Electro-Swing or: How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love Modernity

[mummyjohn]

This literally changed my life; it's some of the best music I have ever heard. There's a new style rapidly gaining popularity right now known as ELECTRO-SWING that's just making inroads to the mainstream, but it's about ready to explode. Imagine samples (and in some cases even original compositions) of that smooth-as-whiskey, ultra-sexy roaring twenties sound merged with modern electro/house sounds! If you live in the States, you've probably already seen this Cosmopolitan ad (which was very successful - next time I'm in Vegas, I'd hardly consider anywhere else.).

Now, people call me musically eclectic; of course being a Californian I grew up entrenched in rock 'n' roll (first thing I ever remember hearing and being able to recognize "this is music" was Del Shannon's Runaway on the American Graffitti Soundtrack; I was three then and I've played that album probably a hundred times in the nearly twenty years that it's been since), but I'm also into jazz, pop (who doesn't love an Ink Spots number now and again?), classical, blues, country, and even took up piano. I can't help but tap my toes at anything even half-catchy, but in all my time hearing tunes I've heard NOTHING that short-circuits me and makes me dance like this stuff does! My friends and I have been blasting everyone else in the dorm every weekend with these tracks for months and we just can't get enough.

But without further ado, let me share with you some primo tracks!

Most of these are going to be Parov Stelar, arguably the creator of the genre. (Be warned, some these have loong fade-in intros, more than thirty seconds. Stick around and you won't be disappointed). Here's the full-length of the one from the Cosmo ad:

[video=youtube;RoBI1seHhN0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoBI1seHhN0[/video]



This one might just be the best of the bunch. I can't wait until I get home and print this to a tape so I can listen to it in my car; this song just feels like it's going a hundred miles an hour.

[video=youtube;-KPIXk7j7NU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KPIXk7j7NU[/video]


Sexiest vocals I've ever heard:

[video=youtube;E6blJDI3LJA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6blJDI3LJA[/video]


This one has a really nice beat to it and a subtler tone with nice brass and wind work building up later on. Not half bad to wake up and shower to.

[video=youtube;OeuqvzXXYu4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeuqvzXXYu4[/video]


This one's much more swing-oriented and is REALLY catchy:

[video=youtube;-qMj-j9BrBc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qMj-j9BrBc[/video]


Mr. Scruff is another prominent figure in this style, though I haven't yet had the chance to listen to a lot of it. You've probably heard this song on television too; Lincoln's been using it for over a year.

[video=youtube;Ik--d9Nhcb8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik--d9Nhcb8[/video]


If you like Django Reinhardt (who doesn't?), then Caravan Palace is worth checking out. People literally pop into my room and ask to hear this one.

[video=youtube;V8r7rFMP1HE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8r7rFMP1HE[/video]

This one is unique in that it's more like a modern instrumentation using swing style composition as opposed to the 'blend' that most videos are.

[video=youtube;l4hmAvNQN6o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4hmAvNQN6o[/video]



Dim the lights, raise the volume, but most of all DANCE! I hope you all enjoy.

 

[FinnSpinn]

I hope you forgive me if I do not share your enthusiasm. This has all to do with Electro, and nothing with Swing. This swings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_ccsfk9yZ4 Why don't you try to find the sources of the samples. You might like them better. I know I do.

 

[O2BSwank]

I listened to these samples and thought that they were pretty good. I like modern music that is a vintage reflection.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I like this kind of electro-swing music. I can totally hear the swing influences mashed in with modern European electro music.

I've loved Caravan Palace for quite some time now.

And I'm sure you know very well the "sources" of the swing music, as do I It's ok to like both...lol.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

It's cool music for parties if you have a mixed circle of friends. Most modern people would get bored or feel out of place if you take them to a jazz concert, a lindy hop party (if they can't dance) or a dress-up vintage event.

I don't listen to it much when I am at home though.

 

[Fly Boy]

Someone was trying to get me to put some on at a 1920's event a few months ago and I really don't like it.

 

[Flicka]

I honestly can't stand any modern dance music. I have nothing against electronic stuff - I love Ladytron and Peaches for example - but those bland, bland electronic 'dance beats' give me a headache. I experience actual physical discomfort.

If anyone wants to torture me, tie me up and play me some club mix for about an hour. I'll tell you anything to get out of there.

 

[scottyrocks]

To me, music starting going down a very steep hill when someone got the bright idea of scratching a record with a phonograph needle as musical accompaniment in and of itself. Electronic music, to me, is an extension of this.

 

[Yeps]

To me, music starting going down a very steep hill when someone got the bright idea of scratching a record with a phonograph needle as musical accompaniment in and of itself. Electronic music, to me, is an extension of this.

Electronic music is older than scratching records (well at least on purpose). Its most direct ancestor is the avante guarde and minimalist music that was coming out of the New York art/concert music scene in the 60s (Cage, et al.). That is when the droning, repetitive aesthetic came into popularity.

Anyway, I think this stuff is kinda fun. I have been known do dance to just about any music put in front of me, and some of these I would be more than happy to dance to. Balboa seems the logical choice for most.

 

[Edward]

I like this kind of electro-swing music. I can totally hear the swing influences mashed in with modern European electro music.

I've loved Caravan Palace for quite some time now.

And I'm sure you know very well the "sources" of the swing music, as do I It's ok to like both...lol.

Absolutely. And if you're of the opinion that the original stuff is automatically superior, then there's every change that electro-swing will be a gateway to the original material, and one that might never have opened to some otherwise. I'm the first to howl at the moon about selling out, but chances are it'd have taken me a year or two longer to discover the Clash had Mick Jones not sold out to a Levis ad.... I don't know the US scene, but over here you'll find a significant proportion of the rockabilly hardcore came to the scene via 1980s psychobilly, which itself was damned by the purists at the time.

It's cool music for parties if you have a mixed circle of friends. Most modern people would get bored or feel out of place if you take them to a jazz concert, a lindy hop party (if they can't dance) or a dress-up vintage event.

I don't listen to it much when I am at home though.

Exactly. These guys are very big on the London scene this last couple of years:

[video=youtube;MZukiRrYROA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZukiRrYROA[/video]

And I've never seen a faster, more effective floor filler than this:

[video=youtube;D_IQS-X9WTM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_IQS-X9WTM&feature=related[/video]

Interestingly, at events I've attended where there are more mainstreamers and normals there, an actual swing band always gets a much more positive response after a set of this stuff than without. [huh]

Someone was trying to get me to put some on at a 1920's event a few months ago and I really don't like it.

It's not appropriate for a hardcore, era-night, but it has its place.

I honestly can't stand any modern dance music. I have nothing against electronic stuff - I love Ladytron and Peaches for example - but those bland, bland electronic 'dance beats' give me a headache. I experience actual physical discomfort.

If anyone wants to torture me, tie me up and play me some club mix for about an hour. I'll tell you anything to get out of there.

Ha..... I'll never forget, the most negative vibe I've ever encountered at a gig... two separate nights. Back in 2007, the Sex Pistols played five nights at Brixton Academy, and I made it to two. Both nights Goldie, the second on the bill, was booed solidly for forty minutes. An odd choice for that audience (but John LYdon is a fan, so). I'm open to all forms of music, however generated, but the one thing I need to enjoy is a melody. Stuff composed entirely of beat / rhythm just doesn't do it for me, and it does get endlessly repetitive. I can appreciate the skill it requires on an objective level, but to listen to.... eep. Rather too much like tedious prog rock for my tastes.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Yes. It really depends where you are coming from. I listen to swing since maybe 7 or 8 years. Before I was just a punkrock kid. Some ska and northern soul with the strong horn section made me open for swing. There really is something like a gateway drug.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Which is why I'm allowing this thread, even though modern music gives me migraines. Anything, at this point, that can alert kids to the fact that music in fact existed before the rock era is a good thing. Just keep the volume down and don't keep the neighbors awake.

 

[Flicka]

I actually think real swing is a lot more accessible than this. Like punk, or good rock, it has soul. This feels hugely artificial to me. It's like eating fluff with lots of artificial colouring. If you think it's easier to go from rock to this than from rock to swing, then you don't like about rock what I like about rock.

Ha..... I'll never forget, the most negative vibe I've ever encountered at a gig... two separate nights. Back in 2007, the Sex Pistols played five nights at Brixton Academy, and I made it to two. Both nights Goldie, the second on the bill, was booed solidly for forty minutes. An odd choice for that audience (but John LYdon is a fan, so). I'm open to all forms of music, however generated, but the one thing I need to enjoy is a melody. Stuff composed entirely of beat / rhythm just doesn't do it for me, and it does get endlessly repetitive. I can appreciate the skill it requires on an objective level, but to listen to.... eep. Rather too much like tedious prog rock for my tastes.

I saw Sex Pistols in '07 too, but at a festival so no Goldie. I remember seeing NIN around the same time though, when Serena Maneesh opened for them. It was a similar sort of culture clash. They would have been boo-ed too, I think, unless everyone had been so afraid Trent would be annoyed and punish us by cutting the set short. I think they're brilliant, but they were new to a lot of the kids and they just didn't get them.

I like a lot of music that's basically just instrument wanking, like shoe gaze. And Tool is one of my favourite bands and they're heavily influenced by prog rock, like King Crimson, so watch your step. I like the big thick mat of sound just rolling over you... There is nothing monotone in that to me. It feels sort of organic, whereas this feels, well, artificial.

I don't usually think in terms of music genre, because I like stuff from all over the chart, from punk to baroque operas, because it's not about genre or instruments or era to me. It's about a sort of pureness of feeling. Like falling in love; maybe you can't say exactly why, but when you feel it, you know it's the real thing. The only genre I know is a non-no for me is 'dance' and 'lounge' music. My ex liked a lot of lounge music (you know, any mix that has 'chill' in it) and I used to jokingly tell him when he put it on: "This is isn't music. This is organised pain."

 

[O2BSwank]

I think that modern music can lead to an appreciation of the original version. I have been listening to The Stray Cats which lead to Brian Setzer orchestra which lead to Nelson Riddle arranged Frank Sinatra songs. I listened to rockabilly which also lead to the original era artists. I have several anthologies by Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, as well as some greatest Big Band artist collection LPs from the 70's. My latest cd purchase is Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy's How big can you get? tribute to Cab Calloway. I love the arrangements, so much energy and beautiful full big band sound!

 

[cklos]

I guess you're too old to rock n' roll, but too young to die! (Just Kidding) lol

Which is why I'm allowing this thread, even though modern music gives me migraines. Anything, at this point, that can alert kids to the fact that music in fact existed before the rock era is a good thing. Just keep the volume down and don't keep the neighbors awake.

 

[Edward]

I think that modern music can lead to an appreciation of the original version. I have been listening to The Stray Cats which lead to Brian Setzer orchestra which lead to Nelson Riddle arranged Frank Sinatra songs. I listened to rockabilly which also lead to the original era artists. I have several anthologies by Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, as well as some greatest Big Band artist collection LPs from the 70's. My latest cd purchase is Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy's How big can you get? tribute to Cab Calloway. I love the arrangements, so much energy and beautiful full big band sound!

Very much so. Scratch the surface of most rockabillies I've met on the UK scene, and underneath you'll find an old punk or psychobilly. Heck, well over half of the vintage crowd of any flavour over here are old punks / goths / psychobillies.

 

[mummyjohn]

Glad to see this is getting a lot of attention.

I had no intent of starting any arguments when I posted this, and it looks like everyone's been able to keep their hats on. I'm also not trying to posit it as "better," necessarily, than any of the swing styles it references or swing songs it samples: just another thing to enjoy (as I said, there is an equal chance you'll hear me blasting this as Journey, Rachmaninoff, Benny Goodman, or Elton John any given day - there's a lot of music in this world, and there are a lot of different ways to feel on a given day, which may call for different soundtracks).

And as many posters have said, for some it serves as a gateway to pure swing/jazz that they just weren't exposed to before. What makes this stuff work for me is that I feel that same energy, the same forward-moving, dreamy, carefree...well, there's no better word for it than just swingin' liveliness and enjoyment of living that drew me to swing in the first place. Cheers, and party on fellow Loungers!

 

[Gene]

It has always seemed to me that electronic music has had a much bigger following in Europe than the States...seems like every year there's some kind of new breakbeat-electro-funk-2-step-swing-jungle-house-ragga coming out of Britain or France or Germany.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I honestly can't stand any modern dance music. I have nothing against electronic stuff - I love Ladytron and Peaches for example - but those bland, bland electronic 'dance beats' give me a headache. I experience actual physical discomfort.

If anyone wants to torture me, tie me up and play me some club mix for about an hour. I'll tell you anything to get out of there.

How anyone can enjoy club mix is absolutely beyond me. I listened to some just now to get an idea what it's all about as I don't listen to modern music very much. After a while I actually had to switch to a Smith Ballew recording from 1929, in this case, to flush that electro-crap out of my head.

 

[Edward]

It has always seemed to me that electronic music has had a much bigger following in Europe than the States...seems like every year there's some kind of new breakbeat-electro-funk-2-step-swing-jungle-house-ragga coming out of Britain or France or Germany.

The dance music scene is huge over here - particularly on the mainland, but even in the UK it's one of, if not the, biggest underground scenes. Of course over the past twenty years electronica, in its broadest sense, has dominated the pop charts for the most part too.