Electro and Synthpop

Guitars? Eh. Give me synthesizers and drum machines.

These two genres don't have their own thread to my knowledge, so I decided make one.

Here's Ladytron's - an electropop group - "Runaway", one of my favorite songs from the genre.

Here's the music video for the same song, but they cut out like 40 seconds.

Anyway, let's share some electro and synth music. Or your opinions on the genres.

On the electropop side, I like Ladytron, Lady Gaga, Client, Camouflage, The Knife, and Honey Claws. My favorite musicians for synthpop are The Eurythmics, La Roux, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, and Ladyhawke.

Another great genre is Electronic Rock. I enjoy Faunts, and Garbage. Early Killers, too, but that's a stretch to call them electrorock.

edited 13th Nov '12 12:27:31 AM by Completion

Joy Electric needs more love.

Analogue, baby.

edited 10th Nov '12 6:29:17 AM by MetaFour

The fact that this thread lacks New Order and/or Gary Numan does not bode well.

I must rectify this.

Seriously. Mandatory.

Can't believe I overlooked Gary fuckin' Numan.

"Cars" is great—no song about the appeal and danger of automobiles has been more compellingly odd—but I always preferred "Down in the Park" and "Are Friends Electric?" as far as Numan singles go. The former is eerie as all get out, and the latter is sad in a very particular way that I find fascinating for some reason.

I mean, really. It's just this quietly desperate, lonely song about not "getting" other people couched in a really propulsive, catchy electro-pop frame. The fact that Numan's delivery is so... awkward yet nonchalant just adds to the overall effect.

edited 11th Nov '12 12:25:41 AM by JHM

I love Gary Numan. I only have The Pleasure Principle so I don't have much of his work. Do you have a suggestion for other albums of his?

Client - "Rock and Roll Machine":

edited 13th Nov '12 12:30:22 AM by Completion

Tubeway Army's Replicas, naturally. (Preferably in the deluxe edition.)

edited 13th Nov '12 5:41:01 AM by JHM

I prefer EBM, but there you go.

Is it wrong to think of a-ha as a New Wave band? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bqITfmVdUI

edited 13th Nov '12 2:30:39 PM by KlarkKentThe3rd

They're quintessential. I don't know what I was thinking before.

Best song from Born This Way:

A filthy song about bisexual group sex and the gay leather scene.

edited 19th Feb '13 11:12:22 PM by Completion

Quite possibly the most haunting and beautiful song of the synthpop era:

edited 17th Nov '12 1:01:46 AM by Bananaquit

Arguably the first ever synth pop artist—Gino Vannelli:

He's using synthesizers, but he doesn't seem to be exemplifying their artificiality as an instrument.

edited 17th Nov '12 1:10:14 AM by Completion

So I've gotten pretty big into Ace of Base recently.

Ah! This thread!

Come on, folks, let's revive this! It's such a fantastic genre and one of the few pop genres that has an actual culture surrounding it. It can get a bit pretentious and druggy, but it's the best subgenre of pop out there and is the go-to genre when you're attempting to get non-fans of pop to listen to it.

It has yet to work on metalheads, though. The synthesizers seem to be poison to their ears.

Here's the Faint, a band with a fantastic mix of post-punk-revival and electropop. But no worries, that pounding 4/4 beat, moody lyrics, deadpan singer with a bad haircut, and striking neo-Soviet art in the music video is all electropop.

edited 12th Feb '13 2:33:44 AM by Completion

Been listening to OMD's new single. It sounds good:

Just discovered Veer Chasm last week. Very goth-y and cool.

RE: Gary Numan recommendations. Apart from Replicas and The Pleasure Principle, Dance is a must, his most Krautrock-influenced album. I Assassin and Telekon are worthwhile, too. The first Tubeway Army album is more punk-y, less synth-y. Exercise caution beyond those, Warriors is particularly execrable.

I can’t believe I neglected Canada’s great contribution to 80s synth-pop, Strange Advance:

Try Susumu Hirasawa, he's unrivaled as far as music goes. Something that makes his synthpop sounds stand out more... hmm.. maybe Berserk OST - "Murder" would be a good start

These last few days I've been discovering the music of a band I've periodically ran into in name at least, but which I had never taken the opportunity to listen closely to what the fuss was all about. The last few days tell me I should probably have taken a closer look a bit earlier.

Anyone here familiar with Clock DVA ? For now I've gotten Man-Amplified and the Transitional Voices live album which I'm enjoying quite a lot, getting a heavy new wavey-Kraftwerkian vibe from it that I haven't felt that strong since I discovered Dopplereffekt/Japanese Telecom... Any other works from them worth checking out ?

edited 27th Feb '13 2:09:19 PM by Akalabth