What Style of Music Is This? Is This Blues?

[Kobold Catgirl]

I'm going to be very unhelpful here. I know what songs I like, but I don't know what the style is called. I feel like they're connected to a single style, but I don't know the name and I don't know how to find more songs like them.

I've heard people tell me it's lounge music, blues, jazz, blues-rock, electronic blues..."old-world electronic post-rock"...seriously, this is bugging me a lot. So I could use the help of some more musically-versed people. I love this style. I'm thinking I'd like to use it to score an Eberron campaign I'm thinking about running.

I have several songs here.

Three In The Morning, a vocal cover of an instrumental song from Homestuck.
We All Become, a song from a game called "Transistor" from the point of view of a lounge singer turned avenging angel.
Stray Cat Strut, a...song I hear on the radio sometimes.
And possibly related, Sixteen Tons. A song I was introduced to by an inferior cover from an online celebrity.

If anybody can help me at all, either by telling me the name of the music or suggesting more songs like this, it would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

[Rynjin]

Obviously it's indie pseudo-post electronica with a classical lounge blues spin.

Or some other incredibly complicated sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-genre of music.

Though I don't think Stray Cat Strut and Sizteen Tons fall into the same genre as the other two regardless. It's more of just a straight up blues-y rock song, and I'm pretty sure Sixteen Tons is blues (or folk blues?).

Spoiler:

Note: I know jack about music.

[Krensky]

The first is jazz or blues depending on where you want to draw the distincion. I'd call it jazz.

The second is electronic.

The Stray Cats are Rockabilly.

That, the original, version of Sixteen Ton is a country song.

Four songs, for different genres.

[Albatoonoe]

Krensky is on point with it.

[Kobold Catgirl]

So there's no relation between the styles? Damn.

[Krensky]

I wouldn't say that.

Rockabilly is a fusion of bluegrass, county, and rock and roll, primarily early styles of rock and roll which were strongly related to country, blues, and jazz.

The first song sounds sort of torchy, which is vocally jazz, but it's typically bluesy in structure.

The second song is electronic, but heavily influenced by jazz (like most electronic, really). The vocals most certainly have the pop quality I associate with music from the big bang style, which is generally shoehorned in with the broader jazz group because pop means something else now.

Country, especially old, pre WWII country, is one of the root styles of American music.

The instrumentation on the second song is off and it's way more aggressive on bad and drums, but the others are very appropriate to a interwar period. Rockabilly is a little anachronistic, but it could work, and Brian Setzer's later work is spot on.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Thanks so much, Krensky. That's super helpful.

Incidentally, does anyone have any recommendations for similar-sounding songs?

[David M Mallon]

You could always dig around on this thread until you find something you like.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Yeah, but that's just the equivalent of Googling "good songs" and hoping I find what I want. :P

[Nullpunkt]

Is Spotify available where you live? Or maybe Pandora? Both of them have a "radio" function that plays music that is similar to a song or band you specify (according to their algorithm). Helped me discover some awesome bands!

[Limeylongears]

Youtube does something similar.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Youtube just guides me to more music from the same game/webcomic or similar games/webcomics, in the case of Three in the Morning and We All Become. I'll try out Spotify, though.

[Krensky]

Let me check my playlists and Pandora.

In the meantime, try Matt Dusk, Jeff Tuohy, Devil Doll, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Popping Daddies, Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Ertha Kitt, The Andrews Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash...

That should do for now.