Music, being such a powerful tool of expression has always had a strong link with identity. While it has long since been proven by Simon Frith and the likes that music is shaped by the identity of those who produce it, it can also be said that music made is able to represent the identity of the musical producers to those who engage with it.
This is clearly most evident with the various hip hop producers in the world who often use their music in order to express the aspects of their daily life and lifestyle. Indeed with success this can often lead to the creation of sub genres based loosely along geographical lines.
This is definitely the case within the Australian electronic music scene which saw a massive international growth explosion in mid to late 2008 amidst a wave of popularity that is still being rode.
Groups who had already previously garnered international attention such as the Bag Raiders, Presets, Cut Copy, Midnight Juggernaughts and Van She all seemed to band together and release hit after hit, as well as remix after remix which received international acclaim and prompted popular online music website such as itunes to register the genre ‘Australian Electro’.
As a result of this, many other bands came out of the wood works with a similar style that also received massive credit from overseas audiences such as Empire of the Sun, PNAU, Ladyhawke and Miami Horror. The Australian electronic sound can be described as dreamy-electronic-positive-pop, a sound that having travelled the world over now seems to create an incredible reputation for the Australian music scene that reaches as far as the music travels.
Miami Horror – Don’t be on with her ... a classic example of the Australian Electro Sound
Bag Raiders – Shooting Stars ... Without a doubt one of the most popular dance tracks of the last 9 months.
The Australian Electronic sound can also be described as having a very strong 80s influence. The positive energy, the major chords used on the synths is very similar to the same uplifting and slightly ‘camp’ feel that has forever been attributed alongside the disco movement. It is for these reasons that the ‘Nu Disco’ genre has also been able to sit comfortably alongside the Australian Electro tag.
Specifically within the dance music world there has also been two new Australian music labels which have been able to help develop the local talent across Sydney, Melbourne as well as Perth. The Bang Gang 12 inches label, a sub label within the larger Modular label, and Sweat it Out! label started by prominent Sydney DJ Ajax are helping to pave the way for the upcoming producers of tomorrows dance music today. Recently, the Bang Gang 12 inches label has just released a two-cd collection of tracks from artists signed to their label. Scheduled for worldwide distribution thanks to the modular label, the album is bound to bring further attention to the booming Australian Electro scene.
In all, nu-disco and the Australian electro sound has done a fantastic job of helping to promote the musical identity that exist down under, being fun filled and high on energy. This music is free of pretention, and its uplifting nature is completely inline with the Australian spirit and image that exists worldwide. I hope that in years to come, this fact will remain true and the nu-disco style continues to go from strength to strength.
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Showing posts with label Nu Disco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nu Disco. Show all posts
11/3/09
"Nu - As in Left Field"
In all, when it comes to defining “Nu Disco” and attempting to help categorise the genre, the process is not difficult. Given the inherent relationship to 1970s and 1980s disco, it is important that “Nu Disco” music pays homage in some sense. This can be done through:
• The use of sampling: by sampling a track from the period and recreating it with a modern twist it directly displays the disco influence or by;
• The use of musical instruments from the 1970s and 1980s disco period: The use of electronic synthesisers (particularly moog and roland) and drum samplers allows the artist to create a sincere connection with the disco period.
At the end of the day, as Nu Disco is merely a genre, music only needs to have a few similarities in order to gain the genre classification. For these reasons, these few tracks are considered to be “Nu Disco”.
This track, entitled ‘Grow up’ by 18 year old Melbourne producer Swick features the classic disco horn sound with whistles.
Knightlife also from Melbourne samples and Moogs as well throughout his entire EP. Check out the sweet horn action at the 1:30 mark.
This remix done by Sydney group Flight Facilities is of the aforementioned ‘Best Party Ever’ by Toecutter featuring the Kool & the Gang sample, however they’ve added a tasty saxophone solo that kicks in around the 1:50 mark, staying true to the disco roots.
In an interview conducted with Radio 94.5 FBI Presenter Ross Eldridge about the Nu-disco and Australian Electro movement within Sydney, conducted on the 27th of October 2009, he discussed how it was not difficult to understand the popularity of the genre and its growth within Australia.
“Disco had such a huge impact on the world, I mean it’s never going to go away or be ignored so it’s only natural that it is starting to be re-done, made ‘nu’ so to speak”.
“Australia has actually been one of the last places to really re-embrace the disco movement. Groups like Prins Thomas (Norway) have been doing it around Europe for years. It as if they never ever really stopped making disco music in some places. Tim Sweeney has been making a radio show, 'beats in space' for ten years now in New York as well which is all disco”.
“It hasn’t always been disco as such but more of the sub-genres such as disco house, Disco Dub. I think when you are looking at the nu-disco, the sampling and a bit of the revamp that has been going on for the last few years then you’ve got to give credit to a couple of those French house people, Mr. Oizo, Breakbot and such. I mean even Daft Punk if you think about it, they’ve been sampling and re-making and absolutely killing it for years. I mean take Patrick 122 (a song by French Producer Mr. Oizo). That is an absolute classic, probably one of the first tunes to bring back the disco sampling thing into electro in the 21st century that was being dominated by distorted French music.”
Mr. Oizo – Patrick 122 ... Check it out from about the 20 second mark onwards.
When asked about the difference between say Patrick 122 and a modern production such as D Cup’s “Last night a DJ saved my life” (shown in the welcome post) Eldridge believed that the difference is definitely intentional by the producers.
“The difference is in the style, the backing, the instruments in the tune. You listen to Oizo and its much more of a tech feel, it’s a lot shorter and sharper and the sample is really distorted. The D Cup tune is almost giving more respect to the original sample by playing it a lot clearer. That and the dreamy synths and stuff are way more traditional disco than Patrick 122 and I suppose that the difference is there.”
In all it must be noted that while the “Nu Disco” genre is perhaps not the most inherently original genre given its strong reliance on sampling and strong roots in the 1970s/80s disco movement, it is making new strides and having s strong influence on dance music culture worldwide.
• The use of sampling: by sampling a track from the period and recreating it with a modern twist it directly displays the disco influence or by;
• The use of musical instruments from the 1970s and 1980s disco period: The use of electronic synthesisers (particularly moog and roland) and drum samplers allows the artist to create a sincere connection with the disco period.
At the end of the day, as Nu Disco is merely a genre, music only needs to have a few similarities in order to gain the genre classification. For these reasons, these few tracks are considered to be “Nu Disco”.
This track, entitled ‘Grow up’ by 18 year old Melbourne producer Swick features the classic disco horn sound with whistles.
Knightlife also from Melbourne samples and Moogs as well throughout his entire EP. Check out the sweet horn action at the 1:30 mark.
This remix done by Sydney group Flight Facilities is of the aforementioned ‘Best Party Ever’ by Toecutter featuring the Kool & the Gang sample, however they’ve added a tasty saxophone solo that kicks in around the 1:50 mark, staying true to the disco roots.
In an interview conducted with Radio 94.5 FBI Presenter Ross Eldridge about the Nu-disco and Australian Electro movement within Sydney, conducted on the 27th of October 2009, he discussed how it was not difficult to understand the popularity of the genre and its growth within Australia.
“Disco had such a huge impact on the world, I mean it’s never going to go away or be ignored so it’s only natural that it is starting to be re-done, made ‘nu’ so to speak”.
“Australia has actually been one of the last places to really re-embrace the disco movement. Groups like Prins Thomas (Norway) have been doing it around Europe for years. It as if they never ever really stopped making disco music in some places. Tim Sweeney has been making a radio show, 'beats in space' for ten years now in New York as well which is all disco”.
“It hasn’t always been disco as such but more of the sub-genres such as disco house, Disco Dub. I think when you are looking at the nu-disco, the sampling and a bit of the revamp that has been going on for the last few years then you’ve got to give credit to a couple of those French house people, Mr. Oizo, Breakbot and such. I mean even Daft Punk if you think about it, they’ve been sampling and re-making and absolutely killing it for years. I mean take Patrick 122 (a song by French Producer Mr. Oizo). That is an absolute classic, probably one of the first tunes to bring back the disco sampling thing into electro in the 21st century that was being dominated by distorted French music.”
Mr. Oizo – Patrick 122 ... Check it out from about the 20 second mark onwards.
When asked about the difference between say Patrick 122 and a modern production such as D Cup’s “Last night a DJ saved my life” (shown in the welcome post) Eldridge believed that the difference is definitely intentional by the producers.
“The difference is in the style, the backing, the instruments in the tune. You listen to Oizo and its much more of a tech feel, it’s a lot shorter and sharper and the sample is really distorted. The D Cup tune is almost giving more respect to the original sample by playing it a lot clearer. That and the dreamy synths and stuff are way more traditional disco than Patrick 122 and I suppose that the difference is there.”
In all it must be noted that while the “Nu Disco” genre is perhaps not the most inherently original genre given its strong reliance on sampling and strong roots in the 1970s/80s disco movement, it is making new strides and having s strong influence on dance music culture worldwide.
10/23/09
Hello World
Hello world, and firstly I'd like to start by welcoming myself to the world of blogging.
This is the second blog I've set up, but the first I aim to truly keep up and running, and I'm extremely excited about the possibilities that lay ahead.
The purpose of this blog is to conduct a study on a new style of music that has gained increasing popularity within Australian culture, for the purpose in order to fulfill the requirements of Assignment 3 for the subject 'Music & Popular Culture' of which I am in currently enrolled in.
Over the week and a half I will be blogging constantly in order to delve into the world of Nu-Disco, a genre of music that has gained vast notoriety within the past couple of years, and a genre that has come to represent the Australian musical identity within our club scene to the world. While it is not an entirely new genre, an extremely ever growing list of prominent musical stars within Australia embrace the style everyday, demonstrating its ability to represent and fulfill our desires as musical Australians.
In order to properly understand the genre, I will first delve back into its roots which lay firmly within the disco movement of the late 1970s and 1980s. I will also discuss the use of sampling within the genre before detailing how Nu-Disco has spawned a lasting Australian identity leading to the creation of a new genre known as 'Australian Electro' (also Oz Electro).
P.S Having previously gained a vast understanding of Genre Study during my tenure in High School, I am well aware of the difficulties of pigeon-holing songs under one umbrella, however for the first post I wish to demonstrate an example of a song that I believe shows distinct characteristics of the Nu-Disco phenomenon.
This song, "Last night a dj saved my life" by a relatively new Sydney artist known as D Cup shows multiple aspects of the Nu Disco genre. This is evident in its 1980s style synths, and also its use of sampling. The songs sampled are 'Let's groove tonight' by Earth, Wind and Fire and also the main back track also named "Last night a DJ saved my life from a ghost" performed by Indeep and later by 90 Day Men.
In all I hope this blog to display how a group of Australian individuals are able to represent ideals of the Australian Musical identity to the world, demonstrating the power and success of the Australian musical scene. I'm looking forward to the journey!
This is the second blog I've set up, but the first I aim to truly keep up and running, and I'm extremely excited about the possibilities that lay ahead.
The purpose of this blog is to conduct a study on a new style of music that has gained increasing popularity within Australian culture, for the purpose in order to fulfill the requirements of Assignment 3 for the subject 'Music & Popular Culture' of which I am in currently enrolled in.
Over the week and a half I will be blogging constantly in order to delve into the world of Nu-Disco, a genre of music that has gained vast notoriety within the past couple of years, and a genre that has come to represent the Australian musical identity within our club scene to the world. While it is not an entirely new genre, an extremely ever growing list of prominent musical stars within Australia embrace the style everyday, demonstrating its ability to represent and fulfill our desires as musical Australians.
In order to properly understand the genre, I will first delve back into its roots which lay firmly within the disco movement of the late 1970s and 1980s. I will also discuss the use of sampling within the genre before detailing how Nu-Disco has spawned a lasting Australian identity leading to the creation of a new genre known as 'Australian Electro' (also Oz Electro).
P.S Having previously gained a vast understanding of Genre Study during my tenure in High School, I am well aware of the difficulties of pigeon-holing songs under one umbrella, however for the first post I wish to demonstrate an example of a song that I believe shows distinct characteristics of the Nu-Disco phenomenon.
This song, "Last night a dj saved my life" by a relatively new Sydney artist known as D Cup shows multiple aspects of the Nu Disco genre. This is evident in its 1980s style synths, and also its use of sampling. The songs sampled are 'Let's groove tonight' by Earth, Wind and Fire and also the main back track also named "Last night a DJ saved my life from a ghost" performed by Indeep and later by 90 Day Men.
In all I hope this blog to display how a group of Australian individuals are able to represent ideals of the Australian Musical identity to the world, demonstrating the power and success of the Australian musical scene. I'm looking forward to the journey!
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