Coldwave / minimal wave, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Rock 1954
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
The Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
The Beatles, Revolver (1966) - 2 Then
Punk rock 1974
Three chords, two minutes and zero patience for solos. A full reset of rock, and the second major source of extreme metal.
Shouted. Barked or chanted, and you can still make out the words.
Put on
Ramones - Ramones. Fourteen songs in twenty-nine minutes, not a wasted note.
Ramones, Ramones (1976) - 3 Then
Post-punk 1978
Punk asking what comes next: melodic bass up front, dry guitar, space and cold. Possibly the most fertile branch in all of rock.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures. Martin Hannett's production is half the record.
Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures (1979) - 4 What you asked about
Coldwave / minimal wave 1981
European post-punk on cheap drum machines: cold synths, distant vocals, the atmosphere of a grey housing block in winter.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Trisomie 21 - Le Repos des Enfants Heureux. Grey-tower-block melancholy in pure form.
The pick names a track. This is the record the encyclopedia holds by them.
Trisomie 21, Passions Divisées (1984) - 5 Where to go next
Art rock 1966
Rock made by art-school graduates: concept, image and experiment ahead of formula. It overlaps with prog but cares far less about virtuosity.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Talking Heads - Remain in Light. African funk, synthesizers and existential panic.
Talking Heads, Remain in Light (1980)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Coldwave / minimal wave descends from, in order. Coldwave / minimal wave has no subgenres, so the last step is the genre that rates closest to it by sound.