Folktronica or electrofolk is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 and electronica

Electronica

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; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

, often featuring samplings of acoustic instruments—especially stringed instruments—and incorporating hip hop rhythms. Typically, computers are used during the recording process.

History

Folktronica was coined by music writer Jim Byers on the now-defunct website BurnitBlue.com, during the proliferation of labels like Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

's Twisted Nerve

Twisted Nerve Records

Twisted Nerve Records is a Manchester, England-based record label. It is most well known for being the home of the singer-songwriter Badly Drawn Boy, who co-founded the label with Andy Votel.-Musical artists:...

, responsible for the emergence of Badly Drawn Boy

Badly Drawn Boy

Damon Gough is an English alternative music singer/songwriter. He was born on 2 October 1969, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Lancashire, England....

, but with its origins in electronica. It was later used when describing the music coming from Kieran Hebden and his Four Tet project in 2001. In 2001, postmodern

Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...

 pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 artist Momus released an album titled Folktronic deliberately exploring (and satirizing) the fusion. A similar genre is "Laptop folk", which refers to a slightly more minimalistic electronic folk.

Definitive recordings in the genre include Pause

Pause (album)

-External links:* from the Domino Records website...

by Four Tet

Four Tet

Kieran Hebden is a post-rock and electronic musician. Hebden first came to prominence as a member of the band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist under the moniker of Four Tet....

, Mother's Daughter and Other Songs

Mother's Daughter and Other Songs

Mother's Daughter and Other Songs is an album by Tunng, released in 2005. The track "Tale From Black" featured at number 37 in the 2004 Festive Fifty.-Track listing:#"Mother's Daughter" – 3:24#"People Folk" – 4:09#"Out the Window With the Window" – 3:20...

by Tunng

Tunng

Tunng are an experimental folk band from the United Kingdom.The band is often associated with the folktronica genre due to the electronic influences evident in some of their work.-Biography:...

, and The Milk of Human Kindness

The Milk of Human Kindness

The Milk of Human Kindness is a 2005 album by Caribou. Caribou is the performing name of Dan Snaith who was previously known as Manitoba until he was forced to change it after a threat of a lawsuit by American punk musician Handsome Dick Manitoba of The Dictators.While the title is a quote from...

by Caribou

Caribou (musician)

Daniel Victor Snaith is a composer, musician and recording artist under stage names Caribou, Manitoba and Daphni. Under the supervision of Kevin Buzzard, he obtained a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College London.- Career:...

.

Folktronica musicians

• Arab Strap
  Arab Strap (band)
  Arab Strap were an indie rock band from Scotland that consisted of core members Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, and split in 2006...
  
  
• The Album Leaf
  The Album Leaf
  The Album Leaf is an American solo musical project founded in San Diego, California in 1998 by Jimmy LaValle. He is known for his use of electronics, synthesizer and Rhodes piano...
  
  
• Adem
• Alexis Taylor
  Hot Chip
  Hot Chip are an English electronic indie band. They have released four studio albums—Coming on Strong, The Warning, Made in the Dark and One Life Stand.-Formation:...
  
  
• Andrew Bird
  Andrew Bird
  Andrew Bird is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.- Early life and the Bowl of Fire :...
  
  
• Animal Collective
  Animal Collective
  Animal Collective is an experimental psychedelic band originally from Baltimore, Maryland, currently based in New York City. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare , Panda Bear , Deakin , and Geologist...
  
  
• Anomie Belle
  Anomie Belle
  Anomie Belle is an American musician and activist. Originally a classical violinist and songwriter from Portland, Anomie began performing and recording her own music as a child. She has since worked as a musician and producer in Madrid, Glasgow, Amsterdam, New York, Buenos Aires, and London...
  
  
• Banjo Consorsium
• Bat For Lashes
  Bat for Lashes
  Natasha Khan , also known by her stage name Bat for Lashes, is an English musician. She sings and plays the piano, bass, guitar, harpsichord and the autoharp....
  
  
• Benoît Pioulard
  Benoit Pioulard
  Thomas Meluch is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and photographer, best known by his pseudonym Benoît Pioulard.- Biography :...
  
  
• The Beta Band
  The Beta Band
  The Beta Band were a British musical group who received much critical acclaim and achieved cult status amongst avid followers of the underground and experimental music scene...
  
  
• Beth Orton
  Beth Orton
  Beth Orton is a BRIT Award–winning English singer-songwriter, known for her 'folktronica' sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit and the Chemical Brothers in the mid 1990s. However, these were not Orton's first...
  
  
• Bibio
  Bibio
  Stephen Wilkinson, better known as Bibio, is a British music producer. His music is primarily electronic and experimental in nature. He currently releases music on the Warp Records label, and previously on Mush Records.-Biographical information:...
  
  
• The Books
  The Books
  The Books are an American duo, formed in New York City in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. Their releases typically incorporate samples of obscure sounds and speech...
  
  
• Capitol K
  Capitol K
  Capitol K is the name under which Kristian Craig Robinson works as a musician combining electronica, found sounds and indie-pop. Born in Malta and raised in Dubai, Brunei and England, and now based in London, Capitol K is best known for the single Pillow which scraped into the top 100 UK Singles...
  
  
• Canon Blue
  Canon Blue
  Canon Blue is an indie/electronic/folktronica band consisting of Nashvillian Daniel James and other musicians. On October 6, 2011, NPR world cafe called the band "up and coming"...
  
  
• Caribou (AKA Manitoba)
  Caribou (musician)
  Daniel Victor Snaith is a composer, musician and recording artist under stage names Caribou, Manitoba and Daphni. Under the supervision of Kevin Buzzard, he obtained a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College London.- Career:...
  
  
• Clue to Kalo
  Clue to Kalo
  Clue to Kalo is a Folktronica band from Adelaide, South Australia, featuring Mark Mitchell and a revolving cast of supporting musicians. Clue To Kalo’s initial commercial success came in the US through LA-based Mush Records....
  
  
• CocoRosie
  CocoRosie
  CocoRosie is a musical group formed in 2003 by sisters Bianca "Coco" and Sierra "Rosie" Casady. The sisters were born and raised in the United States, but formed the band in Paris after meeting for the first time in years...
  
  
• Colleen
• Dan Deacon
  Dan Deacon
  Dan Deacon is an American composer and electronic musician based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2003, Deacon has released eight albums under several different labels...
  
  
• David Kitt
  David Kitt
  David Kitt is an Irish musician. He is the son of Irish politician Tom Kitt.He has released six studio albums to date: Small Moments, The Big Romance, Square 1, The Black and Red Notebook, Not Fade Away and The Nightsaver.-History:Kitt grew up surrounded by music, as his father and uncles formed a...
  
  
• Department of Eagles
  Department of Eagles
  Department of Eagles is a band formed in 2000 by friends and New York University roommates Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus...
  
  
• Detektivbyrån
  Detektivbyrån
  Detektivbyrån was a Swedish electronica and folk music trio from Gothenburg. The group consisted of Anders "Flanders" Molin , Martin "MacGyver" Molin and Jon Nils Emanuel Ekström drums, sound box, small bells.The three members grew up in the city of Karlstad, Sweden, located in Värmland...
  
  
• Dot Allison
  Dot Allison
  Dot Allison is a Scottish singer and songwriter, who has made significant inroads in electronic music circles, most notably as a result of her tenure fronting the band One Dove in the early 1990s...
  
  
• Electric President
  Electric President
  Electric President is a Jacksonville, Florida musical duo started in 2003 by Ben Cooper and Alex Kane. Both were in Helicopter Project prior to its breakup though no music from this group was ever released. Afterwards the pair decided to continue to make music together. They subsequently completed...
  
  
• Ellie Goulding
  Ellie Goulding
  Elena Jane "Ellie" Goulding is an English singer-songwriter. In 2010 she became only the second artist to both top the BBC's annual Sound of... poll, and win the Critics' Choice Award at the BRIT Awards in the same year, following Adele's win of both in 2008...
  
  
• Emily Wells
  Emily Wells
  Emily Wells is a violinist whose style "merge[s] ... hip-hop and classical". She also uses many other instruments in her work, including glockenspiels, analog synthesizers, and even toy pianos and other toy instruments. In live performances, she does not use any pre-recorded loops, rather she...
  
  
• Empire of the Sun (band)
  Empire of the Sun (band)
  Empire of the Sun is an Australian electronic music duo that formed in 2008. The duo is composed of Luke Steele of The Sleepy Jackson and Nick Littlemore of Pnau. The two met in 2000 after both being signed to the same record label. Luke and Nick knew that they instantly had a chemistry like no other...
  
  
• Everything but the Girl
  Everything but the Girl
  Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...
  
  
• Final Fantasy
  Owen Pallett
  Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Toronto, Ontario. He won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds....
  
  
• Four Tet
  Four Tet
  Kieran Hebden is a post-rock and electronic musician. Hebden first came to prominence as a member of the band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist under the moniker of Four Tet....
  
  
• Freelance Whales
  Freelance Whales
  Freelance Whales is an American indie rock band from Queens, New York, formed in 2008. Consisting of frontman Judah Dadone , and bandmates Doris Cellar , Chuck Criss , Jacob Hyman...
  
  

• Fridge
  Fridge (band)
  Fridge are an English post-rock band, comprising school friends Kieran Hebden, Adem Ilhan, and Sam Jeffers. Initially Hebden played guitar, Ilhan bass, and Jeffers drums, but Hebden and Ilhan soon adopted a variety of other instruments, and by 1999's Eph the sampler was playing an increasingly...
  
  
• Gepe
  Gepe
  Daniel Riveros , known as Gepe, is a Chilean singer-songwriter. He has released three solo albums in addition to one album as a member of the band Taller Dejao...
  
  
• Gilbert
  Gilbert (band)
  Gilbert is the performance name of Matthew Gilbert Linley, a London-based composer and musician. He is also the drummer in Engineers with Ulrich Schnauss.-Biography:Linley grew up in south-east London, England....
  
  
• Goldfrapp
  Goldfrapp
  Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo, formed in 1999 in London, England, that consists of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory ....
  
  
• Gold Panda
  Gold Panda
  Gold Panda is a musical composer, performer and producer from the United Kingdom.He was born in Peckham, London, in 1980 and hails from Chelmsford, Essex. He lived in Japan and studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies at University of London...
  
  
• Gravenhurst
  Gravenhurst (band)
  Gravenhurst is a vehicle for the music of the singer-songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist, Nick Talbot, who lives in Bristol, England and is signed to Warp Records.-History:...
  
  
• The Green Hills of Earth
  The Green Hills of Earth
  "The Green Hills of Earth" is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein, and the title of a song, "The Green Hills of Earth", mentioned in several of his novels...
  
  
• Greg Davis
  Greg Davis (musician)
  Greg Davis is an American electronic musician who has recorded albums drawing from a wide variety of sources, including guitar, field recording, various world / ethnic / traditional instruments, percussion, and voice, all delicately processed through digital manipulation...
  
  
• The High Llamas
  The High Llamas
  The High Llamas are a London-based musical group, formed by the Irish guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Hagan after the demise of his group Microdisney. O'Hagan writes and arranges the music and the rest of the group consists of drummer Rob Allum, keyboardist/cellist Marcus Holdaway, and...
  
  
• High Places
  High Places
  High Places is a band originating from Brooklyn, NY, recently relocated to Los Angeles, CA. The band is a duo comprising multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber and vocalist Mary Pearson.-History:...
  
  

* Himstregims

• Imogen Heap
  Imogen Heap
  Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, composer and songwriter from Havering, Essex. She is known for her work as part of the musical duo Frou Frou and her solo albums, which she writes, produces, and mixes...
  
  
• Inch Chua
  Inch chua
  Inch Chua Yun Juan is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist. She gained national recognition after being the first Singapore solo artist to be invited to the prestigious South by Southwest Music Festival. She has since gained visibility with the release of...
  
  
• It's Jo and Danny
  It's Jo and Danny
  It's Jo and Danny is the brainchild of Jo Bartlett and Danny Hagan. In 2000 they released their debut album Lank Haired Girl to Bearded Boy on their own Double Snazzy label. Rave reviews and daytime UK national radio play on BBC Radio 1 led to a worldwide recording contract with RCA...
  
  
• J Xaverre
  J Xaverre
  __FORCETOC__J Xaverre is a Laptop folk band from Sunderland in the North-East of England. To all practical intents and purposes a solo effort from Pete Gofton, he has occasionally been joined by Lea Doherty on vocals and the King of Woolworths member Jon Brooks on keyboards &...
  
  
• Jakokoyak
  Jakokoyak
  Jakokoyak is a Welsh musician who produces lo-fi experimental electronic music, with leanings towards psychedelic folk, sometimes classified as folktronica....
  
  
• Jeremy Warmsley
  Jeremy Warmsley
  Jeremy Warmsley is a West London based singer-songwriter signed to Transgressive Records.-Biography:His musical style displays an electronica influenced approach to melodic pop songwriting, first heard on debut single 'I Believe In The Way You Move' , and further developed on his 'The Art Of...
  
  
• Josh Doyle
  Josh Doyle
  Josh Doyle is a British-American songwriter and musician who was the lead singer and guitarist for British punk-pop band Dum Dums. He disappeared after the break-up of Dum Dums in 2001, the band having released one album...
  
  
• Juana Molina
  Juana Molina
  Juana Molina is a singer-songwriter and an actress.-Biography:Following the 1976 Argentine coup d'état, her mother fled the country and lived in exile in Paris for five years...
  
  
• Kaki King
  Kaki King
  Kaki King is an American guitarist and composer. King is known for her percussive and jazz-tinged melodies, energetic live shows, use of multiple tunings on acoustic and lap steel guitar, and her diverse range in different genres.In February 2006, Rolling Stone released a list of "The New Guitar...
  
  
• Ochre
  Ochre (musician)
  Ochre is the stage name of English electronic musician Christopher Leary. The name "Ochre" was originally adopted as the title for Leary's academic work while studying audio production at Newcastle College, as a variation of "Oaker", being the name of a street in Manchester where Leary spent his...
  
  
• Koushik
  Koushik
  Koushik Ghosh is a Canadian electronic musician from Dundas, Ontario. Koushik is signed to Stones Throw Records and has released a collection of singles and EPs from 2001–2005 on that label, Be With , and the debut full length, Out my Window...
  
  
• Laki Mera
  Laki Mera
  -History:Formed in 2004 as a recording project by Andrea Gobbi and Laura Donnelly , Laki Mera took their name from the Chimaera of Greek mythology...
  
  
• Scott Lanaway
  Scott Lanaway
  - Scott Lanaway is a music artist from Toronto, Canada. :His most recent release was Mergers & Acquisitions , a follow-up to Answering Machine Diaries . His musical style has been described as electrofolk - a combination of acoustic instruments and electronic soundscapes...
  
  
• Little Glitches
  Little Glitches
  Little Glitches are a four piece folk/indie band from Sheffield, UK. The band formed in 2004 after collaborating and writing together in previous bands. The band consists of Andrew Bolam , Gavin Harris , Iain Stewart , and Sam Smith...
  
  
• Leafcutter John
  Leafcutter John
  Leafcutter John is the recording name of John Burton, a UK-based musician and artist. He makes frequent use of Max/MSP in his compositions. Much of Burton's style is based in computer music and use of samples of everyday sounds. However, he also has roots as a folk musician, and this influence...
  
  
• Little Dragon
  Little Dragon
  Little Dragon are a Swedish electronic band, formed in Gothenburg in 1996. It consists of Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano and her close high school friends Erik Bodin , Fredrik Källgren Wallin and Håkan Wirenstrand .Little Dragon's first release was the double A-side 7" single...
  
  
• Lob Zany N
• Lucky Dragons
  Lucky Dragons
  Lucky Dragons is an experimental music group consisting of Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara. Based in Los Angeles, California, the band are noted for their unusual sound, described as having the ability to make "'everyday sounds' become alluringly other"....
  
  
• Matmos
  Matmos
  Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore signed to the Matador Records label. M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances, including...
  
  
• Melodium
• Múm
  Múm
  múm are an experimental Icelandic musical group whose music is characterized by soft vocals, electronic glitch beats and effects, and a variety of traditional and unconventional instruments.- History :...
  
  
• Minotaur Shock
  Minotaur Shock
  Minotaur Shock is the nom de plume of David Edwards, a Bristol-based electronica musician. His 2005 album Maritime was his first album released through 4AD Records, having previously released work via Manchester based Melodic....
  
  

• Shugo Tokumaru
  Shugo Tokumaru
  is a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who debuted in May 2004 in America with his album Night Piece. He creates every aspect of his music, including the lyrics, music, arrangements, recording and mixing. He is known for the variety of instruments he uses in his music, using...
  
  
• Talkdemonic
  Talkdemonic
  Talkdemonic is an avant-instrumental duo based in Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Kevin O'Connor and Lisa Molinaro. Talkdemonic recently signed with Isaac Brock's Glacial Pace Recordings to release their fourth record in Fall 2011.- History :...
  
  
• The Notwist
  The Notwist
  The Notwist are a German indie rock band. Formed in 1989, the band moved through several musical incarnations despite maintaining a relatively stable lineup...
  
  
• Nobukazu Takemura
  Nobukazu Takemura
  Nobukazu Takemura is a Japanese musician whose style has run from jazz to house to drum and bass to chamber music to electronic glitch within less than a decade. Born in Hirakata, Osaka in August 1968, he became interested in punk and New Wave music when young...
  
  
• William Harper
• Paavoharju
  Paavoharju
  Paavoharju is a Finnish musical collective of ascetic Christians formed around two brothers, Lauri and Olli Ainala. They came to attention in 2005 when their debut album was highlighted as "Album of the Week" by popular publication Stylus Magazine....
  
  
• Owen Pallett
  Owen Pallett
  Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Toronto, Ontario. He won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds....
  
  
• The Prize Fighter Inferno
  The Prize Fighter Inferno
  The Prize Fighter Inferno is an acoustic/electronica solo project of Claudio Sanchez, the lead singer and lead/rhythm guitarist for the band Coheed and Cambria. The first album, called My Brother's Blood Machine was released on October 31, 2006 through indie label Equal Vision Records...
  
  
• Psapp
  Psapp
  Psapp is an experimental electronica band. The band, a duo consisting of members Carim Clasmann and Galia Durant, are sometimes credited with inventing a musical style known as toytronica, a form of electronica made with toys and toy instruments...
  
  
• Radical Face
  Radical Face
  Radical Face is a musical act consisting of Ben Cooper , a resident of Jacksonville, Florida, who also makes up one-half of Electric President and Iron Orchestra and one third of Mother's Basement...
  
  
• Silje Nes
  Silje Nes
  Silje Nes is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist / singer / songwriter. She released her first album, Ames Room, in December 2007. She is currently signed to Fat Cat Records....
  
  
• Sorten Muld
  Sorten Muld
  Sorten Muld is a Danish folktronica band, formed in 1995. They have won two Danish Grammys for Mark II. The English translation of Sorten Muld is Black Soil....
  
  
• St. Vincent
• State Shirt
  State Shirt
  State Shirt is Ethan Tufts, an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Easthampton, Massachusetts. He is known for his hand-crafted, diverse and often unpredictable indietronic style, integrating live looping in both his recordings and live performances...
  
  
• Sufjan Stevens
  Sufjan Stevens
  Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...
  
  
• Yann Tiersen
  Yann Tiersen
  Yann Tiersen is a musician from France. His musical career is split between studio albums, collaborations and film soundtracks with a distinctive sound that is always involved...
  
  
• Tunng
  Tunng
  Tunng are an experimental folk band from the United Kingdom.The band is often associated with the folktronica genre due to the electronic influences evident in some of their work.-Biography:...
  
  
• Richard Youngs
  Richard Youngs
  Richard Youngs is a British musician with a prolific and diverse output, including many collaborations. Based in Glasgow since the early 1990s, his extensive back catalogue of solo and collaborative work formally begins with Advent, first issued in 1990...
  
  
• Whitey
  Whitey (musician)
  -Career:In 2004, he released an album named The Light at the End of the Tunnel is a Train. The album predated the electro rock movement by several years, and was greeted at the time as a critical triumph, going on to make numerous Best Of Year lists worldwide....
  
  
• Patrick Wolf
  Patrick Wolf
  Patrick Wolf is an English-Irish singer-songwriter from South London. Patrick utilises a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano and viola...
  
  
• James Yuill
  James Yuill
  James Yuill is an English folktronica musician from London, currently signed to the Moshi Moshi record label.-Biography:Yuill released his first album, The Vanilla Disc, on his own Happy Biscuit Club label in 2005...
  
  
• Valravn
  Valravn
  In Danish folklore, a valravn is a supernatural raven. The ravens appear in traditional Danish folksongs, where they are described as originating from ravens who consume the bodies of the dead on the battlefield, as capable of turning into the form of a knight after consuming the heart of a child,...
  
  
• William Fitzsimmons
  William Fitzsimmons (musician)
  William Fitzsimmons is an American singer-songwriter, based in Illinois, perhaps best known for his songs "Passion Play" and "Please Don't Go", which aired during pivotal scenes in ABC's medical drama Grey's Anatomy...
  
  
• The Weeknd
  The Weeknd
  Abel Tesfaye , better known by his stage name The Weeknd is an Ethiopian Canadian singer. Songs recorded under The Weeknd name first leaked in late 2010, though the identity of the individual behind the project was initially unknown.The Weeknd released a nine-song mixtape, House of Balloons, on...