From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music
designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some
forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; but unlike
electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing.[1][2] The term was first used in the United States in the early 1990s with regards to post-rave global-influenced electronic dance music.[citation needed] Genres such as techno, drum and bass, downtempo, and ambient are among those encompassed by the umbrella term, entering the American mainstream from "alternative" or "underground" venues during the late 1990s.[2][3] Prior to the adoption of electronica for this purpose, terms such as electronic listening music, and intelligent dance music (IDM) were used.[citation needed] The All Music Guide
categorizes electronica as a top-level genre on their main page, where
they state that electronica includes "dozens of stylistic fusions"
ranging from danceable grooves to music for headphones and chillout
areas.[4]
After beginning as an underground genre in the early 1990s, electronica has grown to influence even mainstream crossover recordings. Elements of electronica are used today by many popular artists in mainstream music.[5][6]
Background
Electronica was made possible by advancements in music technology, especially electronic musical instruments, synthesizers, music sequencers, drum machines and digital audio workstations.[citation needed] Early forms of electronic music
required large amounts of complex equipment and multiple operators for
live performances, and multiple engineers to record the music at high
quality.[citation needed]
As the technology developed, it became possible for individuals or
smaller groups to produce electronic songs and recordings in smaller
studios, even in project studios. At the same time, computers facilitated the use of music "samples" and "loops" as construction kits for sonic compositions. [7] This led to a period of creative experimentation and the development of new forms, some of which became known as electronica. [8][5]
In the mid-1990s, electronica began to be used by MTV and major record labels to describe mainstream electronic dance music made by such artists as Orbital (who had previously been described as ambient) and The Prodigy.[citation needed]
It is currently used to describe a wide variety of musical acts and
styles, linked by a penchant for overtly electronic production; [9] a range which includes more popular acts such as Björk, Goldfrapp and Braindance artists such as Autechre, Aphex Twin, and Boards of Canada[3] to dub-oriented downtempo, downbeat, and trip-hop. Madonna and Björk are said to be responsible for electronica's thrust into mainstream culture, with their albums Ray of Light (Madonna),[6] Post and Homogenic
(Björk). Electronica artists that would later become commercially
successful began to record in this early 1990s period, before the term
had come into common usage, including for example Fatboy Slim, Fœtus, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, Moby, and Underworld. [10]
A focus on "songs", a fusion of styles and a combination of traditional
and electronic instruments often sets apart musicians working in
electronic-styles over more straight-ahead styles of house, techno and trance.[citation needed]
Electronica composers often create alternate versions of their
compositions, known as "remixes"; this practice also occurs in related
musical forms such as ambient, jungle, and electronic dance music. [11] Wide ranges of influences, both sonic and compositional, are combined in electronica recordings. [12]
The more abstract Autechre and Aphex Twin around this time were releasing early records in the "intelligent techno" or so-called intelligent dance music (IDM) style, while other Bristol-based musicians such as Tricky, Leftfield, Massive Attack and Portishead were experimenting with the fusion of electronic textures with hip-hop, R&B rhythms to form what became known as trip-hop. Later extensions to the trip hop aesthetic around 1997 came from the highly influential Vienna-based duo of Kruder & Dorfmeister, whose blunted, dubbed-out, slowed beats became the blueprint for the new style of downtempo. Roni Size, Goldie and Omni Trio commanded attention in the UK as exemplars of the drum and bass genre.[citation needed]
It could be noted that older bands such as New Order and Depeche
Mode had respectably fused "indie" music and pop music with dance and
electronic instrumentation many years before the mid 90's. These two
groups are very commonly cited as being hugely influencial to the first
generations of underground and later, alternative electronica artists.[citation needed]
Global influences
By the late 1990s, artists like Moby
had become internationally famous, releasing albums and performing
regularly in major venues. In the United States and other countries
like Australia, electronica (and the other attendant dance music genres) remained popular, although largely underground, while in Europe it had become one of the most dominant forms of popular music.[citation needed]
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Electronica's maturing sound
embraced multi-cultural influences both through the increasing
commercial availability of audio sample libraries of musical
instruments from around the globe, as well as cross-pollination with
DJs, performers and recording artists from many nations.[citation needed] New York City
became one center of experimentation and growth for the electronica
sound, with DJs and music producers from areas as diverse as Southeast
Asia and Brazil brought their creative work to the nightclubs of that
city. [13] [14]
The Norwegian dance duo Röyksopp reached unexpected stardom in 2001 when its debut album Melody AM became an international bestseller.By 2002 the style had a harder edge and in the UK tracks like “Loneliness” by Tomcraft
hit number One and the following year an electro dance scene emerged in
the UK. The release of albums like “New Wave Electro” on Orange Sync
Records and Electrotech Ministry of Sound introduced this style to the clubs with post punk beats, mono Synth breaks which became the formula for the current electro dance scene in the UK.[citation needed]
Effect on mainstream popular music
Around the mid-1990s, with the success of the big beat-sound exemplified by The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy in the UK, and spurred by the attention f
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