We all know the most familiar musical styles and genres such as pop, rock, jazz, folk, and country. The more knowledgeable music lovers, on the other hand, may have explored other genres and sub-genres such as rap, hip-hop, metal, blues, and even weirder fusions such as rap metal and country techno!
When all of us think that we have known every musical style and genre (and their sub-genres), some of these strange and unusual styles may pave the way to more musical discovery and enjoyment!
1) Medieval folk rock
Medieval folk rock is an intriguing but interesting fusion of the early and modern musical genres. It is a musical subgenre developed in the early 1970s in England and Germany. Despite the name, medieval folk rock also incorporates renaissance and baroque music with elements of progressive folk and rock. In most cases, it uses very few or no electronic instruments.
2) Vaporwave
Vaporwave came into being sometime in the early 2010s as a fusion of electronic music and Internet culture. It derives its inspiration from the music of the 1980s and 1990s, such as electronica, lounge music, and smooth jazz, and combines them with indie dance genres. Vaporwave is not only distinguished by its unique sound, but also by its visual promotional style and packaging. Visual elements associated with vaporwave include random Japanese characters in the title and Microsoft logos and videos that use blurry VHS style effects. Vaporwave is often regarded as a satirical take on consumer capitalism and pop culture.
3) Horror country
Country music is often described as a vehicle for complaining about broken hearts and pickup trucks, but horror country takes the genre to new if weird, levels. While it remains country stylistically, the subjects are otherwise about scary topics such as ghosts, corpses, or demons. If you are stuck in an old, spooky farmhouse, any horror country music will be the perfect musical soundtrack.
4) Nintedocore
Love video games and heavy metal? Then Nintendocore should be right up your alley! It goes by other names: Nintendo rock, nerdcore, video game rock, and chiptune rock). It combines the elements of the vintage chiptunes and 8-bit video game music with heavy metal and hardcore punk. Pioneers of Nintendocore include Horse the Band, Minibosses, An Albatross, and The NESkimos. It’s the hardcore music for nerds.
5) Lowercase
This article might get things a little weirder. Lowercase is an extreme form of minimalist music that is built around usually unheard sounds, amplified by computers to greater effect. Crumpled paper, broker lightbulbs, and carburetors are some of these elements typical of the lowercase genre. Steve Roden is believed to have developed this genre when he released his experimental album Forms of Paper in 2001.
6) Unblack metal
Black metal (or pretty almost every metal music) is typically regarded as being Satanist of anti-Christ. Or people accuse black metal as such, without bothering to find out the real content behind fast drumming, intricate guitar riffs, and raspy vocals. Well, you have to look differently at unblack metal – while the music sounds the same as black metal, unblack metal otherwise promotes Christian beliefs and contains religious lyrics. It is also known as Christian black metal.
7) German reggae
Germany is the country that you least think about when it comes to reggae. But surprisingly, reggae has been holding a special place for Germany since the 1970s. As you might expect, the first German reggae groups were predominantly white, middle-class youths. But since reggae artist Gentleman began releasing albums and working with the likes of Ky-Mani Marley (son of reggae legend Bob Marley), times have definitely changed. Today, Germany hosts regular open-air reggae festivals that were well attended by music fans from all over Europe.
8) Mathcore
Mathcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk and metalcore and an even more complex variant of math rock, brimming with complex rhythms, unconventional riffs, syncopations, and constant tempo riffs. Mathcore began sometime in the late 90s, and the early 2000s and pioneers of this genre include The Dillinger Escape, Botch, Architects, and Converge.
9) Pirate metal
Musically, pirate metal is similar to any metal rock you’ve heard. However, it incorporates anything pirate (not surprisingly!). Lyrics typically consist of pirate jargon and incorporates other musical genres, including folk rock and the traditional sea shanties. It is also evident in the many of the pirate metal bands’ stage performances – complete with period pirate costumes, props, the works. This makes downloading their music wrong and humorously ironic.
10) Shoegaze
Shoegaze is a subgenre of alternative rock and indie rock that originated in the United Kingdom during the late 1980s through the early 1990s. It is distinguished by ethereal-sounding “wall” of distorted guitars, feedback, obscured vocals, and overwhelming volume. In complete contrast to any energetic or hyper rock frontman, lead vocalists of shoegaze rock bands typically stand in a totally passive and non-confrontational manner while singing.
“Shoegaze” is so called because guitarists appeared to be staring down at their shoes during concerts. But actually, they were looking down at the readouts of their pedals, whose effects gave the unmistakable “shoegaze” sound. Pioneers of the shoegaze era include My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Chapterhouse, Pale Saints, and Ride.
11) Folktronica
Folktronica does come off as a bit of a cheesy genre. It’s also a rather true description, though. UK musician Bibio frequently combines electronic with folk or acoustic music; his work is a prime example of Folktronica.
The Campfire Headphase, a 2005 album by the Scottish duo Boards of Canada, showcased Bibio’s influence. One of the best techno and folk music fusions is on this CD. Alt-J, Animal Collective, The Books, and Caribou are a few other well-known acts. Of course, these musicians also perform in other genres.
Since electronic music has been a part of popular music since the late 1960s, it is very likely that it has been combined with folk on many other albums released in the past few years.
12) Cute Metal (Kawai Core)
Cute Metal is the strange and lovely result of blending heavy metal with anime and horror elements. Cute Metal, a genre that combines metal and J-Pop (Japanese pop), first appeared in the early 2010s. It blends the darker metal imagery with J-Pop songs and idol personas.
The Japanese group Babymetal is recognized as having invented Cute Metal. This particular band also has musical characteristics that are common to EDM. They employ skittering, building, and of course dropping electronic beats.
13) Witch House
The Witch House genre isn’t at all like houses, despite having the word “house” in its name. Travis Egedy (also known as Pictureplane) first used it in jest. The musicians who were included in the Witch House box did have a distinctive and recognisable sound. The music is described as having a sluggish tempo, being chopped and screwed, and including elements of industrial, goth, shoegaze, hip-hop, drone, and noise.
In addition to Pictureplane, other musicians who incorporate the Witch House sound in their work include Clams Casino, Holy Other, and even Zola Jesus. Witch House hasn’t endured, like many other genres. After a while, the genre finally lost its appeal. But that doesn’t lessen how fascinating the genre is.
14) Black MIDI
Black MIDI was created by Shirasagi Yukki. He produced the first black MIDI in 2009, and he posted it to the Japanese video website Nico Nico Douga. Based on the song “U.N. Was Owen She?”.
The Extra Stage Boss level stage in Shanghai Alice’s Touhou Project series of vertical-scrolling 2D shooting games had this exact music as its theme song. Black MIDI music is frequently referred to as impossible music because it is impossible for any artist to play by hand. This refers to the genre itself.
As many notes as you can into the Music Instrument Digital Interface will create black MIDI recordings. The ‘more is more’ philosophy seems to apply to this genre! The greatest number of notes supported by the majority of digital synthesizers, 93 trillion, can be found in the most powerful black MIDI works. However, because of their file size, those stems cannot be saved, played, or recorded.
15) Skwee
Skweee is a style of primarily instrumental music that has its roots in Sweden and Finland. It combines synthesized leads and basslines with rhythms that sound like funk and soul.
The name of the style refers to the idea of “squeezing out” the sexiest sound possible. In the years 2008–2009, this genre had a significant impact on dubstep as well.
Conclusion
There you have it, then! We’ve journeyed through the strange and lovely world of obscure subgenres. Many of these genres appear hard to combine, yet they surprisingly mesh very well. These odd music genres just serve to illustrate that there are no restrictions or boundaries when it comes to musical styles. You’ll find your special place in the music industry if you make sure to continuously setting new standards!