Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Metro! owner Andy Schlosser, working the turntables at his downtown Roanoke restaurant/nightspot.

Once upon a time, electronica was associated with The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack and our favorite Icelandic princess, Bjork. Since the mid-90s, the genre has morphed and grown subgenres — nu jazz, house, trip hop and downbeat, to name a few — and wiggled its way into pop culture.

Remember those cool Volkswagen commercials? The theme to “Sex and the City”? And how about last weekend’s Coachella music fest in California?

If you’re unfamiliar with the lush, ambient beats and catchy, worldly sounds of electronica, here’s a tip: It’s what music would be if it came in liquid form — a type of sound for former ravers, who perhaps now are in their 20s and 30s but still dreaming of their old club days of Special K (definitely not the Kellogg kind) and glow sticks.

Electronica has radically shaped and transformed Washington, D.C.’s nightlife and caused the city to become a music hotbed, I found out several years ago when a good friend introduced me to the city’s electronic world.

In Roanoke, the closest you’ll get to the electronic sound is Metro. The genre has been a major influence on 33-year-old owner Andy Schlosser since he set out to create his restaurant and lounge a few years back.

Tonight at 10, Metro will take another leap toward a D.C.-style lounge scene by starting a music headliners series. First up are D.C.’s Farid Ali, resident DJ and one of the founders of Wasington’s hot 18th Street Lounge, and Thomas Blondet, also as known as DJ Tom B.

Instead of simply playing electronica from vinyl, which Metro has done with its resident DJs, Farid and Tom B. will be live, spinning records in the expanded DJ booth of the upstairs lounge into the wee hours of the morning. Tickets are $8. Metro’s resident DJs will warm up the crowd before Farid and Blondet hit the booth.

The two have releases on the D.C. record label, Rhythm & Culture Recordings. (To hear some of their sounds, visit www.myspace.com/djtomb or www.rhythmandculture.com/audio.html.)

“It’s almost like going to see a concert,” Schlosser said, standing near the DJ booth at Metro. “It’s a completely different animal than what other DJs in the area are playing.

“I just want people to hear this stuff. I’ve always looked at music as another element. It should make you feel sexy. It should make you feel good like my food does. I’ve always been inspired by music. I’ve always kept up with it. It’s a huge part of my life.”

Next up in Metro’s series will be D.C. house DJs Suneel and Implicit at 10 p.m. on May 24, and the sounds of Ken of the East Coast Boogiemen will be live at 10 p.m. on June 3.

So perhaps, come the wee hours of Sunday morning, the ambient sounds made popular by D.C.’s legendary Thievery Corporation and others will give the Star City a bit of Capitol City groove. Or at the very least, earn you an e-mail from a Northern friend like the one I received a few days ago: “I’m so jealous!!! I have been to a DC club when Farid was Dj-ing!!! Very jealous!”

What: Headliner Saturdays at Metro featuring DJ Farid and Thomas Blondet

When: 10 tonight

Where: Metro, 14 E. Campbell Ave., Roanoke

How much: $8