Cold Wave

Lebanon Hanover

Cold wave was a music movement that emerged in France and Belgium in the late 1970s. Characterized by its irreverent, detached tone and minimal use of electronic instruments, the scene came as a result of punk bands who acquired affordable portable synthesizers such as the Korg MS-20. In later years, it has become subsumed under the retrospective labels “minimal wave” or “minimal synth”.
History

Martin Dupont

The term “cold wave” appeared in the 26 November 1977 issue of UK weekly music paper, Sounds: the caption of its picture-cover, showing Kraftwerk’s Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider was “New musick: The cold wave”. That year, Kraftwerk had released Trans-Europe Express. The term was repeated the following week in Sounds by journalist Vivien Goldman, in an article about Siouxsie and the Banshees. In 1977, Siouxsie and the Banshees described their music as “cold, machine-like and passionate at the same time” and Sounds magazine prophecised about the band: “Listen to the cold wave roar from the ’70s into the ’80s”. Another scene of French and Belgian musicians who sang in English emerged in the early 1980s. According to Vice, the most notable acts were Marquis de Sade, Asylum Party, and Twilight Ritual. The original coldwave groups were generally not distributed in the United States and did not sing in English.
Wierd Records is credited with establishing interest in the style in the United States, while The Liberty Snake Club did a great deal to popularize it within the United Kingdom. The Tigersushi Records compilation So Young but So Cold, compiled by Ivan Smagghe, is one

document of the scene.

List of Artists 

Marquis de Sade
Jacno
Norma Loy
Asylum Party
Little Nemo
Excès Nocturne
Ruth
Museum of Devotion
Oppenheimer Analysis
Charles de Goal
Gestalt
End of Data
Notchnoi Prospect
Absolute Body Control
Eleven Pond
Siekiera
Martin Dupont
Lebanon Hanover
Xeno & Oaklander

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