Ladytron

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Ladytron
Ladytron (Downward from top: Marnie, Hunt, Aroyo, Wu)
Background information
Origin	Liverpool, England
Genre(s)	Rock Electropop
Years active	1999–present
Label(s)	Ryko/Universal
Website	Official site
Members
Helen Marnie Daniel Hunt Mira Aroyo Reuben Wu

For other uses, see Ladytron (disambiguation).

Ladytron are a band formed in Liverpool, England. They take their name from the song "Ladytron" by Bryan Ferry (from Roxy Music's eponymous debut album of 1972).

1 Style
2 Instrumentation
3 Image
4 Trivia
5 Discography
6 Interviews
7 Features
8 External links

[edit] Style

Ladytron mixes elements from different genres of electronic music, although many define the band as electroclash. The group's live performances that include live guitars and a drummer along with the electronic intruments are in keeping with this classification. Unlike many electronic artists, Ladytron avoid using sampling in their shows, instead playing everything live, using synthesizers; in this they are similar to The Human League, from whom they have taken inspiration and progressed it with their own somewhat deadpan vision. In Reuben and Mira's words, they describe themselves as "Electronica with a fist" rather than electroclash. Ladytron's lyrics are often obscure, sometimes dominated by snippets of everyday life, and sometimes written in Bulgarian by Bulgarian bandmember Mira Aroyo.

Ladytron's first hit single, "He Took Her To A Movie," featured a different singer, Lisa Eriksson of Techno Squirrels; however, all other material on 604 had current singers Aroyo and Helen Marnie. Albums so far have focused on a balance between pop structures and a retro sound, along with some more experimental leanings. Witching Hour saw an augmentation of their sound, leading the album to be described by Pitchfork as a "quantum leap record".

[edit] Instrumentation

When playing live, Ladytron use vintage synthesizers, including a Korg MS-10 (played by Wu), a MS-20 (Aroyo), Roland SH-2 (Hunt) as well as four MS-2000Bs (which are modern digital "analogue modelling" synths), one for each band member. Their MS-2000Bs all have names, which are written on the back in large white letters. Aroyo's is called "Babylon", Hunt's is "Ulysses", Wu's is named "Gloria," and Marnie's is "Cleopatra." Apparently, the tongue in cheek naming scheme is merely so that one synthesizer is not confused for another by crew.

[edit] Image

Originally, Ladytron were known to perform in monochromatic military uniform-inspired outfits of black or olive drab, lending an edge of simplicity and asexuality to their stage presence. Since the release of Witching Hour, the band seems to have abandoned military chic.

[edit] Trivia

The band's premier concert in the United States was on February 16, 2003, at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia. The concert had an attendance of a few hundred people despite being the night of the region's worst blizzard in 10 years, with nearly 2 feet of snow.

A Ted Rall cartoon from June 8th, 2006, features George W. Bush (as "Generalissimo El Busho") mentioning he had Robert Fisk rip the band's first album for him.[1]

The song "Fighting In Built Up Areas" appears in the Need For Speed: Carbon soundtrack. A remix of "Sugar" also appears in the game.