The Future is Electroclash (hear me out)

[~Ninthwaver]

Hi,

Just wanted to say that despite all of the (and my) pessimism about the scene I think that there is a future with this electroclash wave.

I think there is only an upside as we can get more people to at least listen to our stuff if we whore ourselves out a bit and jump on the bandwagon.

The downside? In a year it will all be over and we will be a forgotten genre pushed into a corner. Oh wait, thats already happened. So in my mind there is no downside really.

As long as we don't turn our back on those in the scene who have been supportive of us....

-Dave

[~Vladimir Valette]

I agree with Dave, why fight against the electroclashers. They are not the problem. It's just an offshoot of something that was already around. The difference is electroclash is geared towards clubs, it is strictly dance music for the underground masses. Synthpop, whatever you would like to coin it, is not necessarily. If you notice the main people behind Electroclashers in terms of putting the music out there are DJ's. Larry Tee from Luxx here in NY, DJ Hell from International DEEJAY Gigolos in Germany, what have you.
Electroclash is about pushing a certain type of image behind the music and that's why people are attaching to it. They can find new life vicariously through this new exciting scene. Right now, synthpop does not have that.

[~KissTheStar]

Plus the term "Electroclash" sounds a helluvalot more intriguing than "Synthpop". It is sad to say but true, a good marketing plan is associated with a terrific buzzword. There is a tremendous power in the words you choose.

~Craig

[~Brand New Idol]

Vlad the last time I heard your music it was pretty damn club friendly :) Can you elaborate on our difference other than the fact that we ultimately threw our 80's clothing in the trash many years ago :) I know I still got my slim leather tie in the closet haha.

Dave I totally agree with what you say and I think we can find a nice fit in this movement and turn heads. I look at it as the biggest opportunity to capitalize on a trend, unfortunately we're not leading it but it's most definately synthpop. I have been listening to this one electro clash cd coming from Ultra Records a CD my company is distributing in september and I seriously can't tell the difference from some of the tracks on it from what I"ve heard from the bands that our current synthpop labels put out.

I think anyone that listens to a Nukleon track is going to think it's electroclash if they are fans of what they know as electroclash. That's my opinion.

I can tell you that not only has my bands website traffic pumped up considerably and I'm telling you considerably, the past few weeks since all of this press landed, we have had very stable plays on mp3.com for months now always staying very high in the new wave charts. I don't think there are that many synthpop fans out there supporting bands like us so it's gotta be indicative of the bigger movement that is going on.

[Synthpopalooza]

Electroclash is becoming big, and lots of acts in our scene are embracing it.

Example: The new Joy Electric release "The Art and Craft of Popular Music" ... there are a couple of songs which are an out and out nod to the Electroclash scene ... in particular the disco-flavoured "Dance to Moroder" with its lyrical 70's references. I honestly think its the best JE track in a LONG time, and probably the most club friendly tune Ronnie Martin has done. And if that weren't enough, the Faint do a remix of "We Are Rock".

I think a lot of our bands could find a niche in this scene. Most specifically, bands like Freezepop, Gary Flanagan, Ganymede, Joy Electric and the plastiq musiq bands ... these seem to be cut out for the scene and it's strong late 70's/early 80's stylings. Ganymede in fact could ride the coattails of Soviet based on the Soviet remix of "Are You Falling In Love Again?" ... and also, along with Freezepop and Gary Flanagan, their appearance (along with Soviet) on the Cohaagen Evolution sampler. Use this to grab some of the limelight for our scene!

I think the main thing is don't compromise your sound and who you are just to fit in with electroclash, but don't shy away from associating with them either. Electroclashers can make good allies.

[~Vladimir Valette]

Yes, Electroclash is getting big and yes, it is beckoning the likes of Billboard to write glowing reviews about the scene, the attitude and at the very least, the music. Let's still remember that this is not a widespead thing yet. Outside of NYC, a small part of the UK, and parts of Western Europe, not many people know who half these people are. This of course would not include people discussing it here on EGN.
Not many of these acts play live which is the same weakness that most synthpop bands have. I guess I'm a rock purist when I say that you can't call yourself a band in the true sense if you don't go out and prove your mettle to a live audience. So far, the few in Electroclash are Soviet, the Faint(even though, I don't believe they are electroclash, they are way too varied musically), and FischerPrice, I meant Fischerspooner. As a collective electronic pop unit, synthpop bands and electronic bands must keep in mind that in the US, you will not be able to maintain the attention of a mainstream audience if you don't play live and show what you're got. Do you have a swashbuckling frontman who can show off the pipes as well as his diva qualities. Are the keyboards really being played by a live human?

[~Vladimir Valette]

Oh and Kris BNI, the difference I meant between "them" and "us" that synthpop relies on more basic song structures. Synthpop relies and thrives on the same natural feeling as timeless as a Nat King Cole to David Bowie. Verse-chorus-verse-middle eight what have you. Electroclash at least right now is driven towards a more abstract type of booty shaking. Its spirit lies in house whereas synthpop is not limited to that only. Does that work? :)

[~Dan1boy]

Originally posted by Synthpopalooza
[b]I think a lot of our bands could find a niche in this scene. Most specifically, bands like Freezepop, Gary Flanagan, Ganymede, Joy Electric and the plastiq musiq bands ... these seem to be cut out for the scene and it's strong late 70's/early 80's stylings. Ganymede in fact could ride the coattails of Soviet based on the Soviet remix of "Are You Falling In Love Again?" ... and also, along with Freezepop and Gary Flanagan, their appearance (along with Soviet) on the Cohaagen Evolution sampler. Use this to grab some of the limelight for our scene!b>


I'm so very emabarrased. Kindly opt me out if I was included, without expressive written consent, into this so-called "scene." Such a shame.

[Synthpopalooza]

Originally posted by Vladimir Valette
Oh and Kris BNI, the difference I meant between "them" and "us" that synthpop relies on more basic song structures. Synthpop relies and thrives on the same natural feeling as timeless as a Nat King Cole to David Bowie. Verse-chorus-verse-middle eight what have you. Electroclash at least right now is driven towards a more abstract type of booty shaking. Its spirit lies in house whereas synthpop is not limited to that only. Does that work? :)

That is true for a lot of music in our scene ... but then, where would you categorize something like "The Art of Conversation" by Travelogue? Okay, the early human league influences are there. But this one breaks all of the pop rules: Experimentalism, no vocal choruses, no predictable song sctucture, some songs are under 3 minutes and others are 6 minutes ... one song even has a long, ambient break with sound effects in it. Yet it still gets considered synthpop because of the Human League/Kraftwerk influences.

Anyway, let's get back to Electroclash vs modern synthpop: There is much in our scene which would be accepted in an electroclash setting. I am very sure that the electroclashers would eat System 22 up, for example! Female vocals, trance stylings, very club friendly ... there is a lot in our scene which would fit in, we just gotta put it out there. After awhile, perhaps, someone who discovers these bands may just happen across the source (ADD/Ninthwave/etc.) and into our cozy little corner of the electronic music scene.

[Synthpopalooza]

Originally posted by djstargazerX
and days are ticking past.. and what synthpop labels have made the effort to promote to the 'electroclash' crowd yet?

seems only Plastiq Musiq has...

Naturally enough, seeing as one of their own (Soviet) was swept up in this wave.

[~Ninthwaver]

working on it :-)

[~andrew [iris]]

vladimir is right on the money... and it's not a marketing term, it's an honest to god scene. lately the labels have been putting money into it but it was strong before then...

electroclash is all about image. if ladytron didn't look like a bunch of androgynous 1960's styled mod robots, they would have never gotten popular. same with the faint, same with miss kittin, etc etc

i think the different between that and the synthpop scene is a deep sense of irony. electroclash people do stupid, cheesy-sounding songs that strike a chord with the early 20-something hip crowd. it's postmodern scenesterism taken to the extreme. have you guys ever been to an electroclash event? it's a bunch of mods that drink cosmopolitans and dress in thrift-store clothing shaking their butts to the latest felix the housecat jam. it's like a weird modern version of the austin powers universe, with just enough drugs thrown in to make it interesting.

that being said, a true synthpop band that tries to ride the electroclash coattails is probably going to be in for a difficult ride

- andrew

[~Brand New Idol]

Actually I have been to a few of the events recently, living in NYC and seeing this little scene grow the way it has over the past 2 years. And the distribution company I work for has seen a huge increase in sales on these titles, my company is the domininant distributor of electroclash. Also I have seen a huge shift at the clubs I go to in NJ playing electroclash right alongside depeche mode, erasure, Iris and other bands that are decidedly synthpop with pretty significant crowd response to either style of music. Believe me the average person doesn't know the difference between the genres, they just want to be entertained and dance to good music.

Newsweek had an article about electroclash and sure didn't describe it as blippy when they compared all the new bands.

This line in the article stuck out "The hot new dance music at such trendy spots as this is tweaked to sound like the keyboard-intensive new-wave bands of the '80s--Human League, Soft Cell, New Order, Depeche Mode. " hmm . . sounds achingly like a description of what we all sound like.

an interesting side note, is that every label and it's brother is putting out a new slant on the 80's comps. These 80's comps I've seen so far are unmistakably synthpop dominated bands from the mid to late 80's. Take a look for Ultra 80's coming out on Ultra Records in late september you will see what I mean it's got every synthpop band they could get their hands on from that era.

I agree that the song structure of some of these bands is completely different than traditional synthpop but it still doesn't mean that this crowd isn't into synthpop because they are a bunch of cosmopolitan drinkers, posers or whatever you want to think of them.

It's amazing how threatened we get over it, why is that? Why didn't anyone feel threatened when assemblage 23 won all those synthpop awards, to me they're not synthpop why didn't anyone get all in arms because they won some ASA's? Because we allowed them to bend the rules and be considered synthpop but they're not synthpop in the purist sense. Is it wrong that they are allowed to be considered synthpop? No. Is it wrong for a synthpop artist to consider themselves electroclash, no. And I think the electroclash crowd is even more forgiving that our little microcosm.

God forbid one of the synthpop bands on electrogarden actually gets some accolade for what they do and maybe even gets well known because of the electroclash movement. Are we going to call them sellouts because they got involved in electroclash? or are we going to praise them for taking the initiative to break out of the unbelievably stagnant scene we let synthpop music get into.

[~andrew [iris]]

ok, i was probably a bit cynical/harsh when talking about the EC scene, i apologize for that. it's a bit image-y over substance-y. but i guess pretty much all "scenes" are that way, though.

assemblage 23 winning the ASA awards just highlights the weird alliance between the synthpop, EBM, and goth scenes

- andrew

[Synthpopalooza]

You know, this sorta puts me in mind of something Mark Nichols (aka Cosmicity) wrote in one of his synthpop.net articles ...

... the subject being jealousy. He always found it astounding that the band Iris managed to get a wider following then his music, and it took Joey B. from EG to tell him, it's cool ... be happy for Iris, because a success for them is a success for us all. So right that is too ...

The same applies to Soviet and anyone else in our scene who benefits from Electroclash. This can be a good thing for us.