Under the Influence – Electroclash

The Great Electroclash Swindle.

This week we are going to look at one of the fastest rising and quickest dying trends in recent music history. Forming in the tres chic NY club scene around the time that NYC was musically fashionable again, Electroclash came and went in the blink of an eye. A look into this “scene” is an intriguing inspection of how the music industry tries to mold popular culture to fit their image, or at least the image of the bands on their labels.

It is hard to classify what Electroclash actually is, so it is best to start with its history. Electroclash was a style of electronic music coined by Larry Tee (who actually owns the name), that was born out of house but infused a heavy amount of glitch along with new wave and punk elements. Tee, a club promoter, had a successful club night in the trendy Williamsburg, NY area and decided to bring the music coming out of the area on the road. The first electroclash festival was held in October, 2001.

Borrowing heavily from Human League, Visage, and Pet Shop Boys, Electroclash is the progression of a sound pioneered by early electronic bands of the ’80s before bands like Duran Duran and A Flock of Seagulls took it to the mainstream. Like any musical movement (at least those picked up the culture magazines), Electroclash had a striking visual element which included vibrant colors and gay club aesthetic, though the crowd was equally mixed regarding sexual preference.

The rise (and swift decline) can be attached to almost exclusively one band; Fischerspooner. Initially born as a collective of various artists and designers, its primary members are the namesakes Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner. Longtime friends Fishcer, a successful visual and commercial artist, and Spooner, a former male model, decided to form the band after a couple of successful improtu karaoke sessions.

They created a 12 inch, “Emerge,” that made its way into the right DJ’s hands and became a NY club smash. The record made its way over to Europe, which brought gave the group even bigger visibility. A bidding war ensued for their services, culminating with them signing to Virgin Records (famously flown over on a Concorde jet) for an unprecedented 2 million pounds. Not wanting to be left out in the cold, other labels began scarfing up other similarly minded acts from the surrounding area. Another notable band at the time that gained an unsubstantial amount of interest was A.R.E. Weapons, a group known more for their manager (Paul Sevingy, Chloe’s brother) than for their music.

Now with the kind of money invested in these bands, the labels have to justify that there is something going on that everyone else needs to know about. Let the publicity blitz begin. The record industry had begun to tread water, as commercial radio was filled with aging and repetitive nu-metal acts. Something fresh and stylish was needed, and Electroclash seemed to fit the bill.

The genius of Fischerspooner is that they were a brand before they were ever signed to a label. Their intention was to have a clothing label, products, and visual art displays. Their live show was a spectacle, complete with dancers, choreographed numbers and a dazzling show. The only thing it lacked was live music, with backing tracks and even the vocals pre-recorded. This was all before they had signed their deal. Their motus operandi for the group (and for Electroclash as a whole) can be summed up from a quote on their website; style is substance.

The music press jumped on the scene in relatively short time. Articles were written about Felix Da Housecat, Miss Kitten and the Hacker, and Mount Sims and their brand of experimental house and high fashion. Even bands that had been doing their own thing for years were now bundled together in the Electroclash train. These include such “pioneers” as Ladytron, Chicks on Speed, and The Faint. Everything was place for a commercial revolution in music. The date had been set, May 6th 2002, for Fischerspooner’s debut album to make its way to the states, which had done well across the pond.

#1 did absolutely no business in the United States, selling under a 100,000 copies. “Emerge” didn’t catch on the radio as it had across the pond and the album died a slow, painful death. The bubble had been burst. For the second time in five years (the first being 1997), a collective major label push towards electronic music failed. But at least in ’97, acts such as the Chemical Brothers and Prodigy emerged (pun intended) unto the mainstream. This time, the only recognized band from this attempt was also its biggest failure.

In the end, Electroclash was too specific to appeal to any broad segment of the musical landscape. There are some great songs from those bands (specifically Fischerspooner’s cover of Wire‘s “The 15th” and Golden Boy and Miss Kittin’s “Autopilot”), but there are no great Electroclash albums (with the exception of Ladytron’s “Light and Magic,” if you consider them Electroclash, which I don’t). The UK music press had already moved on, as it does every 90 days, to another group of bands doing their own things, notably the neo-garage movement that was just as fashionable but in a more down to earth accessibility.

Within the last couple of months, several Electroclash groups have released follow-ups. Mount Sims released a darkwave-influenced album, Wild Light, moving away from his Dirty Mind-era Prince production. Fischerspooner have put out “Discovery,” an AOR album that lends itself more to Pink Floyd than to New Order.

Electroclash is such an afterthought in people’s minds that it is inevitable that fifteen years from now, some artist will cite it as a major influence. It may sound ridiculous but when one realizes that until recently post-punk was a minor trend in music that lasted only a couple of years in the early eighties, it never ceases to amaze what goes on to influence the next generation, no matter how fleeting.

What’s going around
After taking some columns off, I decided to bring back a segment where I just mention what I’ve been listening/reading/seeing, etc. It’s my little piece of blogdom. Back by popular demand, and with a new name, lets get this going.

Will Oldham
-I love everything this guy does. I don’t care what name he uses (Palace, Palace Brothers, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Sons of Amalgamated Rest, you get the idea), it is all gravy. I first checked him out last year when I read the concept behind Bonnie “Prince” Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music (where Oldham puts his early alt-country material through the Nashville hit machine) and was intrigued. After enjoys Greatest Palace, I decided to pick up the original Palace stuff and I have been hooked. He is definite fodder for a future column.

The Decemberists – Picaresque
-A tired music writing clichÃ????Ã???Ã??Ã?© is of a band “taking it to the next level.” While it may be an ambiguous description, there is some truth to it, and Picaresque is proof of it. As enjoyable as their previous albums where, they where hit or miss. Not so here, where Colin Meloy and his band of soldiers (or whatever 19th century term that is similar to this) hit on every single track.

The Language of Music
-This documentary looks into the life of Tom Dowd, producer extraordinaire who produced the biggest hits of the ’50s-’70s. Not as flamboyant or over the top as Phil Spector, his stamp on early Ray Charles and Stax records, along with the classic “Layla” makes him just as important a figure in music, and his life is just as interesting. He is the reason why mix boards use slide levels instead of traditional knobs, for example. The documentary does get a little technical at times (as the title would suggest) but it is thoroughly engaging and any true lover of music will enjoy this examination into living behind the boards.