So, to help those poor souls who can’t quite grasp the distinction between the three types of garage, we print this helpful glossary. It’s not exhaustive. Rather, we’ve chosen those terms that are most prevalent right now, and those most in need of clarification.
AFROBEAT Frenetic, funky polyrhythms developed by the drummer Tony Allen while working with the band leader Fela Kuti. Afrobeat underpins much of Talking Heads’ best works. You’ll be hearing the term again now that Allen has turned up as the drummer in Damon Albarn’s new band, alongside the former Clash bassist Paul Simonon.
AFRO-BLUES The prevailing theory is that the music of Mali is the source of the blues, and therefore a vital influence on virtually all modern popular music. Collaborations between the Malian musicians Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté and, respectively, Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal have offered plenty of evidence to support the idea.
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ALT-COUNTRY As country music turned into radio-friendly sludge, a new term was needed for those artists who played “proper” country music. Artists who would once simply have been called country singers — such as Johnny Cash and Emmylou Harris — are now seen as the godfather and godmother of alt-country. Can apply to stripped-back singer-songwriters such as Will Oldham and country-rock experimentalists like Wilco.
CONSCIOUS HIP-HOP As with alt-country, there was a time when the term “hip-hop” would have adequately described the music of artists such as Mos Def and Talib Kweli; but in an age when hip-hop is dominated by formulaic rap about guns and girls, anyone who can think of any other subject matter has to have a new term to distinguish them from the herd.
FOLKTRONICA Folk meets electronica, and — usually — electronica comes out the winner. Most folktronica artists are at the mellower end of electronic experimentation (Boards of Canada, for example), but you could also apply the term to a folky type, like Beth Orton, who enjoys collaborating with the dance crowd.
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GARAGE Right, concentrate. There are three (at least) musical genres called garage. First, “garage rock”, meaning the kind of rough and ready rock played by bands practising in their parents’ garage. Second, US garage, a more soulful variation of house music. (House, by the way, is just disco with more technology.) Third, UK garage, developed when British DJs started speeding up US garage tracks. This split into various subgenres, including two-step (the thing Craig David does) and 4x4 garage, which often sounds eerily like its US ancestor.
GRIME A harder, nastier form of UK garage. The critically acclaimed singer Dizzee Rascal is its most accessible face.
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KRAUTROCK A term that encompasses the free experimentalism of Can, the driven rhythmic rock of Neu! and the pioneering synth-pop of Kraftwerk. Such German bands were a big influence on David Bowie’s “Berlin trilogy”, on most 1980s synth bands, on U2’s Achtung Baby and on contemporary giants such as Radiohead.
LO-FI Any recording where the spirit of the performance is favoured over technical perfection, often denoting recordings made at home.
MASHUP Sampling taken to its logical extreme, with vocals from one track slapped on the music from another. Often rerecorded, as in the Sugababes’ No 1 hit Freak Like Me (Tubeway Army meets Adina Howard). Fans of Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue will recognise it as One Song to the Tune of Another.
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MATH ROCK Any music that veers from strict 4/4 time. Usually fairly heavy rock, but it could encompass anything from Frank Zappa to Steve Albini’s Shellac.
NEOSOUL (or NU-SOUL) Just as alt-country is basically just country, so neo-soul is good, old-fashioned soul music with a new name to distinguish it from any modern variations. If you love the classic 1960s soul singers, then you’re already a neosoul fan, even if you haven’t discovered Angie Stone or Jill Scott.
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NEW WAVE Punk without the spitting. The spiky rock played by the artists who followed the initial punk bands — Elvis Costello, Wire — is a key influence on the post-Strokes generation of guitar bands (the new wave of new wave).
OLD-SCHOOL As in old-fashioned, but without the pejorative overtones. Old-school is primarily used to refer to the pioneering years of hip-hop, when it was the most inspired, innovative music around, comparing it favourably with the dull, formulaic chart rap of today. Say “We’re all going to hell in a handcart” and you’ll be labelled a grumpy old man; say “I prefer old-school” and you’ll be hailed as a wise and discerning individual.
POST-ROCK Music played by a rock band without a singer, where dynamic shifts and textural subtleties have to carry the listener’s attention. Ranges from the noise onslaught of Mogwai to the beautiful layered melodies of Papa M.
POWER POP As with alt-country and neosoul, we can no longer just call pop “pop”, because “pop” has become so devalued. So, bands that play the kind of smart, energetic guitar pop ushered in by the Beatles’ Revolver are now termed “power pop”.
PROGTRONICA Perfect word for what Radiohead have been up to.
PROTO-PUNK Any artist or band who exhibited the spirit of punk before we knew what it was called: the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, Link Wray.
PSYCH- Any music that sounds as though it may have been made in 1967 (sitars are a giveaway), or any band with a member who dresses like Jimi Hendrix.
SADCORE Slow, melancholy atmospheric music that — when done well, by bands such as Low — is much, much more listenable than you’d think.
SHOEGAZING The wall-of-guitar sound that was developed by My Bloody Valentine and copied by a lot of bands in the early 1990s. Suddenly trendy again, thanks to unusual sources such as the Norwegian band Serena-Maneesh, who have inevitably been tagged “nu-gazers”.
SPACE ROCK Somewhere between psychedelia and shoegazing lies space rock. The pioneers were Hawkwind and Pink Floyd. The best-known exponents are Spiritualized. The genre is heavily linked to drug use — but then, which one isn’t?