This is a reference website. It is intended as an archive of physical music and items related to Gothic & Industrial culture and all music that appeals to the darker side. That means it will primarily include artists that are considered Goth, Industrial, EBM, Synth-Pop, etc. It will also include some artists that are considered metal (Danzig), pop (Depeche Mode), etc. Most of the time this will be because these artists appear on goth/industrial focused compilations. Sometimes it will just be because I like them and think they should be included. This site will only contain items that I have in my collection.
OMG! Ed Klein's Stanford Electronic Music Database still exists on the internet after all these years.. I remember using this list back in the 90's.. Extremely out of date since it was last updated in 2002. Anyone else remember this?
Music Database
The web's largest Industrial/Gothic music index. More than 4000 artist listings, and still growing!
Category Index
Industrial/Experimental (305)
Throbbing Gristle, SPK, Lull, Illusion Of Safety, Negativland, ...
Industrial Dance/EBM (578)
Front 242, KMFDM, Snog, Wumpscut, VNV Nation, ...
Industrial Rock (122)
Godflesh, Foetus, Cop Shoot Cop, Skrew, Young Gods, ...
Atmospheric (276)
Cocteau Twins, Lycia, In the Nursery, Slowdive, Cure, ...
Gothic/Darkwave (160)
Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, Project Pitchfork, Deine Lakaien, ...
Synthpop (30)
Beborn Beton, De/Vision, Iris, Psyche, Wolfsheim, ...
Japanoise (33)
Aube, Masonna, Dissecting Table, Merzbow, ...
Metal/Death/Grind (66)
Carcass, Bolt Thrower, Sepultura, Exit-13, ...
Ambient (16)
Aphex Twin, The Orb, Autechre, Seefeel, ...
Techno (42)
808 State, KLF, The Prodigy, Orbital, Moby, ...
About the Categories
Although the database does have an alphabetical index, there is also an index by category. Grouping artists together this way is always problematic, because everyone has a different opinion on what an artist's style really is. Despite that, category lists can be useful if you want to learn more about other artists that may sound similar to ones that you already know. Fortunately, the way the database is set up, an artist can be in more than one category. Some artists are not in the category index at all.
I decided to split Industrial music into subcategories. Although I'm a fan of all the different styles that carry the "industrial" tag, I thought it would be useful to at least split things between old-school Industrial (experimental, noise, whatever) and Industrial Dance (electronic beats). In addition, I made up a category called Industrial Rock, which includes a lot of "industrial with guitars", "industrial metal", and various kinds of "alternative rock" that has some industrial elements but is still different enough (in my opinion) from either of the other two industrial categories.
The split between Gothic and Atmospheric may make absolutely no sense to most people, and I suspect that many of my Atmospheric entries can be found on almost everyone else's Gothic list. Well, after all, this is my site, so I can define things any way I want, and I prefer to make a distinction between the two. Atmospheric is my term for music of the more ethereal variety, the kind of stuff you'd typically find on 4AD or Projekt. This is a really broad category, and includes quite a bit of "alternative" rock that tends to be on the prettier side. The artists on my Gothic list, however, are darker and more typical of the fare you'd hear at a goth dance club. This includes all the old-style UK goth bands as well as a lot of newer "darkwave" featured on German labels like Dion Fortune and Glasnost.
Admittedly, the remaining categories (Japanoise, Metal/Death/Grind, Ambient, and Techno), are very incomplete simply because they're really not in my area of expertise, and there are plenty of other sites that cover them in more detail. They're here because I do have some interest in those styles of music, and perhaps other people can help flesh them out over time.
I'm very interested in other suggestions for new categories or ways to do the existing ones differently. Feel free to give me your ideas.
As I mentioned above, you don't have to use the categories at all if you don't want to, because everything is indexed alphabetically as well.
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