Minimal wave

Minimal wave is a broad classification of music that comprises obscure, atypical examples of genres such as new wave, stripped-down electronic or synthesizer music, synth-pop, post-punk, and coldwave. Most of the music tends to focus on electronic, pre-MIDI instrumentation and themes of sincere, rather than ironic, detachment.

Velvet Condom

The terming of “minimal wave” draws some contention. Although much minimal wave is classified 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.

Background and etymology

The punk phenomenon of the 1970s created a challenge to the monopoly of the established recording studios, giving young performers the confidence to go live with relatively unpolished acts. In the post-punk era new technologies, especially cheaper synthesisers, in particular the Roland 303 and the Wasp, led to a popular expansion of electronic music styles. The music, especially in the original releases, generally has a D.I.Y. aesthetic; in the genre’s original production era. Many of the emerging artists composed in their bedrooms and garages then exchanged works through cassette exchanges, bypassing the major vinyl producers and giving rise to the cassette culture of the 1980s.

Veronica Vasicka, founder of the Minimal Wave record label, 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.}

Soft Moon

For a 2009 publicity piece, Vasicka wrote that the music overlaps with several other genres, “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, coldwave, new wave, technopop, or synthpop, depending on the particular style, year, and location of the band.” In its heyday, the music’s demographic had subcultures all over the world, but was most critical in Europe (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.[2] Many of the musicians in the genre collaborated via mail.

Characteristics

Kas Product

According to Vasicka, 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 movements such as futurism and constructivism, and by the literature of science fiction and existentialism.

List of Bands

The Soft Moon

Xeno and Oaklander

Led Er Est

Cold Cave

Absolute Body Control

Oppenheimer Analysis

Kas Product

Stereo

Velvet Condom

The Normal

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