Cold wave (music)
| Cold wave | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Post-punk |
| Cultural origins | Late 1970s France |
| Typical instruments | |
| Other topics | |
Cold wave is a French variant of post-punk music, primarily spread in France, South Belgium and Romandie. The musical term was first used by British magazine Sounds in November 1977 to describe the music of German band Kraftwerk and English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees.
The term Cold wave was first used in the 26 November 1977 issue of UK weekly music paper, Sounds: the caption of its picture-cover, showing Kraftwerk's Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider was "New musick: The cold wave". That year, Kraftwerk had released Trans-Europe Express.
The term Cold wave was reused in the following week in Sounds by journalist Vivien Goldman, in an article about Siouxsie and the Banshees. In 1977, Siouxsie and the Banshees described their music as "cold, machine-like and passionate at the same time" and Sounds magazine prophecised about the band: "Listen to the cold wave roar from the '70s into the '80s". Siouxsie and the Banshees' first album, The Scream, released in November 1978, was also retrospectively pictured as "cold wave" by music historian Simon Reynolds. For critics, cold wave also applies to Martin Hannett's production for Joy Division, prominent in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Hannett first met Joy Division in late 1978. His first recording with the band was for the song "Digital" for the compilation A Factory Sample, released in early 1979. Several bands were later inspired by these two post-punk groups, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division.
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