Unknown

Ladytron

About

Love 'em or hate 'em, there definitely ain't no one like 'em. Ladytron is a perfectly named group, as its music consists primarily of girls singing -- there's the lady -- and weird robotic synth-derived sounds -- the tron. The name comes from a song off Roxy Music's first album, which came out in 1972, and Ladytron's dance-pop art-primitivism touches on numerous musical points between then and now, including Kraftwerk, Devo, Suicide, Gary Numan, New Order, Man or Astro-man?, and their synth-trash contemporaries, Chicks on Speed, all of it delivered with the self-mocking Eurotrash glamminess pioneered by the Roxies and David Bowie. If you want guitars, you're looking in the wrong place. If you want ironic disco-pop, Ladytron is just your ticket.

The group formed in Liverpool in 1998 around keyboardists and programmers Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu and singer Mira Aroyo; Ladytron's second vocalist, Helena Marnie joined soon after and the group released their "He Took Her to a Movie" in 1999. The next year they issued their homage to Human League, "Open Your Heart," on March Records tribute to the seminal synth-pop ensemble, Reproductions. In 2000, Ladytron delivered on the trashy early '80s promise of that single with a well-titled EP, Commodore Rock.

Then in early 2001 came 604, a classic sleeper album that evolved into one of the seminal records of the past few years, serving as a lynchpin for the burgeoning electro scene with its seamless and playful integration of glam, disco, new wave, robot-pop, and Eurotrash dance music. When the single "Playgirl" became a runaway club hit, Emperor Norton released the Playgirl EP, featuring a pumping remix of the cut by fellow electro superstar Felix Da Housecat. A year and a half later, Ladytron returned with a second full-length, the delicious Light & Magic. The quartet continues to play with the conventions of virtually all post-1970 analog synth-based musical styles, even the coy and ironic modern electro they helped inspire, while consistently delivering songs with timeless and classic pop appeal. But Light & Magic is a richer and more sophisticated collection of material than the group's debut, avoiding the icy cynicism and self-conscious disco posturing that characterizes some of Ladytron's peers in favor of innovation and emotion, suggesting that this is a group you can expect to outlast the fad they've helped begin. --Jesse Ashlock

Source.... http://www.epitonic.com/artists/ladytron.html

Photos

Videos

News

Soundtracks

6 Apr 2011

You may have already noticed Ladytron's latest single 'Ace of Hz' is featured on the FIFA 2011 video game soundtrack, and as far as soundtracks go, this isn't the last time you'll see the band's name listed on one.

"That's something we've definitely wanted to get into," singer Mira Aroyo tells Spinner, noting the band's interest in scoring everything from computer games to feature films. "A lot of our music has been in films, but we'd like to make more music for film and game soundtracks."

The quartet's ultimate goal is to score an entire film, but they will take it one step at a time, as Aroyo explains, "at the moment, we're talking about scoring some games."

Their contribution to FIFA is just the latest of several projects that boast the group's synth-powered beats, with their sonic handiwork showcased on flicks like 'August' (2008), 'Sorority Row' (2009), and last year's fashion documentary about Vogue Magazine, 'The September Issue.'

Scanning this list, one can gather that Ladytron's dark and eerie electro-pop lends itself quite well to a variety of projects. But what type of film or video game does the band, themselves, think would best suit the Ladytron touch?

"Something that definitely has its own mood," says Aroyo. "It's slightly melancholic but with funny elements, as well.

"A horror film would be a lot of fun," she adds.

Another genre that Aroyo believes to be a good fit are Westerns, which might seem a little odd without the following disclaimer: "Not in a typical Western kind of way," says Aroyo, "the way that 'There Will Be Blood' was scored."

Though Ladytron is all about broadening their horizons, the band hasn't lost track of their main focus as evidenced by the arrival of their upcoming full-length later this year. Promising a grander, more mature sound, with an abundance of orchestral elements and organs, the album will remind people that though it's fun to encounter their sounds on a video game or documentary, hearing just one song on a soundtrack rarely satisfies a Ladytron craving.

[Source http://www.spinner.com/2011/03/24/ladytron-synth-pop-soundtracks/ ]

← All artists