What's some good electronic pop?

March 24, 2006 1:10 PM

What is some fun, lo-fi, electronic pop music? Emphasis on the pop. I've heard Nullsleep and some of the other 'chip' musicians, and they're too techno-y for my tastes. I'm looking for something more along the lines of the tracks on the Life Aquatic soundtrack.
posted by hughbot to Media & Arts (37 answers total)

Mmmm, not sure it's exactly what you're looking for, but I would definitely recommend The Department of Eagles.
posted by saladin at 1:17 PM on March 24, 2006

Wasn't the Life Aquatic all acoustic covers or Bowie songs?

For fun electronic pop, I recommend Bobby Birdman (mp3 and another)
posted by dobbs at 1:18 PM on March 24, 2006

Royksopp? Their stuff gets used in ads a lot, because it's got melody. This is more "electro" than "electro pop" but...
posted by zpousman at 1:18 PM on March 24, 2006

I Am the World Trade Center have a deeply unfortunate name post 9/11 (which the band predates), but they might be what you're looking for.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:21 PM on March 24, 2006

I've never heard the Life Aquatic soundtrack, but I bet Freezepop is right along the lines of what you're looking for.
posted by pazazygeek at 1:26 PM on March 24, 2006

You would probably like most stuff on the Morr Music label
posted by lovejones at 1:36 PM on March 24, 2006

White Town's along that alley.
posted by Anonymous at 1:36 PM on March 24, 2006

I was just gonna say Morr, too.
posted by ori at 1:40 PM on March 24, 2006

The electronic stuff on the Life Aquatic soundtrack is pretty minimal, so you might like Magnetic Fields, The Books, or Four Tet. You might also dig The Notwist, Kelly Polar Quartet, and Stereo Total. You could also check out my last.fm account. If you look at my Groups on the left-hand side, there's an electro-indie link. You might find what you're looking for there.
posted by lunalaguna at 1:42 PM on March 24, 2006

United States of Electronica, Daft Punk, Mylo, and, although it's a little weirder than you might be looking for, the Knife.
posted by maxreax at 1:43 PM on March 24, 2006

I second Mylo, and highly recommend Trash80, which is like amped-up instrumental new-wave.
posted by Durhey at 1:54 PM on March 24, 2006

I don't know what's electro-pop about The Life Aquatic Soundtrack, but my favourite electro-pop would include:

Stereolab
Air
The Go Find
The Aluminum Group
Phoenix
The American Analog Set
Styrofoam
Cornelius
Her Space Holiday
Ms. John Soda
posted by youarenothere at 1:56 PM on March 24, 2006

Mylo is really good, but is veering into techno, I think. The Notwist are superb as well.
posted by youarenothere at 1:58 PM on March 24, 2006

Also, Lali Puna
posted by exogenous at 2:03 PM on March 24, 2006

Disasteradio paticularly the tracks Hotline, Exercise Song, Power Glove, GEOS, and Ghosts in the Pong Machine.
posted by holloway at 2:05 PM on March 24, 2006

Did someone say synth-pop?
You can't pass up the Mates of State!

Here's a track off their new album, Bring it Back:
Fraud in the 80s

"Goods (All Day)" is their best track (imho), and one of my favorite songs ever. It's only on the All Day EP, so that might be a good place to start.

(I have to second Lali Puna, Mylo, Daft Punk for poppy electronic)
posted by themadjuggler at 2:10 PM on March 24, 2006

Stereo Total
Gerty
The Capricorns
posted by bendybendy at 2:16 PM on March 24, 2006

TOOG.
posted by zonkout at 2:20 PM on March 24, 2006

I don't know what's electro-pop about The Life Aquatic Soundtrack

I think hughbot meant the Mark Mothersbaugh tracks "Zissou Society Blue Star Cadets/Ned's Theme Take 1" and "Ping Island/Lightning Strike Rescue Op".

How about The Postal Service, Yellow Magic Orchestra/Ryuichi Sakamoto, The Art of Noise, The Normal ("Warm Leatherette"), Laid Back ("White Horse").

I'll see if I can think of more.
posted by hydrophonic at 2:38 PM on March 24, 2006

I gotta put a plug in for I Am Robot And Proud. Incredible music.
posted by toastchee at 2:56 PM on March 24, 2006

speaking of trash80... trs-80
posted by joeblough at 3:04 PM on March 24, 2006

I recommend trying to find something by Girls Are Short. Should be what you're looking for.

Also, I second The Postal Service.
posted by cheerleaders_to_your_funeral at 3:55 PM on March 24, 2006

Mum.
Barbara Morgenstern - especially nicht muss.
Black Box Recorder.
posted by subtle-t at 3:56 PM on March 24, 2006

Lo Fidelity Allstars
If you like Mylo (as mentioned above) try Tosca
My current favorite: Lemon Jelly Try '64-'95 (album)
posted by vaportrail at 4:48 PM on March 24, 2006

Zero 7.
posted by awesomebrad at 7:35 PM on March 24, 2006

Third on The Postal Service. Somewhat techno, very poppy.
posted by A dead Quaker at 8:01 PM on March 24, 2006

Response by poster: Wow guys, thanks for all the suggestions. I guess I should have been more specific, yes, I was talking about the Mothersbaugh songs from the soundtrack.

I love the Postal Service already, and Goods is my favorite Mates of State song too. I'm slowly making my way through all these suggestions. By all means, keep them coming.

For an idea of what I'm after, I'm looking for songs sort of like this one by Half-Handed Cloud. Minimal, lo-fi.
posted by hughbot at 8:48 PM on March 24, 2006

Neon Golden by the Notwist (part of the Notwist went on to form Lali Puna and another became Ms. John Soda, both of which are also good)

Ratatat 's self-titled was my favorite album last year.
Here's a flash version of the first track
posted by spatula at 9:35 PM on March 24, 2006

Let me third(fourth?) Morr Music. Check out the Electric President album that came out not too long ago... you'll probably dig it.

Also, I'm fairly sure you'd like Casiotone For the Painfully Alone.
posted by defenestration at 10:12 PM on March 24, 2006

The Notwist are superb as well.

I agree, but don't tell klangklangston!

Also The Blow has done some good stuff in this style. I'm afraid I don't know whch album it is.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:10 AM on March 25, 2006

ludwig...I do believe the Blow album that you're thinking of is Love Songs. There's an mp3 on there that you can get. Good stuff.
posted by jetskiaccidents at 9:56 AM on March 25, 2006

Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo fame) was the composer on Life Aquatic. You might try other works by him (try searching in iTunes --there is a lot of music by him available).

I would also second Zero 7.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 9:59 AM on March 25, 2006

hughbot, I feel your pain; Mothersbaugh's tracks on the Life Aquatic soundtrack are rare examples of an almost non-existent genre. Sure, there is a lot of 80s-style electro new wave and electroclash out there, but almost nothing as pure and charming as Mothersbaugh's cute little pieces. Some people have called this "robot pop", but I am not hip enough to know whether this is an appropriate term.

Check out Fischerspooner. In particular, listen to Just Let Go (clip which does not quite do justice to this fantastic retro beat) from their latest album, Odyssey. Their song Emerge is something of an electro anthem.

There is a great Canadian electronica label called Suction, now sadly defunct (or "indefinite hiatus" as they say). Their web site has a ton of MP3 samples (go to "Releases"); a lot of great minimalistic electronica.

One of the artists on this label is Solvent. Check out My Radio (in which, aptly, the singer tells his beloved radio, "you always played my favourite songs/those robot disco marathons/inspired me to buy my first machines", but "you've changed").

His Suction label mates Lowfish and Skanfrom are also excellent, more minimalistic than Solvent, and probably almost exactly what you are looking for.

Lederhosen Lucil has some great retro-Casio songs. If you can get the tracks (which for some reason are in reverse order) on this Japanese page, then check out Für Annabella.

I adore Ladytron (Soft Power is a good song), but it does often veer in a kind of operatic new wave direction (perhaps their earlier albums are less bombastic). The same goes for the always excellent The Knife, suggested earlier.

Isolée's We Are Monsters is somewhat in this direction, too, but it's not consistently good.

Having a hard time digging up publicly available samples for these things; drop me an email and I will send you some.

Thanks for the pointer to Half-Handed Cloud; to me that sounds more like The Shins than Mothersbaugh, though. Or the Beach Boys for that matter.
posted by gentle at 11:03 AM on March 25, 2006

There's always the 8-bit version of Michael Jackson's Thriller by Virt (actually rather good, even picks up the little voice accents, if you know the original well enough).. there.
posted by vanoakenfold at 4:07 PM on March 25, 2006

Sorry, [via].
posted by vanoakenfold at 4:09 PM on March 25, 2006

fun, lo-fi, electronic pop music
- Four-tet
(I like Rounds)
- Erlend Oye
(both Unrest and his DJ Kicks album are excellent, and a great way to find related/similar music)
- Kings of Convenience
(Oye again, very downtempo, recommend Riot on an Empty Street or Versus)
- DNTEL
(Jimmy Tamborello from the Postal Service, glitchy lofi electronica, but maybe the closest to Mothersbaugh's spirit/style--recommend Something Always Goes Wrong and Early Works For Me If It Works For You if you can find them), but Life is Full of Possibilities probably fits your profile best (and is much easier to find).)
- Adem
(my favorite on the list, just great great great lo-fi pop music--he's only got the one, Homesongs.)

When I was listening to Half-Handed Cloud regularly, here are some of the other artists that came hand-in-half-hand:
- The Angels of Light
- Danielson Familye
- Swans (Later M. Gira in general, the earlier stuff is, um, pretty out there)
posted by carsonb at 10:53 AM on April 9, 2006

oh, and Manitoba is fantastic. and, erm, slightly less-so (IMHO)--Caribou.
posted by carsonb at 10:54 AM on April 9, 2006