Electro..its all so confusing...

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I`ve read a few of the electroclash threads and have a few questions about "electro"... Perhap these are elementary but anyway...what is electro? How would you define it? Does it require analogue synth sounds? A certain rhythm pattern? A certain sequencer pattern? If it doesn`t then how does it differ from techno or tech-house? Is techno more fluid? It confuses me when ppl like Drexciya are described as electro, as I`ve never thought of him as such. And while I`m sure that I can recognise electro when I hear it, I don`t think I could describe it without referring to certain records. And please lets have no mention of Miss Kittin..

― mazzy, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It's an elephant powered by a modem.

― cuba libre (nathalie), Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It's all about The Egyptian Lover. Can I hear some love for The Egyptian Lover?

(everything, of course, is all about tha egyptian lovah)

― Keiko, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Egyptian Lover!!!!!

Still can't find a store that will buy back those cds from me (and I have three of them).

But don't get me wrong - that shit is weird and funny, definitely "electro" is a good way to describe it. I don't need three cds of it though. One song is enough.

― Shaky Mo Collier, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Could I mention Miss Kittin at this point?

Um, more seriously mazzy, I think part of the answer is the drum machine sound and the sequencers used. But there's probably more to it than that. Hey, it's all pop music to me anyway.

― Jeff W (genrephobe and proud), Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Techno is more fluid I think yes. I haven't heard much Drexciya but would I be correct in saying they're minimal techno? In which case I could imagine the comparisons since lots of "electro" seems to be just stripped down techno to me. The droning relentless feel that makes techno so good (for me anyway) seems to still be there.

― Ronan, Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't think Drexciya are minimal at all. For the most part, I'd say they fall between Cybotron ("Cosmic Cars," "Alleys of Your Mind," "Clear") and UR ("Afrogermanic," "Sex in Zero Gravity"). Some of the earlier singles/EPs are quite harsh. They've gotten increasingly 'pretty' as they've gone along.

― Andy K, Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

When I think of electro I think of early hip-hop breakdance music, stuff like Mantronix, Cybotron, Egyptian Lover -- cheap drum machines influenced by Kraftwerk that aren't quite funky, some crude synth sequences, a vocoder hook. Never the 4/4 beat of techno or house, electro usually has a pause somewhere in the bass hit to attempt funkiness (Grandmaster Flash "Scorpio").

We talked about this somewhere else, but I only have the most recent Drexciya and I wouldn't really call it electro. That seems more techno to me, w/ the drums being much more subdued and the mix so subtle. Electro always strove for the big sound pumping out of LL Cool J-style radio.

― Mark, Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I haven't put a great deal of thought into this messy and possibly faulty way of tying all of it together, so bear with me. You can look at the original electro acts as the first wave of electro, and then you can look at the mid-'90s resurgence (Drexciya, I-F, etc) as the second wave. What's going on now could be called the third wave of electro, although it might make more sense to call it the new wave of electro since most of the acts in question are referencing synth-pop/new wave as much as electro, if not more so.

As far as the use of the word 'electro' is considered, there's a pretty big stylistic gap between the origin and the current er scene, but it's hardly gone through the metamorphosis/bastardization/evolution/whatever you want to call it that industrial (or blues) has.

― Andy K, Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Techno has bass hits on each beat, usually with a hi-hat doing 8th notes, alternating between closed and open: "ts-tssss-ts-tssss-ts- tssss-ts-tssss". Electro is more syncopated; there is usually an extra bass hit or two (or three...) on an upbeat, even if there is still a hit every downbeat. Also, the hi-hat usually has more "activity": "ts-tssss-ts-tssss-t-t-t-tssss-ts-tssss" or something. Sorry to have to describe it so oddly, but listen to, say, a Jeff Mills track followed by a Drexciya track and you'll see what I mean.

― Clarke B., Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

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