Welcome to the wide wild world of my
WHEEL of GENRES ~~
where we take 16 musical genres
(cobbled together from audience suggestions),
spin the wheel to select 3 at random
& then make a piece of music that inhabits
the middle ground between 'em all ~~
To learn more about the rules and the process,
jump on down to that info below,
But first up, here is a parade of Frankensteins,
the shambling hybrid creatures stitched together
out of the tatters of our musical universe:
Squid Pickles!
Ethio-Jazz a la Mulatu Astatke
Dubstep
Charming/ Goofy Reggaeton
Come Along With Me 60’s heartsick teen pop
Cumbia
Fear of a Black Planet
All Fall Down
90’s boyband
Hindustani Classical
Kid’s Rhymes about Murder
Every Mother Knows There’s A Hole In The World Cimbalom ensemble Disco Bhajan
C is for Cyclops kid’s song about staring eyes Chicago Blues 70s/ 80s RnB loverboy
Baroque in Both Pockets Dub Western Swing Baroque dance suites
Stranger Here Myself Qawali Village Vanguard world-folk c 1950 Diva House
Ready On That Day early to mid 20c Hollywood pop crooners Music of modern US cult leaders rock in opposition
Spacesuit, Boots & Gauntlets Chinese folk banjo early Avant Japanese Psych Rock Throat Singing
There’s A Frolic Tonight early 70’s Prog-Rock Trash Percussion Industrial Zydeco
Little Light That Failed Disney Princess 70’s Roller Rink Jams Italo Space Synth Disco
Hey Now Lazarus Giallo Horror Soundtrack Timba Afrobeat
Go, Galangal ! Bhangra Black MIDI 60's/ 70's Kaiju pop-psych
John the Revelator Elvis Gospel Haitian Compa Verdean Chorinho
What Is Regret To A Madman?
Asian Massive
Chicha
60’s Bond derived Bollywood cabaret
Break the News 90’s opener Bond song 80’s NYC Underground Art Punk Rock Calypso
Robotanzen: Ice Planet Alpha Neue Deutche Welle Lawrence Welk does French pop New Age Instrumental
Now, onwards, into the nitty gritty ~~
My artistic coming of age involved all sorts of foolishness, but tarot cards and mixtapes were both part of the fun. The idea that all human culture was a crazy quilt of influences combined and recombined -- that was an anthem of my life in New York City; I was a fan of all sorts of aleatoric techniques, that's a fancy word for shuffling the deck and deciding where to go next via whatever random card comes up. Startling and poignant juxtapositions born of randomness in poetry, music, art, theater, dance... thats my jam yo...
I still want at some point to get up on stage with a band and be able
to play this wheel of genres game live, actually take suggestions from the audience, spin the wheel and just make these 3way soundclashes on the spot, but until then, here's a couple of practice rounds.
First, the rules ~ and this applies only to the selections, I am accepting genres from any and all of the folks I meet. When I have 16 genres on the list I throw them in the bingo cage, give em a spin and then take out 3 (not really, I mean, rather than a bingo cage I go to https://www.random.org/lists/). The list can only have one person's selection at a time, so feel free to give me multiples, just know that I can only get to them one at a time. That's it, that's how I work it. Oh, and I'm only allowed to add my own genre suggestion after I've cycled through a full 16.
As far as the process, really, its just pure creativity balanced against my abilities... in some cases I've done my best at approximating a genre that is unknown, difficult or just beyond me... throat singing, big brass sections, I essentially just gotta fake it till I make it. At the end of the day I just hope to have something cohesive and enjoyable and most particularly, something I never would have come up with if I wasn't playing 3way Soundclash!
Here is a YouTube playlist that includes examples of all the genre suggestions that are or have been on the main 16 list, so that's including ones that have been utilized already in soundclashes.
Here is an attempt, at least, to keep the genre list posted, I'll try and keep it updated:
New Age Instrumental 90's opener Bond song Chinese folk banjo Italo Space Synth Disco Chicago Blues Verdean Chorinho
German 80's synth-pop Asian Massive Lawrence Welk does French pop Giallo horror/ sci-fi cinematic Trash percussion industrial Bhangra Black MIDI 60's Bond derived Bollywood cabaret Timba Chicha NYC Punk Underground Art Rocker Zydeco Calypso Disco 70's Arena Prog-Rock Elvis sings Gospel Haitian Compas Disney Princess Texas Swing Cumbia 60s/ 70s Kaiju psych pop Afrobeat Vallenato Modern US cult leaders Qawali (passion sources) Dub Diva House 70's Roller Rink Jams early Japanese avant psych-metal Baroque/ early Classical dance suites Ethio-Jazz a la Mulatu Astatke Throat Singing... Rock In Opposition early to mid 20c Hollywood Pop crooners
charming kids patter song (about eyes) bhajan/ kirtan
Village Vanguard world-folk c 1950 novelty reggaeton art school cowpunk alternative 60’s lovesick teenager pop 90’s boyband 70s/ 80s soul RnB loverboy
jolly folk song for children about murder and crime Fear of a Black Planet Hindustani Classical cimbalom ensemble sea shantey