Destination Jam: Top 5 bizarre songs from the most unconventional music genres you've never heard
At what point does freaky become art? Perhaps all kinds of expressions could be given that description and it's certainly worth a debate, but when something new and unique is presented, it is oftentimes deemed weird or bizarre until it becomes popular, or even better, pop culture.
On today's Destination Jam, we highlight some rather curious and never heard of music genres with some of the most eccentric songs that we think you should hear. Check out our top five most bizarre songs to ease into the week with, from the weirdest genres you'll ever know.
Tetsu Inoue: 'Health Loop'
Genre: lowercase
Lowercase is a genre we include first on our list to warm you up before you're blasted with some insanely noisier numbers. Rather than highlighting a catchy hook, chest-thumping beat, or melodic groove, lowercase scales things back to a minimalist amount and also sees all sound as a potential ingredient for musical art, rather than applying just instruments. You may hear some organic sounds and effects like a cup of tea being stirred, a brush of wind, or even microscopic-level sounds like a plant growing or the movement of insects. The general idea is to become more holistic with sound but in a quieter creative environment.
'Health Loop' adopts sounds of satellite signals, ambient synth, rippled echoes and more all within a lengthy space of near 8 minutes. Unless you have a trained ear, you'll find it challenging to find any particular rhythm or even tempo. The song calls for more of an escapist's mindset, to kick back with a pair of earphones and just take in the artistic atmosphere it presents.
Listen to 'Health Loop' here.
Disprove: 'Gear Bot'
Genre: Glitch-hop
As the moniker suggests, glitch-hop incorporates an aesthetic of failure or choppy technical distortions. It's essentially hip-hop coated thickly in digital sounds that glitch along the way. Furthermore, glitch-hop is actually a subgenre that falls under the umbrella of "glitch music," but we feel the ingredient of hip-hop is easier to digest and can be super catchy at times.
Unlike the previous song, 'Gear Bot' by Disprove gets distinct segments, easier to move your body to (if you prefer dancing to music over just listening). Although further in, the thumping beat turns into a flap of the snare, hi-hats, and bass drum (almost like flipping paper with a flipbook animation). The song is hard-hitting, addictive, and resonates a mix of industrial and cyberpunk. Listen to it below.
John L. Sinneslöschen: 'Red Zone'
Genre: Black MIDI
Picture a competition where participants are told to include as many notes as they can on their sheet music before it turns into complete mush, but you can still decipher an actual song somewhere in there. That's what black MIDI sounds like. It's not pure noise, but a bizarre collection of notes that can feel like a race of MIDI keyboard playing.
A tune can be made out somewhere in John L. Sinneslöschen's 'Red Zone', but to fully comprehend the amount of work that's gone into the composition, you'd have to play it down a dozen BPM (or five) on the tempo.
Bubblegum Octopus: 'Loud Noise In My Room'
Genre: Nintendocore
Our favorite freaky genre on today's list, Nintendocore is exactly what it sounds like - hardcore video game music. More specifically, it's a mesh of chiptune, 8-bit/16-bit video game music, hardcore punk, metal, or any other associated rock music styles. It's origins date back to the early 2000s and has become increasingly popular.
'Loud Noise In My Room' is one of the weirdest of the lot, with colorful bubblegum sounds underlining indie rock singing, metal growls, and screamo outbursts. It's twisted, dark, fantasy, Care Bear-happy and weirdly fascinating all at the same time.
S U R F I N G: 'Hit the Spot'
Genre: Vaporwave
We'll calm your senses with this next genre. Vaporwave can be difficult to explain because there are moments it purely sounds like other more popular or established genres. The best way to put it is it's rooted in pop music, is themed by '80s, '90s sounds, and then colorized by samples of smooth jazz, elevator, and corporate lounge music. Its culture is often associated with an ambiguous or satirical take on consumer capitalism and pop culture and characterized by its nostalgic or surrealist presentation of popular entertainment, technology and advertising from previous decades.
This track certainly hits the spot and aptly examples the above description of the genre. Sonically, 'Hit the Spot' is warm, inviting, and delivers all the oohs, hums, and vocal crooning you'd hear in a relax-centered '80s track.
Destination Jam is a daily list of songs that will keep you entertained and grooving up top in lieu of feeling drained and losing the plot. Look out for a fresh selection of great tunes from MEAWW to refresh your mood every day!