Upbeat Synthpop

May 31, 2009 6:47 PM

I'm interested in finding more upbeat-sounding synthpop or alt/pop singles with electronic elements for my music library.

Good examples of what I've been liking include "Rocket" by Polysics, "Step Step Step" and "Exploding Impacting" by Belaire, "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" by The Flaming Lips, and "Microwave" by The Soft Lightes. I also like a few B52 songs, and generally the entire discographies of Beck and REM, in case you wanted an idea of what kind of music I like as a whole. This specific slice of music is a kind I've just realized I really enjoy, but I have not too much of it in my library.

This is all about the melody of the song. Darker lyrics are perfectly fine, and I actually kind of like the dichotomy, so that's a bonus. 80's songs are perfectly fine, as I am a college student and they will (shamefully) probably be new to me.

Thanks for your help, and feel free to ask me to clarify my points. I've never studied music, so I have trouble describing it as nicely as I would like.

posted by mccarty.tim to media & arts (40 comments total)

Check out Ganymede, especially Neon Rain.
posted by Kirklander at 6:55 PM on May 31

New Order
The Postal Service
Kraftwerk
Capsule
Matt and Kim
Muscles
Depeche Mode
posted by phrontist at 7:06 PM on May 31

Royksopp
posted by Herschel at 7:10 PM on May 31 [1 favorite has favorites]

The entire Erasure and Petshop Boys back catalog.
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:11 PM on May 31

Baxendale
Erasure
Dead or Alive
The Human League
Pet shop boys
posted by martinrebas at 7:18 PM on May 31

A Flock Of Seagulls
... plus I found a (synthpop type) song which sounds like from back in the 80's but was recorded last year: Neon Neon - I Told Her On Alderaan.
posted by Webbster at 7:20 PM on May 31

Freezepop.
posted by infinityjinx at 7:20 PM on May 31

Junior Boys and Passion Pit come to mind.
posted by telegraph at 7:28 PM on May 31

A Different Drum is a record label with a fairly large catalog. Some stuff is kind of cheesy or over the top, but I rather enjoy other bands.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:29 PM on May 31

ETBG! Specifically Walking Wounded and Temperamental!
posted by 2oh1 at 7:29 PM on May 31

Alice in Videoland
Robot
posted by martinrebas at 7:40 PM on May 31

Goldfrapp.
More Goldfrapp.
Sing-Sing.
posted by timing at 7:45 PM on May 31

Seconding The Postal Service.
Cut Copy?

And, in the spirit of being only a little helpful, Wikipedia's list of synthpop artists.
posted by papayaninja at 8:06 PM on May 31

Magnetic Fields...e.g. (that's a very cool fan vid btw... found footage(?) of cuba)
posted by Flashman at 8:14 PM on May 31

Battles, perhaps?
Enon
posted by HumuloneRanger at 8:21 PM on May 31

Yaz--Upstairs at Eric's.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:26 PM on May 31 [1 favorite has favorites]

Upbeat synthpop? Junior Senior!
posted by merocet at 8:26 PM on May 31

A little off the beaten track, but Mathématiques Modernes were fun back in the day.
posted by gimonca at 8:35 PM on May 31

If you subscribe to iTunes, check out groovera.com.

Upstairs at Eric's is also what you are looking for.

As for dichotomy, you may want to try Portishead.
posted by Cookbooks and Chaos at 8:40 PM on May 31

Stereolab x 1,000,000,000,000
posted by numinous at 8:41 PM on May 31

More artists not yet mentioned: Pete Shelley's post-Buzzcocks output is worth looking into. And OMD did more than just "If You Leave".
posted by gimonca at 8:54 PM on May 31

2nding Junior Senior
Tom Tom Club
maybe later era Talking Heads
Dan Deacon
Big Digits (hip-hoppy and less poppy)
Bonde Do Role
The Go! Team
Four Tet
Annie
posted by ishotjr at 9:05 PM on May 31

Ok, some more:
Crystal Castles
YACHT
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Super Furry Animals (only Guerilla really)
Chromeo
posted by ishotjr at 9:09 PM on May 31

Broadcast
Crystal Castles(!!!)
Ladytron
LCD Soundsystem


also, nthing Capsule, Cut Copy, Goldfrapp, the Go! Team, Royksopp, Stereolab, and most of the rest of what's already been said... god i love synthpop :) thanks for the new suggestions too!
posted by lizbunny at 9:28 PM on May 31

Most of these guys are a little less conventionally poppy than some of the groups mentioned above, but I'd consider them all to have strong pop elements as well as electronic (or pseudo-electronic) sounds:

Black Moth Super Rainbow
Boards of Canada
Adult.
Fischerspooner
I Am Spoonbender
Holy Fuck
Out Hud
!!!
posted by ubersturm at 9:29 PM on May 31

OMD (Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark)
posted by Flashman at 9:29 PM on May 31

Dan Deacon
posted by phrontist at 10:26 PM on May 31

Pop synth music with darker lyrics basically describes of Montreal's Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer? If you want a sample, there's The Past Is A Grotesque Animal (yt) or maybe A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger (yt) for something more upbeat (and shorter).
posted by theiconoclast31 at 11:03 PM on May 31

Good suggestions so far.

This music blog is absolutely amazing, and will over time yield a gold mine of what you're interested in, as well as a lot of other great stuff. Most selections have a "try" link that will allow you to download the full album using rapidshare or a similar service.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 2:55 AM on June 1

You might like Ladyhawke. Great upbeat synth.
posted by theraflu at 4:19 AM on June 1

Whoops. Ladyhawke.
posted by theraflu at 4:20 AM on June 1

You'd probably enjoy most of Oppenheimer's music.
posted by LolaGeek at 4:35 AM on June 1

nthing Crystal Castles
posted by spec80 at 6:49 AM on June 1

There are a few singles up on Myspace (and if you do some Google searching you can find some downloadable MP3s) for this summer's forthcoming album from Discovery, which is a collaboration between members of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot and seems to fit your description perfectly.
posted by ckolderup at 7:13 AM on June 1

try Shout Out Out Out Out. i didn't think i would like them but i saw them live, and now i'm addicted!
posted by gursky at 7:34 AM on June 1

nthing Capsule.

And: Supercar



shameless plug: supercar provide most of the soundtrack for the movie Ping Pong which is about the best sports/friends movie out there, in my opinion
posted by emmling at 8:04 AM on June 1

nthing Freezepop. They are an indie synthpop band with a mostly upbeat sound. Except for their latest album, Future Future Future Perfect.
posted by majikstreet at 11:45 AM on June 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

FM Belfast, upbeat synthpop straight out of Iceland.
posted by sillygwailo at 10:32 AM on June 2

80s:
Orange Juice
Gary Newman
Heaven 17
Yello

Sound like the 80s:
Studio
posted by hydrophonic at 12:17 AM on June 3

Styrofoam has always been a favorite.
posted by andrewcilento at 11:34 PM on June 4