What to do about Cyberpunk Music and Cyberpunk Art…

What is cyberpunk music?

I think a cyberpunk wiki would be absolutely wonderful.
As far as cyberpunk music, I think that would be a much long overdue list/article/section!

There’s a cyberpunk film coming out called “The Gene Generation” that features music by VNV Nation and Combichrist
(Combichrist has a great video using footage from the film, for “Get Your Body Beat”, on Youtube)

Anyways, bands I personally consider cyberpunk in one
form or another(most of em I guess would be in the EBM genre)

Funker Vogt
Icon of Coil
VNV Nation
Front Line Assembly
Front 242
Grendel
Tactical Sekt

the video “Bullet” by Covenant is very in line with man-machine stuff.

I myself have a cyberpunk themed(as well as video game/anime themed) band in the industrial genre called Xenocanon
( http://www.xenocanon.com http://www.myspace.com/xenocanon )and a cyberpunk
themed webcomic ( http://www.neoramen.com )

//cory

Why just music, and why just reviews? Why not a general wiki for everything concerning cyberpunk? From directors to bands and everything inbetween.

Hi Iammany, great point. I like the idea of including Cyberpunk people too - film types, authors, etc.

I guess my concern for making it a cyberpunk “everything” wiki is that I’ve seen too many wikis far too sparse in information to be useful. The hope is if we pursue this, we get enough content that it gets to be well done.

Also, I’d like a moderator type for each of the main sections (one for music, one for Cyberpunk people, etc.) more to continue to make sure the structure is usable. Is anyone interested in this?

Billy Idol Billy Idol and Billy Idol.

Could anyone give me examples of cyperpunk music? Or define cyberpunk music? What makes a song cyberpunk?

i echo the question about cyberpunk music - sounds like it would be heavy dark electronica/rock - like most of the matrix soundtrack. but i don’t believe there actually is a cyberpunk designation in music categorization.

as for expanding the scope of the site - i really like the fact that it’s focuses on films. i’ve discovered a number of films through this site. if you’re worried about not having enough to post about often enough, perhaps including the most excellent fan/short films that are also cyberpunk would allow you to expand the repetoire.

but im not interested in getting inundated with all things cyberpunk. just the visual moving images kind.

To music fans - there’s no such thing like cyberpunk music genre. Cyberpunk fans share similiar tastes in music: Kraftwerk (genre:electronical music), Blade Runer OST (genre: hmm… OST? ) for example.

SFAM - iammany has right. Restriction to only one field of cp culture would not be…proper.
My suggestion: link to cyberpunk wiki in main site, and let it go it’s own way.
The question is: which wiki engine will you use?
I know 2 types:
- http://wikispaces.com - very “user friendly”, but that’s portal.
- metawiki - you know wikipedia? Mediawiki share this same engine & can be integratad with http://www.cyberpunkreview.com . Though, it’s not so user friendly
Final decision is in you’re hands, SFAM. Decide

android lust, skinny puppy , fear factory , gary numan
many of the industrial bands could be considered cyberpunk
allso there are bands who pretend to be cyberpunk like :
DEAD INSIDE THE CHRYSALIS, dope stars …

So are there any other styles of music that could be considered cyberpunk? Other than industrial? Electronica? Drum and Bass? Trip-hop? If not, why?

Does cyberpunk music HAVE TO HAVE some kind of regularly occuring synthesized sound? Or can it be limited to average rock band instruments? Like keys, drums, guitar and bass?

I would think cyberpunk music would have to be a fusion of synthesized sound with more organic sounds. Such as electronica with a lead vocalist. Or Drum and Bass with lead guitar as a recurring instrument. Industrial is the easiest way to categorize as cyberpunk, but what are the limits? Where does it begin? Do lyrics come into play? Or is it purely the sound?

Bjork?
Apehx Twin?
Linkin Park?
Mindless Self Indulgence?
Esthero?

All of those groups are very different, are any of them cyberpunk?

I think “cyberpunk” music is entirely relating to the subject matter of the individual songs more so then a genre of music or just trying to say industrial is cyberpunk. Its lyrics and subject matter obviously and by subject matter I suppose it can really fall into just the sound of it such as mood it enduces various sounds even ambient or harsh can be associated with machinery, biotech, artificial enlightenment. However I will agree a very large number of ebm/industrial/hard-electro deffinately would fall into the catagory. Haujobb, Headscan, Front Line Assembly, Front242, Mentallo and the Fixer(Particularly their latest offering Commandments for the Molecular Age), Dismantled, Covenant, Seabound, Mind in A Box, Edge of Dawn, Chemlab, H3llb3nt. just to name a few off the top of my head.

Hi Mattness, I see your point but I disagree in this sense. By not being “proper” you mean that it should be free to go in whatever way fate takes it? While I get the reasoning behind it, I’m sort of big on producing things that have decent quality in them. If the Wiki is 90% filled with lists with no content behind them, I won’t be too thrilled with it. I have this concern because there are quite a few, if not most, wikis that end up in this state. Wikis may be open to everyone, but successful ones have a commitment of a number of people to work on them. The community thing only works if there really is a group devoted to working them.

Here’s the deal - I want to have at least one person agree to moderate/clean-up/produce content/whatever for each “area” of the wiki we make. If we don’t have this, it runs the danger of being a vast, empty warehouse, like many many wikis that are out there. If new areas are formed or needed (say, Artwork, for instance - I think we should be soliciting someone for this caretaker role.

Regarding which version, there are like 18 different wiki software packages. I’m more than open to which ones we choose. I’ve had some experience with TWiki, and have posted on Wikipedia, but I’m sure the others are good too.

Hi Christopher, I certainly understand your concern about the site expanding to everything. Personally, my background is not all of cyberpunk - its just all of cyberpunk movies.

I will continue to post them (really! I know I’ve been horrid about it lately - apologies again - September and October are the worst months for me). If I finish, I do have a rather decent background in cyberpunk graphic novels. But I haven’t done books or games, and so forth because I don’t want them here - its more because I don’t have the expertise. I really do want more reviewers here, for books and so forth, but the caveot is that the people conducting the reviews need to have a level of expertise in the media. For instance, I’d LOVE it if I could get a crusty book-only sort who has read virtually all the cyberpunk books out to start doing cyberpunk book reviews.

Regarding other types of films, I’m actually watching a student film now. This has always been in the works, as have internet shorts, many of which have been posted. The goal isn’t to move away from films - there will ALWAYS be film reviews here. But augmenting this with other media has always been a hope. This is why the title of the site is “Cyberpunkreview” instead of Cyberpunkmoviereview” or some such. Hopefully you will still like it if it expands in this direction.

But whether or not we do a Wiki, this is a different application. We’ll have to figure out how best to integrate these.

Regarding whether there is cyberpunk music or not, I’m not ready to say, “No, there isn’t.” Music seems pretty closely intertwined with the term. The question is whether it can be defined in any meaningful way. With film, clearly we can create a definition that, while it has gray areas, still works. With music, chances are the gray area will be more of an amorphous blob, which houses the various music forms.

Heres a list accroding to wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cyberpunk_works#List_of_bands

Im going to check into Zeromancer and Atari Teenage Riot.

I am sorry but i just don’t see the relation between music and cyberpunk. True, a certain type of music has become part of the cyberpunk “archetype” since it is often used by movies we consider cyberpunk but this is the only link between cyberpunk and movies there is.
In a way that also goes for visuals: the only link is we see or hear certain things that also have as association with what we consider cyberpunk. Is the themesong to Short Circuit cyberpunk because the movie features a robot? Or is the great score to Blade Runner cyberpunk because the movie is?
I don’t see the connection.
Reasoning this way even makes Herboe Hancock’s “Rockit” cyberpunk. (yes, i am THAT old)

Personally I think what makes music relate to the word cyberpunk and everything it entails is that by listening to the music you can hear undertones of machines (electronic sounds) be they bass or random noises through out the song, and then the lyrics of the song as well the subject matter of what is being sung about could take a song from sounding like a normal “rock” son to cyberpunk depending upon the context of the lyrics.

For me, certain types of music just ‘feel’ the same cool and impressive way cyberpunk movies and books make me feel.

The Mad Capsule Markets,
Nine Inch Nails,
Mindless Self Indulgence,
Leftfield,
Linkin Park,
Rage Against The Machine
and VNV Nation.
Indeed, the kind of music is also used in soundtracks for The Matrix and such.

i present to you the suggestions of a computer science student who just bought too much anime because it was on sale:

- don’t add a wiki to this site. it works perfectly as a review site, and people generally come here to read and discuss high-quality reviews. reviews don’t work well in wiki format because it’s very annoying to have your review ‘improved’ by someone else.

- if a competent cyberpunk wiki does not already exist, one should be created for all the other things not covered on this site. an interconnected web of small information pages about music, art, and lots of website links.

- cyberpunk music is any music that would be suitable as background for a cyberpunk movie!

Hi Sniper, I certainly agree with regards to the reviews. These work far better as a discrete whole than as an organic development process. I do think that a Wiki could work for the listing and organization of cyberpunk music and art, especially.

“- cyberpunk music is any music that would be suitable as background for a cyberpunk movie! ”

Exactly!

Sometimes…it could just be a blip…repeating over and over.
Other times it could be someone being slaughtered to an all too sweet pop song. It all depends on the atmosphere being presented.

There are tons of “industrial” bands, that lean much more to the
cp side. But its really just a matter of preference.

I feel that ministry has always had a heavy hand in the pie.
Other than that…i believe noise..(like merzbow)
Should be put in the listing.

Btw, the Vangelis’ Project “The City” seems to be really cyberpunkish (not only because of Vangelis’ other prominent film music ), but because of very many aspects:
- acoustical visualisation of city
- noir, rain and saxophone
- Japanese Matsuri-theme
- red lantern theme
- electronic music with traditional elements etc.

The whole cd is a complete project. you have to listen the whole playlist at once, because it’s great composition.

Would be glad reading more about it on SFAM

Autechre are the kings of making machines bleed. Pro Radii and 4th Quarter are prime examples of machines going out of control. If you’re looking for a more dystopic/atmospheric sound I’d suggest something along the lines of Lustmord.

Amen to the Autechre mention, Minirobo. Without a doubt, they are true cyberpunk visionaries.

I’m thinking some psychedelic trance (for examples, check audiognomes.com) would fit so well, the dark psychedelic stuff will always sound like cyberpunk to me.

I also make it, so (Amateur, yes but whatever)

A music section would be great, though, and I would gladly participate.

In my book, Goa and Psychedelic trance, in the style of Astral Projection, makes for very cyberpunk sounding music. Dark and mysterious, and often alluding to issues found in many cyberpunk films. (With the few vocals they feature, at least)

But truly, I don’t believe that “Cyberpunk” should be a genre attached to music- as people have said, it usually turns out to be electronically oriented- we should probably leave it at that.

Found this thread while researching a personal project. I’m very intersted in what type of music/sounds people consider cyberpunk. As for myself, I have found a variety of different sounds that paint inspiring images of cyberpunk settings, ranging from down tempo to drum and bass, industrial and heavy metal. A few of my favorites;

Amon Tobin
Future Prophecies
Boards of Canada
Wumpscut
Rammstein
Eisbrecher

just because terror ebm is electronic doesn’t mean it fits the bill.

chemlab, 16 volt, voivod, PTI and kmfdm fit in their own ways, but by far the most cyberpunk band i’ve ever heard is cyanotic. [cyanotic-online.com]

excelent site!
well more music:
atari teenege riot
nitzer ebb
throbbing gristle
combichrist
angelspit … more like cyber goth

For those looking for a definition and examples of Cyberpunk music, I offer this:

Cyberpunk Music, like all Cyberpunk, is inherently hard to define. Assigning it a single genre is not only impossible, but counter productive. The true test of categorizing Cyberpunk music is not it’s sound. Again like all Cyberpunk, it can only be defined by it’s message. Cyberpunk Music, Art, Films, Radio plays, Fiction, Games, Movements, are those that convey the essential messages, or ask the essential questions of Cyberpunk. Through Sound, lyric, prose, visuals, even motion, the medium is meaningless outside of the personal preference of artist and audience, creator and consumer. What those messages, those Questions are, is not within the scope of this post. I recommend the “What is Cyberpunk” link at the top of this page, or simply search for cyberpunk on wikipedia.

Many examples of cyberpunk music have been given in previous posts, but keep in mind that most if not all, or at least all of the mainstream (and yes Rammstien is mainstream) musicians listed are not inherently cyberpunk. Rather they are artists who have several songs that could be considered Cyberpunk. I have yet to see an entire produced album that can be considered cyberpunk. Though Billy Idol tried. Also consider that there may be other songs that fit the bill outside of the genres stereotypically associated with cyberpunk. For example, the them to the (Horrible) video game “Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel” Is a a Jazzy 40’s lounge style song about two atoms in a nuclear bomb, and could arguably be considered Cyberpunk, because of the general attitude of the song towards technology and it’s effect on the human experience.

More on Cyberpunk music. Most of people stick to electronic genre. EBM, futurepop etc. Well, i think cyberpunk is much wider than that. In fact, i don’t see EBM the highest one on the list of cyberpunk music.

Something with an atmosphere of mind desertion, desertion of faith in technology.
Techno despair, adrenaline overdrive, indifference to self, taking a chance, …
Cyberpunk assumes a wide range of feelings and atmospheres.
Psychedelic industrialized dark ambient landscapes do just fine.
Also, some of the 80s new wave must add a some kind of “lo-fi red colored digits on mesomorphic screen of a calculator” feel.

The techno-industrial music (ebm etc) mostly corresponds with adrenaline scenes: cyber pursuits, armed assaults on a hacker’s shelter, cyborg fights etc.
For that matter, there also exists a number of prog metal bands with cyperpunk attitude, like Spastic Ink.

Futurepop usually stands for digital melancholy. Also that should be something like Diorama and Assemblage 23.
“here is the document to prove that i was here
here is the document to prove i was at all…”

… and Gibson actually felt Velvet Underground inspiring.

Oh, but i don’t consider Billy Idol’s “Cyberpunk” a cyberpunk music.

I am in a ‘cyberpunk’ group as well called ‘The S1nd1cate.’ We’re based out of the Pacific Northwest….we’re not industrial, but we have a thick techno influence put behind lyrics in the punk genre.

Check us out -we just put up a cover of Dead Mans Party by Oingo Boingo

www.myspace.com/thes1nd1cate

vnv nation
frontline assembley
front 242
ministry
juno reactor
Atari teenage riot
MSI
Kmfdm
Mdfmk
funker vogt
combichrist
angelspit
throbbing gristle
swamp terrorists
rob zombie
skinny puppy
dead kennedys
Laibach
kraftwerk
Fear factory
:wumpscut:
suicide commando
cemlab
acumen nation
terrofakt
chimaria
pitch shifter

and yes billy idol…. but the album cyberpunk sucked..iam sorry it did.

if its newwave , cold wave , future pop, ebm, industrial, punk, techno, and some alternative rock, It can be considered “cyberpunk”.

Mdfmk self tittled album was pertty damn dead on..it was a mix of many many kinds of music, with a future sound and lyrical context

“cyberpunk music” seems to be a bit of a stretch.

obviously we are all fans of cyberpunk (films and books), but | really don’t think its a good idea to try make this narrative sub-genre more than it is.

anyway, we have enough dabate over what is and is not cyberpunk concerning films. just imagine with s**t blasting throuh the fan when you try to bring music into it.

it’s a narative sub-genre, that’s all.

ahh good point!

hello… the bands which are listed here are quite nice, but i´m missing one good band which is VERY cyberpunk.. maybe you don´t now them… i mean ATARI TEENAGE RIOT… it was a german underground band… a blend of techno & punk and drum and bass/jungle… try them… very cyberpunk…

alec empire !! yeah ATR rockl

ah… i see i was wrong… atr was listed before… @doc0rez: yes, alec empire is cool… tree weeks ago i was on an alec empire concert; it was in bremen, in a small club named tower… nic endo was also there.. at the end of the concert i touched alec!! ! ! !cool he?

abou music

darkstep
breakcore
darkcore
industrial hardcore
digital hardcore
power noise and related stuff
idm
any kind of avant garde variations of this sounds can be suitable to it too!

nic endo is allways with alec from what i understand ..she does all the music for him while he sings and plays guitar? if he still does, and iam talking about live.

i think that japanese noisecore also enter in the category

yes doctor… they still perform together… but actually she does not all of the music now, just the electronic parts… alec doesn´t play guitar, he just sings… i don´t think he had ever played guitar.. but i´not sure… they have a guitarist with them… it was a great show… and i saw nic endo…. ahhhh i still hardly believe it that i was there….. lol
@fusor: yes, drum & bass, and especially darkstep is great… it fit´s perfectly to cyberpunk… at least according to my taste…. this is the kind of music which expresses future and such things…. it is overstimulation, darkness and velocity… just like the most cyberpunk stuff… check out current value - dark rain

back when they first came out he played guitar/ syth( or drum machine not sure)
And when I said music I was meaning keyboards/synths..ect

because in ATr she allways was on keyboards! eitherway still good stuff

yah….. , still good stuff….. i didn´t know that he ever played the guitar.. interesting….. what else about cyberpunk? ^ ^

I know that Mike posted a shamless plug, but, let me clarify; THE S1ND1CATE is cyberpunk; I dont just mean a description of ‘techno punk’. I mean in definition of we are constantly pushing the boundaries of technology; bending circuits, building machines, and reverse engineering hardware; and our lyrical content is relevant in both its storytelling and social commentary.

Whether its our tales of a cyborg run dystopian future or our physical manipulation and subversion of hardware, computers, and other electronics, I’m pretty sure we fit the bill.

If Phillip K Dick can write a cyberpunk BOOK, why the cant we take a story with similar subject matter, and make a concept album?

Well who knew? Someone posted The S1nd1cates first album up as a bittorent. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, I knew once our group got to a certain point people would start ripping it off…and honestly its great.

So to all you Cyber-Punk fans out there. Check out our first album (Tales for an Abandoned Generation) for free right here….

If you like it, find us on myspace here:

myspace.com/thes1nd1cate

http://www.vuze.com/details/67H7XSIZ2G75UXY4S5AAFFFBPLD2H67Z.html

To download the full version visit vuze.com

Perhaps, some musicians associated with Afrofuturism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism#Music ) fit into the cyberpunk genre. (According to Wikipedia, some songs of Janelle Monae are influenced by Metropolis.)

Atari Teenage Riot’s video for “Too Dead for Me” needs a review here.

yes it does…… it´s very cyberpunk….

I somewhat agree/disagree with “Innocent Bystander” in regards to certain music acts being labeled as “cyberpunk”. So, I am going to use a “Point/Counter-point” approach to his/her comment.

Point:
There are obviously some Industrial, EBM, Future-Pop, etc..acts that have created cyberpunk THEMED/concept albums, no argument there, but to instantly label any of them as an overall “cyberpunk band” based on that observation as well as others (another being the primary use of synthesizers/software) alone might be a bit presumptuous to some people, in my opinion.

Counter-Point:
But at the same time, take William Gibson for example: He is an author who primarily used cyberpunk as his conceptual playbook. So, how is it any different if a band uses the same method for creative inspiration? There is no difference. Gibson is known for being a cyberpunk author because, he writes novels with cyberpunk elements. And in that aspect, I will quote Vert S1N:

“If Phillip K Dick can write a cyberpunk BOOK, why the cant we take a story with similar subject matter, and make a concept album?”

Point /Counter-Point made.

There´s an album by argentinian songwriter/composer Charly Garcia called “Pubis Angelical” wich I always thought has a pretty cyberpunk sound although it´s an instrumental album and not completely electronic. Years ago it was sold as a doble album with anotherone called “Yendo de la cama al living” by the same artist, but that one is not cyberpunk at all… sorry for my lousy english…

YTCracker

I like a lot of what has been said here. What might be needed is reviews of individual CDs as to how close or far off the mark it is. Billy Idol’s “Cyberpunk” actually fits this model as the album was in concept made to tie into this genre. Although one can make the arguement that most techno-industrial music can fall into this category. Although in some ways there is an electronica exotica CD I would offer almost as Cyberpunk Hawaiian attempt and that is Kova Kon’s “Tiki for the Atomic Age” but it could be more because I love this CD.

“Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau” by the german punk band “Die Toten Hosen”.

Neinnnnnnnnnnn!!! Die toten hosen are surely NOT cyberpunk… nor the song… i know, its text refers to “clockwork orange” by stanley kubrick…

BUT THATS NOT ENOUGH TO LABEL THEM CYBERPUNK MAN!!! Lol

incredible…………………..

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118664771518521&ref=ts/

Some electronic music to me is quite cyberpunk. Not necessarily industrial, more the glitchy and/or atmospheric kind. To me there is a futuristic vibe to this music. An example is the Mirror’s Edge soundtrack by ‘Solar Fields’.

Also -
‘Aural Planet’
‘Boom Boom Satellites’

I find this discussion very interesting. I consider myself a huge fan of Cyberpunk but it is not a genre I would particularly have extended to film. If I did, it would be a very select group of films that fit the bill. OTOH, I think it is a genre that can very aptly be applied to music, on several levels.
I get the impression that many posters here cannot differentiate between Dystopian and Cyberpunk themes. In my mind, what separates one from the other is attitude. The word “punk”is all about attitude. Styx’s Kilroy Was Here, for example, may deal in dystopian themes but it hardly has a Cyberpunk attitude. Similarly, Ruts first album, The Crack, was all about alienation and had massive attitude, yet it is not something I would l call Cyberpunk, because it lacked that element of a dystopian future.
For me, Cyberpunk music can be classified by a couple of different aspects. Firstly, if the lyrical content is clearly Cyberpunk, dealing with dystopian themes with an appropriate attitude, then it should qualify as easily as any book/story. I’d put up several of our songs, like westernZONE and whyWON’TyouDIE!?!, as perfect examples (I can supply the lyrics if you are interested). Alternatively, music could be Cyberpunk simply in it’s execution. Again, I think my band is the perfect example - we use virtual synthesizers to play what is essentially punk rock,which imbues all our music with a Cyberpunk edge, something missing from most of the bands listed in this discussion. We’re a crazed musical cyborg, if you like.
It seems that many posters here feel that if you dress a certain way, you qualify. I find that weird because the prevalent dress code for the quintessential cyberpunk of WIlliam Gibson and The Matrix seems to be a suit with a skinny tie and white shirt.

Future Sound of London - Dead Cities CD album

Captured by Robots is kinda of hard to pigeon hole as anything but one of a kind, but they are literally machine/man and thus fit into the cyberpunk genre.

see for yourself at: www.capturedbyrobots.com

@NOVAkill: haha just about the “dress code” you mentioned, I think you got Gibson all wrong…. for me I picture drugged-out hackers in sleeveless shirts and ripped jeans with metal jacks coming out their skulls, the Matrix is more about the suits thing… but clothing especially is really about the punks-vs-corporations aspect of cyberpunk…

As for cyberpunk music, I think it’s open to interpretation by the listener, and one band that strictly labels itself “cyberpunk” may not feel that way to some listeners at all. For me, the most important theme of all cyberpunk literature is that of transhumanism and its effects on society. In other words, what happens when humans begin to merge with digital technology and become true semi-organic machines? The all-too-common dystopian theme is, in my opinion, one of the outcomes as a result of both humans retreating into a virtual realm and corporations wielding technological power to further the status quo.

The music that expresses these ideas best IMO is Chiptune, because it is a chameleon itself rather than a distinct musical genre— you can have chiptuned classical music, chiptuned jazz, chiptuned tribal, or just straight up electronica. It’s really a choice of instrument, and it gives the sense of digital technology “replacing” culture that was previously considered “human” in nature. I like to think of chiptune as looking at human art from an android’s perspective

Here’s some tracks that exemplify this feeling:
http://soundcloud.com/stumusic/stu-earth
http://www.8bitpeoples.com/mp3/get/558/8bp090-03-m-.-n-usabikch.mp3
http://www.8bitpeoples.com/mp3/get/691/8bp119-04-gwem-ex_in_my_bed.mp3

but of course, not all chiptunes sound cyberpunky… I just think its worth looking into for those interested few maybe it’s all a result of my 100+ hours of exposure to the Shadowrun soundtrack on snes…