genre analysis

Electro Indie is a term that is instantly distinguishable when mentioned in passing conversation. The term doesn’t hold any illusions as to what types of instrumentation are likely to be heard in this particular genre.
Indietronica (also called Indie electronic) is a music genre that combines indie, electronica, rock and pop music. Typical instruments used in indietronica music are electronic keyboard, synthesizer, sampler and drum machine. It is also closely related to the relatively less electronic and more acoustic chillwave (glo-fi) movement.
Indie electronic began in the early 1990s, with bands like Stereolab and Disco Inferno, and took off in the new millennium as the new digital technology developed. This included acts such as Broadcast from the UK, Justice from France, Lali Puna from Germany, and The Postal Service and Ratatat from the US, who mixed a variety of indie sounds with electronic music. These were largely produced on small independent labels.
Alternative dance or indie dance (also referred to as underground dance in the US) is a musical genre that mixes various musical subgenres with electronic dance music. Although largely confined to the British Isles, it has gained American and worldwide exposure through acts such as New Order in the 1980s and The Prodigy in the 1990s.
Allmusic states that alternative dance mixes the "melodic song structure of alternative and indie rock with the electronic beats, synths and/or samples, and club orientation of post-disco dance music". The Sacramento Bee calls it "postmodern–Eurosynth–technopop–New Wave in a blender". Cultural historian Piero Scaruffi suggests that electronic body music first witnessed in Belgium, and later in Canada, between 1980 and 1984 laid the foundations for the alternative dance saturation in the 90s.
The genre draws heavily on club culture for inspiration while incorporating other styles of music such as synthpop, acid house, and trip hop. The performers of alternative dance are closely identified with their music through a signature style, texture, or fusion of specific musical elements. They are usually signed to small record labels.
As computer technology and music software became more accessible and advanced at the start of the 21st century, bands tended to forego traditional studio production practices. High quality music was often conceived using little more than a single laptop computer. Such advances led to an increase in the amount of home-produced electronic music, including alternative dance, available via the Internet. According to BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, part of the strength of the scene in the new millennium was "the sense of community"; she noted, "Websites, blogs and MySpace pages all get people talking about records and checking out each other's recommendations. It's not like the old club scene, where these established DJs dictated what would be big. Word-of-mouth is so important now."