# Is there any musician who is a genre unto themselves.



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Any musician whose music is unique enough to be considered almost a genre unto themselves. 

One that comes to mind for me is Frank Zappa.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I have a horrible feeling that I might just qualify...and not in a good way.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I am told that no man is an island but when I play, that's where I should be; on a lonely island.


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## Beach Bob (Sep 12, 2009)

Brian Eno?


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Tiny Tim..


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Brian made me think of Robert Fripp.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

There are some, but they'll likely be somewhere in the realm of "serious music" (what some call "classical") or jazz. If they have a recording contract with a label that doesn't specialize in oddballs, then chances are pretty good they have that contract because they're like some other artist or reflect a particular existing genre.

There are certainly one-offs in the jazz guitar world, like Stanley Jordan, or Sonny Sharrock. Even Frank Zappa, as unique a voice as he was, borrowed heavily from others. The _Absolutely Free_ album lifted considerable passages from Stravinsky and Holst, among others.

If one wishes to be popular, you're going to have some elements that are familiar to your intended audience. I thought Prince was pretty distinctive, but took plenty from others who came before him, and had plenty of contemporaries who emulated him. So as much as I liked him, and considered him a creative force, it would be very hard to classify him as a "genre unto himself".


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## Distortion (Sep 16, 2015)

Chuck Prophet 



 One for the Squire players


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Tough one...Jeff Beck(?). I was listening to the track "Nadia" last night and besides being mind boggling, it combines blues, middle eastern/tabla with techno music. He did a few albums in that same vein starting with Who Else in the late '90's. I thought it was a new genre in itself but not sure....


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

Jack Johnson?


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

Distortion said:


> Chuck Prophet
> 
> 
> 
> One for the Squire players


This guy's playing the Horseshoe tomorrow night.

Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express - Tickets - The Horseshoe Tavern - Toronto, ON, March 21, 2017 | Ticketfly


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Roscoe Holcomb maybe.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Washboard Hank...lol


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Captain Beefheart
Devo
Sufjan Stevens
Mike Oldfield

...for starters. 

And Zappa for sure no matter how many influences he listed on "Freak Out".


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Distortion said:


> Chuck Prophet ] One for the Squire players


OH My god..


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Alex said:


> Tough one...Jeff Beck(?). I was listening to the track "Nadia" last night and besides being mind boggling, it combines blues, middle eastern/tabla with techno music. He did a few albums in that same vein starting with Who Else in the late '90's. I thought it was a new genre in itself but not sure....


I've never heard that before - that's a fantastic tune.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

adcandour said:


> I've never heard that before - that's a fantastic tune.


Yep, the first time I heard it I was totally blown away. Actually, it still blows me away. Beck being Beck, it's hard to distinguish which parts are bottleneck and not.


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## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

Isn't there another thread recently about Henry Kaiser that would qualify? Lol.

How about "Listener"? I remember this guy from just over a decade ago. Played tiny shows for 20 people. Best part was his shows doubled as a bring your own food buffet where and he just chilled with everyone before and after the show. At the time he was really struggling to invent a whole new music genre he called "talk music". Not much rhythm to the vocals and no real rhyming, sections, or patterns to speak of. More like essays spoken passionately over background music. Even background music can be a stretch for some songs. If I remember correctly, one "song" just had a girl pounding a washing machine with an axe that was wrapped in towels. This thread made me think of him and look him up again. Holy crap, some of his stuff now has 500k+ views on YouTube.





I would call them a genre unto themselves. Others would argue they are not a music act but a performance piece. Love it or hate it, it's definitely unique.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

jbealsmusic said:


> Isn't there another thread recently about Henry Kaiser that would qualify? Lol.
> 
> How about "Listener"? I remember this guy from just over a decade ago. Played tiny shows for 20 people. Best part was his shows doubled as a bring your own food buffet where and he just chilled with everyone before and after the show. At the time he was really struggling to invent a whole new music genre he called "talk music". Not much rhythm to the vocals and no real rhyming, sections, or patterns to speak of. More like essays spoken passionately over background music. Even background music can be a stretch for some songs. If I remember correctly, one "song" just had a girl pounding a washing machine with an axe that was wrapped in towels. This thread made me think of him and look him up again. Holy crap, some of his stuff now has 500k+ views on YouTube.
> 
> ...


The haunting Steel lines were gorgeous - I enjoyed that.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

jbealsmusic said:


> Isn't there another thread recently about Henry Kaiser that would qualify? Lol.


Indeed. And I don't think anyone has mentioned Glenn Branca yet either.


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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

Well ... Jimi.
Been copied 1,000,000 times but the original was unique.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

adcandour said:


> I've never heard that before - that's a fantastic tune.


That entire album is brilliant. Played it for my son and he said that it restored his faith in contemporary music.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

mhammer said:


> That entire album is brilliant. Played it for my son and he said that it restored his faith in contemporary music.


Well, for $7 including shipping from the states, I'll get to hear firsthand. I'm looking forward to it.


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## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

One might argue Bowie fits the criteria of the OP.
He dips his toes in many ponds .


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## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

Alex said:


> Yep, the first time I heard it I was totally blown away. Actually, it still blows me away. Beck being Beck, it's hard to distinguish which parts are bottleneck and not.







BTW ... This is a fantastic dvd


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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

Bubb said:


> BTW ... This is a fantastic dvd


Not a huge fan when just listening to Beck, but to see him play ...


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I don't think any pop music would apply. This may though.


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## johnnyshaka (Nov 2, 2014)

How about Weird Al?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

johnnyshaka said:


> How about Weird Al?


Nah, he was preceded by a great many recording artists who would lampoon popular music, whether it was Mickey Katz, Spike Milligan, David Seville, or Guy Marks. That doesn't even begin to touch on the British music hall tradition. I'm not taking anything away from Yankovic - I do like him - but he carries on a long-established tradition.

OTOH, to be fair, he is probably one of the few people continuing that tradition at the moment.


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## Bubb (Jan 16, 2008)

Thought of another...The Band especially for the time they came out.
Been on a big Band kick lately(again).
I mean basically the genre we now call Americana/Roots was coined to categorized newer bands that sort of sound like some of Leon and the boy's tunes.


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## mr trick (Sep 21, 2013)

Harry Partch, a contemporary of Ives, Copeland, Guthrie, made all his own instruments, not always accessible, but always interesting

Harry Partch


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## Krelf (Jul 3, 2012)

Joanna Newsom comes to mind. Love her or hate her, her music is hard to place in a definite category.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

mr trick said:


> Harry Partch, a contemporary of Ives, Copeland, Guthrie, made all his own instruments, not always accessible, but always interesting
> 
> Harry Partch


FINALLY, someone besides me who knows these composers! Thank you.


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## JHarasym (Mar 27, 2007)

This guy makes a lot of his own instruments


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

I always thought the band Inclined were unique. If not unique at least quirky. Great album if you can find it. Miles Tackett father was in Little Feat.


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## annuvin (Mar 24, 2017)

Trent Reznor (aka Nine Inch Nails). 

Many people may classify Nine Inch Nails as Industrial, but they sound nothing like The Genitorturers, Ministry, Skinny Puppy or any other big names in that genre. Once you encompass the breadth of Reznor's work as NIN it becomes impossible to define a single genre to classify it under, and it becomes apparent it is pretty much a genre unto its own.


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## mario (Feb 18, 2006)

adcandour said:


> Well, for $7 including shipping from the states, I'll get to hear firsthand. I'm looking forward to it.



You will not be disappointed. Great album.


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## oldfartatplay (May 22, 2017)

Captain Beefheart, although he borrowed a lot from the blues when he was first starting out. But even his blues were unique.


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## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)

Yoko

& for somebody I actually listen too, "Tom Waitts".


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## NoTalentHack (Jun 17, 2017)

I think Primus would qualify. Not to many hard carnival funk acts around.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Beach Bob said:


> Brian Eno?


Brain definitely wasn't the first or best, but he seemed to have the most commercial appeal.


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## Tarbender (Apr 7, 2006)

What about our own Gord Downie and The Hip. Hard to pigeon hole them. Not folk, not rock, not blues, nor pop....


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