IN SHORT:
Electro is a term used to describe specific styles of electronic music.


HISTORY LESSON:
It was originally used to describe a subgenre of hip-hop that gained popularity in the early 1980's in Germany, England, and the US. Electro was directly influenced by Kraftwerk and Funk, whereas earlier hip-hop was closer to disco. Defining characteristics of this genre were dominating synthesizer lines and rhythm sections comprised of drum machine beats, rather than samples. Vocals were delivered in a robotic, dead pan matter.

As time progressed, many subgenres grew out of electro, as well as a certain fashion sense and attitude. Foremost among these were electroclash (a hybrid of electro, new wave, and Italo disco) and electropop (a form of synthpop characterized by a cold, robotic sound). It is heavily debated among music scholars whether or not these are actual subgenres of electro. Electro is considered synonymous to this day with these two genres.

Electro also spawned more valid, genuine subgenres, including electro funk, electro bass, glitch electro, downtempo electro, and minimal electro. Electro also influenced freestyle music and Miami bass (in turn creating techno bass), and had a significant role in the evolution of ghettotech.

When someone refers to electro in modern times it is not likely they are referring to the original hip-hop style. Electro is commonly used as shorthand for describing music from the electropop revival and electro house scene. Electro was extremely influential, inspiring a myriad of subgenres, all of which could be considered electro. This makes it very confusing when trying to ascertain exactly what strand of electro a certain artist's sound fits into.

In general, many people use electro to describe all electronic music meant to be danced to, distinguishing it from electronica (electronic music meant for home listening).

Electro is used most accurately to describe the original strand of funk influenced hip-hop. Electro purists consider this the only valid definition.


--source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=electro


So lets cut to the chase.
Bands/artists that may fit into this category
Chromeo
Boyz Noise
Ratatat
Mr. Oizo
Cut Copy
Simian Mobile Disco
Daft Punk
Tiga
Yelle
Royksopp
Benny Benassi
Spank Rock
Fischerspooner
Goldfrapp
Crystal Castles
Justice [they've blown up quite a bit]
Kavinsky
LA Riots
Roccanova
MSTRKRFT
Vitalic
Digitalism
Busy P
Flosstradamus
The Chemical Brothers
Riot in Belgium
Uffie
Robots in Disguise
Does it Offend you, Yeah
Mylo
Sneaky Sound System
Peaches
Ladytron
DJ Steve Aoki
Bodyrox
Surkin
The Faint


Feel free to contribute to this list
lets share our love for electro!haha;)

I only got introduced to Electro recently.
ahhh.
soo good.
Big fan of MSTRKRFT, Justice and Daft Punk.

haha! i'm listening to Justice right now actually.

Would IAMX count as under electro?
I totally love Ladytron.

i am a die-hard fan of Benny Benassi, love him to death. hypnotic music hahaha ~ wish i could see him live ><
and i recently got into yelle =D

Tiga does some bangup live sets.

If I didn't go to the Daft Punk Alive 2007 concert, I would definitely not have appreciated electro music. Their concert blew me away literally.

I also like the Chemical Brothers, saw a bit of them last week


Only two artists out of the electro field

i like almost all from the list

ohmagad. i looooove electro and daft punk<3

electro is sweeping australia at the moment..
Cut Copy are pretty big.. 'hearts on fire' << best song.
Midnight Juggernauts - tombstone
The Presets - my people
PNAU - wild strawberries
these are all aussie electro peoples.

Hot Chip

Ed Banger Records and Ekleroshock Records have awesome electro artists. (Ed Banger Rec Vol.3 comes out this May )
Along with your list, I also like:
SebastiAn
DatA
Feadz
Dj Mehdi
Danger
Breakbot
Klaxons
Pacfic!
The Touch
Dj Nibc
Midnight Juggernauts

pretty much a lot i listen to are already named..

to add - artists/groups/DJS/producers that may fit..
+Diplo
+Glass Candy
+M.I.A.
+Santogold
+Amanda Blank
+Blonde Do Role
+Bjork
+Le Tigre
+Beck
+CSS
+SOULWAX
+Felix Cartel
+Tronik Youth
+Vicarious Bliss
+Crystal Castles
+Larry Tee
+Capsule (Japan)
+Espion
+DLake
+datA
+David Guetta


..i'm a lover for a lot of Diplo, Spank Rock and all that vulgarity stuff at the moment.

don't forget metro station :]
i love their song kelsey

CSS are wickedly fun. love their tunes..especially 'off the hook'

Are Cut Copy big overseas, or is it just in Australia?

chromeo is so cool

i have no idea if this falls into the catagory..

def cut

southside rockers.

<3 it. Saw Daft Punk at Vegoose and oh man oh man i imploded. AND I'm going to JUSTICE at the end of this month so I'm so excited! <3 Ed Banger records. I want to see Chromeo but Coachella is too expensive.

Ghostland Observatory

i think Cut Copy are playing at the SXSW festival in the US... so they'll definitely get some exposure there.
They might be popular in the UK, maybe just in the ultra-indie scene, but usually Australian electro outfits do pretty well overseas.. at least i like to think so

Anyway, someone mentioned Le Tigre.. they are alright, i don't mind their song 'TKO'... that was on replay on my playlist for a while when it first came out.

Bonde De Role are brilliant. their song 'marina gasolina' was on the ad for Bonds underwear in Australia..which was where i first heard it. that song reminds me so much of M.I.A, who is alsooo wicked. but i dunno if she is "electro" per se....meh.

ELECTRO ROCKS. ROCKKSSS!

yayayay daft punk (= haha theres even a song called "Electropop" by Jupiter Rising. i love it <3

yeah i love 'marina gasolina' but with M.I.A. she doesn't exactly fall under electro, she does however incorporate it some of her work along with a bunch of genres (reggae, grime..)
just like how some people would hear spank rock at first and wouldn't categorize him under electro either.

yayayaya ELECTRO OWNS.

i love MSTRKRFT's remix of Justice's 'D.A.N.C.E.".


also loveee DAFT PUNK and SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM.

Not a huge fan of Electro but still love to listen to these artists/bands!

Is there anybody here who likes LCD Soundsystem as well?

yes, LCD sound system are pretty good, love their song 'north american scum'.

i've just found out about a band called Shy Child. their album 'Noise Won't Stop' is out now.
their song 'drop the phone' is being played a lot lately...check them out, they are pretty wicked. and damn catchy too!

WOO! I am an Electro fan too. AKA see Robots in Disguise is my icon. I love those gals. I am also a huge Goldfrapp fan.

I'm loving The Touch and Dj Nibc from Trunkfunk Records!

"Le Night Dominator" and "Maximization Nation"
http://www.myspace.com/thetouchse

"Helplessly Falling"
http://www.myspace.com/nibc

Everyone went crazy when The Presets - My People was played at the Justice concert! Love that track

i thought there is a electro thread already. i spamed in that thread a lot

don't forget Stardust (im listening to them right now XD 'music sounds better with you)! the counterpart to Daft Punk and Phoenix and Air, all these guys came from the same town. they swap band members hehe, cute

not sure if Yoshinori Sunahara count as electro....but he is a dj

love French Touch but French Kiss is more my thing
less well known djs such as Breakbot, Pacific, Danger are pretty good, though some would disagree with me, oh well

havent been listening to electro much lately, so im not very updated

the long forgotten thread
http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=181319

daft punk ftw ;D
first i've ever heard of this genre

I love YELLE =DD and M.I.A. in addition to Daft Punk. Sorta recently got into this genre, so sorry if I don't know many artists xDD.