New Waver
Encyclopedia
New Waver is an Australia
n satirical musical project, the brainchild of Greg Wadley. New Waver grew out of one of Wadley's prior projects, a zine
named Loser, and shares the same pessimistic outlook, underwritten with Darwinism
. New Waver's music consists of electronic elements (from synthesizers, samplers and drum machines), along with samples from TV nature programmes, advertisements, interviews with suicidal patients and audio books by the likes of Richard Dawkins
, selectively chosen to reinforce the bleak, fatalistic message, coupled with dark humour. The New Waver world view extends the survival of the fittest
theory to the social ladder present in modern urban/suburban culture. New Waver's songs feature both covers
/parodies of well-known songs with lyrics altered to reflect New Waver's world view, as well as instrumentals populated with samples and loops.
The term "new waver" is 1980s-vintage pejorative Queensland
slang for a male who is interested in music, rather than football, and thus deserving of harassment or violence.
The term "new waver" also became a term for those who liked New Wave music
in the early to late 1980s
.
There is an interview with Wadley in the first How To Make Trouble And Influence People
book.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n satirical musical project, the brainchild of Greg Wadley. New Waver grew out of one of Wadley's prior projects, a zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
named Loser, and shares the same pessimistic outlook, underwritten with Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
. New Waver's music consists of electronic elements (from synthesizers, samplers and drum machines), along with samples from TV nature programmes, advertisements, interviews with suicidal patients and audio books by the likes of Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
, selectively chosen to reinforce the bleak, fatalistic message, coupled with dark humour. The New Waver world view extends the survival of the fittest
Survival of the fittest
"Survival of the fittest" is a phrase originating in evolutionary theory, as an alternative description of Natural selection. The phrase is today commonly used in contexts that are incompatible with the original meaning as intended by its first two proponents: British polymath philosopher Herbert...
theory to the social ladder present in modern urban/suburban culture. New Waver's songs feature both covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
/parodies of well-known songs with lyrics altered to reflect New Waver's world view, as well as instrumentals populated with samples and loops.
The term "new waver" is 1980s-vintage pejorative Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
slang for a male who is interested in music, rather than football, and thus deserving of harassment or violence.
The term "new waver" also became a term for those who liked New Wave music
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...
in the early to late 1980s
1980s in music
For music from a year in the 1980s, go to 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89For a history of music in all times, see Timeline of musical events....
.
There is an interview with Wadley in the first How To Make Trouble And Influence People
How To Make Trouble And Influence People
How To Make Trouble And Influence People was the title of a self-published book from 1996 chronicling the history of political pranks and acts of creative subversion in Australia. The book consists of a series of short paragraphs describing incidents, as well as facsimiles of flyers, posters and...
book.
Discography
- Middle Class Man cassette (1990)
- Hard Drivin' Beat cassette (1991)
- Perverted By Wheat cassette (1991)
- Low Self Opinion cassette (1992)
- Live 'n' Lossy cassette (1993)
- What A Man cassingle (1994)
- Aspects of Loserdom cassette (1994)
- Mr Loser-Boozer Goes To Town cassette (1996)
- Darwin Junior High vinyl EP(1997)
- The Defeated cd (1999)
- Computer World mp3 album (2001)
- Neuters (2006)
- Bohemian Suburb Rhapsody mp3 album (2010)
External links
- http://www.spill-label.org/nw/ - Official web site, including downloadable music