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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Essential Classic Rock Albums Explained
The albums, not just the singles: six essentials, one pick from every subgenre, and honest advice on how to actually listen to them.
The Best Classic Rock Artists to Know
No fifty-deep countdown — just the classic rock artists worth your time, grouped by strand, with one record apiece to start with.
The Best Drum and Bass Artists to Know
From Goldie to Andy C, here's a practical map of the drum and bass artists behind every corner of the genre, grouped by what they actually do.
Amapiano Subgenres, Explained
Amapiano is not one sound. Here's a straight-talking breakdown of its main strands, from jazzy private-school piano to raw, party-ready sgija.
Essential Highlife Albums Explained
Highlife's golden age ran on singles, not albums. Here's how to build an essential highlife albums collection that's actually honest about that.
A Beginner's Guide to Amapiano
Heard the word amapiano and nodded along without quite knowing what it means? Here's a gentle, no-pressure introduction to the sound and its story.
A Beginner's Guide to Afrobeats
Afrobeats and Afrobeat aren't the same thing. Here's the fast, no-nonsense guide to what the genre actually is, how it sounds, and where to go next.
The Best House Music Songs Right Now
Forget rankings. These are the house music tracks that genuinely defined a moment, from Chicago's earliest 12-inches to Disclosure's modern crossover.
The Best Reggaeton Songs Right Now
Forget the weekly chart — these are the reggaeton songs with genuine staying power, from the genre's dancehall roots to its current global hits.
Essential Nu Metal Albums Explained
Cut through the nostalgia and the backlash: here are the records that actually matter, and how to judge them properly rather than dismissing them on reputation alone.
A Beginner's Guide to Emo
Emo isn't a haircut — it's rock music that puts honest emotion right at the front. Where it came from, how it changed, and the albums to start with.
A Beginner's Guide to Bebop
Bebop can sound intimidating from the outside. This guide breaks down what it actually is, how it sounds, who built it, and exactly where to start listening.
A Beginner's Guide to Highlife
Never heard of highlife before? Here's the friendly, no-pressure introduction to West Africa's great guitar-and-horns tradition.
Soca Subgenres, Explained
"Soca" covers more ground than it first appears. Here's a clear map of the soca subgenres underneath the umbrella term, and how to actually tell them apart.
Essential Pop Music Albums Explained
Singles get you a hit; albums prove an artist can sustain an idea for forty minutes. Here are the pop albums genuinely worth hearing in full.
Bossa Nova Subgenres, Explained
How a small, quiet Rio de Janeiro sound branched into samba-jazz, bossa jazz, MPB and a lounge revival decades later.
A Beginner's Guide to House Music
House music can feel like a wall of subgenres and jargon from the outside. Here's the sound, the story and the gear explained simply, with a clear route to where to go next.
Boogie Subgenres, Explained
One word, four genuinely different genres — here's a clear map of how boogie splits, and why it keeps causing mix-ups.
A Beginner's Guide to Boogie
One pattern, one form, four weeks — here's the reassuring, no-nonsense route into playing boogie for the very first time.
A Beginner's Guide to Ska Music
Faster than reggae, older than punk's version of it, and horn-led from the start. Here's what this genre actually is and where its revivals came from.
Essential Drum and Bass Albums Explained
Drum and bass was built for the 12-inch single, which makes the albums that broke that mould genuinely worth understanding on their own terms.
Amapiano for Newcomers: Where to Start
You don't need a history lecture to enjoy amapiano. You need a starting point and permission to just get on with it. Here's mine.
Punk Rock for Newcomers: Where to Start
A step-by-step listening path for anyone new to punk rock — seven records, in the right order, and why each one comes where it does.
The Best Ska Music Songs Right Now
This genre doesn't really do disposable hits. These are the songs that filled dancefloors in 1979 and still fill festival sets now.
