Dark Cabaret is, generally speaking, a music genre you need to hear to really understand it. As the name might indicate, the genre is influenced by cabaret, more strictly speaking, Weimar-era cabaret, but it also combines said aesthetic with vaudeville, burlesque, and, oddly, goth style, while the music usually takes inspiration from Punk Rock, Goth Rock and Dark Wave, and sometimes also metal.
That's not all, though. Dark Cabaret artists mix the above music genres and aesthetics with deep and passionate vocals, dark lyrics, circus or fairground style music, and marionette and basslines and chord changes reminiscent of military brass bands. Pianos are frequently used as lead instruments and can often be accompanied by trumpets, accordions, cello, gypsy-style violins, dirty jazz horns, brass and clarinets, and some acts also experiment with acoustic and electric guitars and bass.
The Ur-Example are most likely The Tiger Lillies, a band formed in London in 1989 who incorporated themes of blasphemy, prostitution and bestiality in their songs, sung in a menacing style with a falsetto voice.
The Trope Codifiers and Genre Popularizers are unarguably The Dresden Dolls, formed by Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione in 2000, and who once famously described themselves as “Brechtian punk cabaret” in order to avoid being labelled by the music industry and media as "goths", thus coining the name of the genre. They would play shows in white ‘mime’ style face paint, bowler hats, suits and stockings. Similarly, fan line ups outside of venues were easily identifiable from a distance with hats, black and white stripes and distinctive make up, while the band actively encouraged performance artists and the like to perform directly outside of venues whilst on tour.
Soon after, others also started to label themselves as "dark cabaret", including the French band Katzenjammer Kabarett, Stolen Babies, Birdeatsbaby, and Harlequin Jones.
List of Dark Cabaret artists:
- Abby Travis
- Alu
- Andi Sexgang
- Anthony And The Jonhsons
- Aurelio Voltaire
- American Murder Song
- Baby Dee
- Battle Circus
- Beat Circus
- Birdeatsbaby
- Bitter Ruin
- Black Tape For A Blue Girl
- Charming Hostess
- Circus Contraption
- Dakh Daughters
- The Dead Brothers
- The Deadfly Ensemble
- The Dresden Dolls
- Emilie Autumn
- Evelyn Evelyn
- Fantasmagoria
- Friendly Rich
- Gaba Kulka
- Gitane Demone
- Hannah Fury
- Humanwine
- Insomniac Folklore
- IAMX
- Jason Webley
- Jill Tracy
- Johnny Hollow
- The Jane Austen Argument
- Kaizers Orchestra
- Katzenjammer Kabarett
- Klaus Nomi
- The Kransky Sisters
- Little Annie
- Lonely Drifter Karen
- Lola Blanc
- Majandra Delfino
- Man Man
- Marc Almond
- Marcella And The Forget Me Nots
- Meow Meow
- Meret Becker
- Momus
- Nina Hagen
- The Peculiar Pretzelmen
- The Playwright
- Pretty Balanced
- Puerto Muerto
- Rasputina
- The Romanovs
- Rosin Coven
- Rozz Williams
- Sex Gang Children
- Spiritual Front
- Stolen Babies
- Sxip Shirey
- Sarah And The Safe Word
- The Tempers
- The Tiger Lillies
- Tom Waits
- Vagabond Opera
- Vermillion Lies
- Veronique Chevalier
- Will Wood And The Tapeworms
