Nightmare of the Elf [part 2 (part 1)]

Originally Posted at PsmythSongs.com December 5, 2009

So what I wrote yesterday about French bands sucking was meant to be confined to a very limited group of French musicians - those both unsigned and in possession of MySpace sites.  I honestly came across a glut of really great French bands, particularly of the Goth variety, who, sadly, had recording contracts.  I also loved most of what I heard from the France-based Manic Depression Records.  I know, I know, I have transgressed my golden rule of only writing about unsigned musicians in the past... but I’m trying to keep this from becoming a habit.  I’m not a complete purist, but I do like to maintain recognizable boundaries.  So, to clarify, my critique was not of French music in general, nor of the French people nor of the entire country of France, but of the tiny sliver of French musicians who do not have record deals whom I was able to access given my limited knowledge of how the internet actually functions. 

Now... about my ignorance of contemporary music jargon and genres.  I mentioned yesterday that Nightmare of the Elf describe themselves as Pose Punk/Dork Wave.  I further intimated that I had no idea what that meant.  So I Googled both phrases and here’s what I found... Last term first:

According to the online Urban Dictionary, Dorkwave is defined as (in addition to manipulating one’s penis in some strange sort of greeting or salutation):

    A dance muisc [sic] subgenre and its associated subculture that 

    spans dance-rock, indie-techno, electro-punk, monkey-acid, 

    boot-gazer, and any muisc [sic] that would get one called a

    "freak","fag", "squid", etc.  Dorkwave is like a movement without

    the bother of all the meaning. 

                                                        by Michael Doyle May 8, 2005

I still can’t say if this accurately describes Elf, since after about an hour of investigating the Dorkwave “movement” I still don’t know what the f*ck it is other than a few guys from Detroit with DJ setups and really, really bad music who, at least in TV interviews, were unable to articulate even minutely what they were doing - other than making money off young adults dancing to their parent’s old vinyl records... I think the term is more an advertising slogan than an actual musical trend.  If you can enlighten me further, please do...

{end of Nightmare of the Elf [part 2 (part one)] return tomorrow for..... Nightmare of the Elf [part 2 (part two)]}

S.