Summer Research Project

Digitalism

Record Label and Musical History

• Digitalism is a German electro pop duo founded in 2004 in Hamburg and 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 The Presets, 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.

• Digitalism have made appearances at festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, South by Southwest, and Ultra Music Festival as well as various clubs worldwide.

• 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.

• 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 21 May 2007 on Kitsuné Music in France, on Astralwerks in North America and etcetc/Virgin Music in Australia and New Zealand. 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.

• The Pogo EP was released as a single in support of the LP in May, with two alternate versions of the track. Digitalism released their newest EP "Blitz" under Kitsuné Music on November 8, 2010. On April 7, 2011 they announced a new album on their myspace, "I Love you Dude", will be released on June 20, 2011. On June 18, 2011 they played on the Hurricane Festival.

How They Represent Themselves..

• Journalist Dan Collacot interviewed the duo after watching them play a set. He said..

"my heart is still pounding from the adrenalin-fuelled set I’ve just witnessed from German electro dance duo Digitalism at XOYO. I say dance but their music has a truly schizophrenic edge to it.."

• When Digitalism spoke about their crowds they said..

"It’d be nice to see everyone uniting again over a good mashed-up sound, and to have the girls back. There seems to be a lack of girls sometimes at the moment. It needs to be sexier again."

• I believe the duo come across as really down-to-earth guys that are really about just making good music. It is clearly their passion. They are big in the electro-pop scene however not so well known in the mainstream music industry so there isn't really a definite way they represent themselves. 

• However, at the beginning of their career their image was very "geeky" and it was obvious they had chosen their own outfits. But now, as the duo are more serious about their music and career their image has become very smart and serious.

Images, Colours and Symbolism They Often Use..

• They duo often use the colours green and black, as it was the cover for their album. They also use a digital font which they use as their back drop for their sets when they play live.

• Their music videos often use "sharp" shapes like in the "2 Hearts" video where hexagons are used throughout. This again keeps it looking all very..digital.

EVALUATION OF "JUSTICE - PHANTOM PART II"

Phantom Part II is the 6th single on Justice's album "†". It was realeased in 2007 under the record label "Ed Banger Records".

The video uses a lot of everyday footage like the band tour - which looks like they have filmed themselves.

It also contains a lot of footage of their live sets.

The video is quite relaxed and almost seems as thought it has just been thrown togther - which I actually quite like. And true to their albums name, they have the "Justice" symbol too.