Everything Viyolens publishes on Music Genres — reviews, buying guides and how-tos written for players and producers in the UK.
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Inside Music Genres
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Articles on Music Genres
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The Best Grunge Songs Right Now
The songs that mattered at the time and the ones that still stop you mid-sentence today — the essential grunge tracks, explained.
Grunge for Newcomers: Where to Start
A step-by-step listening path for anyone new to grunge — seven records, in the right order, and why each one comes where it does.
Essential Classical Music Albums Explained
The essential classical music albums worth knowing, era by era, and a practical guide to choosing between the many recordings of each.
The History of Phonk
A raw, unglamorous Memphis sound that nearly disappeared, then came back louder than ever. Here is phonk's history, told properly, era by era.
Top Hot 100 Billboard: What You Need to Know
The Billboard Hot 100 gets namechecked constantly, but few people know how it's actually built. Here's the recipe behind the chart — and why its current No. 1 is rewriting the record books.
The Ultimate Guide to Claves
Two wooden sticks that organise a whole family of music: how to hold and strike claves, the difference between son and rumba clave, and what 3–2 and 2–3 really mean.
The Best Bossa Nova Songs Right Now
The songs that built the genre's songbook, in the order they're worth hearing, from the obvious hit to the deeper cuts.
Soundtrack for Newcomers: Where to Start
You don't need homework to get into soundtrack music. You need four different listens and about an hour of your evening. Here's the order.
Essential Soundtrack Albums Explained
The best soundtrack albums do two jobs at once — serve the film, and stand up perfectly well without it. Here's the honest shortlist.
A Beginner's Guide to Sea Shanty
Never sung a sea shanty in your life? Start here — a clear, patient walk through what the songs are, how they work, and where they came from, with nothing assumed.
Essential Bossa Nova Albums Explained
No filler, just the records that actually built bossa nova and why each one earns its place on the list.
Essential Grunge Albums Explained
This was always an album-format genre. Here are the essential grunge records, in order, and exactly why each one earns its reputation.
Classical Music Subgenres, Explained
From Baroque to minimalism: a map of the main classical styles, sorted by era, by performing forces, and by twentieth-century departures.
Essential Glitch Albums Explained
Ranked on substance, not novelty: the glitch albums that actually changed what the genre could sound like, from the contested "first" record to the coldest, most precise extreme.
Essential Reggaeton Albums Explained
The full-length reggaeton albums that go beyond a hit single, from Daddy Yankee's genre-breaking Barrio Fino to Karol G's very current Mañana Será Bonito.
A Beginner's Guide to Classical Music
Classical music explained from the ground up: what the term really means, the periods and forms worth knowing, and six things to listen for in any piece.
A Beginner's Guide to Rocksteady
Slow bass, offbeat chords and close harmony singing: here's what rocksteady actually is, broken down step by step for anyone hearing the word for the first time.
Erhu Explained: Features, Types and Tips
The erhu is China's best-known bowed instrument — a two-stringed, fingerboard-free fiddle with a voice closer to singing than playing. Here's how it's built and why it sounds the way it does.
Essential Americana Albums Explained
Not a chart, just the records that keep getting handed down between fans and musicians because they still hold up on a tenth listen.
The Best Glitch Artists to Know
No padding, no filler names. Here's the honest rundown of who actually built glitch, from the pioneer nobody credits enough to the ones still pushing it forward.
The Best Classical Music Artists to Know
A working shortlist of essential classical composers, from Baroque trailblazers to modern figures and names standard lists too often leave out.
The Best Americana Artists to Know
The fastest way into Americana is through the people who write and sing it. Here are the essential names, grouped by era, with where to start listening.
The Best Soundtrack Songs Right Now
A shark fin, a rainy Manchester street, a boxer on the steps — the soundtrack tracks so fused to their scenes they never really left.
The Best Americana Songs Right Now
Forget the news cycle - these are the Americana songs that keep turning up on other people's playlists and still land on the first listen.
