Chillwave
| Chillwave | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Synthpop New Wave Psychedelic pop Dream Pop Ambient IDM Chillout Lo-fi Shoegaze Ambient House Downtempo |
| Cultural origins | Mid-2000s United States |
| Typical instruments | Synthesizer, drum machine, sampler |
Chillwave, sometimes also referred to as glo-fi,[1] is a genre of music whose artists are often characterized by their heavy use of effects processing, synthesizers, looping, sampling, and heavily filtered vocals with simple melodic lines.
The genre combines the larger 2000s trends towards 80s retro music and (in indie music) use of ambient sound, with modern pop, as in electropop, post-punk revival, psych-folk, nu gaze, and witch house.
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[edit] Defining the genre
The term "chillwave" is said to have been originated on the Hipster Runoff blog by Carles (the pseudonym used by the blog's author), on his accompanying 'blog radio' show of the same name.[2]
The New York Times' Jon Pareles described the music thus: "They're solo acts or minimal bands, often with a laptop at their core, and they trade on memories of electropop from the 1980s, with bouncing, blipping dance-music hooks (and often weaker lead voices). It's recession-era music: low-budget and danceable."[3] Its musical predecessors are diverse and include the synthpop of the 1980s, shoegaze,[4] ambient, musique concrète and various types of music outside of the Western World.
The genre is also a prime example of shifting the idea from defining a musical movement's birth in part by a specific geographic location, as is historically done, to focusing instead on how the groups became linked and defined through various outlets on the Internet. The Wall Street Journal quoted Alan Palomo of Neon Indian on genre, "Whereas musical movements were once determined by a city or venue where the bands congregated, 'now it's just a blogger or some journalist that can find three or four random bands around the country and tie together a few commonalities between them and call it a genre,'."[5] Despite the stylistic similarities listed above, Palomo and other artists have questioned whether chillwave actually constitutes a distinct genre.
[edit] Bands
Observers have noted that Panda Bear, especially his 2007 album Person Pitch, foreshadowed the movement proper.[6][7] Ariel Pink is also a related pioneer with his psychedelic pop style.
Often noted and associated bands and artists of the genre include BODYMACHINE[8], Washed Out, Neon Canyon, Twintapes, Twin Sister, Brothertiger, Neon Indian,[7] Toro Y Moi, Western WALK, Small Black, Glowbug,[9] Memory Tapes,[10] Warm Ghost,[11] Rosemary's Babe and many others. Given that the majority of the chillwave bands are "bedroom acts" without label contracts, they sell, stream, or most usually give away for free their music via Bandcamp.
[edit] References
- ^ Marc Hogan, review of Washed Out, Life of Leisure, Pitchfork Media, September 16, 2009.
- ^ Pirnia, Garin (2010-03-13). "Is Chillwave the Next Big Music Trend?". The Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/03/13/is-chillwave-the-next-big-music-trend/.
- ^ Jon Pareles (2010-03-21). "Spilling Beyond a Festival's Main Courses". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/arts/music/22sxsw2.html. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
- ^ Wyatt Williams, How Ernest Greene Became the Poster Boy for Chillwave, Creative Loafing [Atlanta], March 23, 2010.
- ^ Garin Pirnia (2010-03-13). "Is Chillwave the Next Big Music Trend?". The Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/03/13/is-chillwave-the-next-big-music-trend/. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
- ^ Slothbear, Indy Rock Reveiws [sic]::: Panda Bear - Tomboy/Slow Motion 7", SPOTBLOG, July 23, 2010.
- ^ a b Brent DiCrescenzo, "Bros Icing Bros: Which Mellow Act Is the True King of Chill?" Time Out Chicago, July 15–21, 2010: 20.
- ^ EVERYTHING MUST GROW - BODYMACHINE February 19, 2012
- ^ 1forthepeople
- ^ Synconation: Cruising in Analog - A Conversation with Com Truise
- ^ Joshua Love (March 2, 2011). "Warm Ghost -- Uncut Diamond EP". Pitchfork. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15164-uncut-diamond-ep/. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
