Nu-disco
Encyclopedia
Nu-disco is a 21st century dance music genre associated with a renewed interest in 1970s and early 1980s disco
, mid-1980s Italo disco
, and the synthesizer-heavy Eurodisco aesthetics. The moniker appeared in print as early as 2002, and by mid-2008 was used by record shops such as the online retailers Juno and Beatport. These vendors often associate it with re-edit
s of original-era disco music, as well as with music from European producers who make dance music inspired by original-era American disco, electro and other genres popular in the late ′70s and early ′80s. It is also used to describe the music on several American labels that were previously associated with the genres electroclash
and deep house
.
Nu, like "leftfield", is used as a qualifier to disassociate the sub-genre from popular ideas about the disco genre.
In 2002, The Independent described nu-disco as the result of applying “modern technology and pin-sharp production” to ′70s disco and funk. In 2008, Beatport described nu-disco as “everything that springs from the late ′70s and early ′80s (electronic) disco, boogie, cosmic
, Balearic
and Italo disco
continuum,” while Spin magazine placed an umlaut
over the “u” in “nu”, used the term interchangeably with Eurodisco, and cited strong Italo disco as well as electroclash influences.
Examples of artists playing Nu-Disco include Aeroplane, Cadillac (Melbourne), The Magician, Lindstrom, Tensnake, Adam Warped aka Johnny Blackouts, Todd Terje, Prins Thomas and teen sensation Lenno.
Nu-disco is most popular in Europe and Australia. Bands such as Miami Horror, Cut//Copy, Cadillac and Bag Raiders epitomize the Australian nu-disco sound. The French disco-revival sound can be seen in big acts such as Daft Punk, Breakbot, Is Tropical, Anoraak, and even Justice. While the latter may qualify more as a house group, their walking bass lines and funk rhythms (as seen especially in "We Are Your Friends" and "Phantom II") are further evolving into a more melodic and stylized sound (as seen in the newer release "Audio Video Disco").
The genre is slowly making its appearance within mainstream US and Asian music markets, with most significant success in the US based in Los Angeles and Miami. The most recognized artists of this genre are Astronomica, Neighbour, Classixx, Ilija Rudman, Crazy P, 6th Borough Project, and many others.
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, mid-1980s Italo disco
Italo disco
Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...
, and the synthesizer-heavy Eurodisco aesthetics. The moniker appeared in print as early as 2002, and by mid-2008 was used by record shops such as the online retailers Juno and Beatport. These vendors often associate it with re-edit
Re-edit
In popular music, a re-edit is an altered version of a recorded song created by repeating, reordering, or removing sections of the original recording - for example, making a chorus repeat several times in a row, or extending the length of a break section. Like remixes, re-edits are especially...
s of original-era disco music, as well as with music from European producers who make dance music inspired by original-era American disco, electro and other genres popular in the late ′70s and early ′80s. It is also used to describe the music on several American labels that were previously associated with the genres 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 deep house
Deep house
Deep house is a subgenre of house music that fuses elements of Chicago house into the 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. In the early compositions , influences of jazz music were most frequently brought out by using more complex chords than simple triads which are held for many bars and...
.
Nu, like "leftfield", is used as a qualifier to disassociate the sub-genre from popular ideas about the disco genre.
In 2002, The Independent described nu-disco as the result of applying “modern technology and pin-sharp production” to ′70s disco and funk. In 2008, Beatport described nu-disco as “everything that springs from the late ′70s and early ′80s (electronic) disco, boogie, cosmic
Afro/Cosmic music
In music, the terms Afro, Cosmic Disco, the Cosmic sound, free style, and combinations thereof are used somewhat interchangeably to describe various forms of synthesizer-heavy and/or African-influenced dance music and methods of DJing that were originally developed and promoted...
, Balearic
Balearic Beat
Balearic Beat or either Balearic House and Balearic Trance is an eclectic blend of DJed dance music that originally emerged in the mid-1980s. It later became the name of a more specific style of electronic dance music that was popular into the mid-1990s...
and Italo disco
Italo disco
Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...
continuum,” while Spin magazine placed an umlaut
Germanic umlaut
In linguistics, umlaut is a process whereby a vowel is pronounced more like a following vowel or semivowel. The term umlaut was originally coined and is used principally in connection with the study of the Germanic languages...
over the “u” in “nu”, used the term interchangeably with Eurodisco, and cited strong Italo disco as well as electroclash influences.
Examples of artists playing Nu-Disco include Aeroplane, Cadillac (Melbourne), The Magician, Lindstrom, Tensnake, Adam Warped aka Johnny Blackouts, Todd Terje, Prins Thomas and teen sensation Lenno.
Nu-disco is most popular in Europe and Australia. Bands such as Miami Horror, Cut//Copy, Cadillac and Bag Raiders epitomize the Australian nu-disco sound. The French disco-revival sound can be seen in big acts such as Daft Punk, Breakbot, Is Tropical, Anoraak, and even Justice. While the latter may qualify more as a house group, their walking bass lines and funk rhythms (as seen especially in "We Are Your Friends" and "Phantom II") are further evolving into a more melodic and stylized sound (as seen in the newer release "Audio Video Disco").
The genre is slowly making its appearance within mainstream US and Asian music markets, with most significant success in the US based in Los Angeles and Miami. The most recognized artists of this genre are Astronomica, Neighbour, Classixx, Ilija Rudman, Crazy P, 6th Borough Project, and many others.
See also
- Nu-funkNu-funkNu funk, sometimes known as 'Ghetto Funk' is a contemporary form of the 1970s musical genre funk.Since mid-1990s and further into 2000s, a number of new bands have emerged that played original compositions intended to imitate the sound of 1970's deep funk bands...
, a modern form of funkFunkFunk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music that has been revived from the 1970s - "Nu Disco" was also the title of a song written by the American post-punk band Mission of BurmaMission of BurmaMission of Burma is an American post-punk band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1979. The band was formed by Roger Miller , Clint Conley , Peter Prescott and Martin Swope...
in 1979.