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Comment by Fluorescence | Hacker News Reader

I am struck by how empty the timeline is from 2000s onward. It might be explained in part by Ishkur's own age / detachment. It matches my own experience but I expect I am a similar age.

Is it true that there just aren't any major new genres and subcultures with music? I know people will respond with "I love new genre X" which will turn out to be a handful of bedroom djs on soundcloud. There needs to be some notability standard for a genre which IMHO is that there are multiple clubs that specialise in it and larger clubs have a regular night for it showing some general appeal. Anything else is just some micro-niche that should be categorised under an existing genre.

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The internet has probably allowed for smaller niches to develop and survive. Years ago, no one would bother making new genre X music in their bedroom because no one would hear it. Now they do. So arguably your notability requirement for genres is a bit outdated and maybe is why it seems like there are no new genres or subcultures. It's possible the genres and subcultures are just smaller and less visible now.

Disclaimer, I know nothing about DnB. I'm just commenting on how it seems a lot of things have developed in recent years due to the pervasiveness of the internet.

I would never argue I'm not outdated :)... but I am sceptical of notability claims if they are not bringing people together at events or getting promoters trying to cash in. IMHO leokennis's examples of Amapiano and Afrotech which I could find as events in my city suggests it's a reasonable yardstick.

One big development in "dance music" is the music coming from Africa. For example, Amapiano, Afrotech etc. So probably there are also still more subgenres popping up in areas of electronic music I do not follow/listen to.

Therefore I think your impression that their absence "...might be explained in part by Ishkur's own age / detachment..." is correct.

Indeed. Check out the Nyege Nyege Tapes label for instance. Also the Príncipe label, which showcases the latin equivalent of this (often cross-pollonated with African styles).

Scanning my local club pages I can confirm both Amapiano and Afrotech events! I also see something called Gqom.

They are the only unfamiliar things among a sea of the old familiars: house, techno, dnb, garage, electro etc. I see a fair amount of "Dark Wave" which is not electronic and not new but not a common term back when I might have been going to gigs.

I believe it is just outdated/not-updated. Atleast in DnB scene I can tell it is missing the recent "flavour" of liquid (melodic DnB with nice, mostly female vocals, see latest Subfocus album), or Crossbreed, very hard flavour od DnB, represented for example by Counterstrike.

Liquid DnB is there classed under Liquid Funk. Probably something different mind.

Melodic female lead was always there in DnB e.g. Goldie's timeless.

> latest Subfocus album

I don't want to offend... but clicking through that... my god that is some nauseating garbage lol! The electronic aspect sounds like a typical 90s dnb video game menu background music and the vocals are the commercial dance music banality that cuts me like fingernails on a blackboard. You are allowed to call be grandad in return :)

> Counterstrike

Sounds like what I would hear at a typical dnb night back in the 90s that was on the harder side. Not sure why that counts as a new genre. Isn't it what Ishkur would call darkstep?

The Cambrian explosion of electronic music was the 90s and 00s. New offshoots are still being made (vaporwave, rominimal, drift ambient, hyperpop), but the major clades are more or less set in stone for now. The last major one to be established was dubstep.

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