Folktronica is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

, often featuring uses of

acoustic instruments Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the adven ...

– especially stringed instruments – and incorporating hip hop, electronic or

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

rhythms, although it varies based on influences and choice of sounds.Smyth, David (23 April 2004). "Electrifying folk: Folktronica, new folk, fuzzy folk – call it what you will. Laptops are replacing lutes to create a whole new sound", '' Evening Standard'', p. 31. Empire, Kitty (27 April 2003). "Up front on the verge: Four Tet, aka Kieran Hebden", '' The Observer'', p. 14. ''The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Musicology'' describes folktronica as "a catch-all ermfor all manner of artists who have combined mechanical dance beats with elements of acoustic rock or folk." The 1991 album '' Every Man and Woman is a Star'' by Ultramarine is credited as a progenitor of the genre; it featured a

pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

sound and incorporated traditional instruments such as violin and harmonica with techno and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

elements. In the early 2000s, artists such as Four Tet, Isan, and Gravenhurst were lumped into a folktronica "scene" by the media and press. According to ''The Sunday Times Culture's Encyclopedia of Modern Music'', essential albums of the genre are Four Tet's ''Pause'' (2001), Tunng's '' Mother's Daughter and Other Songs'' (2005), and

Caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

's '' The Milk of Human Kindness'' (2005).

References

Electronica Electronic music genres Contemporary folk subgenres British styles of music {{music-genre-stub

See also

References