Electro-Swing or: How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love Modernity

[Chasseur]

:spy:I will go to an electro swing party tonight. Will report if there are technoheads on pills, mindless slackers, lindy hoppers or other people. I try to avoid having fun but I can't promise.:whistle:

But beware of hipsters Floey! They are everywhere these days

 

[vitanola]

Thanks for this! I'm sort of on both sides in a way. I enjoy straight up vintage music and happily discuss it in relevant threads, and I also enjoy Electro-swing in certain moods. The same is with vintage vs. vintage-inspired fashion. I appreciate that FL concedes room for inclusion of discussions of both!

I do apologise for stating my case so vehemently in my earlier posting. I was clumsily trying to make the point that, to many of us, this "electro-swing" sounds just like all of the the other jangly electonic music which is forcibly pumped in our ears nearly every hour of the day when we are out in public, and as such is disturbing to a small minority here. Now of course, it is easy enough to avoid this by simply ignoring the thread, but I felt that you deserved some apology, for upon re-reading my earlier post I was entirely too adamant.

"Is this not exactly where one would be posting about it? If you allow for the idea that FL does have room for threads like this, then, perhaps YOUR videos of phonographs spinning scratchy old records are best posted in threads for musical purists LOL!!!"

Interesting point. Now, is there any question that "videos of phonographs spinning scratchy old records" are "period"? One would think not, although I'd prefer to post better transfers were they easily available. You surely cannot seriously question the relevance or the appropriateness of a posting of a 1930 recording on this ostensibly "Vintage" (oh how I'm coming to loathe that word!) forum, can you? On the other hand, one might reasonably question the "golden era" relevance of this electro-swing mightn't one?

Our bartenderess has spoken, and whilst it it is now taken for granted that this thread IS the proper place for the discussion in question, one might well point out that "electro-swing" could reasonably be considered to be "vintage inspired" in in the manner of a Thom Brown suit labelled as "sixties inspired" or a 1977 double-knit three-piece suit labelled "thirties inspired", both of which would be none too gently treated were they to appear in the clothing section of this forum.

Anyway, the posting of those recordings was inspired by the OP who posted some Parov Stellar stuff and claimed that it had "that smooth-as-whiskey, ultra-sexy roaring twenties sound..." I was merely trying to correct the youngster's sore misunderstanding. He was going on about playing this stuff in his "dorm". I sort of did the same thing, myself, but the Victrola Florenza that I had back in my freshman room in Lewis Hall was drowned out by my neighbor's Bose 901's, which blasted Pink Floyds "The Wall" for days on end, occasionally relieved by Cheap Trick, Devo, or The Flying Lizards.


Now, in my artless Japanese way I entirely ignored any merits of this music as such. In this Is was of course in error. Much of it does, on second hearing, seem to be very well structured, and are fine example of modern dance music, perhaps of better overall quality than a typical shellack "dime-store" dance record of the 'twenties. I particularly appreciated the Peggy Lee and Django Reinhardt remixes, though of course since the originals of these records are really a bit modern for my personal taste I may have found them to be not quite as disturbing as, say, a remix of Classic period Fletcher Henderson might have been.

At least it isn't Norwegian Death Metal!

 

[mummyjohn]

Good call on that Alice Francis, I like the video.

I'll have to investigate this ESC Hollywood; unfortunately I'm not going to be home for a few months.

 

[VintageBaroness]

I do apologise for stating my case so vehemently in my earlier posting. I was clumsily trying to make the point that, to many of us, this "electro-swing" sounds just like all of the the other jangly electonic music which is forcibly pumped in our ears nearly every hour of the day when we are out in public, and as such is disturbing to a small minority here. Now of course, it is easy enough to avoid this by simply ignoring the thread, but I felt that you deserved some apology, for upon re-reading my earlier post I was entirely too adamant.



Interesting point. Now, is there any question that "videos of phonographs spinning scratchy old records" are "period"? One would think not, although I'd prefer to post better transfers were they easily available. You surely cannot seriously question the relevance or the appropriateness of a posting of a 1930 recording on this ostensibly "Vintage" (oh how I'm coming to loathe that word!) forum, can you? On the other hand, one might reasonably question the "golden era" relevance of this electro-swing mightn't one?

Our bartenderess has spoken, and whilst it it is now taken for granted that this thread IS the proper place for the discussion in question, one might well point out that "electro-swing" could reasonably be considered to be "vintage inspired" in in the manner of a Thom Brown suit labelled as "sixties inspired" or a 1977 double-knit three-piece suit labelled "thirties inspired", both of which would be none too gently treated were they to appear in the clothing section of this forum.

Anyway, the posting of those recordings was inspired by the OP who posted some Parov Stellar stuff and claimed that it had "that smooth-as-whiskey, ultra-sexy roaring twenties sound..." I was merely trying to correct the youngster's sore misunderstanding. He was going on about playing this stuff in his "dorm". I sort of did the same thing, myself, but the Victrola Florenza that I had back in my freshman room in Lewis Hall was drowned out by my neighbor's Bose 901's, which blasted Pink Floyds "The Wall" for days on end, occasionally relieved by Cheap Trick, Devo, or The Flying Lizards.


Now, in my artless Japanese way I entirely ignored any merits of this music as such. In this Is was of course in error. Much of it does, on second hearing, seem to be very well structured, and are fine example of modern dance music, perhaps of better overall quality than a typical shellack "dime-store" dance record of the 'twenties. I particularly appreciated the Peggy Lee and Django Reinhardt remixes, though of course since the originals of these records are really a bit modern for my personal taste I may have found them to be not quite as disturbing as, say, a remix of Classic period Fletcher Henderson might have been.

At least it isn't Norwegian Death Metal!

Thanks for the message. I was questioning the posting of the 1930 music in the Electroswing thread, not the forum . Why CAN'T we talk about vintage-inspired things on the Fedora Lounge? I know that it isn't the "real mccoy," but, again, speaking as someone who dabbles in swing dance and who seeks to integrate touches of my vintage tastes into everyday wardrobe looks that will not tear or fall apart while I'm running to the bus or teaching a class, I think it makes sense to me to include discussions of vintage-inspired lines in the forums!! Cheers!

 

[VintageBaroness]

I know this has been discussed in other threads, but I can't wait to see what happens when Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby comes out. Not only do I anticipate a hip-hop and electro-swing soundtrack, but the clothing photos I've seen suggest the fashions will be a 2012 version of 20s fashion filtered through the early 70s Robert Redford-Mia Farrow film version of Gatsby. Maybe touches of accurate clothing gleaned from details of the actual Fitzgerald text...Love it or hate it, it's coming and surely shall be ripe for discussion/dissection/deconstruction http://youtu.be/yqxmhJU4nk4. Anyway, this all seems to connect back to the electro-swing issue...if only tangentially.

 

[mummyjohn]

The wonderful thing about this life is, we don't have to choose either or. I can have the old and the new, and I like both, so I will have both. If someone manages to stitch 'em together a wee bit, then I raise a glass to 'im.

Also, I (the OP) routinely play these songs (and much more) in my "dorm," and we certainly aren't barreled over by some dinky Bose system: the Magnavox Concerto, with four 6V6's in push-pull, pumps out some serious sonic power on all wavelengths. This place wouldn't have half the swing it's got if it weren't for me, trust.

Good tidings to all, no matter whose records you are enjoying tonight.

 

[VintageBaroness]

In this electro-swing video, here's an example of a contemporary song being "vintage-ified" (as opposed to vintage songs being 'electrified' haha). [video=youtube_share;Oeu3prTK-tQ]http://youtu.be/Oeu3prTK-tQ[/video]

 

[VintageBaroness]

Ditto with this song! [video=youtube_share;DlihVTVvgyc]http://youtu.be/DlihVTVvgyc[/video]

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I love vintage-ified versions of modern pop songs!! Non electro-swing examples being The Puppini Sisters and The Baseballs!! Love it!

 

[Mr Vim]

I am really liking this thread! I actually really enjoy electro swing, especially for running music... It's got the right amount of pep in it.

Haha, pep in my step.

In all seriousness, I'd like to share how I first came across this music. A local friend runs the only clothing boutique in town, he is also a DJ, I walk into his shop one day and he's playing Electro Swing, so I ask what gives, what is this? He plays me some more of the music and I grabbed the gal I was with and started swing dancing to it. And it works! It really does! So I like it, and I like the classic stuff too.

When it comes to chocolate and vanilla, sometimes I want them both at once.

 

[vitanola]

The wonderful thing about this life is, we don't have to choose either or. I can have the old and the new, and I like both, so I will have both. If someone manages to stitch 'em together a wee bit, then I raise a glass to 'im.

Also, I (the OP) routinely play these songs (and much more) in my "dorm," and we certainly aren't barreled over by some dinky Bose system: the Magnavox Concerto, with four 6V6's in push-pull, pumps out some serious sonic power on all wavelengths. This place wouldn't have half the swing it's got if it weren't for me, trust.

Good tidings to all, no matter whose records you are enjoying tonight.

Dinky? The Bose 901 was a fairly powerful multi- speaker system which was introduced in 1968 and achieved for some reason a cult status in certain circles. These so-called "direct reflecting" speakers were multi-unit (eight drivers per speaker, as I recall) and could handle lots of power. They gave a pretty good stereo image, but those in the know would carp "No highs or lows. It must be Bose!" The units were relatively compact for their power handling capability, though, and could fit into a dormitory room where a pair of GOOD speakers, say Bozak Concert Grands or JBL L-300's would not.
The fellow in the next room with the 901's was driving them with a Phase Linear 700, still a pretty darned fine amplifier, which delivers 350 watts per channel. The lad really had a badly balanced system, and not at all suitable for a dormitory, but it was composed of the flashiest, most faddish components of the day.

The Victrola Florenza

was not exactly its equal in volume, but the large folded Orthophonic horn held its won until I found a larger machine.

I find it interesting you are playing a fifty-odd year old machine (assuming that the Concerto to which you refer is the big "Maggie" console, not the little 1936 table model)

. The Victrola Florenza was about the same age when I was in school..

I've always liked the Magnavox products of this period. Not quite the most rarified high fidelity of their time, but good, solid, fine sounding stuff, which is suprisingly easy to work on. I have a Magnavox Regency Symphony (the 1946 equivalent of your set) in my basement record room, Fitted with a pre-amplifier and a GE RPX magnetic cartridge it plays late 78's beautifully.

Never found too many LP's that I thought were worth playing, although I can highly recommend the 1950 Columbia issue SL-160, "The Famous 1938 Carnagie Hall Jazz Concert" issued on a two disc set. It should be in every record collection, if only for its defintive 12:08 performance of the Henderson arrangement of "Sing, Sing, Sing (with a Swing)" including Jess Stacy's magical impressionistic piano chorus.

 

[davidraphael]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I also have to cast my vote on the electro-swing, as presented in the original message.

To my ears, it's quite simply appalling. I mean, genuinely frightful.

But please don't take me to be musically conservative - in addition to my interest in music from The Era (and, indeed, many other eras), I'm also a collector of contemporary electronica and IDM, both experimental and mainstream.

This electro-swing seems to sit very uncomfortably between the old and the modern, alienating dedicated lovers of either.

For fans of vintage music it's like finding a plastic 'fedora style hat' with the name 'the bogart' at H&M or Gap for $3.99.
For fans of less commercial contemporary dance and electronica, it's almost painfully twee and cloying; painful particularly because of its treatment of vintage material. There are whole genres of nostalgia-based electronica/IDM ('Hauntology' to name but one) that pride themselves on artfully treating pre-existing material. Electro-swing is more likely to produce a cringe than the urge to dance.

Just as Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is not representative of contemporary acting, I can assure those who are wary of modern electronic music that it's not all like electro-swing.

If you like Django Reinhardt (who doesn't?), then Caravan Palace is worth checking out.

I can't think of anything a DR fan (I have several hundred recordings and counting) is less likely to enjoy than the Caravan Palace video posted.

This whole thing reminds me of the 'Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers' phenomenon in the 1980s. They created dance 'party medleys' of Glenn Miller et al. It was a bad idea then (unless you were at a birthday party for the under 10s) and it's a bad idea now.

So, needless to say, I'm with some of the other voices here. I can't get enthusiastic about electro-swing. I mean, arguably, it doesn't even have the right to call itself swing because swing is a certain kind of rhythm, which many of these tracks do not possess.

In terms of using electro-swing to pander to non-vintage fans at parties (or rather, dinner parties, as is more likely in my case) I've always put on whatever I want. I've recently had very good responses to Ellington's (and Goodman's) small groups recordings from the 1930s; so much so, infact, that I created new vintage fans!

Maybe I'm a music snob, I don't know; but I certainly do take my music seriously.

 

[Chasseur]

This whole thing reminds me of the 'Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers' phenomenon in the 1980s. They created dance 'party medleys' of Glenn Miller et al. It was a bad idea then (unless you were at a birthday party for the under 10s) and it's a bad idea now.

oh... that was one thing I had successfully drove from my mind for many years until you brought it back in!!


This electro swing is not quite my cup of tea, its not bad and as some others said if its at party etc I think it'd be pretty good. Some of it reminds of the sound those 1990s swing bands were trying to capture that didn't really seem to be swing music.

 

[mummyjohn]

To vitanola, yes the Concerto I refer to is a 1961 console, the stereo equivalent of a mid-size car: far from tabletop, but it's no Concert Grand either. Magnavox seemed to find a no-man's land among home listeners, a little above the average product but never quite fully respected by the majority of the audiophile crowd. I think they have a stupendously clear sound from crispest highs all the way to the most crushing bass; I've heard their output transformers lauded as some of the best.


I definitely agree with several of the recent posters here and their "swing renditions" of modern pop, as opposed to the thread-initiating other-way-round tracks. I've thought for a while that really good songs are those that can be performed in almost any "style" and still be good. Many YouTube videos of string quartet versions of Lady Gaga or piano solos of raps prove that there's something there in the composition, the original performance styles just...leave a bit to be desired, to put it charitably.

Crazy in Love seems to be a favourite for vocal groups to cover, and I think The Puppini Sisters' version is darn good (one YouTuber says, "Amazing, sexier than the original."

[video=youtube;b_sh1B3aCVQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_sh1B3aCVQ[/video]

For those into female vocal groups, The Scarlet Starlets are another group worth checking out.



The whole scene clearly isn't for everyone, but hey, some folks legitimately enjoy upside-down martinis.

 

[mummyjohn]

Here's another couple winners:

Enter Sandman, piano only, and a swing-styled arrangement:

[video=youtube;R7evFPQQeOs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7evFPQQeOs[/video]


The girls again, with a hauntingly good rendition of I Will Survive. Another YouTube user mentioned it, but I think he's on to something: I'd love to hear these gals do Mother's Little Helper or 19th Nervous Breakdown.

[video=youtube;nvpThS7zfQ8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvpThS7zfQ8&feature=related[/video]

 

[Flicka]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I also have to cast my vote on the electro-swing, as presented in the original message.

To my ears, it's quite simply appalling. I mean, genuinely frightful.

But please don't take me to be musically conservative - in addition to my interest in music from The Era (and, indeed, many other eras), I'm also a collector of contemporary electronica and IDM, both experimental and mainstream.

This electro-swing seems to sit very uncomfortably between the old and the modern, alienating dedicated lovers of either.

For fans of vintage music it's like finding a plastic 'fedora style hat' with the name 'the bogart' at H&M or Gap for $3.99.
For fans of less commercial contemporary dance and electronica, it's almost painfully twee and cloying; painful particularly because of its treatment of vintage material. There are whole genres of nostalgia-based electronica/IDM ('Hauntology' to name but one) that pride themselves on artfully treating pre-existing material. Electro-swing is more likely to produce a cringe than the urge to dance.

Just as Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is not representative of contemporary acting, I can assure those who are wary of modern electronic music that it's not all like electro-swing.




I can't think of anything a DR fan (I have several hundred recordings and counting) is less likely to enjoy than the Caravan Palace video posted.

This whole thing reminds me of the 'Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers' phenomenon in the 1980s. They created dance 'party medleys' of Glenn Miller et al. It was a bad idea then (unless you were at a birthday party for the under 10s) and it's a bad idea now.

So, needless to say, I'm with some of the other voices here. I can't get enthusiastic about electro-swing. I mean, arguably, it doesn't even have the right to call itself swing because swing is a certain kind of rhythm, which many of these tracks do not possess.

In terms of using electro-swing to pander to non-vintage fans at parties (or rather, dinner parties, as is more likely in my case) I've always put on whatever I want. I've recently had very good responses to Ellington's (and Goodman's) small groups recordings from the 1930s; so much so, infact, that I created new vintage fans!

Maybe I'm a music snob, I don't know; but I certainly do take my music seriously.

:clap: :clap: :clap: