Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by RivetHeadCulture (talk | contribs) at 22:02, 19 April 2018 (...). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Dark wave or darkwave is a music genre that emerged in the late 1970s as a dark variant of new wave and post-punk music. Building on those musical foundations, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow.

In the 1980s, a subculture developed primarily in Europe alongside dark wave music, whose followers are called "wavers" or "dark wavers". In some countries such as Germany, the movement also includes fans of gothic rock (so-called "trad-goths").

History

Origins in Europe

1980s: Foundations

Since the 1980s, the term has been used in Europe to describe the gloomy and melancholy variant of new wave and post-punk music. At that time, the term "goth" was inseparably connected with gothic rock, whereas "dark wave" acquired a broader meaning, including music artists that were associated with gothic rock and synthesizer-based new wave music, such as Bauhaus, Joy Division, The Sisters of Mercy, Cocteau Twins, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Chameleons, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, and Anne Clark.

The term darkwave originated in the 1980s as an indicator of the dark counterpart of new wave. Bands such as Cocteau Twins, Soft Cell, and Depeche Mode are exponents of this first generation of darkwave. Darkwave ... employs relatively slower tempos, lower pitches, and more minor keys in its musical settings of melancholy texts than new wave.
     – Isabella van Elferen, Professor of Musicology,
Template:Nb10 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Kingston University, London

The movement spread internationally, developing such strands as French cold wave, with bands such as KaS Product, Asylum Party, Norma Loy, Clair Obscur, Opera Multi Steel, and Trisomie 21, and neoclassical dark wave, initiated by the music of Dead Can Dance and In the Nursery. In January 1989 guitarist Rémy Lozowski labelled the music of his cold wave band Excès Nocturne as New Wave Noire (= "dark new wave").

Simultaneously, different substyles associated with the new wave and dark wave movements started to merge and influence each other, e.g. synth-wave (a kind of new wave with synthesizers, also referred to as "electro-wave") with gothic rock, or began to borrow elements of post-industrial music. Attrition, Die Form (France), Pink Industry (UK), Psyche (Canada), Kirlian Camera (Italy), Clan of Xymox (Netherlands), Mittageisen and The Vyllies (Switzerland), performed this music in the 1980s.

German dark wave bands were mainly associated with the Neue Deutsche Welle, and included Xmal Deutschland, Mask For, Asmodi Bizarr, II. Invasion, Unlimited Systems, Moloko †, Maerchenbraut, Cyan Revue, Leningrad Sandwich, Stimmen der Stille, Belfegore, and Pink Turns Blue.

1990s: The 2nd Generation

After the new wave and post-punk movements faded in the mid-1980s, dark wave was renewed as an underground movement by German bands such as Girls Under Glass, Deine Lakaien, Love Is Colder Than Death, Love Like Blood, Diary of Dreams, and Wolfsheim, as well as early Project Pitchfork along with its offshoot Aurora Sutra. Ataraxia and The Frozen Autumn from Italy, and the French Corpus Delicti also evolved from this movement and became the leading artists of the west Romanesque scene. All of these bands followed a path based on the new wave and post-punk music of the 1980s.

In the 1990s, a second generation of darkwave bands became popular, including Diary of Dreams, Deine Lakaien, and The Frozen Autumn... The German band Deine Lakaien ... is audibly influenced by the dark synthesizer sounds of Depeche Mode.
     – Isabella van Elferen, Professor of Musicology,
Template:Nb10 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Kingston University, London

At the same time, a number of German artists, including Das Ich, Goethes Erben, Relatives Menschsein, and Endraum, developed a more theatrical style, interspersed with German poetic, metaphorical lyrics, called Neue Deutsche Todeskunst (literally New German Death Art). Other bands, such as Silke Bischoff, In My Rosary, Engelsstaub, and Impressions of Winter combined synthesizers with elements of neofolk and neoclassical dark wave.

United States

After 1993, in the United States the term dark wave (as the one-word variant 'darkwave') became associated with the Projekt Records label, because it was adopted by label founder Sam Rosenthal after leafing through the pages of German music magazines such as Zillo, and has been used to promote and market artists from German label Hyperium Records in the U.S., e.g. Chandeen and Love Is Colder Than Death.

I first became aware of the term "Dark Wave" back in 1992. It appeared in German magazines – such as Zillo – describing a style of European music that followed other "waves" such as New Wave... I found those two words ("dark" and "wave") quite interesting. This was something underground, submerged, obscure... which swept over you, immersed you, surrounded you. It was a poetic phrase that could describe many different sounds. At the time, I was looking for a name for my little mail-order company. I wanted something that would encompass the variety of music available in my catalog.
     – Sam Rosenthal, Projekt Records, 2000

Projekt features bands such as Lycia, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, and Love Spirals Downwards, some of these characterized by atmospheric guitar and synth-sounds and female vocals. This style took cues from 1980s bands like Cocteau Twins and is often referred to as ethereal dark wave. Projekt has also had a long association with Attrition, who appeared on the label's earliest compilations. Another American record label in this vein was Tess Records, which featured This Ascension, Faith and the Muse, and the reunited Clan of Xymox.

Joshua Gunn, a professor of communication studies at Louisiana University, described the U.S. type of dark wave music as

an expansion of the rather limited gothic repertoire into electronica and, in a way, the US answer to the 'ethereal' subgenre that developed in Europe (e.g. Dead Can Dance). Anchored by Sam Rosenthal's now New York-based label Projekt, dark wave music is less rock and more roll, supporting bands who tend to emphasize folk songcraft, hushed vocals, ambient experimentation, and synthesized sounds Projekt bands like Love Spirals Downwards and Lycia are the most popular of this subgenre.

Bibliography

• Farin, Klaus; Wallraff, Kirsten: Die Gothics. Bad Tölz: Verlag Thomas Tilsner, 1999, ISBN 9783933773098.
• Mercer, Mick. Hex Files: The Goth Bible. New York: The Overlook Press, 1997, ISBN 0-879-51783-2.
• Steinberg, Shirley; Parmar, Priya; Richard, Birgit: Contemporary Youth Culture. An International Encyclopedia. Volume II., Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, ISBN 0-313-33729-2.
• van Elferen, Isabella; Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew: Goth Music: From Sound to Subculture. Routledge Studies in Popular Music, 2015, ISBN 0-415-72004-4.
• Hecken, Thomas; Kleiner, Marcus: Handbuch Popkultur, J. B. Metzler Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-476-02677-4.

References

1. ^ Steinberg, Shirley R.; Parmar, Priya; Richard, Birgit (2005). Contemporary Youth Culture. An International Encyclopedia. Volume II. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 431. ISBN 0-313-33729-2.
   "The subculture of the Goths (in Germany called "Grufties") started in Britain in the early 1980s and derives from the gloomy, resigned side of punk and new wave, in the field of music called "dark wave" or "doom.""
2. Dumeier, Michael: Smalltalk & Concerts, The Mettmist music magazine, issue 1, 1984, p. 24
3. Schubert, Dieter: Was ist ein Perfect Beat?, My Way music magazine, issue 9, 1988, p. 20
4. ^ Ogiba, Jeff (11 July 2012). "A Brief History of Musical Waves from NEW to NEXT". Vice.
   "Dark Wave was another late-'70s off-shoot of New Wave. The genre contained the gloomiest of the groups, featuring with slower tempos, deeper vocals, and intense lyrical content. Some bands include The Danse Society, The Sisters of Mercy, and Bauhaus. The Dark Wavers still exist, and the popularity of the genre has seen a revival in recent years."
5. Webb, Peter: Exploring the Networked Worlds of Popular Music, Routledge Chapman & Hall, 2007, ISBN 0-415-95658-7, p. 60
6. ^ Farin, Klaus; Neubauer, Hendrik (2001). Artificial Tribes: Jugendliche Stammeskulturen in Deutschland (Orig.-Ausg. ed.). Bad Tölz: Tilsner. p. 139. ISBN 3-933773-11-3. OCLC 493304020.
7. ^ Hecken, Thomas; Kleiner, Marcus S. (2017). Handbuch Popkultur. J. B. Metzler Verlag. p. 79. ISBN 978-3-476-02677-4.
8. ^ Farin, Klaus; Wallraff, Kirsten; Archiv der Jugendkulturen e.V., Berlin (1999). Die Gothics : Interviews, Fotografien (Orig.-Ausg. ed.). Bad Tölz: Tilsner. ISBN 9783933773098.
9. Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias (2002). Die schwarze Musik-Szene in Deutschland (2., erg. Aufl. ed.). Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf. p. 217. ISBN 3-89602-332-2. OCLC 742385153.
10. Haumann, Melanie: Fetisch Weiblichkeit. Der Mythos der schönen Frau?, Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung, 2001, ISBN 3-897-00326-0, p. 2
    "Die Dark Waver, Waver – oder belächelnd auch "Grufties" genannt – sind eine Jugendkultur, die in den 80er Jahren aus der Punk-Bewegung entstanden ist."
11. Farin, Klaus: "Jugend, Gesellschaft und Recht im neuen Jahrtausend", Forum Verlag Godesberg, 2003, ISBN 3-930-98284-6, p. 66
12. Hodkinson, Paul: Goth. Identity, Style and Subculture, Bloomsbury Academic, 2002, ISBN 1-859-73605-X, p. 50
13. ^ SPEX. Musik zur Zeit: Classified Ad by German distribution company EFA – Spots 5/85, issue 5/85, p. 17, May 1985, online picture
14. Bobby Vox: Gorgonen, Hydras & Chimären – Interview with Marquee Moon, E.B. music magazine, issue 3/86, p. 18, May 1986
15. ^ New Life Soundmagazine, issue 38, description of the single "Love Will Tear Us Apart“ by Joy Division, p. 10, November 1988
16. Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, ISBN 3-531-14353-0, p. 261.
17. ^ Rouner, Jeff (20 January 2011). "The Seven Ages of Goth". Houston Press.
    "The term "darkwave" came from back in the 1980s, and was one of the terms used to describe the Golden Age bands, as well as dark electronica acts like Gary Numan and Depeche Mode."
18. Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 39, 2002, ISBN 3-89602-277-6
19. Peter Jandreus, The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977–1987, Stockholm: Premium Publishing, 2008, p. 11.
20. ^ Farin, Klaus; Weidenkaff, Ingo (1999). Jugendkulturen in Thüringen (Orig.-Ausg. ed.). Bad Tölz: Tilsner. p. 41. ISBN 3-933773-25-3. OCLC 651857996.
21. Isabella van Elferen: Nostalgia or Perversion?, p. 127, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, August 2007, ISBN 184718247X
22. ^ Isabella van Elferen, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock: Goth Music: From Sound to Subculture. Routledge Studies in Popular Music, 2015, ISBN 0-415-72004-4
23. Mercer, Mick (1988). Gothic Rock Black Book. : Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780711915466. OCLC 20596441.
24. SPEX. Musik zur Zeit: Classified Ad by German distribution company EFA, issue 12/88, p. 58, December 1988
25. ^ Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 400, 2003, ISBN 3-89602-522-8
26. Nym, Alexander: Schillerndes Dunkel. Geschichte, Entwicklung und Themen der Gothic-Szene, Plöttner Verlag 2010, ISBN 3-862-11006-0, p. 169
27. Illusions Perdues magazine: Interview with Excès Nocturne, issue 1, p. 18, January 1989
28. Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 222, 2003, ISBN 3-89602-522-8
29. "Composing noises". Sorted magAZine. 1999.
30. DeBord, Jason: Clan of Xymox at DNA Lounge, Rock Subculture Journal, March 21, 2015
    "A pioneer of Darkwave music, the mix of Synth Wave, Post-Punk, and Gothic Rock had its golden age in the '80s among contemporaries like Bauhaus, Joy Division, The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins, and Depeche Mode."
31. Donnacha DeLong (1999). "Sordid Reviews February 1999". Sorted magAZine.
32. ^ Kilpatrick, Nancy. The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004, ISBN 0-312-30696-2, p. 85.
33. Esch, Rüdiger: Electri_city, Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag, 3rd edition, 2015, ISBN 978-3-518-46464-9, p. 356
34. Oliver Sheppard: Pink Turns Blue – An interview with German darkwave pioneers. CVLT Nation magazine, 9 September 2016
35. "Deine Lakaien – "From new wave followers to dark wave icons" – interview at SIDE-LINE". Side-line.com. 7 July 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
36. Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 266, 2002, ISBN 3-89602-277-6
37. Glasnost Wave-Magazin, issue 23, Interview with the German music group Love Like Blood, p. 13, September 1990
38. Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 111, 2002, ISBN 3-89602-277-6
39. Stableford, Brian: News of the Black Feast and Other Random Reviews, Wildside Press 31 March 2009, ISBN 1-434-40336-X, p. 24
40. ^ Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 311, 2002, ISBN 3-89602-277-6
41. Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, ISBN 3-531-14353-0, p. 280/281.
42. Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 221, 2002, ISBN 3-89602-277-6
43. Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 219, 2002, ISBN 3-89602-277-6
44. Projekt:Darkwave, Catalogue November 1996
45. Various Artists: Darkwave: Music of the Shadows, K-Tel International Inc., Liner Notes, Februar 2000
46. Dave Thompson, Kirsten Borchardt: Schattenwelt – Helden und Legenden des Gothic Rock., Hannibal Verlag 2003, ISBN 3-85445-236-5, p. 362
47. Mercer, Mick. Music to die for. London: Cherry Red Books, 2009, ISBN 190144726X, p. 105
48. Glasnost Wave-Magazin, issue 42, Description of the bands Trance to the Sun, This Ascension, p. 32/34, April 1994
49. Various Artists: From Across this Gray Land, first appearance of Attrition on Projekt Records, 1986
50. Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 146, 2002, ISBN 3-89602-277-6
51. ^ Kilpatrick, Nancy. The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004, ISBN 0-312-30696-2, p. 90.
52. Issitt, Micah: Goths: A Guide to an American Subculture, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2011, ISBN 0-313-38604-8, p. 137

External links

[REDACTED] Media related to Dark Wave at Wikimedia Commons

• Dark wave
• New wave music
• Fusion music genres
• Goth subculture
• Music scenes