for you. The following are sites with reviews or charts.

NuBreaks - If Nu Skool Breaks are your thing, this is a good site to help you find stuff. Has streaming samples.

Trance Addict - The name says it all. Has mp3s.

Drum and Bass Arena Charts - Charts from all sorts of dnb djs.

Mixmag's "Big Tunes" - English music magazine Mixmag is nice enough to put up their list of "Big Tunes" along with streaming samples. Tends to favor clubby house music.

Miscellaneous

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music - It's thorough and it's got samples, so it helps get the point across more than two pages of explanation. I don't agree with everything he says or some of the names he uses to describe genres of subgenres, but who cares? It's a good way to learn.

Audio Galaxy - It always helps to audition music for free to help you determine what you like. Audio Galaxy makes finding music easy with one exception. It doesn't always find the song you're looking for even though it exists in their library. It pays to try the search a couple of different ways if it doesn't come up the first time.

PLUR 2K - Rave culture in Arizona. More importantly, pictures!

The Desert Trance Message Board - Find out about events, learn more about people then you ever wanted to know, or bitch about the last rave you went to. If nothing, it's amusing or at least something to do to kill time.

Personal History

I've only been steadily listening to electronic music for about the last year, but I've listened to it off and on since about '91.

My cousin was the first to expose me to it, when he bought a mix tape @ The Works. The first time I heard it I thought it was the lamest music I'd ever heard. (I listened to a lot of hardcore gangsta rap back then.) My cousin said that I'd actually enjoy it if I heard it at a club. We ended up going to The Works sometime, and he was right. Listening to the music on tape was one thing, but experiencing it was something completely different. It did change how I viewed electronic music, but I didn't really look for it or buy it since my funds were extremely limited back then and had more important things to spend money on (like Cypress Hill tickets!).

When I went to college in New Mexico I had a friend who was into techno. (Angel, if you ever read this send me an email. I'd love to talk to you man.) With him acting as a guide I gained a real appreciation for techno and even went to my first rave.

My stay in New Mexico didn't last very long and without someone else guiding the way (and spending their cash), I went back to what I knew.

Not too long ago we hired a consultant at work who had a taste for techno, knowledge of mp3s, and knew how to find them. Needless to say he created a monster. Since then I've primarily listened to electronic music (especially since rock hasn't done anything interesting for a long time and rap isn't what it used to be). I also started checking out djs and other events.

Looking back, I can honestly say that this has been the most fun and positive type of scene to be in.