Steampunk music?
Steampunk as a literary subgenre seems to have garnered more adherents, and thus achieved more staying power, than cyberpunk ever did. There is even a sizable body of both animated and live-action films to go along with it (not to mention that several older films were instrumental in shaping the worldview of steampunk fiction in the first place). Now there are even steampunk bands, such as Darcy James Argue's Secret Society:
According to the official band bio:
Secret Society evokes an alternate musical history in which the dance orchestras that ruled the Swing Era never went extinct, but remained a popular and vital part of the evolving musical landscape. Adopting a steampunk-inspired attitude towards the traditional big band, Argue refashions this well-worn instrumentation into a cutting-edge ensemble.
I really like the music, which is a creatively-arranged mix of jazz and rock, but I find it more evocative of Peter Herbolzheimer's funky big band from the 70s than Victorian steam-and-brass technology. Or take Abney Park, as close to an official band of the steampunk movement as there can be:
They've certainly got the requisite 19th-century-mad-scientist look, but in the music I hear no "steam" or "punk", just Goth Lite a la Xymox. For my money, you can't be truly steampunk without a real steam calliope:
Add some percussive heavy machinery to that and then you might have something that lives up to the Steampunk moniker.
Comments
Many acts incorporate the steampunk aesthetic such as (last.fm links) Dr. Steel, Emilie Autumn, Voltaire, and of course, Abney Park but that's been the key aspect defining steampunk in music - aesthetic. Steampunk has been an art form of the eyes before music for a greater part of it's history. Wither an acts can take the style of steampunk and create a common "sound" such as Hip Hop, Rock, or other music classes still remains to be seen especially consider the diversity that the four "steampunk(ish)" bands don't have much in common except for style.
Good article...Made me think and had interesting read & videos.
-Count Jason, Traveling Freaks