Solipsistic Nation No. 23: Schismatrix

Mind the Glitch!

While some consider Glitch a sub-genre of intelligent dance music, Glitch does away with traditional instrumentation, and instead focuses on the use of mechanized and non-natural sounds. While rhythm is a central focal point of Glitch, the style’s various sub-genres range from the ambient to the dance-oriented.

While putting together today’s episode of solipsistic NATION I wondered what my attraction to Glitch is. In the hands of, say, Throbbing Gristle or Ministry, Glitch would be a sonic barrage of static that would reduce a cinder block to a pile of dust. While some artists do use that approach with Glitch there are many more who prefer to use the elements of Glitch with a more ambient approach. The unnatural sounds of static, hisses, bleeps and pops become soothing and hypnotic. At the same time, the broken beats and fractured rhythms of Glitch can also for listeners to pay more attention to the music than other genres of electronic music.