Ladytron

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Ladytron
Ladytron (Downward from top: Marnie, Hunt, Aroyo, Wu)
Background information
Origin	Liverpool, England
Genre(s)	Electropop
Years active	1999–present
Label(s)	Ryko/Universal
Website	Official site
Members
Helen Marnie Daniel Hunt Mira Aroyo Reuben Wu

For other uses, see Ladytron (disambiguation).

Ladytron are a band formed in Liverpool, England. They take their name from the song "Ladytron" by Bryan Ferry (from Roxy Music's eponymous debut album of 1972).

1 Style
2 On Tour 2007
3 Instrumentation
4 Image
5 Current Status
6 Trivia
7 Discography
8 Interviews
9 Features
10 External links
11 References

[edit] Style

Ladytron mixes elements from different genres of electronic music, although many define the band as electroclash. The group's live performances include live guitars and a drummer along with electronic instruments, in keeping with this classification. Unlike many electronic artists, Ladytron avoids using sampling in their shows, and instead play everything live using synthesizers; in this way they are similar to The Human League, from whom they have taken inspiration and progressed it with their own somewhat deadpan vision. In Reuben and Mira's words, they describe themselves as "Electronica with a fist" rather than electroclash. Ladytron's lyrics are often obscure, sometimes dominated by snippets of everyday life, and sometimes written in Bulgarian by Bulgarian bandmember Mira Aroyo.

Ladytron's first hit single, "He Took Her To A Movie," featured a different singer, Lisa Eriksson of Techno Squirrels; however, all other material on 604 had current singers Aroyo and Helen Marnie of Glasgow. Albums so far have focused on a balance between pop structures and a retro sound, along with some more experimental leanings. Witching Hour saw an augmentation of their sound, leading the album to be described by Pitchfork as a "quantum leap record".[1]

[edit] On Tour 2007

On February 27, Side-Line magazine announced that the Ladytron were to go on tour with Nine Inch Nails in Europe after Trent Reznor personally invited them^[1].

[edit] Instrumentation

When playing live, Ladytron use vintage synthesizers, including a Korg MS-10 (played by Wu), an MS-20 (Aroyo), Roland SH-2 (Hunt) as well as four MS-2000Bs (which are modern digital "analogue modelling" synths), one for each band member. Their MS-2000Bs all have names, which are written on the back in large white letters. Aroyo's is called "Babylon", Hunt's is "Ulysses", Wu's is named "Gloria," and Marnie's is "Cleopatra." Hunt explains the scheme, "We named them to make sound checks easier, not as any kind of statement."^[2]

[edit] Image

Mira at a concert in Dallas.

Originally, Ladytron were known to perform in monochromatic military uniform-inspired outfits of black or olive drab, lending an edge of simplicity and uniformity to their stage presence. Since the release of Witching Hour, the band seems to have abandoned the military chic. They do, however, appear to maintain a tendency towards all-black. Aroyo has also appeared at recent gigs dressed as a nun.

[edit] Current Status

Ladytron are currently supporting Nine Inch Nails for the end half of their European tour.

[edit] Trivia

The band's premiere concert in the United States was on February 16, 2003, at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia. The concert had an attendance of a few hundred people despite being the night of the region's worst blizzard in 10 years, with nearly 2 feet of snow.

A Ted Rall cartoon from June 8th, 2006, features George W. Bush (as "Generalissimo El Busho") mentioning he had Robert Fisk rip the band's first album for him.[2]

The songs "Fighting In Built Up Areas", and a remix of "Sugar" are part of the soundtrack of the game Need For Speed: Carbon. "Destroy Everything You Touch" appears in the EA soccer game FIFA 06.

The song "Seventeen" was featured in the movie Party Monster and appeared on the soundtrack.