Killing time with classic websites #1

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music

For a short while back in the 00's, I was the electronic music director at 90.3 FM the Core, my college radio station which I definitely spent way more time at AFTER college (mostly because it was a lot of fun, and because I eventually ended up working back at the same college for a few years). Technically, I was "RPM Director", "RPM" being the College Music Journal's (CMJ) term for electronic music (?).

Anyway, I had to review a lot of music, most of which I was not familiar with. I would constantly have to refer to this slightly out-of-date website (dig the sweet circa-2002 flash intro!) which does an excellent job breaking down genres of electronic music. Since there's a lot of crap out there in electronic music land, even those who have minimal knowledge of electronic music will find Ishkur's reviews entertaining, as he holds nothing back in his critique of each genre - which is very pleasing to those of us who have no use for Happy Hardcore and NRG (the sub-genres most people would associate with the term "techno music", i.e. the terrible club music that you'd hear in terrible clubs.) The kicker is in the layout - it's all mapped out in a nice circular timeline, with genres extending outward, connecting the dots between then and now. A quick click on the genre and you have the info you need, complete with several audio samples that play instantly. Those who do have an appreciation for musical history will find this to be highly informative and a great primer on all types of electronic music and it's (fairly) rich history.