Folktronica is a genre of

indie electronic Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

music comprising various elements of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

, often featuring uses of acoustic instruments—especially stringed instruments—deploying

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, electronic or

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

rhythms, and incorporating delicate, textural

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

, although it varies based on influences and choice of sounds.Smyth, David (23 April 2004). "Electrifying folk: Folktronica, new folk, fuzzy folk – call it what you will. Laptops are replacing lutes to create a whole new sound", ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'', p. 31. Empire, Kitty (27 April 2003). "Up front on the verge: Four Tet, aka Kieran Hebden", ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', p. 14. ''The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Musicology'' describes folktronica as "a catch-all ermfor all manner of artists who have combined mechanical dance beats with elements of acoustic rock or folk". The 1991 album '' Every Man and Woman is a Star'' by

Ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. Its lengthy grinding and washing process makes the natural pigment quite valuable—roughly ten times more expensive than the stone it comes fr ...

was described in a 2014

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

article as a progenitor of the genre; it featured a

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

sound and incorporated traditional instruments such as violin and harmonica with

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

elements. In the early 2000s, indie electronic acts such as

Múm Múm (stylized in lowercase) () is an Icelandic indietronica band whose music is characterized by soft vocals, electronic glitch beats and effects, and a variety of traditional and unconventional instruments. History The band was formed in ...

Four Tet Kieran Miles David Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting and critically acc ...

Isan Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan language, Isan/, ; ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pāli ''isāna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provinces in northeastern Thai ...

Bibio Stephen James Wilkinson (born 4 December 1978), better known as Bibio, is an English musician and producer. He is known for a distinct analog lo-fi sound, and for working in a diverse range of genres, beginning in folktronica and ambient and ...

and

the Books The Books were an American-Dutch duo, formed in New York City in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. Their music typically incorporated samples of obscure sounds and speech. They released three cri ...

began releasing formative music in the genre. According to ''The Sunday Times Culture's Encyclopedia of Modern Music'', essential albums of the genre are Four Tet's ''Pause'' and ''Rounds'' (2001), Tunng's '' Mother's Daughter and Other Songs'' (2005), and

Caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

's '' The Milk of Human Kindness'' (2005).

References

Electronica Electronic music genres Contemporary folk genres British styles of music {{music-genre-stub

See also

References