Well, here we are...the end of another year, and the end of a decade. I must admit that though I enjoyed some of the music gems that came from the '90s, the '00s have been a much better decade for music in my opinion. The year 2009 by itself was no exception. Over the past twelve months, there has been an explosion of new female solo artists and female-fronted bands. Part of this phenomenon is largely due to a rise in popularity of a relatively new genre of music sweeping across Europe called "wonky pop." According to the BBC, wonky pop was coined (and owned) by the manager of
Mika (though, there is speculation that Peter Robinson of the blog
Popjustice coined it), and is a loose grouping of recent musical acts described as "quirky, catchy, and credible pop." The genre's main influence is mainstream (albeit, eccentric) pop music from the mid to late 1980s that emerged from earlier disco/new wave sounds and stylings. Personally, I feel like wonky pop is just another label slapped onto the same electro synthpop we've heard since the beginning of the decade. In the beginning we called it "electroclash" (Ladytron, Fisherspooner, Peaches, Chicks on Speed, etc.), then by mid-decade we called it "new rave" (CSS, New Young Pony Club, Hot Chip, Klaxons), and now, at decade's end, we have wonky pop (with a healthy dose of artists below including Passion Pit, La Roux, Little Boots, and Frankmusik).
On the other hand, experimental avant-pop has also found a firm footing in 2009. Interestingly, this genre has also been led by female artists (Fever Ray, Telepathe, Bat for Lashes).
For previous years, see the blog posts below (keep in mind that some of the YouTube hyperlinks to the videos could be out of date):
Barely over two years old, the band from Cambridge, Massachusetts has exploded throughout 2009 thanks to their full-length release,
Manners. Formed by the group's front-runner, Michael Angelakos, the band's original intention was to write a few songs for Angelakos' girlfriend as a Valentine's Day present. What started as fun side project, evolved into their first EP
Chunk of Change with their track "Sleepyhead" gaining momentum on iTunes (thanks to a Canadian PSP advertisement, as well as MTV's "What the Flip" campaign). However, it wasn't until their single "The Reeling" was released last spring that their popularity grew exponentially. They have toured extensively throughout 2009, and have shown signs of promise in the coming decade.
Pronounced as
telepathy, the distinct sound of the Brooklyn-based girl duo is unmistakable. Busy Gagnes and Melissa Livaudis display a flare for the avant-garde with their ethereal vocals and outlandish synthpop stylings. "So Fine" captures elements of sleepy shoegaze, distant and lamenting vocals, as well as danceable synthy goodness. Telepathe is one of the best experimental projects I've heard in years.
The lovely blonde English sprite, Victoria Christina Hesketh (better known as her stage name "Little Boots"), began fronting an indie/electropop band called Dead Disco while at university in 2005, which took inspiration from acts such as Ladytron, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and The Rapture. However, towards the end of her two-year stint with the band, she decided she wanted to go in more of a pop direction, and began recording her full-length solo debut
Hands in 2008 citing a range of influences from WHAM!, to Pink Floyd, to Miley Cyrus.
Hands was released in early 2009 in the UK and abroad, but is not scheduled for US release until early 2010. The US-released EP
Illuminations dropped back in June, and included one of her Top 20 singles, "New In Town" (featured in the film
Jennifer's Body), and describes the loneliness she felt when she moved to Los Angeles from the UK. The track has an oddly Goldfrapp-ish vibe, and has a very catchy hook (for a dancier version, check out the remix by
Bimbo Jones). I'm definitely looking forward for more from Little Boots in the near future.
I can't write a "Year in Music" blog post without including the Swedes somewhere in the mix. Sparks is the first on this year's list to discuss. The Stockholm-born artist currently resides in the UK, and released his self-titled full-length debut back in May. "She's Got Me Dancing" peaked at 22 on the UK Singles Chart, and has been used in various media including Apple's iPod Touch 3G, as well as the Playstation 3 game
Eyenet. Tommy has also co-written a track for The Prodigy, and is featured in the song "Messages" by the Filthy Dukes. Tommy incorporates pop elements into his indie sound in ways that his contemporaries (like Denmark's Alphabeat, and Britain's La Roux) have mastered. If you're looking to shake that thang, download "She's Got Me Dancing" today!
At a mere 21 years of age, Britain's latest pop princess Eleanor "Elly" Jackson has achieved quite a bit of success in a relatively short period of time with her wonky pop duo, La Roux. Taking inspiration from early '80s synthpop (The Human League, Yazoo, Depeche Mode, Heaven 17), as well as '80s mainstream pop (Madonna, Prince, Annie Lenox) have given La Roux a unique niche in the pop market. She also cites folk as a big influence (Carole King and Nick Drake whom she discovered in her parents' record collections). Jackson is known for her quirky and off-center sense of fashion, and her over-the-top hairstyles have been compared to Mike Score circa 1981 (front man of '80s new wave sensation, A Flock of Seagulls), and are currently being imitated by young women all over London. La Roux's self-titled full-length debut was released back in June, and peaked at #2 on the UK album charts. "I'm Not Your Toy" was released in September, and follows La Roux's #1 UK single "Bulletproof" (check out the remix by
Dave Aude). La Roux has toured in support of Lily Allen, and was one of the headliners for the Samsung
NME Radar Tour 2009. The BBC Sound of 2009 poll ranked La Roux in the fifth position. I'm personally in love with Elly, and I foresee La Roux's popularity growing exponentially in 2010.
Erik Hassle is the second Swedish boy in this year's blog post who also currently resides in the UK. Like La Roux's Elly Jackson, Hassle is also only 21, and is considered to be a part of the wonky pop genre. Hassle's original desire was to be a professional footballer (soccer player), and attended the musical upper secondary school Rytmus in Stockholm. In 2008, he signed with Sweden's Roxy Recordings, which lead to an international contract with Island Records and Universal Republic. His most recent single, "Don't Bring Me Flowers" was released in August off his debut,
Hassle, and is touted by
The Guardian as a "hot new act."
Formed in 2004, Brooklyn-based Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino met while attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Their simplistic approach to indie pop, combined with their vivacious live performances in warehouses all over Brooklyn garnered quite a following. Gaining momentum through social networking sites like YouTube, Myspace, and Facebook led to performances in Lollapalooza and Pitchfork Music Festival. They released their sophomore effort,
Grand, last January and toured with Cut Copy in 2009. Their single "Daylight" was featured in a Bacardi commercial, as well as the second episode of NBC's
Community. The video for their more recent single "Lessons Learned" features the band streaking through Times Square, and most of the startled-looking tourists on the street were actors. The band had permits to be nude; however, they were indeed tackled by real police at the end of the video. The video earned them best Breakthrough Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
Ahhh, yes. Another Swede... Linda Carlsson (a.k.a. Miss Li) has been on the scene since 2006, and her single "Don't Try to Fool Me" has been featured in both
Weeds and
Grey's Anatomy. Her most recent release is her third (and most successful) studio album titled,
Dancing the Whole Way Home, and is her first to break the Swedish Albums Chart Top 10, peaking at #8 last April. Aided by the vocal talents of Swedish Idol 2007 runner-up Amanda Jenssen, her single, "Bourgeois Shangri-La" was recently featured in an advertisement for iPod Nano 5G, and is a catchy tune reminiscent of '60s garage pop.
Twenty-four-year-old Vincent Rebecca Frank is a solo wonky pop musician from the UK known professionally as Frankmusik. He was an attendee at both Central St. Martin's College of Design, as well as London College of Fashion before dropping out to pursue a career in music. In December of last year, he was included on BBC's Sound of 2009, and his full-length debut
Complete Me was released this past August. In addition, he's remixed artists like Pet Shop Boys, Lady Gaga, Alphabeat, Mika, Telepathe, and CSS, as well as covered the tracks "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse and "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service. His rise to fame in the UK is largely due to Gaydar Radio, who championed many tracks from his debut and, in return, Frankmusik performed many of them for the station during national student gay pride. His second single was A-listed on BBC's Radio 1, and his popularity was aided by his local radio station 107.8 Radio Jackie, The Sound of SW London. "Better Off As 2" captures his eccentric, yet pop infused '80s sound.
Making her first headlines in late 2006, 30-year-old British musician Natasha Khan (better known as Bat for Lashes) has become one of the most innovative female artists of the decade. Evoking great solo women from from the past (Kate Bush, Bj
örk, Tori Amos), Bat for Lashes has developed her own distinctive sound and style. Khan's music has a deep emotional vibe that seems to emanate beyond the physical world. A victim or racism in her teens, Khan rebelled and stayed at home from school immersing herself in music. After she completed her courses, she embarked on a road trip throughout the US and Mexico with her boyfriend, and upon returning to England, she settled in Brighton and enrolled in the University of Brighton to study both music and visual arts. She began writing material for her debut album,
Fur and Gold, which was released in September of 2006, and she received both a Mercury Prize, as well as several other prestigious awards. Solidifying her audience while receiving praise from the media, she released her sophomore effort,
Two Suns, last April which reached #5 on the UK Album Charts. Her most recent single, "Sleep Alone," has a very somber, melancholy, and '80s indie vibe. Khan confesses she's "always been an '80s girl," and grew up listening to The Cure, early Madonna and Prince, etc. Thom Yorke, MIA, Ringo Starr, and Bj
örk have all complimented her work.
Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson, one half of Swedish electronic duo The Knife (her brother Olof forms the other half), released her self-titled solo debut under the name Fever Ray earlier in the year. Noted for her distinctive vocal style (which combines deep shrillness, tone distortion, pitch-shifting, and her signature Swedish accent), Andersson continues to delve into the surreal avant-garde world she introduced while with The Knife. Andersson is also known for her theatrical performances including the use of masks, and has collaborated with other notable acts like R
öyksopp. The originality and innovation Andersson brings to experimental pop continue dazzle and delight her fans.
Unfortunately, I can't seem to find much information about Make The Girl Dance online without it being linked to the controversial video for "Baby Baby Baby." Anything beyond that is usually in French, and I can only decipher general meaning. Here's what I do know... They are a French electropop duo comprised of Greg Kozo and Pierre Mathieu, and they shot the video for "Baby Baby Baby" on the rue Montorgueil (a trendy street in the
2nd arrondissiment, which is part of the Ch
âtelet Les-Halles district of Paris), featuring vocals by French singer, Musubi. The video begins with a model stepping out of a car who strips naked, and proceeds to walk down the street in the mid-day Paris. The duo has cited to be fans of The Rapture. Phoenix, LCD Soundsystem, S
ébastien Tellier, etc. It has even been suggested that they may well be the next Justice. We'll see. However, a few weeks ago, I did notice that "Baby Baby Baby" has already been featured in an American commercial (though I can't remember the product). The song has been remixed by notable acts like Designer Drugs, but I think my favorite remix is by No Kiss with Gloss.
Noisettes are indie-pop band from London fronted by bassist and singer Shingai Shoniwa. The band formed in 2003 shortly after three members (including Shoniwa) attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon together. They quickly established a reputation for being one of the rowdiest acts in London. Interestingly, even though their live shows have been described as explosive, the music itself seems pretty tame. In fact, Shoniwa's vocals remind me of Skye Edwards from a similar act in the late '90s/early '00s called Morcheeba. They've toured with the likes of Bloc Party, TV on the Radio, Tom Vek, Mystery Jets, Muse, and even Lady GaGa. "Don't Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go)" peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Charts, and has been featured in several advertisements in both the US and the UK. They've even performed the track on
The Ellen Show. The single is from their sophomore effort,
Wild Young Hearts.
Florence Welch, a lovely 23-year-old redheaded singer from the UK, is the vocalist for the band Florence + The Machine. Her style seems to combine elements of both soul and indie, and Florence has an emotionally captivating voice. She hails from a creative background (her mother is a professor of Renaissance studies and former Studio54 regular, and Florence is also granddaughter to a satirist, as well as niece to a parodist). Welch's first experience with death was at age 10 when she watched her grandfather rapidly deteriorate, and then at 14 when her grandmother (also an art historian) committed suicide. Florence turned to music for solace, citing Velvet Undergound, Hole, Annie Lenox, Kate Bush, and Nirvana as influences. She was also diagnosed with both dyslexia and dysmetria, and says she is prone to "falling into severe holes" that sometimes leave her crying on the floor. Her debut album,
Lungs, was released in July, and Spin gave it four out of five stars saying, "You gotta hand it to the girl. She always makes you feel something." BBC promoted her in BBC Introducing (which is a brand for new music programs across the UK). Like "New in Town" by Little Boots, Florence + The Machine's debut track "Kiss with a Fist" was also featured on the soundtrack for
Jennifer's Body. The band has also provided support this past summer for two of some of my all-time favorite bands, Blur and Duran Duran. Her second single, "Drumming Song" won Q Awards Best Video Trophy for 2009.
Sliimy (pronounced to rhyme with Jimmy) is the stage name of French pop musician, Yanis Sahraoui, and is perhaps the "wonkiest" of the wonky pop genre to float across the Atlantic this past year. When I first viewed the video for "Waking Up," I thought I was watching a long-lost Prince video circa 1984. His album, Paint Your Face, was released earlier in the year, and reached #2 on the French pop charts. The 21-year-old is a self-professed anglophile obsessed with all facets of British culture, and even cites Britcoms Absolutely Fabulous and Little Britain among his favorite television programs. Refusing to sing in his mother tongue, Sliimy had in improbable rise to fame, but has ironically packed-out venues across France. His outlandish and colorful style combined with effeminate feel-good pop has cemented his own niche...perhaps his own genre...in the the pop-infused indie arena. Blogger Perez Hilton celebrated Sliimy's falsetto cover of Britney Spears' "Womanizer," which lead American stars like Kate Perry and Lady GaGa to tweet about him.
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