| Electroclash | |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1990s,[1]Netherlands,France,Austria,Germany (Munich[4]) andUnited States (Detroit andNew York[5]) |
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Electroclash (also known assynthcore,retro-electro,tech-pop,nouveau disco, and thenew new wave[3]) is agenre ofpopular music that fuses 1980selectro,new wave andsynth-pop with 1990stechno, retro-styleelectropop andelectronic dance music.[6][7][8] It emerged in the late 1990s and was pioneered by and associated with acts such asI-F,DJ Hell,Miss Kittin andThe Hacker, andFischerspooner.[9][10]
The term electroclash describes a musical movement that combinedsynthpop,techno,punk andperformance 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,[6] and was described byThe Guardian as one of "the two most significant upheavals in recent dance music history".[11]DJ Hell is widely credited as inventor and name giver of the genre,[12][13][14] while DJ and promoterLarry Tee later popularized the term in the US by naming the Electroclash 2001 Festival in New York[15] after it.[16][8]
Electroclash emerged in the late 1990s. TheMunich-based labelInternational DeeJay Gigolo Records, founded byDJ Hell, is considered the "germ cell" and "THE home" of the electroclash sound.[17][18][19][20] Gigolo featured many of the early electroclash songs, such as for example Christopher Just'sI'm a Disco Dancer from 1997 orChris Korda'sSave the Planet, Kill Yourself, which originally even had been released as early as 1993.[21][22] Then in 1998, Gigolo released the songs "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" by French recording duoMiss Kittin &The Hacker, which were among the most successful early hits of the new genre.[10][23][9] This was followed by the hit "Emerge" by New York duoFischerspooner,[24] as well as the remake ofCorey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night" by Canadian duoTiga &Zyntherius, both released on Gigolo in 2001.[25][26] DJ Hell brought the artists of the new genre together on the label and acted primarily as their mentor.[26] But also Hell's own releases like the albumMunich Machine from 1998 are seen as groundbreaking for the genre Electroclash.[27] In the widely recognized film documentaryWelcome to the club! 25 years of electronic dance music by European television networkArte, Miss Kittin describes the origination of the first songs of the new style together with DJ Hell and declares him the inventor of the Electroclash genre.[14] Since DJ Hell gathered the international artists of the new genre at Gigolo in Munich and many of them gave their first performances in the city's nightclubs, Munich is considered the city in which electroclash "was significantly co-invented, if not invented".[4][18] Soon the new style of music also spread to other cities such as Berlin, London and New York.[28]
AlsoI-F's track "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass", released in 1998 on Disko B, with its "old-fashioned verse-chorus dynamics to burblingelectro in a vocodered homage toAtari-era hi-jinks" is considered one of the pioneering tracks of the electroclash genre.[6][29] Further early artists includeChicks on Speed,Peaches,ElectrosexualADULT. and Toktok vs. Soffy O with their year 2000 hitMissy Queen's Gonna Die.[28][19][30][31]
During their early years,Ladytron were sometimes labeled as electroclash, but others stated that they were not entirely electroclash[9] and they also rejected this tag themselves.[32][18]Goldfrapp's albumsBlack Cherry (2003) andSupernature (2005) incorporated electroclash influences.[33][34]
In the U.S., the genre gained media attention when the Electroclash Festival was held in New York in October 2001, aiming to "make a local breakthrough with this scene, presenting a select group of superstar and pioneer artists from Europe and the U.S."[15][9] The Electroclash Festival returned in 2002, followed by live tours across the US and Europe in 2003 and 2004. Notable artists who performed at the festival and subsequent tours includeScissor Sisters, ADULT.,Erol Alkan,Princess Superstar,Mignon,Mount Sims, Tiga andSpalding Rockwell.
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Around 2022, electroclash experienced a resurgence led by several prominent artists.DJ Hell launched a new electroclash tour, while Konerytmi presented a distinctive electroclash 2022 live act in a steampunk-themed environment. Norbert Thunder contributed to the revival with his "Fembot Actress EP" in 2022, which included the festival hit track "Groove, Style, Lights, Euphoria." Marketed as an effort to reintroduce the electroclash sound to contemporary audiences, the EP gained notable attention. Several record labels also began releasing electroclash vinyl records and EPs, including the Spanish label Veintidós Rec. and the Italian label Rapid Eye Movement Records.
The electroclash label and the hype around it were 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".[28][30] In 2002, Toktok vs. Soffy O. stated that when they were first asked about electroclash they just thought: "This is nothing else than what we've known for at least five years and what is now reaching the recycling peak for the third or fourth time".[30]
Electroclash combines the extended pulsing sections of techno, house and other dance musics with the trashier energy of rock and new wave.
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.
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