In the UK and europe the word electronica usually refers to a specific sub genre of electronic music
(Like the word techno which is often mistaken to mean all electronic music). Electronica is normally considered more intelligent than dance music. The music is about using technology to create unusual sounds, melodies and heavily processed drums (often in patterns where the same bar is never repeated requiring painstaking programming) These elements are crafted into an intricate and some times emotive piece of music. The results are usually closer ambient or experimental music than they are to dance music.
electronica is often elitist and the scene can come with some pretence. but there are some great electronica tracks out there.
(Like the word techno which is often mistaken to mean all electronic music). Electronica is normally considered more intelligent than dance music. The music is about using technology to create unusual sounds, melodies and heavily processed drums (often in patterns where the same bar is never repeated requiring painstaking programming) These elements are crafted into an intricate and some times emotive piece of music. The results are usually closer ambient or experimental music than they are to dance music.
electronica is often elitist and the scene can come with some pretence. but there are some great electronica tracks out there.
by uk electric January 13, 2007
contrary to the ignorant public that only likes the godawful top 40 and rap-pop stuff, electronica is not synonamous with electronic music. there are multiple genres of electronic music (like there are genres of rock) such as trance, house, techno, jungle, hardcore etc. electronica is a genre of electronic music that encompasses "listenable" subgenres like downtempo and IDM.
Maushawn the wigger: dude, chingy is better 'den electronica!
Electronic fan: oh yeah? well frankie knuckles is coming to your house and is going to do a drive-by on your ass.
Electronic fan: oh yeah? well frankie knuckles is coming to your house and is going to do a drive-by on your ass.
by Phil the Pill September 11, 2006
Electronica, commonly called techno, is more or less a form of electronic/computer based dance music that is popular with younger crowds. It comes in many forms including trance, acid jazz, jungle, trip-hop, drum and bass, house, and countless other sub genres. It is more or less an evolution of 70s disco, but can arguably be traced all the way to the early 1900s. Its not known who exactly started electronica, but several DJs and artists from Detriot, Germany, France, and the UK have helped evolve the music form since the late 60s and early 70s when it first appeared to larger amounts of listeners.
by civil unrest January 28, 2004
Electronica does not exist. Not as a genre or a description. It was coined by the North American music press to refer to the second wave of electronic music's explosion in the late 90s, and exists purely as a marketing buzzword, not any actual quantifiable branch of music (the first wave of electronic music, incidentally, they called 'techno', and, having driven the word into the ground beyond all sense of meaning, they couldn't keep using it if they wished to re-market the music). Daft Punk, Fatboy Slim, Prodigy's 'Fat of the Land', Chemical Brothers and other big-time stars of that period were all called "electronica" at one point or another, but the person who really popularized it in the public consciousness was Madonna and her shallow, William Orbit-produced piss-poor attempt at appropriating trance music as something she invented (Ray of Light). She used that word all the damn time in interviews. God I hate her. So yeah: There is no such thing as electronica. -Ishkur
by Aerta June 23, 2009
A genre of music which is mainly created by the use of computer systems and other electronic devices. Includes many differnt styles such as Techno, Trance, Breakbeats, NRG, Melodic, etc.
by pRopS June 25, 2003
There's a lot of sub genres in electronica. The term 'techno' has been warped to include all electronic music due to mainstream media being ignorant. Techno doesn't include trance, house, vocals or any of the more modern sub-genres. The correct term is electronica. You have:
trance
vocal trance
goa-psy trance
house
hard dance
euro dance
progressive
hardcore
ambient
drum & bass
break beats
chillout
etc, as sub-genres.
trance
vocal trance
goa-psy trance
house
hard dance
euro dance
progressive
hardcore
ambient
drum & bass
break beats
chillout
etc, as sub-genres.
"techno" is just a broader sub-genre of electronica that was pioneered in Detroit, derived from synth pop and electro.
by St3ph August 11, 2006
A genre of music first started by the fully electronic band called Kraftwerk. This genre uses samples, computers, synths and more.
by vv March 09, 2004