Cold wave (music)

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Cold wave is a loosely defined music genre that emerged in Europe the late 1970s, characterized by its detached lyrical tone, use of early electronic music instruments and a minimalist approach and style. It emerged from post-punk bands who, influenced by German electronic group Kraftwerk, made use of affordable portable synthesizers such as the Korg MS-20. [2]

Contents

Definition and debate

"Cold wave" is a loosely defined descriptor, derived from "new wave", that was originally reserved for a collection of punk and electronic styles from the 1970s. The scope of the genre has evolved continuously throughout its history.

Veronica Vasicka, who coined "minimal wave", did so with the intent of tying together terms such as "minimal electronics", "new wave", and "cold wave" which had frequently appeared in music magazines of the early 1980s. [3]

Characteristics

According to Tom Watson of Crack magazine, "the collective sound [of cold wave] was controlled yet 'colder' than that of their snotty predecessors – punk, with a depressive groove." Watson also identified "less guitar work, more analogue experimentation, militant rhythm sections and, above all else, a vehemently do-it-yourself attitude" as a part of cold wave's shared ideology. [1] The Guardian 's Louis Pattison has stated that during the 1980s French cold wave bands such as Martin Dupont, [4] Les Provisoires and Asylum Party "started playing gloomy post-punk in their native tongue, inspired by the icy guitars and studio-produced drum sounds pioneered by Factory Records producer Martin Hannett." [5]

History

Origins (1970s and 1980s)

The front cover of Sounds with the caption "New musick: The cold wave", 1977, with a picture of Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider of Kraftwerk Kraftwerkcoldwave.jpg
The front cover of Sounds with the caption "New musick: The cold wave", 1977, with a picture of Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider of Kraftwerk

The term "cold wave" appeared in the 26 November 1977 issue of UK weekly music paper Sounds. The caption of its cover picture, showing Kraftwerk's Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider was "New musick: The cold wave". That year, Kraftwerk released Trans-Europe Express . [6] The term was repeated the following week in Sounds by journalist Vivien Goldman, in an article about Siouxsie and the Banshees. [7] in which she wrote: "the cold, cold wave breaking over your head, and for one second you don't know whether you're going to see daylight again". [7] In 1977, Siouxsie and the Banshees described their music as "cold, machine-like and passionate at the same time", and Sounds magazine prophecised about the band: "[they] sound like a 21st century industrial plant [...] Listen to the cold wave roar from the '70s into the '80s". [7]

A scene of French, Belgian and Polish musicians, dubbed "cold wave", emerged between the late 1970s and early 1980s. [1] The French scene was also known as "la vague froide," [5] which was a term coined by the French music press to describe the sound of the band Marquis de Sade. [8] [9] According to Vice , the most notable acts were Marquis de Sade, Asylum Party, and Twilight Ritual. [10] Brave Punk World author James Greene cited Marquis de Sade's 1979 album Dantzig Twist as "a classic" of the genre. He also referenced KaS Product as a group that "pushed cold wave to icier places in the early 1980s and ended up one of its preeminent voices." [11]

Benelux cold wave artists and cassette labels communicated through an underground cassette culture; Alain Neffe's Insane Music label in Belgium was heavily active in European cassette culture. Schoolwerth also stated that Al Margolis of New York's Sound of Pig Tapes and Chris Phinney of Tennessee's Harsh Reality Music, who were active in the industrial/experimental music scene, were largely responsible from introducing minimal synth and cold wave artists to the United States. [8]

Resurgence (2000s)

Wierd Records is credited with establishing interest in the style in the US, while The Liberty Snake Club did much to popularize it within the UK. [5] [12] The Tigersushi Records compilation So Young but So Cold, compiled by Ivan Smagghe, is one document of the scene. [13] Crack journalist Tom Watson referenced Angular Recordings' Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics (2010) as a "crucial" compilation. [1]

Wierd Records' weekly Wednesday night party in New York was described by The Guardian journalist Louis Pattinson as the locus of the cold wave and minimal synth revival of the early 2000s. [5] Artists who performed at these parties included Blacklist, Xeno & Oaklander [5] and Led Er Est. [14]

British-German Lebanon Hanover, an influential band in the resurgence, formed in 2010.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kraftwerk</span> German electronic music band

Kraftwerk are a German electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the genre. The group began as part of West Germany's experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before fully embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines, and vocoders. Wolfgang Flür joined the band in 1973 and Karl Bartos in 1975, expanding the band to a quartet. Since the band's formation, it has seen numerous lineup changes, with Hütter as its only constant member.

New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock. Later, following its usage as a marketing term to cover musical styles as disparate as synth-pop, alternative dance and post-punk, critical thought discredited "new wave" as a definable genre, regarding it as a "virtually meaningless" umbrella term. The main new wave movement coincided with late 1970s punk and continued into the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siouxsie and the Banshees</span> British rock band

Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".

Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initially a blend of avant-garde electronics experiments and punk provocation". The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by members of Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazazza. While the genre name originated with Throbbing Gristle's emergence in the United Kingdom, artists and labels vital to the genre also emerged in the United States and other countries.

Synth-pop is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s.

Electronic body music (EBM) is a genre of electronic music that combines elements of industrial music and synth-punk with elements of dance music. It developed in the early 1980s in Western Europe, as an outgrowth of both the punk and the industrial music cultures. It combines sequenced repetitive basslines, programmed dance music rhythms, and mostly undistorted vocals and command-like shouts with confrontational or provocative themes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Romantic</span> 1970s popular culture movement originating in the UK

The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New Romantic movement was characterised by flamboyant, eccentric fashion inspired by fashion boutiques such as Kahn and Bell in Birmingham and PX in London. Early adherents of the movement were often referred to by the press by such names as Blitz Kids, New Dandies and Romantic Rebels.

Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 1980s built on the post-punk and new wave movements, incorporating different sources of inspiration from subgenres and what is now classed as world music in the shape of Jamaican and Indian music. It also explored the consequences of new technology and social change in the electronic music of synthpop. In the early years of the decade, while subgenres like heavy metal music continued to develop separately, there was a considerable crossover between rock and more commercial popular music, with a large number of more "serious" bands, like The Police and UB40, enjoying considerable single chart success.

Belgian rock refers to rock music produced in Belgium or written and performed by Belgian musicians. It was originally inspired by rock and roll music from America and the United Kingdom in the 1960s, but later evolved to be influenced by other genres including alternative rock and electronic music. Because Belgium is a federal state with strong cultural identities - a French-speaking area in the southern region of Wallonia as well as a Dutch-speaking population in the north region of Flanders - Belgian rock music uses these two national languages, as well as the English language.

Neo-psychedelia is a diverse genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the sounds of 1960s psychedelia, either updating or copying the approaches from that era. Originating in the 1970s, it has occasionally seen mainstream pop success but is typically explored within alternative rock scenes. It initially developed as an outgrowth of the British post-punk scene, where it was also known as acid punk. After post-punk, neo-psychedelia flourished into a more widespread and international movement of artists who applied the spirit of psychedelic rock to new sounds and techniques.

German electronic music is a broad musical genre encompassing specific styles such as Electroclash, trance, krautrock and schranz. It is widely considered to have emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, becoming increasingly popular in subsequent decades. Originally minimalistic style of electronic music developed into psychedelic and prog rock aspects, techno and electronic dance music. Notable artists include Kraftwerk, Can, Tangerine Dream and Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. German electronic music contributed to a global transition of electronic music from underground art to an international phenomenon, with festivals such as Love Parade, Winterworld and MayDay gaining prominence alongside raves and clubs.

Ceramic Hello was an electronic music duo from Burlington, Ontario, formed by Brett Wickens in 1980 after leaving Spoons. He teamed up with Roger Humphreys who added a classical influence to the minimal synthesizer compositions.

KaS Product were a French electronic duo. Their music has been considered part of the French cold wave and electropunk movements. Formed in 1980, the duo consists of Spatsz on electronics and rhythm machines with Mona Soyoc on guitar, vocals and piano. Spatsz worked at a psychiatric hospital previously while Soyoc worked with a jazz band before meeting Spatsz.

Wierd Records is an American independent record label, founded in New York City by Pieter Schoolwerth in 2006.

Minimal wave is a broad classification of music that comprises obscure, atypical examples of genres such as new wave, stripped-down electronic or synthesizer music, synth-pop, post-punk, and coldwave. Most of the music tends to focus on electronic, pre-MIDI instrumentation and themes of sincere, rather than ironic, detachment.

Post-punk is a broad genre of music that emerged in 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experimental approach that encompassed a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-rock influences. Inspired by punk's energy and do it yourself ethic but determined to break from rock cliches, artists experimented with styles like funk, electronic music, jazz, and dance music; the production techniques of dub and disco; and ideas from art and politics, including critical theory, modernist art, cinema and literature. These communities produced independent record labels, visual art, multimedia performances and fanzines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Futurisk</span> American electropunk group

Futurisk (stylized as FUTURISK) was an American electronic electropunk group based out of Lighthouse Point, Florida, United States that recorded and performed live in the late 1970s and early 1980s in South Florida, and are believed to be the first electropop/electropunk band in the American South.

Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrumentation into their music. Electronic rock acts usually fuse elements from other music styles, including punk rock, industrial rock, hip hop, techno and synth-pop, which has helped spur subgenres such as indietronica, dance-punk and electroclash.

Essaie pas is a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2010. Based in Montreal, Quebec, the group consists of wife-and-husband duo Marie Davidson and Pierre Guerineau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xeno & Oaklander</span> American electronic music group

Xeno & Oaklander is an American electronic music group formed in 2004, consisting of musicians Sean McBride and Liz Wendelbo. Originating from Brooklyn, the band is considered to be among the cold wave revival scene of the 2000s and 2010s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Watson, Tom (August 18, 2019). "20 Definitive Cold Wave Artists". Crack . Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  2. 1 2 Nixon, Dan (20 January 2010). "The Dummy Guide To Cold Wave". Dummy Mag.
  3. ↑ Tantum, Bruce (1 December 2009). "A synth-obsessed label turns four". Time Out. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  4. ↑ Minsoo Kim, Joshua. "French coldwave legends Martin Dupont embark on their first U.S. tour". Chicago Reader , 18 May 2023, Retrieved 23 March 2024
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Pattison, Louis (13 July 2009). "Scene and heard: Cold wave". The Guardian . Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "New Muzick The Cold Wave". Sounds . 26 November 1977.
  7. 1 2 3 Goldman, Vivien (3 December 1977). "New Music – Siouxsie Sioux Who R U?". Sounds .
  8. 1 2 Kharas, Kev (29 June 2010). "Shiver Into Existence: Cold Waves And Minimal Electronics". The Quietus . Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Gester, Julien (4 February 2019). "Spatsz, Clavier du Groupe KaS Product, Rend La Mèche". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
    Salciarini, Pascal (4 February 2019). "Décès de Spatsz, le clavier de Kas Product". L'Est Républicain (in French). Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  10. ↑ "New York – Beyond Goth". vice.com . 20 March 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  11. ↑ Greene, James (2017). Brave Punk World: The International Rock Underground from Alerta Roja to Z-Off. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 383. ISBN   978-1-4422-6985-9.
  12. ↑ Garrett, Jonathan (27 May 2009). "The Wierd Records Social Club – Page 1 – Music – New York – Village Voice". villagevoice.com . Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  13. ↑ Theakston, Rob. "So Young But So Cold: Underground French Music 1977–1983". AllMusic . Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  14. ↑ Neyland, Nick (4 May 2012). "Led Er Est: The Diver". Pitchfork . Retrieved 20 March 2020.

Bibliography

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