Skweee
Skweee | |
---|---|
Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | Late 2000s (decade), Sweden and Finland |
Typical instruments | Synthesizer |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/68/Skweee-records.jpg/250px-Skweee-records.jpg)
Skweee is a musical style, with origin in Sweden and Finland. Skweee combines simple synth/chiptune leads and basslines with funk, R&B or soul-like rhythms, overall rendering a stripped-down funky sound. The tracks are predominantly instrumental, though there are exceptions.
Origins[]
The name "skweee" was coined by Daniel Savio, one of the originators of the emerging sound. The name refers to the use of analog synthesizers in the production process, where the aim is to "squeeze out" the most interesting sounds possible.[1][2][3]
Producers can vary from high-profile to new talent from the Scandinavian electronica environment.
Recognition[]
Skweeelicious, a blog dedicated to skweee, and community sites such as Myspace and Nation of Skweee have played a major role in the distribution of skweee music and public exposure of the genre.
The major outlets of skweee music are the Swedish record label Flogsta Danshall[4][5] and Finnish record label Harmönia.[6] Norwegian Dødpop,[7] Canadian Ancient Robot,[8] US Losonofono,[9] US Titched,[10] US Poisonous Gases,[11] Spanish Lo Fi Funk,[12] Finnish Mässy,[13] and French Mazout[14] have since been added to this family. The preferred media format of skweee enthusiasts is the 7" vinyl record. Early releases were exclusively released in this format. More recently, however, a series of 12" vinyl records, digital releases and CD compilations have been released through these outlets as well.
The increasing notability of the skweee genre has resulted in releases such as the Eero Johannes album on Planet Mu[15][16] and the Skweee Tooth compilation on Ramp Recordings.[17]
Skweee and dubstep[]
During late 2008 and early 2009, skweee started to influence the sound of dubstep. A thread started on the dubstepforum made the scene aware of skweee. Producers such as Rusko,[18] Gemmy, Joker,[19] Zomby, Rustie,[19] among others, have given their take on the sound, resulting in several releases on the boundary between skweee and dubstep.[20]
References[]
- ^ "skweeelicious! » He Called It Skweee". Skweee.com. 9 January 2009. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ http://skweee.com/spin_skweee_article.PDF
- ^ "Inside Skweee | Clash Music Exclusive Best of Clash". Clashmusic.com. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ "Flogsta Danshall". Flogsta Danshall. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ "Flogsta Danshall | Free Music, Tour Dates, Photos, Videos". Myspace.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Fi. "HARMÖNIA record label | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ NO. "dødpop | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Un. "Ancient Robot |". Bandcamp.com. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ "losonofono". Losonofono.bandcamp.com. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Un. "Titched | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ US. "POISONOUS GASES | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ [1] Archived 14 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Mässy Recordings, Helsinki Finland 2011. Skweee, Mekano-trunk, Wonky etc". Maessy.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ FR. "Poborsk – OUT NOW // Savio – 7" OUT JUNE | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ "Planet Mu Records". Planet-mu.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ "Somewhere: Nordic Skweee". XLR8R. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ "V/A – SKWEEE TOOTH CD & 2xLP / OUT MONDAY 1st JUNE van RAMP Recordings op Myspace". Blogs.myspace.com. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Civil Music (1 December 2008). "Kotchy – Sing What You Want". Civil Music. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ a b "Joker (5) & Rustie – Play Doe / Tempered (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Ralf Christensen. "'Wonky' giver ny søgang i computeren". information.dk. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
External links[]
- Interview with skweee pioneer Pavan
- John McDonnell's (The Guardian UK) blog article about skweee
- Article in Spin magazine (April 2009) as a PDF file
- Article in Clash magazine
- Article in The Wire
- Podcast featuring live recording of Harmönia vs Flogsta battle at the Norberg Festival 2009 and an interview with most of the main artists of these labels
- 2000s in music
- 21st century in music
- Chiptune
- Electro (music)
- Electronic dance music genres
- Finnish music
- Swedish styles of music