electroclash

a style of electronic music fusing elements of techno, punk and 80’s synth pop. epitomised by a move away from the largely dj-driven dance music of the 90’s towards a more performance-based format with a much stronger emphasis on lyrical content. essential early influences include 80’s synth artists like gary numan, new order, pre “dare” human league (eg: “being boiled”), the normal with “warm leatherette” and the dark disco style of giorgio moroder. aesthetically the movement owes much to the 80’s cult sci-fi film “liquid sky”.
the term “electroclash” was coined (and copyrighted) by new york dj larry tee who staged the first “electroclash” festival in 2001 grouping together likeminded electro artists including fisherspooner, a.r.e. weapons, adult., peaches, chicks on speed and ladytron. the term gained widespread currency that same year when established dj felix da housecat teamed up with the high priestess of electroclash, miss kitten to produce “silver screen – shower scene”, giving the movement it’s first worldwide smash hit.
lary tee’s act of copyrighting the term “electroclash” appears to have alienated many artists who now furiously deny any -ssociation with it leading to some uncertainty of where the movement’s boundaries actually lie. this situation has been further compounded by later bandwagon jumpers latching on to the movement’s more obvious cliché’s (eg: vocoded vocals and lyrics about androids) resulting in some ridicule incurred by the independent artists being undeservedly heaped upon the wider movement.
reconmended listening:
– larry tee -the electroclash mix
– fischerspooner -#1
– ladytron – light and magic
– miss kitten and the hacker – first alb-m
– felix da housecat – kittenz & the glitz
-adult. – anxiety always
-the faint – danse macabre
a music movement fusing punk-inspired dance music with an interest in fashion and art
bands such as fischerspooner, ladytron, and record company: god made me hardcore records
a festival put together by larry tee to feature new musical artists, most of whom were electro-based – soon became the term to describe the nu-electro/synthpop/techpop/retro 80s genre that artists adopted to themselves (or rather, fans attached to the artists).
have you heard of that electroclash group ladytron?
electroclash is a form of underground dance music.

it kind of goes in 3 ways: artsy, “intellectual” musicians who love art galleries, then there’s super-queer, club-oriented, has-nothing-to-do-with-nothing lyrics, and finally, the third direction, the dark, or “synthtron” (see ishkur’s guide to electronic music), which isn’t as camp, the artists sharing alb-m sp-ce on compilations with miss kittin, front 242 and even dope stars inc.

the genre is alright. you can be a pretentious wannabe-in-the-80s valley girl, a european light-goth, or a simple pop-tart, and listen to it.
electroclash songs to here:
fischerspooner – emerge
ladytron (not strictly) – seventeen
dirty sanchez – f-cking on the dancefloor

viva la bon-bon!!
80’s synth, retro samples combined with electronic sounds and beats
try: felix da house cat
etc
new new-wave. think synthpop, make it sound choppier, add vocals about fashion, s-x, and drugs. run vocals through several distortion filters. also, the set that follows this music, characterized mainly by their (often rossly inaccurate) attempts at 80s new wave/post punk fashion.
fischerspooner, ladytron, soviet, freezepop
kind of ok danceable music made and listened to by totally pretentious people, mostly pseudo-bohemian hipsters from berlin obsessed with fashion but not nearly close to looking good (wannabe-girls in their 30’s with choppy 80’s do and 80’s thrift store clothing). they think it’s very original to scream “kreuzberg” to a minimal beat.
“pretentious electroclash bands from berlin suck.”