Electroclash

Not to be confused with Electropunk or Electronicore.

Electroclash, also known as retro electro, nouveau disco, the new new wave, and tech-pop[3] is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synthpop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music.[4][6][7] It emerged in the later 1990s and is often thought of as reaching its peak circa 2002/2003. It was pioneered by and associated with acts such as I-F, Miss Kittin & The Hacker or Fischerspooner.[8][9]

Terminology and characteristics

The term electroclash describes a musical movement that combined synthpop, techno, punk and performance art. The genre was in reaction to the rigid formulations of techno music, putting an emphasis on song writing, showmanship and a sense of humour,[4] described by The Guardian as one of "the two most significant upheavals in recent dance music history".[10] The visual aesthetic of electroclash has been associated with the 1982 cult film Liquid Sky.[11] DJ and promoter Larry Tee is credited for establishing the term by naming the Electroclash 2001 Festival in New York[12] after it,[13][7] but also DJ Hell is credited as inventor and name giver.[14][15]

History

Electroclash emerged at the end of the 1990s. It was pioneered by I-F with his 1997 track "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass"[4][16] (which, "introducing old-fashioned verse-chorus dynamics to burbling electro in a vocodered homage to Atari-era hi-jinks," is the "record widely credited with catalysing" the electroclash movement),[4] as well as French recording duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker who were “setting and defining the electroclash scene”[8] with the two anthems 1982 and Frank Sinatra which were first released in 1998 on DJ Hell's Gigolo label[9][17] which is regarded as the "germ cell" and "THE home" of the electroclash sound.[18][19][14][20][21][22][4][23] Gigolo featured many of the early electroclash songs, such as for example Christopher Just's I'm a Disco Dancer from 1997 or Chris Korda's Save the Planet, Kill Yourself, which originally even had been released as early as 1993.[20][24] The style was pursued by artists including Felix da Housecat,[25] Peaches, Chicks on Speed,[26] Fischerspooner and Toktok vs. Soffy O.[27][28][23] During their early years, Ladytron were sometimes labeled as electroclash, but others stated that they were not entirely electroclash[8] and they also rejected this tag themselves.[29][21] Goldfrapp's albums Black Cherry (2003) and Supernature (2005) incorporated electroclash influences.[30][31]

As its early artists came from many countries, electroclash is regarded as a movement that emerged internationally,[21][4] but was scraped together and mentored by entrepreneurs such as label boss DJ Hell and promoter Larry Tee.[27][32] Due to its trash and glamour factor it became an urban phenomenon with its centers in Berlin, New York, London and Munich,[27][33] but the hype of electroclash is said to have been over again by 2003.[33] In the US it came to media attention, when the Electroclash Festival was held in New York in October 2001 to "make a local breakthrough with this scene, presenting a select group of superstar and pioneer artists from Europe and the U. S.".[12][34] The Electroclash Festival was held again in 2002 with subsequent live tours across the US and Europe in 2003 and then 2004. Other notable artists who performed at the festivals and subsequent tours include: Scissor Sisters, ADULT., Erol Alkan, Princess Superstar, Mignon, Mount Sims, Tiga and Spalding Rockwell.

Criticism

The electroclash label and the hype around it have been fiercely criticized by some of its acclaimed protagonists in the early 2000s. For example, I-F and other artists signed an "Anti-Electroclash-Manifest" where they complained about the sellout of the style by those who would "rule the media waves" and only "sell the old freshly packaged".[27][28] In 2002, Toktok vs. Soffy O. stated that when they were first asked about electroclash they just thought that "this is nothing else than what we know for at least five years and what is now reaching the recycling peak for the third or fourth time".[28]

Popularity chart

Successful records from the electroclash movement include:

YearSongLabelArtist UK
[35]
2001 "Silver Screen Shower Scene" City Rockers Felix da Housecat featuring Miss Kittin #39
"Emerge" Capitol Fischerspooner #25
2002 "Set It Off" Kitty-Yo Peaches #36
"Sunglasses at Night" City Rockers Tiga featuring Zyntherius #25
"Rippin Kittin" Zomba Golden Boy with Miss Kittin #67

References

  1. ↑ David Madden (2012). "Crossdressing to Backbeats: The Status of the Electroclash Producer and the Politics of Electronic Music". Retrieved January 3, 2015. Electroclash combines the extended pulsing sections of techno, house and other dance musics with the trashier energy of rock and new wave.
  2. 1 2 Ishkur (2005). "Ishkur's guide to Electronic Music". Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Carpenter, Susan (July 28, 2002). "New Songs, Old Beats". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 D. Lynskey (22 March 2002). "Out with the old, in with the older". Guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011
  5. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (2013). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Soft Skull Press. Go to Berliniamsburg, the Brooklyn club at the epicentre of New York's eighties-inspired 'electroclash' scene, and you feel a peculiar sensation: it's not exactly like time travel, more like you've stepped into a parallel universe, an alternative history scenario where rave never happened.
  6. ↑ "The Electroclash Mix by Larry Tee". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  7. 1 2 Kellman, Andy. "Larry Tee Biography on Yahoo! Music". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 18 March 2007. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
  8. 1 2 3 Juzwiak, Richard Moroder (2002-09-30). "Electroclash: In Limousines We Have Sex/In NYC We Have Clash - Article". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  9. 1 2 Gagne, Justin (2011). "Velle - Couture Soundtracks - Winter 2010". Velle. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  10. ↑ "The female techno takeover", The Guardian, May 24, 2008
  11. ↑ "The Great Electroclash Swindle". Retrieved August 10, 2008.
  12. 1 2 "Electroclash 2001 Festival: Bringing Innovative Music to NYC". FREEwilliamsburg, Issue 19, 2001. October 2001. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  13. ↑ Paoletta, Michael (27 July 2002). "Nü-Electro Sound Emerges". Billboard. Vol. 30 no. 114. New York: Nielsen Business Media Inc. pp. 66–68. ISSN 0006-2510.
  14. 1 2 "The gentleman of electronic music" (in German). Pure FM. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "DJ Hell – Electronic Music Megastar" (in German). FAZEmag. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  16. ↑ "I-f – Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass". Discogs. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  17. ↑ "Miss Kittin And The Hacker* - Champagne! E.P.". Discogs. Zinc Media, Inc. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  18. ↑ Ulf Lippitz (18 November 2003). "DJ Hell: Mullet, coke and champers" (in German). Spiegel Online. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  19. ↑ Tony Naylor (2 March 2009). "DJ Hell creates dance music heaven at last". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  20. 1 2 Joe Muggs (7 March 2014). "Save the Planet, Kill Yourself: remembering Electroclash". FACT Magazine. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 Von Kraehahn and Christoph Dallach (31 March 2003). "Warmed up cold - The revival takes place after all: Ladytron turn the sounds of the eighties into electroclash" (in German). Spiegel Online. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Dj Hell Interview: Power and Innovation". Skiddle. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  23. 1 2 Josh Baines (10 February 2016). "A Bullshitter's Guide to Electroclash". VICE. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  24. ↑ "Chris Korda – Save The Planet, Kill Yourself". Discogs. Zinc Media, Inc. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  25. ↑ M. Goldstein (22 March 2002). "This cat is housebroken". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011.
  26. ↑ J. Walker (5 October 2002). "Popmatters concert review: ELECTROCLASH 2002 Artists: Peaches, Chicks on Speed, W.I.T., and Tracy and the Plastics". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Andreas Hartmann (17 January 2003). "The Great Gigolo Swindle" (in German). Die Tageszeitung. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  28. 1 2 3 Sonja Eismann (27 September 2002). "The moment after: Toktok vs. Soffy O." (in German). Intro Magazine. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  29. ↑ "3/29 - Ladytron - 'Best Of: 00 - 10'". nettskinny.com. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  30. ↑ Phares, Heather. "Black Cherry – Goldfrapp". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  31. ↑ Oculicz, Edward (23 August 2005). "Goldfrapp – Supernature". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  32. ↑ Kleinfeld, Justin (3 February 2003). "Artist Spotlight:Tiga". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 74 no. 799. New York: The CMJ Network Inc. p. 20. ISSN 0890-0795.
  33. 1 2 Harris, John (2009). Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll: The Ultimate Guide to the Music, the Myths and the Madness. Sphere. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-84744-293-2.
  34. ↑ Quinnon, Michael: "Electroclash". World Wide Words, 2002
  35. ↑ Search song on EveryHit.com database

External links

See also

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