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Description of Alt Dance

 
Alternative dance merges rock elements with electronic music's futuristic bent. Popularized in the late 1980s by Manchester bands like the Stone Roses and Primal Scream, this radio-friendly pop-techno hybrid incorporated rock's romanticism with a mood of optimistic anticipation and idealism. Traditional pop songs were filtered through dub and techno with acoustic and electric guitar melodies offering inviting hooks over danceable beats. Think Jesus Jones' "Right Here Right Now" or EMF's "Unbelievable" for the most commercially known examples of this. In the '90s, pop-industrial bands like Nine Inch Nails made dance-floor fodder with darker themes and harder beats, while the more esoteric electronica genres became the norm for club-goers.
 

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Alt Dance Key Artists

 
Bjork

Reykjavik, Iceland's Bjork
continues her exploration
of electronica and the
points at which it intersects
pop music. Before her sol...

Daft Punk

Electro power House duo
Daft Punk are Guy-Manuel
de Homem Christo and
Thomas Bangalter. They met
in France in 1987. Thomas...

Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode's romantic,
gloomy, synthetic pop has
made them one of the first
New Wave acts to find
arena-sized success. Tho...

Fatboy Slim

Fatboy's Norman Cook uses
pop sensibilities acquired as
bassist for the Housemartins
to turn out unstoppable big
beat hits. Cook's old frien...

Gnarls Barkley

Gnarls Barkley is the
hip-hop supergroup from
former Goodie Mob singer
Cee-Lo and "The Grey
Album" producer Danger...

Gorillaz

This "fake" group went to
the top of the charts and is
composed of members of
Blur, the Tom Tom Club and
Cibo Matto. The artist behi...

Happy Mondays

The Mondays were one of
the first bands to champion
the nascent rave culture of
1988, already mixing '70s
psychedelia. Happy Mond...

Hot Chip

Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard,
Al Doyle, Owen Clarke and
Felix Martin are the men
behind this electropop
Casiotone-hop group. Hot...

Justice (electro)

Justice are France's
Gaspard Auge and Xavier de
Rosnay, who met in Paris
and formed the band after
winning a remix contest....

Kraftwerk

A hugely influential outfit
from Germany, Kraftwerk's
ground-breaking Electronic
sounds jumpstarted
modern-day dance music....

LCD Soundsystem

Ex-bouncer and punk
drummer James Murphy
weaves punk and dance
styles together into an
in-your-face rocky electr...

Lily Allen

This cheeky singer
songwriter's career was
made when "Smile" burned
up the U.K. charts. Lily
Allen is daughter of Britis...

M.I.A.

London's M.I.A. throws
down the quirkiest
political/party ragga (with a
Sri Lankan twist) this side of
the Thames. M.I.A. is Sri L...

Massive Attack

Bristol-based Rapper 3D,
Daddy G, and Mushroom
make up this massive
Trip-Hop outfit formerly
known as the Wild Bunch...

New Order

This synth pop band formed
from Joy Division's remains
has always kept one foot in
the mainstream and the
other underground. New...

Peaches

A one-woman wrecking
machine, Peaches makes
dirty electro with an
attitude. Peaches (aka
Merrill Nisker) combines h...

Pet Shop Boys

Synth-pop duo Pet Shop
Boys -- Neil Tennant and
Chris Lowe -- are one of the
most reliably successful
acts in pop music. Their fi...

Primal Scream

Primal Scream were the
cornerstone band for
legendary independent
label Creation Records.
Singer Bobby Gillespie got...

Scissor Sisters

The Scissor Sisters' campy
style and unique sound
incorporate elements of
glam, New Romantic and
classic rock. The Scissor...

The Chemical Brothers

Tom Rowlands and Ed
Simons from Manchester
fuse progressive dance,
rock, and HI-NRG urban
beats. Originally called th...

The Rapture

Originally from San
Francisco, the Rapture play
a disco-punk-funk blend
that make them indie
dancefloor saviours. Buzz...

Electronics

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