Zolo (music genre): Difference between revisions

Zolo is a music genre coined by radio DJ Terry Sharkie^[1][2] around 1989^[2] and popularized through his live radio show The Zany Zolo Musik Hour which premiered on June 25, 1995.^[1]

The genre, as codified by Sharkie, encompasses obscure music from different time periods which nonetheless shares certain similarities.^[1] Zolo is characterized by “hyper jerky rhythms and cacophonous/ harmonious bleeps and boings.”^[1] Zolo artists played on The Zany Zolo Musik Hour included Perrey and Kingsley, Godley & Creme, the Residents, XTC, Pere Ubu, Gentle Giant, Bill Nelson, Fred Frith, and others.^[1]

Zolo is characterized by “hyper jerky rhythms and cacophonous/ harmonious bleeps and boings,”^[1] as well as by “boingy guitars, wobbly keyboards, polka dot percussions, hiccupping falsettos, jerky/staccoto beats, and lopsided rhythms.”^[3] It is a “crystallization” of different styles from the twentieth century “theatrical/ art rock/ cabaret tradition.”^[3] Terry Sharkie considers XTC, Bill Nelson, and Godley & Creme to be of special importance to the genre.^[3]

A 1997 article by Terry Sharkie, called Zolo Synthesis: A Discography, outlines the “thematic history” of Zolo.^[3][4] Sharkie claims that Zolo music had existed in “scattered forms” for “many years” by the time of writing, but had not had a name.^[3] The artists discussed in the article “present puzzle pieces in the formation of Zolo as a musical style.”^[3]

Sharkie traces Zolo music back primarily to the late 1960s, when advancements in technology took place simultaneously with experimentation and the blurring of boundaries between music genres.^[3]