Chamber rock
| Chamber pop | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Ork-pop |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1960s–90s |
| Typical instruments | |
| Other topics | |
Chamber pop (also called ork-pop, short for "orchestral pop") is a subgenre of indie rock or indie pop which grew in the mid 1990s as a reaction against the fuzz distortion and "lo-fi aesthetic" prominent in alternative music. Inspired partly by the era's lounge music revivalism, chamber pop is typified by the use of strings, horns, and piano, and a dissociation from contemporary genres of the time, like grunge or electronica. The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson informed much of the genre, as did composer Burt Bacharach. Specific works that helped define the style include the Beach Boys' albums Pet Sounds (1966) and Smile (1966–67), as well as the majority of Louis Phillipe's productions for él Records (1984–89).
The combination of string sections and rock music has been called "symphonic pop", "chamber pop", and "ork-pop" (short for orchestral pop). Ork-pop refers to a branch of underground rock musicians who shared an affinity with the Beach Boys' 1966 studio album Pet Sounds, such as the High Llamas and bands from the Elephant 6 collective. According to CMJ's David Jerman, the name was the creation of rock critics, "encompassing everyone from fans of the Beach Boys to fans of Bacharach and Mancini". Chamber pop is stylistically diverse. Strongly influenced by the rich orchestrations of Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson, and Lee Hazlewood, artists once again focused on melody and production.AllMusic states that the genre carries on the "spirit" of the baroque pop of the 1960s, while cultural writers Joseph Fisher and Brian Flota call it the "heir" to baroque pop. Another major source of influence was the singer Scott Walker.New York Daily News' Jim Farber summarizes the genre; "think Donovan meets Burt Bacharach". Just as ork-pop acts shared a love for Wilson, they also held an admiration for one another's work.
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