Minimal Wave
Encyclopedia
Minimal Wave is a contentiously named genre
of electronic music
which focuses on electronic, pre-MIDI (1982, but not pre-sequencer) instrumentation and themes of sincere, rather than ironic, detachment. It comprises obscure, atypical examples of genres such as New Wave
, so-called "minimal" electronic or synthesizer music, Synthpunk
, Synthpop
, Post-punk
, Coldwave
, Electroclash
and Electropop. Although much Minimal Wave music was created in the late 1970s and early 1980s and subsequently appeared on bootleg and one-off compilations, the genre didn't have a name until a record label
of the same name began releasing compilations and reissues in the mid-2000s.
Musicians in the genre were often influenced by avant-garde
movements such as futurism
and constructivism
, and by the literature of science fiction
and existentialism
.
The music and its original releases generally has a D.I.Y. aesthetic; in the genre's original production era, most artists recorded in their home studios and released music in small quantities, on cassette
or vinyl, with artwork they created themselves.
(particularly the UK
) and the US, where the machines used to create this type of music were readily available.
The fanzine
CLEM (Contact List Of Electronic Musicians) helped create a worldwide community of musicians in the genre, prior to the use of the Internet. Many of the musicians in the genre collaborated via mail.
based independent record label
founded by Veronica Vasicka
in 2005. The label was launched "to create a network for synth wave enthusiasts and promote 80s electronic music via an online archive and vinyl releases. The label specializes in high quality vinyl pressings of minimal synth and new wave artists from all over the world."
Vasicka also curates Minimal Wave, a weekly Internet radio show broadcast on East Village Radio
, for which she was the original director of programming
. The weekly show was founded as Minimal-Electronik Plus, and was later renamed. Through vanity Web searches, artists discovered that selections from their cassette-only releases had been played on the show. Vasicka invited them to send her more music, and this led to the creation of the Minimal Wave label, as well as the sublabel Cititrax for newer material and house music
.
One author, reviewing one of the label's compilations, wrote "Minimal Wave as a synecdoche of a broader scene has been a term of contention for many. The phrase stems from Veronica Vasicka’s restoration project/record label of the same name, but has become something of a stand-in for the entire spectrum of music Vasicka championed."
Vasicka acknowledges the music is also included in other genres; in a 2009 publicity piece for the same compilation, she wrote "The Minimal Wave genre actually formed only several years ago, as a result of a resurgence of interest in the roots of pre-MIDI electronic New Wave (1978-1985), mainly from North America, Europe and Japan. This music is sometimes referred to as Minimal Electronic, Minimal Synth, Cold Wave, New Wave, Techno pop, or Synthpop, depending on the particular style, year, and location of the band."
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
of electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
which focuses on electronic, pre-MIDI (1982, but not pre-sequencer) instrumentation and themes of sincere, rather than ironic, detachment. It comprises obscure, atypical examples of genres such as New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, so-called "minimal" electronic or synthesizer music, Synthpunk
Synthpunk
Synthpunk is a music genre combining elements of electronic music and punk rock. The term was coined by Damian Ramsey in 1999 as an attempt to retroactively identify a small sub-genre of punk music from 1977 to 1984 that involved musicians playing synthesizers in place of electric...
, Synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
, Post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
, Coldwave
Coldwave
Coldwave, also written as Cold Wave, is the French variant of Dark Wave, gothic rock and post-punk music, primarily spread in France, South Belgium and Romandy.- History :...
, Electroclash
Electroclash
Electroclash is a style of music that fuses New Wave and electronic dance music. It emerged in New York and Detroit in the later 1990s, pioneered by acts including I-F and those associated with Gerald Donald, and is associated with acts including Peaches, Adult, and Fischerspooner...
and Electropop. Although much Minimal Wave music was created in the late 1970s and early 1980s and subsequently appeared on bootleg and one-off compilations, the genre didn't have a name until a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
of the same name began releasing compilations and reissues in the mid-2000s.
Characteristics
The genre's hallmarks include minimal musical structures, relatively unpolished production, and the use of analog synthesizers and drum machines manufactured in the 1970s and 1980s. The instrumental arrangements featured "mechanical beats" and "short repetitive patterns," plus "noticeably synthesized drum programming and trebly, thin melodies" which emphasized the artificiality of synthesized sound. Vocal arrangements "acted as a counterpoint to that artificiality."Musicians in the genre were often influenced by avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
movements such as futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
and constructivism
Constructivism
Constructivism may refer to:* Constructivist epistemology, the philosophical view* Constructivism in international relations* Constructivism , a philosophical view on mathematical proofs and existence of mathematical objects...
, and by the literature of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
.
The music and its original releases generally has a D.I.Y. aesthetic; in the genre's original production era, most artists recorded in their home studios and released music in small quantities, on cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
or vinyl, with artwork they created themselves.
Geographic reach
In its heyday, the genre had subcultures all over the world, but was most notable in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(particularly the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
) and the US, where the machines used to create this type of music were readily available.
The fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
CLEM (Contact List Of Electronic Musicians) helped create a worldwide community of musicians in the genre, prior to the use of the Internet. Many of the musicians in the genre collaborated via mail.
Minimal Wave Records
Minimal Wave Records is a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
based independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
founded by Veronica Vasicka
Veronica Vasicka
Veronica Vasicka was born in New York City to an Uruguayan mother and Czech father. At an early age, she had a passion for music and photography. She studied photography at the Rhode Island School of Design and later co-founded East Village Radio. Inspired by the music she gathered for her weekly 2...
in 2005. The label was launched "to create a network for synth wave enthusiasts and promote 80s electronic music via an online archive and vinyl releases. The label specializes in high quality vinyl pressings of minimal synth and new wave artists from all over the world."
Vasicka also curates Minimal Wave, a weekly Internet radio show broadcast on East Village Radio
East Village Radio
East Village Radio is an Internet radio station which broadcasts from a storefront studio in the East Village of Manhattan, in New York City. EVR serves both as a voice for the local downtown cultural scene and as a forum for the community at large...
, for which she was the original director of programming
Program director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
. The weekly show was founded as Minimal-Electronik Plus, and was later renamed. Through vanity Web searches, artists discovered that selections from their cassette-only releases had been played on the show. Vasicka invited them to send her more music, and this led to the creation of the Minimal Wave label, as well as the sublabel Cititrax for newer material and house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
.
Etymology
Vasicka claims to have coined the genre name. She said in a 2009 interview, "I had this collection of Dutch magazines from the early ’80s, and they kept using the terms minimal electronics, new wave, coldwave and a bunch of others. I kind of thought there should be a term that covers all this music, and I thought minimal wave could be it. When I registered the website, I was able to register the name."One author, reviewing one of the label's compilations, wrote "Minimal Wave as a synecdoche of a broader scene has been a term of contention for many. The phrase stems from Veronica Vasicka’s restoration project/record label of the same name, but has become something of a stand-in for the entire spectrum of music Vasicka championed."
Vasicka acknowledges the music is also included in other genres; in a 2009 publicity piece for the same compilation, she wrote "The Minimal Wave genre actually formed only several years ago, as a result of a resurgence of interest in the roots of pre-MIDI electronic New Wave (1978-1985), mainly from North America, Europe and Japan. This music is sometimes referred to as Minimal Electronic, Minimal Synth, Cold Wave, New Wave, Techno pop, or Synthpop, depending on the particular style, year, and location of the band."
External links
- Minimal Wave Records
- Minimal Wave, Crate-digging For Obscure Gems To Reissue" Tiny Mix TapesTiny Mix TapesTiny Mix Tapes is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, as well as its mix tapes generator.-History:Originally called Tiny Mixtapes Gone to Heaven and...
, September, 2008. - Eye On '09: Minimal Wave, by Nik Mercer, January 16, 2009.
- Review of V/A The Found Tapes: A Compilation of Minimal Wave From North America '81-'87, by Franklin Bruno of the Boston Phoenix, April 1, 2008.
- Ripping Vinyl, Part 2, by Jeff Klingman, April 28, 2008.
- Review of Stereo - Somewhere In The Night, Intergalactic FM, February 12, 2009.
- Minimal Wave And The Great Treasures From The Golden 80s, MTN: The Innervisions Dossier, September 30, 2009.
- A Synth Obsessed Label Turns Four, by Bruce Tantum for Time Out New York December 1, 2009.
- Veronica Vasicka / Minimal Wave, Revel In New York, January, 2010.
- 20 Best : Minimal Wave, Fact Magazine, January, 2010.
- Minimal Wave's Big Splash, by Colleen Nika for Interview Magazine September 28, 2010.