Upbeat Synthpop
May 31, 2009 6:47 PM   Subscribe

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 answers total) 42 users marked this as a favorite
 
Check out Ganymede, especially Neon Rain.
posted by Kirklander at 6:55 PM on May 31, 2009




Royksopp
posted by Herschel at 7:10 PM on May 31, 2009 [1 favorite]


The entire Erasure and Petshop Boys back catalog.
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:11 PM on May 31, 2009




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, 2009


Freezepop.
posted by infinityjinx at 7:20 PM on May 31, 2009


Junior Boys and Passion Pit come to mind.
posted by telegraph at 7:28 PM on May 31, 2009


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, 2009


ETBG! Specifically Walking Wounded and Temperamental!
posted by 2oh1 at 7:29 PM on May 31, 2009


Alice in Videoland
Robot
posted by martinrebas at 7:40 PM on May 31, 2009


Goldfrapp.
More Goldfrapp.
Sing-Sing.
posted by timing at 7:45 PM on May 31, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009


Battles, perhaps?
Enon
posted by HumuloneRanger at 8:21 PM on May 31, 2009


Yaz--Upstairs at Eric's.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:26 PM on May 31, 2009 [1 favorite]


Upbeat synthpop? Junior Senior!
posted by merocet at 8:26 PM on May 31, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009


Stereolab x 1,000,000,000,000
posted by numinous at 8:41 PM on May 31, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009




Dan Deacon
posted by phrontist at 10:26 PM on May 31, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009


Best answer: You might like Ladyhawke. Great upbeat synth.
posted by theraflu at 4:19 AM on June 1, 2009


Whoops. Ladyhawke.
posted by theraflu at 4:20 AM on June 1, 2009


You'd probably enjoy most of Oppenheimer's music.
posted by LolaGeek at 4:35 AM on June 1, 2009


nthing Crystal Castles
posted by spec80 at 6:49 AM on June 1, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009


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, 2009 [1 favorite]


FM Belfast, upbeat synthpop straight out of Iceland.
posted by sillygwailo at 10:32 AM on June 2, 2009


80s:
Orange Juice
Gary Newman
Heaven 17
Yello

Sound like the 80s:
Studio
posted by hydrophonic at 12:17 AM on June 3, 2009


Styrofoam has always been a favorite.
posted by andrewcilento at 11:34 PM on June 4, 2009


« Older DIY audiobooks   |   What kind of cheap coffee maker should I buy? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.