One of the musical styles that has been slowly rising in our culture is that of electronica. The techno stuff that ravaged the 90's is now back in business and is now gaining momentum again at raves and other party places.   Artist's like Skrillex really have a unique take on what music is and do not shy away from that. While it isn't the traditional view of musicianship that I hold in my head, it takes a different kind of musical talent to be good at creating electronic music.  The process of creating it appears to be very different than your everyday rock band and involves a different kind of musical intelligence and when the beat drops it takes you on  whole new trip.  

 However, with all the fussing that has been done over electronic music lately I figured it was time I finally gave in and actually listened to it.  What I discovered when I did was how interesting it really could be.  The disctinct sub-genres that fall under the umbrella that is electronica  is more overwhelming than I anticipated, but given the amount of people I know tripping over themselves talking about it I figured it was time to let me former biases go and just shut up and listen the different kinds that I could.  With as much as I dislike the music of my generation I will admit that stuff like dub-step is a much better direction to take the music world in than Miley or Kanye's preferred approaches.  

The mixing involved in spawning a brand new track or even creating something new out of old songs by taking different pieces and making something new is crazy and the results can either be the train wreck that you just can't stop staring at or the best idea since hazelnut spread.  

It is not true of all electronica, but instead of just laying out a kicken' guitar riff, which isn't easy by itself, they mold it and play with it until it is something new and exciting.  The organization and manipulation of it turns out to be fairly difficult. The variety in styles and genres within the broad scope of electronic music is a lot larger than I thought it was.  

Now that I am getting into and really starting to pay attention the variety that there can be is really pretty awesome.  While some of it can be absolutely awful, that is true of all music, and if Brittany Spears wants to pretend she is the queen of electronica with songs like "Hold it Against Me" then there is not much those who actually have talent can do about it.  

It is great that pop artists are trying to dabble in other areas but when you have to approach those areas with caution and her haphazard assembly of a pop song with a dub-step verse can only be described as awkward and terrifying.  

Moral of the story, fine I admit it electronic music is pretty cool.  It is an evolutionary point for music and seems like it is a direction that I can get onboard with.   

It will never replace the oldies in my heart but it brings something to the table that I never really considered musical until I had it explained to me.  I would much rather listen to someone mix an excellent cover than listen what is now considered original in the rap world where it is all about drugs, alcohol, and tail.