Less repetitive electronic music? -

[Absolutego]

I'm putting together an electronic music playlist for a friend to try and get him into the genre. His chief complaint is that it's too repetitive (I assume most of his exposure is trance/house/other club-focused genres). I've added some of my favorites that fit the bill, but the rest of my collection is probably too repetitive for his tastes. What are your favorite tracks that fit that description?
The list so far:

 

[SSF2T Old User]

Just have him play Dance Dance Revolution (the older versions up to Extreme). The Dancemania license songs are not repetitive at all. Artists like Joga, Me&My, Bambee, SMiLE.dk, X-Treme, Papaya... basically anything from the "Bubblegum Pop" genre.

Or if that's too "happy" for his tastes, go with something like what Machinae Supremacy makes, specifically "Bouff" and "Cryosleep". Also check out stuff made by Kyle Ward.

 

[oldTireWater]

Check out the Italians Do It Better channel.

Ultimately, I think electronic has a really hard time not being repetitive without some kind of vocals.

 

[Idiotron]

Glitch Mob makes good not-so-repetitive electronic music:

I like this one from soundtrack for the 2013 Tom Cruise movie Oblivion, it has vocals but it's very much an electronic song:

 

[hasbinot]

 

[Rusty Crab]

I was looking through my catalog and I realized a lot of it is really, really repetitive. I don't tend to mind because I mainly listen to it while working and it just falls into the background. I can try to pick out some of the less repetitive artists, at least and give some samples.

Anything from carpenter brut is a pretty safe bet

You might wanna check out Mr Bill's stuff. It's weird but some of it's pretty catchy.

De Lorra is definitely too repetitive to make the cut, but is great none the less. Maybe it could change his mind?

Most everything else I have is probably too weird to go on this list. A product of falling into a deep, dark, weird EDM rabbit hole.

EDIT: I'm a retard and didn't know youtube doesn't auto-embed here.

 

[Jimboree]

Check out the Italians Do It Better channel.

Ultimately, I think electronic has a really hard time not being repetitive without some kind of vocals.

"Hard time" would honestly be an understatement, repetition has been integral to the electronic "template" since up til now most of the music has been made for club/dance/party use, and the genre's evolutions all happened with this in mind.
Anyway, you could try showing him Aphex Twin. Guy's got a knack for making very complex, unique songs. I think these would be some good highlights of his

Spoiler: LE APHEX TWIN SONGS

Beyond Aphex I can't think of anything at the moment. Like I said, there isn't much electronic that wasn't made with at least a little clubbing DNA in it.

EDIT: switched the link for Xtal so it would embed. (age restricted my ass...) (aaaaaaand another EDIT because embeds weren't enabled on ANOTHER video. some people...)

 

[Rolli & Rottweiler]

Anything by The Knife.

 

[419]

try these on for size

 

[Burd Turglar]

It really depends on your friends other tastes in music really. You could try Mr. Scruff for some good jazzy shit or Foreign Beggars for some nasty DNB type ish with hard ass lyrics on top. DJ funk is a classic go to if you're into up beat filthy hood shit. Gaslamp killer has some seriously eclectic shit.

These are all just shots in the dark though, gotta know your friends preexisting musical proclivities.

 

[Pee Cola]

"Hard time" would honestly be an understatement, repetition has been integral to the electronic "template" since up til now most of the music has been made for club/dance/party use, and the genre's evolutions all happened with this in mind.

Music is repetitive by design. It's all patterns, time signatures and so on. Even acoustic music can be repetitive, but it's somewhat easier to disguise such things when playing quote-unquote "real instruments" vs electronic ones.

idk if this will help the OP at all, but I'm thinking along the lines of electronic music that's multi-layered, where the base layers (rhythm, percussion) may be repetitive but the there's a great deal of variation in the instrumentation and/or vocals that go over the top.

Y'know what... I think I'll just post an expert's knowledge on the subject.

 

[Jewthulhu]

try these on for size

I never really know how people will react to experimental/neuro stuff. It's a genre built almost purely on sound design and its so different from what most people like.
If you like that stuff, I'd suggest anything from the UPSCALE or Inspected labels.

 

[Absurd]

I find Juno Reactor to be a different flavor of electronic that I like to throw in to playlists every now and then. Plus, I find his works approachable for folks who can't stomach the 20 minute trance and house loops.

 

[Positron]

Try something by Kevin Braheny, who probably has some jazz background (although his bio doesn't mention that)

Robert Rich's albums Gaudi and Numena-Geometry, for people who are not ready to wade into stuff that is too "ambient"

And some early Kitaro. His latter stuff is too muzaky but the early stuff are just beautiful.

 

[Absolutego]

These have been awesome, everyone. I know "non-repetitive" is a big ask with the genre, I'm just trying to get him to dip his toes into things. This is a dude who mostly listens to prog rock/jazz/backpacker rap (think Common Market).
Even the stuff I don't think will work for him I've added to my own "scope out" list.
@Robert Sanvagene that's literally the only Daft Punk record I can get him to listen to, and he likes that song because Omar Hakim did the drums lol

 

[Pee Cola]

@Robert Sanvagene that's literally the only Daft Punk record I can get him to listen to, and he likes that song because Omar Hakim did the drums lol

Omar Hakim is arguably the best drummer that almost nobody has ever heard of. Definitely one of the best in the world today.

 

[Prophetic Spirit]

Justice is a nice example, the entire cross album they have is fucking nuts.
DJ Tiesto, Deadmau 5 and Junkie XL are my referents to "non-repetitive" electronic music.

 

[Burd Turglar]

This is a dude who mostly listens to prog rock/jazz/backpacker rap (think Common Market).

Perfect. I stand by my suggestions. Jazz = Mr. Scruff fo sho. Backpacker rap is a good background to get into the likes of foreign beggars and Gaslamp Killer. If you want some more suggestions feel free to PM me.

 

[Rusty Crab]

Justice is a nice example, the entire cross album they have is fucking nuts.
DJ Tiesto, Deadmau 5 and Junkie XL are my referents to "non-repetitive" electronic music.

Ehhhh? I'd be hard pressed to point to a more repetitive mainstream artist than Deadmau5. Don't get me wrong, I like most of his stuff, but his signature is real real progressive/trancy.

 

[Absolutego]

Ehhhh? I'd be hard pressed to point to a more repetitive mainstream artist than Deadmau5. Don't get me wrong, I like most of his stuff, but his signature is real real progressive/trancy.

His singles, where he pairs with a vocalist, are good entry-level stuff. I've added the Veldt to the mix because the guy in question is also a Bradbury fan, and I think that's a good starter point for the rest of deadmau5's tone.

Perfect. I stand by my suggestions. Jazz = Mr. Scruff fo sho. Backpacker rap is a good background to get into the likes of foreign beggars and Gaslamp Killer. If you want some more suggestions feel free to PM me.

Yeah, I added Kalimba to the list. Foreign Beggars might be a bit too abrasive for him, but I definitely like them. He reacted pretty negatively to Wiley. I think British rapping from London might be too much a bridge for him to cross, he only really likes Tricky, and even then, only because he works with Massive Attack. Forged by Fire totally works as an intro to Gaslamp Killer for him - I may very well PM you.

Seriously, thanks guys. I was scrolling through like ten different Metafilter threads and only getting IDM recommendations, this has been a huge help!