Minimal Wave Records

dear all,

not that it would be of any importance, but while writing an earlier post i was thinking about the term ‘minimal wave’ and while i prefer using the terms ‘electropop’ and ‘minimal electronics’ i think the term ‘minimal wave’  is both an artificial and incoherent term, especially when talking about mor electronic based music. also i have never noticed it being mentioned (in the late 80’s) when my attention was drawn to underground electronic music. for some reason the term ‘minimal wave’ doesn’t make any sense to me at all.

while a single synthesist, for example, may use a drum machine and one synthesiser, he may record a song with like with drums/percussion, bass, melody/harmonies and voice. a wave group, normally consisting of a drummer, bassist, guitarist, keyboarder/synthesist and voice - in regard to recording not much different from the synthesist. but that wave group constellation we also have in any regular rock/heavy metal band even minus the keyboarder! so the latter would even be more ‘minimal’, but i have never read about a ‘minimal rock’ or ‘minimal heavy metal’ band…

so, ‘minimal’ is not a matter of number of group members, or tracks recorded for one song… maybe it makes sense to me in conjunction with the one-man synthesiser project ? but to me it doesn’t work with ‘wave’ concept….

what is ‘minimal’ then ? is it about song structure ? simplicity? bad recording quality? diy/homerecording ? atmosphere ?

so, anyone a clue where the term thus come from ? when it was ever mentioned for the first time ? any original band members around here ? Ton ? Steve ?

p.s. interestengly the V/A - Subtle Hints LP from 1983 says the album includes 14 electropop trax (while some or really more Wave, no?) ... while V/A - Up another Octave Transmission LP from 1981 decicates the relevant side to ‘Tekno Rok’ groups ...

lousy topic, but please entertain me….

René Heid from “Rund um den Watzmann” was one of the first to use the term “minimal electronics”. The term “minimal synth” was invented on ebay and “minimal wave” is a record label from nyc.

we’ve had a similar discussion a year ago, actually.

http://www.minimal-wave.org/site/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=428

I’m reading what I wrote back then, and I’m still amazed at the scope of my insight. I am absolutely correct y’know…

This topic seems to stick it’s head up every year so it seems

minimal electronics to me always referred to a specific subset of the music we listen to. For some bands it reflects the underproduction, for some their simple structures and for others the few instruments they use.
But i dont like music to be described as if we were practicising methodology. Then we are truely living in the past.
AFAIK in Belgium and the Netherlands it was generally called electrowave if it was synthbased and coldwave if there were more instruments used, with a more dense and layered result. Granted, it reflects the instruments and methods used too, but foremost it describes what the music stands for.

And yes, it seems “minimal wave” came into existence the day you subscribed to this forum Marc

Re: the term ‘minimal wave’

“Electropop” or “minimal wave” makes sense to me…or maybe even “raw synthpop”. Whenever I hear terms like “minimal electronics” or “minimal synth” I think of experimental stuff like MB.

so the latter would even be more ‘minimal’, but i have never read about a ‘minimal rock’ or ‘minimal heavy metal’ band…

I have many times: Minimal rock for indie bands like Shellac, and as for metal, albums like Darkthrone’s “Transylvanian Hunger”. Has more to do with the simple riffs and drumming…

To get back on this topic, i was browsing through some VINYL issues from ‘81 / ‘82 to try and shed some more light and it’s interesting to see one of Holland’s most infamous and among yesteryears collectors wellknown recordstore Boudisque advertise some new releases as following:

Ciaran Harte - Love is Strange (electro)
XEX - Idem (electro wave)
Schleimer K. - Idem (electro wave)
many other items being described as “electro de luxe”, “deranged electro” and two are even called “Belgen Electro” haha
also on that list: Snowy Red LP & Stranger Station - Stranger (sic)

So clearly it is not only used to describe the music but also to qualify releases to an audience that apparently already is familiar with that name.

First time I see minimal being mentioned is in a short article about the newly started Ding Dong Disk that released an ep “with 4 romantic minimal synthesizer tunes”.

“Cold-wave’ is also mentioned in an interview with Pseudo Code but then to describe what they are not 

descriptions

i like when artists are unpredictable in their compositions,and secure enough that they don’t need to make their work all fit into some deliberate similarity,category,or self-conscious style.because perceptions and moods change from one day to the next. give them the liberation to do anything,it’s more personal that way

Minimal Wave, doesn’t make sense as a genre of music, but does well for a website! Just call it (Minimal ‘New’ Wave) that works.  8)

memories

hi. back in the day, we had no words or catagory for the music we were making. to us, it was just rock with no guitars, -just synthesizers and drum machines. the word ‘minimal’ may have come up on occasion due to the fact of the imposed structural limitations inherent in our format. there weren’t many frills in the music itself and our synthesizers were monophonic (playing one note at a time). so that was kind of minimal. pylon is releasing vinyl this month of our live demo from that early period. 
-steve  

What does it matter where the term comes from? It sounds cool and just be glad the music is being kept alive, making a comeback, and is currently about to become more known in L.A. as…dun dun dun! MINIMAL WAVE.
That’s how I came to know of it so that’s what I call it. That’s what my friends will call it (they already are) and probably everyone else who learns about it now. Although we all understand that categorizing is a bit dumb and “limits” bands etc. it’s a necessary and natural thing. Necessary because it’s a form of promotion. If these bands were not introduced to me as minimal wave/electronic/synth and if I didn’t know they were 80’s bands…I would simply think of them as indie electronic bands like Lcd Soundsystem and Hot Chip or bands that I would go see at The Smell here in L.A. like No Age and Mika Miko. What I’m saying is…it’s all the same. Music only changes big time every several years…the rest is just promotion and branding etc. Just have fun!!!  8)

Oh no, not again! Here in Belgium they banned minimal wave from the radio!  :D (joke)

I thought it was all about the attitudes of the bands.  I thought Minimal Wave bands were pretty moody and distant so if they spotted someone they knew instead of attracting their attention in the usual way, they might just make a slight hand gesture of acknowledgement.

[edit]  I’ll get my coat

[quote author=“bjorkbjiggler”]I thought it was all about the attitudes of the bands.  I thought Minimal Wave bands were pretty moody and distant so if they spotted someone they knew instead of attracting their attention in the usual way, they might just make a slight hand gesture of acknowledgement.

[edit]  I’ll get my coat

Hi Bjorkbjiggler,

The Fast Show is great indeed!  :wink:

For those of you who speak German (or at least like to look at drawings with strange words added to them) , the online version of Spiegel magazine published the infamous “Popper-Knigge” which is just about this kind of attitude.

Originally intended as a bitter satire on all those young snobs out there, it went beyond parody to become a style guide for some…  :D

Hi Falck,

Unfortunatley I can’t speak German, but the pictures convey quite a bit about what you said though, I think.

Though I think I may have been being a bit too subtle with my attempt at humour.  I was meaning that the slight hand gesture was a little wave (i.e. a minimal wave).

Then I thought I needed to add the bit about getting my coat as it was a bit of a corny attempt at humour :oops:

[quote author=“bjorkbjiggler”]Hi Falck,

Unfortunatley I can’t speak German, but the pictures convey quite a bit about what you said though, I think.

Though I think I may have been being a bit too subtle with my attempt at humour.  I was meaning that the slight hand gesture was a little wave (i.e. a minimal wave).

Then I thought I needed to add the bit about getting my coat as it was a bit of a corny attempt at humour :oops:

Sorry, don’t understand subtle 8)

But to pick up on the minimal hand wave, as a matter of fact “popper” were really quite minimal in their own special way, as they were e.g. true masters in the fine art of dancing while almost completely standing still. I wouldn’t be able to comment on how their mating rituals looked like though :wink:

And nothing corny about the coat - it’s just I really can’t separate that line from the running gag in the Fast Show anymore…..Butros Butros Gali…

Yes I think I remember seeing people doing that type of dancing back in the 80s.

This week I have mostly been listening to minimal wave music.

Scorchio…