During chamber pop's initial emergence in the 1960s, producers such asJerry Leiber and Mike Stoller,Burt Bacharach,Lee Hazlewood,the Beatles andthe Beach Boys'Brian Wilson served as formative artists of the genre. Wilson's productions ofthe Beach Boys' albumsPet Sounds andSmile are cited as particularly influential to the genre. From the early 1970s to early 1990s, most chamber pop acts saw little to no mainstream success. The genre's decline was attributed to costly touring and recording logistics and a reluctance amongrecord labels to finance instruments like strings, horns, and keyboards on artists' albums.
In the mid-1990s, chamber pop developed as a subgenre ofindie rock[4] orindie pop[5] in which musicians opposed thedistorted guitars,lo-fi aesthetic, and simple arrangements common to thealternative or "modern rock" groups of that era. In Japan, the movement was paralleled byShibuya-kei, another indie genre that was formed on some of the same bedrock of influences. By the 2000s, the term "chamber pop" would be inconsistently applied to a variety of bands whose work attracted comparisons toPet Sounds.
Ork-pop refers to a branch of underground rock musicians who shared an affinity with the Pet Sounds album, such asThe High Llamas and bands from theElephant 6 collective.[10] According toCMJ's David Jerman, the name was the creation of rock critics, "encompassing everyone from fans of the Beach Boys to fans ofBacharach andMancini".[11] Chamber pop is stylistically diverse.[6]AllMusic states that the genre carries on the "spirit" of the baroque pop of the 1960s,[12] while cultural writers Joseph Fisher and Brian Flota call it the "heir" to baroque pop.[13][nb 1] Strongly influenced by the rich orchestrations of Burt Bacharach,Brian Wilson, andLee Hazlewood, chamber pop artists once again focused on melody and texture.[3] Another major source of influence was the singerScott Walker.[6]New York Daily News' Jim Farber summarizes the genre; "thinkDonovan meets Burt Bacharach".[15][nb 2]
Described as "proto-psychedelic chamber pop" by biographer Mark Dillon, "Wonderful" showcases Wilson's lead vocals and harpsichord-playing supported by trumpet and the Beach Boys' "parlor-room harmonies".[18]
Newsmakers believes that the Beach Boys'Pet Sounds helped define chamber pop as "intimate, precisely arranged songs with rock's sweep but without its bluesy clamor."[19][nb 3] Following the album was the group's unfinished 1966–67 workSmile, a collaboration between Brian Wilson and lyricistVan Dyke Parks that also heavily influenced the genre.[6] According to the High Llamas'Sean O'Hagan,Pet Sounds had been "the beginning of the great pop experiment. But it wasn't allowed to continue, because rock and roll got hold of the whole thing and stopped it. Pop didn't take off again until this decade [the 1990s]."[21] AuthorCarl Wilson (no relation) says that Brian's "pained vulnerability", "uses of offbeat instruments", "intricate harmonies", and "theSmile saga itself" became a common reference point for chamber pop bands.[22][nb 4] Just as ork-pop acts shared a love for Wilson, they also held an admiration for one another's work.[24]
The termchamber pop to describe this emerging genre was first used in the mid-1980s,[25] blending the termspop andchamber music, the latter referring toclassical music played with a small number of musicians rather than with a full orchestra. In the late 1980s, the majority ofLouis Phillipe's productions forél Records also made sophisticated use of orchestras and voices that embodied and defined the chamber pop style.[26][nb 5]
Chamber pop was part of a larger trend which involved musicians who rejected traditional rock conventions, such asTortoise andStereolab, although those specific bands are not considered ork-pop.[24][nb 6] The genre's orchestration is typically more complex than rock music,[6] making extensive use of brass and strings.[3][6] It drew from the 1990slounge music revival but avoided any influence from other contemporary styles likegrunge,electronica, oralternative music, particularly thelo-fi hiss and distortion of the last.[3] Althoughmodern rock groups likeSmashing Pumpkins,The Verve,Oasis, andR.E.M. occasionally used strings, their approach was considerably less intricate.[24] The High Llamas were one of the first to anticipate the easy-listening fad with their 1993 albumGideon Gaye.[29] O'Hagan felt that "There is this whole misconception that Americancollege rock with twisted baseball hats and checked shirts is adventurous, but it's the most conformist, corporate thing out there." withEric Matthews adding "All these bands sound likeNirvana andPearl Jam. It's a shame that it couldn't be discovered from the get-go for what it is. A lot of it is just very simple dumb-guy rock."[24]
Bored by the three-chord simplicity of grunge and neo-punk, a new breed of popsmiths is going back to such inspirations as Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, and Phil Spector in the quest for building the perfect orchestrated pop masterpiece. [...] their music offers an alternative for those who have grown tired of distorted guitars and angst-ridden vocals.
Fisher and Flota trace chamber pop to "at least" the mid 1990s.[13] According to Natalie Waliek of music retailerNewbury Comics, the then-"renewed interest inpsychedelia" and the "overlap with thecocktail/lounge music thing, because that music [also] has orchestrations", likely contributed to the sales of ork-pop albums, but acts were restricted to only a moderate degree of commercial success. The majority of musicians were aged beyond their early 20s, and many struggled to achieve significant retail or radio success compared to modern rock.[24] In the past, record companies had helped facilitate large multi-instrumental bands by financing instruments like strings, horns, and keyboards on artists' albums, but this became rarer as time went on.[30] Touring with full string and brass ensembles also proved difficult for some, which became another factor that prevented the genre's mainstream success.[24]
In Japan, a remote parallel was the development ofShibuya-kei, which also revisited the trend of foregrounding instruments like strings and horns in its arrangements.[4] The genre was informed by classic Western pop music,[31] especially the orchestral domains occupied by Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson, Phil Spector, andSerge Gainsbourg.[32] Unlike other Japanese music scenes, its audiences did not necessarily cross over intoanime fandoms, but ratherindie pop enthusiasts. This was partly because many of its bands were distributed in the United States through majorindie labels likeMatador andGrand Royal.[33][nb 7] Shibuya-kei ultimately peaked in the late 1990s and declined after its principal players began moving into other music styles.[35]
Billboard's Chris Morris wrote that this debut single by Hayes made "quite a splash with the international press ... heralded as the harbinger of a new school of orchestral pop – 'ork pop' for short."[36]
In a 1996 profile of ork-pop, Craig Rosen lists examples that include Yum-Yum, the High Llamas,Richard Davies,Eric Matthews,Spookey Ruben, Witch Hazel, andLiam Hayes (Plush).[24] Matthews, who partnered with Davies for duoCardinal, was considered a leading figure in ork-pop.[37]Popmatters' Maria Schurr wrote in a retrospective review of Cardinal'seponymous 1994 debut album; "in some circles, [it has] been called the grunge era's answer toPet Sounds, and, although it has not been as widely cited as the Beach Boys' classic, it has undoubtedly influenced more off balance indie popsters than one may expect."[38] Music journalistJim DeRogatis associates the ork-pop and chamber pop movement to bands like Yum-Yum, Cardinal andLambchop.[2][nb 8]
By 2009, the term "chamber pop" had fallen to general misuse, as songwriter/authorScott Miller suggests, it "made more sense applied to theFleet Foxes than to other bands I've since seen it applied to".[39] He also noted thatPet Sounds had become a ubiquitous object of comparison; "[If people] are happy about that, I have to pinch myself and reflect that I'd never thought I'd see the day."[39]Treblezine's Brian Roster wrote thatGrizzly Bear's albumVeckatimest was a "landmark exploration of the changing landscapes of pop in 2009" that represented an attempt to create "a sort of abridged conclusion to chamber pop's earliest days".[6]
^Although baroque pop was prefigured by producers likePhil Spector, whose arrangements were orchestral and heavily layered, the genre was distinguished for itsRomantic aesthetic, small string ensembles, and more classically-derived melodies.[14]
^Spin magazine refers to Bacharach and Wilson as "gods" of orchestral pop.[16] In journalistChris Nickson's opinion, the "apex" of orchestral pop lied in Walker, explaining that "in his most fertile period, 1967–70, he created a body of work that was, in its own way, as revolutionary as the Beatles'. He took the ideas of Mancini and Bacharach to their logical conclusion, essentially redefining the concept of orchestral pop."[17]
^Writing about thealbum's title track in his 2017 memoir, Wilson said: "I lovedThunderball, which had come out the year before, and I loved listening to composers like Henry Mancini, who did these cool themes for shows likePeter Gunn, andLes Baxter, who did all these big productions that sounded sort of like Phil Spector productions."[20]
^Smile, whose recordings remained unreleased for decades, was embraced by thealternative rock generation once bootlegs from the album became more widespread in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[23]
^Philippe described his own music as: "covering the range from pure bubblegum to symphonic sweep, with detours viajazz andsoul along the way. A typical album might mix influences from vintage pop, Frenchchanson,Ravel,bossa nova,Duke Ellington,the Shirelles, or the Beach Boys, while classical instruments and intricate backing vocals often feature in the arrangements."[27]
^Writing about the new "post-rock" in 1994,Simon Reynolds noted the influence of Spector, Wilson, andBrian Eno; specifically their preoccupation for "soundscaping" that involves "using musicians as a sort of palette of textures, as opposed to the rock band's collective toil."[28]
^Philippe was surprised to be heralded as the "godfather" of the Shibuya sound around the time he released the Japan-only albumsJean Renoir (1992) andRainfall (1993).[27] The movement's musicians romanticized Wilson as amad genius experimenting in the recording studio, and Spector'sWall of Sound was emulated not for its denseness, but for its elaborate quality.[34]
^In 2004, when askingthe Decemberists' bandleaderColin Meloy whether he felt a connection with the movement and the band's work, Meloy answered; "I don't know if we've ever been labeled that before. So much attention gets put on the lyrical content—the songs themselves—that people don't pay as close attention to the arrangements, which is something we're trying to change. ... I think the orchestral side—the cinematic side of the music—is going to come through more and more."[2]
^Jarman, David (July 1998)."Reviews".CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ Network, Inc. p. 60.ISSN1074-6978.Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. RetrievedAugust 27, 2016.
^Collins, Louise Mooney (1996).Newsmakers. Gale Research Inc. p. 122.ISBN9780810393219.Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. RetrievedAugust 27, 2016.
^Marmoro, Gianfranco (January 12, 2010)."The Ocean Tango".Ondarock (in Italian).Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. RetrievedAugust 13, 2016.
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