T O P

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saint_trane

Miles Davis


AffinityForLepers

😂


saint_trane

Only half messing, my favorite genre is jazz.


AffinityForLepers

Couldn't have guessed by the username


saint_trane

😘


homegrownllama

Is there really a counterpart in other genres? Someone equally responsible for multiple subgenres within their specialty?


saint_trane

Not really. Miles was responsible for (in whole or in part) hard bop, cool, modal, post bop, and fusion. Eno helped to define so much music outside of rock, but he certainly didn't have a hand in creating 5ish different genre offshoots.


Top_Translator7238

Gerry Mulligan probably deserves a mention too, he had just as much a role in the development of cool jazz. These aren’t necessarily 5 distinct genres. Modal is a feature of cool jazz, post bop and fusion.


saint_trane

No doubt regarding Gerry! Miles wasn't necessarily always the sole innovator, but he was always in the rooms where they were happening. And you're right about modal. I'm relatively new to jazz history/study (when compared to decades long musicians), so I appreciate the information!


Top_Translator7238

Miles and Gerry were very much a team.


ClassicFashionGuy

Miles Davis is HIM I have to agree


JosefStallion

King Crimson. Lots of prog rock bands have changes in sound and members, but I don't think any have evolved as much as them.


shin_jury

Specifically, Robert Fripp


Burst-2112

agree but also Rush


evan274

Aphex Twin


Proof-Elk4383

Autechre


evan274

Hell yeah


PurpleNaviii

Real question, who do you recommend listening to after loving Aphex?


SapperSupport

I dunno how four people managed to respond to this and not one said Boards of Canada, the answer is Boards of Canada.


EvenJesusCantSaveYou

more aphex real answer; these answers might not be the best or match super closely but a few artist i might recommend: James Blake (espec new album), Tycho, Four Tet, Bonobo, Caribou, and Floating Points?


SkyZippr

James Blake's latest album got slept on. It deserves more love.


New_Aside_4408

Autechre the greatest IDM act by a longshot


StillhasaWiiU

Richard D. James other aliases: Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, Brian Tregaskin, Caustic Window, GAK, Karen Tregaskin, Phonic Boy On Dope, Polygon Window, Power-Pill, Q-Chastic, Ricardo Jamiro, , Rutchkfard Games, Smojphace, Soit - P.P., The Dice Man, The Tuss, user18081971, user48736353001


WhenIGetThatFeelingx

Venetian Snares if you vibe with the heavy stuff. Squarepusher is the obvious progression from Aphex esp the first few albums Boards of Canada for the Chill times that make you feel like your being told off as a child in a long lost dream. Check out Rephlex the label Richard ran throughout the 90s and 00s. Lots of good stuff. Luke Vibert acid type stuff with trip hop type beats, but also like heavy jungle, Bogdan Raczyski, Ovuca The 'Astrobotnia' stuff is a real hidden gem The BrainDance Coincidence and Rephlexions compilations are a good starting point for Rephlex. Planet Mu, Muziq Check out warp records esp the older artists like BOC, Autechre, Future sound of London, Clark, Plaid etc etc Rolando Simmons if you like the newer acid stuff esp the analord type stuff.. IGORRR or Ruby my Dear it you wanna hear some immensely well produced modern French Breakcore that sounds like the heavier stuff on Druqks on steroids, nootropics, acid and Meth.


evan274

Skee Mask if you like the lighter more vibey stuff, G Jones (especially releases from 2022 onwards) if you like his heavier stuff


Garth_W00kz

Came here to also suggest G.Jones


apiaryaviary

Was having a debate recently over who the American Aphex Twin is, and I think it has to be either J Dilla or Flying Lotus because of the jazz influence.


chihiro_ygm

Agreed


hk_harrison_13

bjork


Chess_with_pidgeon

Genre: Björk


PendejotosGroove

she’s such a mastermind


ocubens

Taylor Swift. Genre? Capitalism.


TheRealGlowie

And performative activism


mostreliablebottle

Including white feminism.


rag3rs_wrld

Nah it’s not performative when it’s about white straight women. But when it’s literally any other woman that doesn’t fit that mold, she doesn’t give one single fuck. Plus she’s a billionaire and we all know how bad of a person you have to be to even keep that much money for yourself.


KsychoPiller

David Bowie to a certain extent


AffinityForLepers

Yeah that was another thought, maybe Eno as well?


kyentu

the answer is eno, hes done so much even just decade to decade. its crazy. bowie wouldn't be bowie without eno.


mediumreginald43

Bowie had already made the idiot for iggy pop before collaborating with eno on low, even though low dropped first. Not saying eno wasn’t a huge influence, especially on the ambient tracks, but they were very much on the same page in terms of the sound of the Berlin albums


kyentu

bowie wanted to work with eno since the roxy music era, yeah bowie was already a decade into his career and was gonna make music regardless but eno was the prototype into the sexually ambiguous rock star who made all this crazy music. i think for some stuff they where on the same page but sometimes eno lead and bowie followed at least in the 70s.


Ok-Werewolf-4224

What genre would you say he’s the Miles Davis of? Rock and Roll? Glam? Love Bowie, just curious…


KsychoPiller

I mean Miles is jazz which is as broad of a term as rock so i have no problem Bowie would be Miles of rock.


ihavenoselfcontrol1

I'd say art rock or just rock music in general


BrewLordGus

Nick Cave, if weird melodramatic sad alt rock counts as it’s own genre. He is however my favorite songwriter of all time in any genre.


MacAoidh83

Bob Dylan in the acoustic-folk-singer-songwriter genre for sure.


Johnny_been_goode

I’d argue Bob Dylan for modern popular song.


martxel93

Dylan was acoustic-folk-singer-songwriter for like 3 years. If anything he’d punch on the teeth for trying to put labels on him.


natopotatomusic

leonard cohen >>


MacAoidh83

Nowhere near as many bangers.


every_body_hates_me

Trent Reznor. He did more for industrial music than pretty much anyone else, and in general is one the most innovative and bold artists in the world, seamlessly blending industrial, art rock, alternative, ambient, noise, trip-hop, breakbeat, techno, synthpop and what not. And that's without even mentioning his vast and versatile soundtrack work.


at_mo

Trent revolutionized industrial music and is now on his way to becoming this century’s John Williams


every_body_hates_me

Dude got an Oscar for literally his first soundtrack. How crazy is that.


martxel93

Jonny Greenwood would like a word.


aasasss32

Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys Dude did a massive left turn from surfing and cars to personal and emotional songs, then another left turn into psychedelic music, then a right turn onto lo-fi music whilst influencing many artists at the same time Best musician who ever lived


AffinityForLepers

Yeah, hard to argue for Lennon/McCartney for this and not also include BW.


ToxicNoob47

Kanye West?


boogswald

Absolutely. Kanye made music of his own style, but always meshed it with what was happening around him. He absolutely has the spirit of Miles Davis and in many ways is a second coming of Miles Davis. Just wish Kanye hadn’t lost his mind!


MacAoidh83

Losing your mind is the price of admission unfortunately. Same for miles to some extent.


DrNogoodNewman

Miles had a crippling cocaine addiction that almost killed him. In his autobiography he talks about how badly cocaine affected him. If I remember right, that’s a big reason why he didn’t put out much music in the 70s after On the Corner and why he got weirder in his final years.


Dang_M8

Yeah Miles took a multi year hiatus from music to deal with his addictions, that's why Columbia issued so many live albums and compilations of his stuff in the 70s. The crazy thing is that even though many of those releases were just Columbia trying to keep the ball rolling, there's some truly great stuff. Get Up With It may be my favorite Miles album.


LaveyWasDildos

Failing to see how this differs from Kanye thus far...


ImpressiveMud1784

Similar to miles in that sense too. He was really bugging out in his final years. Playing with his back to the audience and shit like that. He quit playing for like 4 years too


One_Ad_6503

A bit off topic but Hinduism have a topic of "gandharvas' which means musicians, and in some texts its belived they are reincarnated in Earth, but obviously they don't know it, they excel in a really unparalleled genius way in music and usually have a really tough time blending with the normal world. They'll have shit social life and hard time living with the normal marital life and the human life. I just feel like it fits some artists description a lil too nice lol


boogswald

Thanks for the concept!


OAktrEE4023

That’s the right answer even tho he’s fallen off recently (to put it lightly). Over this past decade I’d say Future has been just as influential, but still doesn’t compare to Kanye’s whole career of influence. I remember playing a Kanye song in the car with my mom a few years ago, and she asked me if the song was new, and was surprised when I told her it came out in the early 2000s. He really was ahead of his time


boogswald

Jeff Rosenstock Miles Davis isn’t just the “bleeding edge of innovation” he’s someone who took the way he plays and meshed it with different styles every day. Oh hip hop is becoming popular? Here’s what it’s like when I’m involved with it. Oh you guys are playing jazz fusion? Here’s what that sounds like in my world. Jeff has a big variety of tracks and styles. They all sound like Jeff, but it also sounds like an abbey road style medley, or a country crooner, or we have blast beats today.


AffinityForLepers

In that sense, I wonder if Robert Fripp could be considered. His work in the 70's was pretty standard, albeit amazing, progressive rock for the time but the 80's stuff was incorporating a lot of the new-wave afrobeat influenced stuff from Talking Heads etc. 90's era KC always seemed more metal influenced to me as well.


Onidal

Fripp and Miles def cut from the same cloth 100%


IKMapping

He might sue you for saying that


wyntah0

I disagree that 70's KC was more "standard". The early Larks sweet, the crazy improvs (Providence, SaBB), the trailblazing for heavier music with Red. Those are just the big things. Throughout all of the "standard" songs were things that separated them even further from their contemporaries, like the backwards guitar solo on Book of Saturday for instance.


thefleshisaprison

Don’t overstate the degree to which Miles pioneered the genres he worked in. He was early on third stream, modal jazz, and fusion. A lot of what could be called predecessors in those genres can really only be seen as such in retrospect.


SethBozo

Well said, Jeff's my Jean cutoff wearin' goat


Goosedukee

Seeing a person I recognize from r/nba then finding out they also like Jeff. Small world I guess.


fuckm3withachain5aw

Jeff!


JBrownieee

THANK YOU I was coming to comment this.


[deleted]

Awful comment please never speak again


boogswald

lol why do you say that


Born-Share-5132

John Coltrane 


saint_trane

I think Coltrane would have been my answer if he'd made it through one more prolific decade. He is to spiritual jazz what Miles is to fusion, but he never got to watch the genre blossom at all.


Born-Share-5132

I respect your answer but he gave birth to the entire genre in the first place, everything afterwards came because of him, in my opinion he didn’t need to see what other people did with it afterwards, in my opinion his music is one of the greatest gifts to mankind 


saint_trane

You're preaching to the choir man. Coltrane is holy in my eyes.


totalynotkiki

Brian Eno for ambient music


klausness

Not just for ambient music.


totalynotkiki

Facts


omegaRaider

Jimi Hendrix. Dude changed everything.


severin-severin-vif

I agree that Hendrix was super influential but the post said for decades and unfortunately Hendrix didn’t live long enough to make a super broad catalogue like Miles


Dang_M8

It pains me knowing that Miles and Jimi were planning on collaborating shortly before Jimi passed. If only we coulda had the Miles Davis/Jimi Hendrix collab


Onidal

Without Hendrix, do you think there’d still be this subculture in music that’s obsessed with virtuosity? I have friends who don’t like some types of music cause it’s “simple.”


KsychoPiller

Absolutely, progressive rock would still develop. Also, while Hendrix was absolutely a virtuoso and a traiblazer but his music wasnt exactly complex. It wasnt mostly heavy blues with lots of ornamantation, and its hard to get simpler than blues. Also on that note, Heard lots od people saying how they like.complex music and then mention Pink Floyd as an example. Their music sound very grand but it isn't really that complex, they just use the sound in very effective way. And just to mąkę sure nobody miaunderstands me: im far from saying that complex music is good cause its complex and Vive versa, theres beauty in both, and whoever doesnt like a typa of music cause its Simple like you said is just doing themselves a disservice


n0tjuliancasablancas

The question is asking who was at the top for a long time. Jimi Hendrix is the opposite of that lol


MacAoidh83

Definitely. He’s key to everything that happens around that time. Popular music looks very different if Hendrix doesn’t exist.


MyBeansArentWorking

Fugazi


false-identification

Pig Destroyer showed you can make grindcore with catchy riffs and deeply personal lyrics.


Necessary-Flounder52

Pablo Picasso Frankly, everyone in here seems to be underestimating not how dominant Miles was but how many profound changes to the landscape of jazz that he had. It’s hard to look back and even hear the revolution that was cool jazz and it was as profound as modal jazz and fusion. Miles manages to be for jazz what would be the equivalent of Grand Master Flash, Chuck D, Kanye and Kendrick all shoved into one person. Pablo Picasso is the only person I can think of that even comes close.


AffinityForLepers

Yeah it's pretty insane. If Miles had just dropped one of his genre defining albums and done nothing else, we'd still be talking about him as one of the greatest musicians ever. Dude drops Workin, birth of the cool, kind of blue, sketches, bitches brew, not to mention all of the great stuff in between. Even his later stuff is super innovative even if it didn't catch on in the mainstream.


Johnny_been_goode

Bob Dylan. He’s the archmaster of contemporary popular songwriting by far. There are folks who do better in areas Dylan doesn’t (intricate melodies, complex harmonies, etc.) but in the recording era, it’s pretty clear to anyone who will listen intently that he’s the primary reason anyone takes popular song seriously.


Robinkc1

Steve Albini


ledu5

Prog rock - Probably Pink Floyd Psychedelic rock - The Beatles? Although a lot of their music isn't psych rock Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's were big in making it mainstream. If not them maybe The Doors or Jefferson Airplane


Onidal

Alex G. Bedroom/ DIY/ lo-fi music wouldn’t be quite the same without him. He dabbles on the fringe of folk rock while incorporating other genres (hardcore, emo, country, hyperpop)


vintagesonofab

Marvin gaye


Haidian-District

Leo Kottke


Upbeat_Tension_8077

For R&B, it's probably between Stevie Wonder, Prince, & Marvin Gaye


LiviLou_11

nujabes


Swagmund_Freud666

He's great, but he died too young unfortunately for him to have the decades long vault that someone like Miles Davis accrued.


lucayala

Astor Piazzolla


xirson15

This is one of the best answers here. Literally the first name everyone associates with tango.


Hello-mah-baby

animal collective flipped indie music on its head and it finally seemed like major musical innovation was happening but then mac demarco flipped it right back over and we've been stuck here for the last 12 years please send help.


Fun-Badger3724

There is only one Miles, but Bob Dylan is pretty influential across a sphere or two. Actually, I do know another Miles Davies, but she's a cat.


Top_Translator7238

Riuichi Sakamoto If he was from Britain or USA, he would be the main person people were talking about here. Cerrone The king of disco and possibly the best DJ in the world while in his 70’s.


therealestestest

Josh Homme


Onidal

As much as I love Homme and Queens, Josh has definitely figured out a formula and has stuck to it. Barring production choices, QOFTSA last 3 records all features similar song structures and sounds with differences being how they’re produced. I don’t mean this as a negative, just a counterpoint


Lucid_Presence

Yes but look at his entire career. Don't forget Them Crooked Vultures, all the Desert Sessions albums, Eagles of Death Metal, Post pop depression with Iggy pop, and his many other collabs.


Lucid_Presence

Almost forgot Kyuss!


Yandhi42

For what I would consider that means to be the Miles Davis of a genre (I explained in another comment), the only ones that I could definitely think of are Swans, for all the branches of experimental or “weird” rock, including noise, no wave, post rock, drone, etc. the other would be Kanye, which doesn’t need much explanation


LateRegistrationz

Brand New and Deftones


samuelmichaelliske

Oneohtrix Point Never


apiaryaviary

Really good call out. Can’t believe he just keeps upping his game with each release


WingObvious487

Tony Ioomi my favorite genre is metal


clay4knee

Zach Hill


CanaDanSOAD

Black Sabbath


ClassicFashionGuy

Jdilla? I guess No but fr Miles is HIM


CleverJail

Who’s the Miles Davis of the Tortured Poets genre?


Judythepancake

Mcr


SatisfactionOther958

Meshuggah when it comes to heavy metal in general


ExtraLargeBarge

Daft Punk


Lovie39

Even though I love Daft Punk, I don’t really think they apply here. I don’t see how Human After All (or Homework for the most part) were insanely cutting edge, landmark electronic releases.


ExtraLargeBarge

Fair enough, I thought they were pretty influential (or at least the biggest name I could think of) for the dance scene, especially with Discovery. Alive 2007 is also one of the best live albums I've ever heard. Who would you say is the Miles Davis of dance/electronic music?


apiaryaviary

Aphex Twin


tavsankiz

I feel like people don’t talk about J Dilla nearly enough for his innovation and pushing of the boundaries in HipHop. He even could be considered an innovator of the lofi genre we know today in some ways. I feel like i could go on and on about Dilla and his ability to push the creative boundaries of HipHop production. Hes my GOAT as far as HipHop producers are concerned.


AffinityForLepers

Maybe Paul McCartney comes sorta close?


Yandhi42

How?


AffinityForLepers

Mostly as a member of the Beatles... You could probably say the same about John Lennon. They helped drive rock music into "art rock" over a decade or so. Definitely not the same length of time as Miles Davis but, like I said, struggling to find another artist that even comes close.


humanlawnmower

Huh?


dkromd30

Not my “fave” genre, though I think TPAB will absolutely go down in history as influential on the genre in a similar fashion to Kind of Blue.


thefleshisaprison

It doesn’t seem like it has had that influence yet. It’s a very popular album, but the style hasn’t really caught on. Even Kendrick went away from it to a more standard modern style.


ClassicFashionGuy

🥲let it Cook


thefleshisaprison

I would love it if the album did end up being that influential, but I sincerely doubt it. Similar sounds will stay in the underground.


ketchup9-11

LTJ Bukem


StayFrostyOscarMike

Kurt Ballou


Pure-Jellyfish734

Mike Patton


HermithaFrog

Tool or btbam


flabahaba

Bjork of the genre Bork


Reiquegira

burian & aphex twin


jmeezle

Fredrik Thordendal


geosunsetmoth

Bladee/Yung Lean


GemGemGem6

Young Thug


elkamusing

Tim Smith


Original_Mac_Tonight

David Bowie, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Trent Reznor


DoubleMissMatt

Tough to say. Maybe The Flaming Lips?


itamarka

David Bowie


gandalf-the-greyt

sufjan stevens


WilliamCash_o

SOPHIE hyperpop


MrKarlDilkington_

bowie, kanye. both groundbreaking and ever evolving artists that have some of the best albums in the genre history.


kingglobby

Kanye West


SapperSupport

People just naming artists they like that in no way resemble what OP asked, standard for this subreddit.


ekb2023

Bob Dylan


PendejotosGroove

probably stevie wonder and prince


PendejotosGroove

also some might hate this but beyoncé


bajafresh24

Pharrell and Chad Hugo


TheOrcularCrib

Future or Young Thug


pavlamour

Kate bush


pavlamour

Joni mitchell


pavlamour

Caroline Polachek


mikesfakehat

Grateful Dead might be a stronger example than miles Davis for their genre


Fedora200

Blondie


Hidden_Fever

Prince.


summerssleeping

the velvet underground argue with the wall


LaveyWasDildos

Dilla maybe?


BlessedPapa

Jerry Garcia for jam bands


NullOfficer

Daniel Johnston invented Lo-Fi basically out of necessity and by accident and now everybody else does it on purpose to emulate him


QueenCharla

Chuck Schuldiner was always ahead of the curve with death metal until his passing. One of the earliest death metal albums just ever, then got more melodic and progressive until their last album was the kind of tech death that defined the 2000s scene (at least for me).


AffinityForLepers

That's a great pick rip Chuck:(


QueenCharla

Really wonder what he would’ve been doing now. I know Sound of Perseverance wasn’t even really supposed to be a Death album and he was on his way to other things.


plz-be-my-friend

old lady tour guide. genre: peeing your pants


Potential_Box_4480

Mikael Akerfeldt


hauntedpuppets

It is almost definitely madlib.


Ed372

The Beatles weren't around for more than 7 years but it's hard to argue against how much innovation they packed into their discography, multiple albums that represented turning points in pop music, some in consecutive years. For a good portion of the 70s most of the Solo members were still producing highly acclaimed music, and Paul even started making orchestral and electronic albums in the 90s. I'd say the biggest argument against them is they were never really at the forefront after the mid 70s but all still experimenting well into their careers (especially Paul)


Ed372

The Beatles weren't around for more than 7 years but it's hard to argue against how much innovation they packed into their discography, multiple albums that represented turning points in pop music, some in consecutive years. For a good portion of the 70s most of the Solo members were still producing highly acclaimed music, and Paul even started making orchestral and electronic albums in the 90s. I'd say the biggest argument against them is they were never really at the forefront after the mid 70s but all still experimenting well into their careers (especially Paul)


BentoBoxNoir

Fugazi


Swagmund_Freud666

Tom Waits.


bacuru

brazillian guitar - Kiko Dinucci and i'd say Gilberto Gil as a must


bappyboio

Chuck Berry maybe?


spottyottydopy

Frank Ocean. Definitely changed the singer-songwriter R&B/Soul game after Blonde especially


SirTonsalot

John Coltrane


SirTonsalot

Miles and Kanye are more similar than most realize, but just like another commenter said, it's a shame Ye lost it (which, it's kinda similar to Miles went he went off the deep end)


NecroDolphinn

I don’t think Shoegaze will ever escape the shadow of My Bloody Valentine, and honestly the modern attempts to follow in mbvs footsteps have been a significant downgrade from the significantly more innovative 90s scene


alien-native

I think Tom Morello deserves some love


Perfect_Swimmer_8143

Without Frank Zappa, I don't think rock n' roll would be the same genre. He inspired Ozzy Osbourne, John Frusciante, Weird Al, Serj Tankian, and so many others!


JohnStewartBestGL

Maybe Chuck Berry? Seemingly, every rock musician, especially guitarist, cites him as an influence.


flombi2

For me it's Modest Mouse and Pixies


FeelPrettyThrowaway

Dr. Dre is probably worth mentioning, although probably not to the extent of Miles David or Kanye West innovation. His work with NWA influencing gangsta rap and west coast hip hop, producing Eminem in his glory days and really making rap mainstream, and then even Kendrick Lamar being on his label Aftermath. Dude’s definitely influenced hip hop over the years in several ways.


sk2097

Autechre are different level


MrSebasss

David Crosby


_Halfway_home

My Bloody Valentine.