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| Electropop | |
| Stylistic origins | |
|---|---|
| Cultural origins |
Late 1970s Germany and Britain
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| Typical instruments |
Synthesizer - Drum machine - Tape loops - Drums - Guitar - Sequencer - Keyboard - Sampler- Vocoder
|
| Mainstream popularity | Moderate, in early '80s Europe; return to prominence in early '00s America and Europe; High in late '00s in America |
| Derivative forms | Electro Techno Dance-punk Post-disco |
Electropop (also called technopop) is a form of electronic music that is made with synthesizers, and which first flourished from 1978 to 1981. Electropop laid the groundwork for a mass market in chart-oriented synthpop. Numerous bands have since carried on the electropop tradition into the 1990s and 2000s.
Electropop is different from synthpop because it is often characterised by a cold, robotic, electronic sound, which was largely due to the early limitations of the analog synthesizers used to make the music. The alienated deadpan lyrics usually have a science-fiction edge to them, and do not use the "boy meets girl, boy loses girl" theme that was so common among mass-market chart-topping new wave artists from about 1981 onwards.
Most electropop songs are pop songs at heart, often with simple, catchy hooks and dance beats, but differing from those of electronic dance music genres which electropop helped to inspire — techno, house, electroclash, etc. — in that strong songwriting is emphasized over simple danceability.
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Many early electropop artists were British and were inspired by David Bowie's "Berlin period" albums Heroes and Low.[1] Other main influences on electropop were the German band Kraftwerk[2] and the Japanese group Yellow Magic Orchestra.[3] Some groups also took inspiration from the NYC synthpunk group Suicide,[4] and the Krautrock groups Neu!, Cluster, and Can.
There had been a long history of experimental avant-garde electronic music, notably in northern Europe, but this had little influence on electropop. The avant-garde electronic music tradition did, however, provide access to a bank of technical expertise built up over decades, via organisations such as the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and the London Electronic Music Studios. These institutions were patronised by early rock synth pioneers such as Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Tangerine Dream, and Pink Floyd.
Electropop was strongly disparaged in the British music press of the late 1970s and early 1980s as the "Adolf Hitler Memorial Space Patrol" (Mick Farren)[5].
Electropop later fed into, and its synthesiser sound became intertwined with, the British New Romantic movement of the early 80s. Early electropop laid the groundwork for acceptance of later rave music, which appeared from New Order's 1983 "Blue Monday" single. Within ten years of electropop's 'death' around 1982, the cultural meaning of its 'blips and beeps' had been shorn of the taint of modernism, and firmly attached to rave culture's neo-romantic 'nostalgia for the archaic'.[citation needed]
While electropop had been suspected of racism or fascism by some, it flourished in the United States in black culture, particularly in Detroit. Musicians such as A Number of Names and Cybotron pursued a version of the style inflected by R&B and funk which eventually established the Detroit techno scene. Afrika Bambaata, from New York, also invented the electro style of hip-hop by sampling Kraftwerk.
Electropop later fed into synthpop with bands like Pet Shop Boys, Soft Cell and Culture Club and afterwards the electroclash movements of the 1990s, and underwent a revival at the end of the 1990s and early 2000s through artists such as Felix Da Housecat, Luke Slater and nightclubs such as Nag Nag Nag, Kashpoint and Electrogogo in London (witness the Random tribute album to Gary Numan) with electroclash, and Metro Station.
A number of electropop musicians came out of the electroclash scenes, going on to make popular albums from 2002 to present, from London, New York, Berlin, and Ann Arbor. These have included Fischerspooner,[6] Ladytron, Melnyk, Temposhark, Peaches, Gonzales, The Whip, Dragonette, Matthew Dear,[7] T. Raumschmiere,[8] Ellen Allien,[9] Miss Kittin,[10] The Knife,[11]Hot Chip, Dangerous Muse, Lady GaGa, The Tough Alliance, Tribrix, The Presets, MGMT, Microfilm, Almamy and Does It Offend You, Yeah?.
At Latin-America since 2004 came out a lot of artists, specially from Mexico: Maria Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser, Fey, Belanova. Chile: Gastón Céspedes, Pali, Lulú Jam!, Mirwayz, ReDulce. Argentina: Modex, Gaby Bex, Murias, Miranda!.
Spain have their own scene with artists as Fangoria and La Prohibida
By the late 2000s, electropop appears to be the leading genre in popular U.S. music scene, with the waning popularity of hip-hop music[12][13], with massive hits as: "Disturbia" & "Don't Stop The Music" by Rihanna, "Piece Of Me" & "Womanizer" by Britney Spears, "Forever" by Chris Brown, "Just Dance" & "Poker Face" By Lady Gaga, "Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake. Britney Spears is sometimes credited as bringing back this category since her shift to this musical style with her albums Blackout and Circus.[citation needed]
Recently,electropop music became popular in Japan because of hits of Perfume
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