Good and Bad Genre Names

Aww Nein

Wild Palms
was thinking about this in relation to "drag" (in my oppinion a very good genre name) and "witch house" (the same genre, but not so good name...)

go here if you have no idea what im talking about
http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7806-ghosts-in-the-machine/

and how it seems that bad genre names tend to stick somtimes, despite or possibly because of their awfulness.

such as
Niche - good name
Bassline - unoriginal to say the least

Uk Funky? thats barely anything as a name
and as for anything with the "intelligent" prefix...

Grime is one of the few that i think is good and has stuck.

any thoughts?
 

Dr Awesome

Techsteppin'
Witch House is bad because there's so many other ___ House micro genres.

If they'd called it Witchcraft on the other hand, it'd instantly be better. Grime is also good, as is Drag, because they both conjure up mental imagery. Grit, Trawl, Creep or Sprawl would have worked equally well in parallel circumstances.

I always liked Neurofunk and Techstep*, but then again I'm a sucker for Simon Reynolds. As mentioned elsewhere the boring functionality of Drum and Bass is a bit of a downer.
Wonky was alrite too...

*Note: predated most of the other ___steps.
 

Aww Nein

Wild Palms
i guess i like the drag name especially because (as i think it says in the article) it has conotations of cigarettes/drug inhalation, transvesticism, boredom, and the literal sense of dragging somthing, moving it slowly and inefficiently. which links with the musics sense of stoner psychedelia, the gender-bending that comes from pitching vocals down, the evocation of suburban american malaise and the general gothy horror-ness respectively. and its original also. but yeah creep and sprawl are pretty good.

i guess it has a lot to do withy the genres origins on the internet or from an internet-savvy generation, a fact made completly apparent in a lot of the bands involved using weird typographical symbols and unpronouncable names that wouldnt work were they not in text form (oOoOO and ///▲▲▲\\\ for example). basically its a good name probably because its a result of a couple of people deciding upon it. UK Funky, in comparison, is a name that came out of more a sort of indescision, a music that sprung up before a name and had to basically use parts of adjacent genres to names itself (this isnt to say the music isnt good or course)

i think wonky was an alright name also, i mean it did fit the music and was orignal, despite people possibly being embarressed to say it.
 

Dr Awesome

Techsteppin'
Really? I think Aquacrunk seems terribly one dimensional.
Wonky could be a name floated round for years and not seem out of place, but since Aquacrunk directly references another flash in the pan I don't think it'll go the distance - despite any upshots.
Nobody actually liked crunk to begin with either did they?
 

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
I like Hyphy. I like that the word itself is particular to the slang of the artists and their culture and acts as a sort of one-word statement of what they are all about.

Wonky is not a genre. The definition of wonky is still the exact same one that appears in the dictionary.
 

juanroberto

Reprezenting the Latinos
bed-house

when you're clubbing in fabric and you wanna sleep, music that only makes you wnanna sleeeeeepppppppp
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I have a soft spot for spurious made-up genre names, I have to admit. Especially:

  • 'applecore' - an unreasonably wholesome subgenre of metal (Christian hard rock? :eek:)
  • 'precious metal' - this makes me think of some poodle-haired '80s stadium rocker refusing to go onstage because he's sulking over a broken nail
  • 'bleak house' - the most depressing style of dance music ever
 
Last edited:

craner

Beast of Burden
Shoegaze was a good genre name, because it was so appropriately slighting. But then a lot of dull Americans discovered Slowdive and adopted it as a badge of honour!
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
'Big Beat' was pretty stupid - like, no other kind of dance music has big beats, oh no siree...

Also, anything prefixed by 'micro-' sounds rather pretentious. What's it even meant to signify, anyway?
 
Top