Electro music

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Electro is a genre of electronic music directly influenced by the use of TR-808^[1] and funk records.^[2][3] Records in the genre typically have electronic sounds and some vocals are delivered in a deadpan, mechanical manner, often through a vocoder or other electronic distortion.

[edit] Definition and characteristics

Electro is an artistic musical form in the wide world of electronic music culture. With few exceptions, the definition of the electro sound is the use of drum machines as the rhythmic base of a track. Rhythm patterns tend to be electronic emulations of breakbeats, with syncopated kick drums, and usually a snare or clap accenting the downbeat.

Staccato, percussive rhythms dominate electro, with beats often provided by the Roland TR-808 drum machine. The TR-808, created in 1980, has an immediately recognizable sound, and remains popular in electro and other genres to the present day. Other electro instrumentation is generally all-electronic, favoring analog synthesis, funk-style bass lines, sequenced or arpeggiated synthetic riffs, and atonal sound effects all created with synthesizers. Heavy use of effects such as reverbs, delays, chorus or phasers along with synthetic ensemble strings or pad sounds emphasize the common science fiction or futuristic theme of the lyrics and/or music. Most electro is instrumental, but a common element is vocals processed through a vocoder. Additionally, speech synthesis may be used to create robotic or mechanical lyrical content. Some earlier electro features rapping, but that lyrical style has become less popular in the genre from the 1990s onward.

[edit] History

Bronx, NY based electro funk artist Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982) is one of the first electro records, using elements of Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express and "Numbers" (from Kraftwerk's Computer World album).^[4]

In 1983, Hashim (Jerry Calliste Jr) who created the influential electro funk tune "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" which became Cutting Record's first release in November of 1983^[5]." At the time Hashim was influenced by Man Parrish's "Hip Hop Be Bop", Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" and Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" ^[6].

Bambaataa and groups like Planet Patrol, Jonzun Crew, Mantronix, Newcleus and Juan Atkins' Detroit-based group Cybotron went on to influence the genres of Detroit techno, ghettotech, breakbeat, drum and bass and electroclash. Early producers in the electro genre (notably Arthur Baker, John Robie, Shep Pettibone, and the Latin Rascals) featured prominently in the Latin Freestyle (or simply "Freestyle") movement of the early and mid-1980s. Baker and Pettibone enjoyed robust careers well into the house era, and both eluded the "genre trap" to successfully produce mainstream artists.^[7]

[edit] Contemporary electro

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Although the early 1980s were electro's heyday in the mainstream, it enjoyed renewed popularity in the late 1990s with artists such as Drexciya, Anthony Rother, DMX Krew, Mr Velcro Fastener and Dopplereffekt and DJs such as Dave Clarke. The continued interest in electro, though influenced to a great degree by Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles and New York styles, has primarily taken hold in Europe with electro club nights becoming commonplace again. The scene still manages to support hundreds of electro labels, from the disco electro of Clone Records, to the b-boy style of Breakin’ Records, and the electrofunk of Citinite.

A new branch of electro, Skweee, has risen over the last couple of years from Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Finland, hence its first name "Scandinavian Funk". The outlets and artists of Skweee are still mostly limited to Scandinavia.

[edit] Music sample

Planet Rock (sample)

Short sample of "Planet Rock", originally released in 1982 by Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force.

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[edit] Artists

[edit] References

AUX 88

[edit] External links

• 100 Greatest Electro Songs
• Electro Funk: What Did It All Mean?
• Rap meets Techno, with a short history of Electro

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