Comments on: Upbeat Synthpop

Question: Upbeat Synthpop

mccarty.tim — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:47:49 -0800

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.

By: Kirklander

Kirklander — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:55:52 -0800

Check out Ganymede, especially Neon Rain.

By: phrontist

phrontist — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:06:42 -0800

New Order
The Postal Service
Kraft we rk
Capsule
Matt and Kim
Muscles
Depeche Mode

By: Herschel

Herschel — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:10:40 -0800

Royksopp

By: cosmicbandito

cosmicbandito — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:11:05 -0800

The entire Erasure and Petshop Boys back catalog.

By: martinrebas

martinrebas — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:18:36 -0800

Baxendale
Erasure
Dead or Alive
The Human League
Pet shop boys

By: Webbster

Webbster — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:20:21 -0800

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.

By: infinityjinx

infinityjinx — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:20:28 -0800

Freezepop.

By: telegraph

telegraph — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:28:42 -0800

Junior Boys and Passion Pit come to mind.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:29:22 -0800

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.

By: 2oh1

2oh1 — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:29:41 -0800

ETBG! Specifically Walking Wounded and Temperamental!

By: martinrebas

martinrebas — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:40:03 -0800

Alice in Videoland
Robot

By: timing

timing — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:45:29 -0800

Goldfrapp.
More Goldfrapp.
Sing-Sing.

By: papayaninja

papayaninja — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:06:53 -0800

Seconding The Postal Service.
Cut Copy?

And, in the spirit of being only a little helpful, Wikipedia's list of synthpop artists.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:14:23 -0800

Magnetic Fields...e.g. (that's a very cool fan vid btw... found footage(?) of cuba)

By: HumuloneRanger

HumuloneRanger — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:21:06 -0800

Battles, perhaps?
Enon

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:26:29 -0800

Yaz--Upstairs at Eric's.

By: merocet

merocet — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:26:53 -0800

Upbeat synthpop? Junior Senior!

By: gimonca

gimonca — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:35:57 -0800

A little off the beaten track, but Mathématiques Modernes were fun back in the day.

By: Cookbooks and Chaos

Cookbooks and Chaos — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:40:47 -0800

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.

By: numinous

numinous — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:41:14 -0800

Stereolab x 1,000,000,000,000

By: gimonca

gimonca — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:54:44 -0800

More artists not yet mentioned: Pete Shelley's post-Buzzcocks output is worth looking into. And OMD did more than just "If You Leave".

By: ishotjr

ishotjr — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:05:18 -0800

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

By: ishotjr

ishotjr — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:09:09 -0800

Ok, some more:
Crystal Castles
YACHT
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Super Furry Animals (only Guerilla really)
Chromeo

By: lizbunny

lizbunny — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:28:40 -0800

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!

By: ubersturm

ubersturm — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:29:17 -0800

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
!!!

By: Flashman

Flashman — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:29:54 -0800

OMD (Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark)

By: phrontist

phrontist — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:26:38 -0800

Dan Deacon

By: theiconoclast31

theiconoclast31 — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:03:38 -0800

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).

By: Derive the Hamiltonian of...

Derive the Hamiltonian of... — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:55:13 -0800

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.

By: theraflu

theraflu — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:19:44 -0800

You might like Ladyhawke. Great upbeat synth.

By: theraflu

theraflu — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:20:22 -0800

Whoops. Ladyhawke.

By: LolaGeek

LolaGeek — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:35:59 -0800

You'd probably enjoy most of Oppenheimer's music.

By: spec80

spec80 — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:49:19 -0800

nthing Crystal Castles

By: ckolderup

ckolderup — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:13:53 -0800

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.

By: gursky

gursky — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:34:30 -0800

try Shout Out Out Out Out. i didn't think i would like them but i saw them live, and now i'm addicted!

By: emmling

emmling — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:04:40 -0800

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

By: majikstreet

majikstreet — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:45:38 -0800

nthing Freezepop. They are an indie synthpop band with a mostly upbeat sound. Except for their latest album, Future Future Future Perfect.

By: sillygwailo

sillygwailo — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:32:10 -0800

FM Belfast, upbeat synthpop straight out of Iceland.

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:17:40 -0800

80s:
Orange Juice
Gary Newman
Heaven 17
Yello

Sound like the 80s:
Studio

By: andrewcilento

andrewcilento — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:34:30 -0800

Styrofoam has always been a favorite.