| Coldwave | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | New Wave, post-punk, gothic rock, Dark Wave |
| Cultural origins | Late 1970s, France |
| Typical instruments | Guitar, bass, synthesizer, drums |
| Mainstream popularity | Underground; some mainstream popularity in France |
Coldwave, also written as Cold Wave, is the French variant of Dark Wave, gothic rock and post-punk music, primarily spread in France, South Belgium and Romandy.
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Inspired by post-punk and goth groups, such as Siouxsie & The Banshees and Joy Division and specifically Martin Hannett's production for the group, prominent in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[1] Early French punk rock groups, forerunners to the scene, included Stinky Toys, Métal Urbain, The Cure and The Opposition. As the scene took increasing influence from post-punk, and disco the musicians Marquis de Sade,[2] KaS Product,[3] Siglo XX,[4][5] Martin Dupont, Asylum Party,[2] Twilight Ritual,[2] Norma Loy, Pavillon 7B, Résistance, Clair Obscur,[6] Richard Pinhas, Artefact, Opera Multi Steel, Trisomie 21, Lizzy Mercier Descloux and Die Form emerged. In the late 1980s, groups such as Asylum Party, Little Nemo and The Breath of Life[7] continued to practice the style. The journalist Jean-François Bizot initially documented the scene. The original coldwave groups were generally not distributed in the United States and did not sing in English.[2] Pieter Schoolwerth describes the style as similar to The Cure's on the albums Faith and Seventeen Seconds.[2] Maurice G. Dantec, later a Canadian cyberpunk author and conservative polemicist, was very active in the scene.
The groups began to achieve mainstream coverage in France in 1980, when Patrick Zerbib wrote an article for the magazine Actuel, covering Marquis de Sade, Artefact and Jacno, titled "Les jeunes gens modernes aiment leurs mamans" ("The Modern Young People Love Their Mothers").
A recent retrospective article enumerates various stylistic and conceptual influences:
| “ | Mettant à profit la méthodologie « Do It Yourself » et la provocation érigée en stratégie activiste dont le Punk a permis d’expérimenter la double efficacité, la New Wave convoque à la fois les avant-gardes artistiques historiques (constructivisme, futurisme, symbolisme, dadaïsme, réalisme socialiste...), la littérature (romantisme, science fiction...), le cinéma (nouvelle vague, cinéma expressionniste allemand...) et les dernières avancées technologiques (électronique, robotique, nucléaire...).
Profiting from the double efficacy of the Do It Yourself methodology and the provocation established by the activist strategy of experimentation which Punk had permitted, the New Wave recalled at the same time the historical artistic avant-gardes (constructivism, futurism, symbolism, dadaism, socialist realism...), literature (romanticism, science fiction...), the cinema (French New Wave, German Expressionism...) and the latest advanced technologies (electronics, robotics, nuclear ...). |
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Wierd Records is credited with establishing interest in the style in the United States, while The Liberty Snake Club did a great deal to popularize it within the United Kingdom.[1] The Tigersushi Records compilation So Young But So Cold, compiled by Ivan Smagghe, is one document of the scene.[8]
Mercer, Mick. Hex Files: The Goth Bible. "France," p. 25-34, and "Belgium," p. 20-23. Woodstock: The Overlook Press, 1996.