Digitalism (band)

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Digitalism
Digitalism live at Melt 2007
Digitalism live at Melt 2007
Background information
Origin Germany
Genre(s) Electro house
Dance punk
Years active 2004-present
Label(s) Kitsuné Music
Astralwerks
Website Official website
Digitalism at MySpace
Members
Jens "Jence" Moelle
İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi

Digitalism is a German electro house duo, founded in 2004 in Hamburg, Germany, consisting of Jens "Jence" Moelle and İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi. They are signed to French label Kitsuné Music, and have released four singles to date: "Idealistic", "Zdarlight", "Jupiter Room", and "Pogo". Jens likens Digitalism's songs to simple chapters in a complex novel about social interaction and attraction, with distorted bass lines and thumping rhythms comprising the punctuation.

Digitalism has remixed tracks for Tom Vek, The Futureheads, Daft Punk, Tiga, Klaxons, White Stripes, Monk, Depeche Mode, Cut Copy and many others, including a re-edit of "Fire in Cairo" by The Cure (entitled "Digitalism in Cairo"). Their tracks and remixes are played by DJs such as Erol Alkan, Soulwax, Boys Noize and Justice, among others.

Digitalism made appearances at festivals such as Coachella, and South by Southwest as well as various clubs worldwide.

Jens Moelle has released a solo EP on Kitsuné Music under the name Palermo Disko Machine.

Contents

[edit] Band history

Moelle and Tüfekçi met at a record store in Hamburg and became friends. Later, the store's owner asked them to DJ a party, and they then began mixing and recording. Moelle said they record in a World War II bunker they own in Hamburg.[1]

Digitalism's debut album, Idealism, was released 9 May 2007 as Digitalism (デジタル主義 Dejitaru Shugi?) on Toshiba EMI Records in Japan, on May 21, 2007 on Kitsuné Music in France and on Astralwerks in North America. The album includes re-edits of the previously released singles "Jupiter Room", "Zdarlight" as well as their "Digitalism in Cairo" original re-edit of a track by The Cure which actually doesn't feature a sample from the track.

The Pogo EP was released as a single in support of the LP in May, with two alternate versions of the track.

[edit] Influences

They claim Daft Punk as influences,[2] as well as movie soundtracks.[1] It's often said that they named the song "Zdarlight" after Philippe Zdar from Cassius. Zdarlight, however is not a homage to Philippe Zdar, only a less conventional spelling of the word "starlight". After the release of the single, Zdar claimed Digitalism had used his name without permission.[citation needed]

[edit] Live Act

They perform live using a Macbook Pro laptop as the heart of the act, along with a Behringer BCF2000 mixing board, a Microkorg, an Alkai drum pad, a set of V-drums, with some synthesizers and various drum machines. Jence performs live vocals over the top.

[edit] Discography

Year Title Format Label
2004 "Idealistic" 12-inch single White label
2005 "Idealistic" 12-inch single Kitsuné Music
2005 "Zdarlight" 12-inch single Kitsuné Music
2006 "Zdarlight" (Edition Moonlight / Discodrome) 12-inch single Kitsuné Music
2006 "Jupiter Room" 12-inch single, CD single Kitsuné Music
2007 "Terrorlight" 12-inch single Kitsuné Music
2007 Idealism Vinyl, Compact disc, digital download Astralwerks
2008 The Moshi Moshi Ep (Japan Only) LP/CD EMI Japan Records

[edit] Remixes

All remixes named Digitalism Remix, unless otherwise specified.

[edit] In popular culture

The single "Pogo" is featured in the official soundtracks of Electronic Arts popular video games Need for Speed: ProStreet and FIFA 08. It was also featured as the soundtrack for a Canadian Virgin Mobile advertisement, both in French and English, during December 2007. The track "Idealistic" is used in the first trailer for Rockstar Games' title Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Interview, DCist.com [1]
  2. ^ Higher Frequency interview [2]