Far from the underground, the indie dance music released between 2000 to 2010 has become iconic and pivotal. At the beginning of the millenium, the genre showcased emerging artists from developing countries and NYC DIY circles, whose global sounds influenced contemporary mainstream pop.

Albums from this era blended traditional pop and R&B with European house, industrial music and trip house by Prodigy, Massive Attack, and Portishead. Many ditched guitar-driven production in lieu of 808 drum machines. Bands from this era were pulling influence from early trip-hop pioneers like Prodigy, Massive Attack, and Portishead which medled hip-hop beats with Gothic, ethereal vocals.

The sound created was as much hip-hop as it was post-punk. Bands from this era were pulling influence from early trip-hop pioneers like Prodigy, Massive Attack, and Portishead which medled hip-hop beats with Gothic, ethereal vocals. They also were an evolution of groups like Depeche Mode, Television, Gary Numan, and the Pet Shop Boys, who harnessed lo-fi pop melodies that utilized synth-based production. Indie dance also eschewed the bombastic arena sound of the late 2000s. Instead favoring a minimal, almost simplistic arrangement of economic drums and synth.

As a genre, dance music helped loosen inhibitions. From its inception in the 1970s, it encouraged experimentation — both in its production and in its lyrics. In some ways, early aughts indie dance bands like CSS, Cut Copy, Yeasayer, and Neon Indian laid the groundwork for younger Millennials and Gen Zers to claim their identities, and challenge notions of gender and sexuality.

Indie dance of this period was led by innovative female artists of various sexual, gender and political identities. Artists like Santigold, Goldfrapp, Karen O, Yukimi Nagano and the genre as a whole, were driven to fight sexism, racism, and class warfare. We’ve rounded up five female artists who made a profound impact on indie dance music and whose albums became the blueprint for the current radio sound.

M.I.A. - Kala (2007)

M.I.A. was part of the post-9/11 dance renaissance led by producers like Diplo and Switch — two of her closest collaborators — and came on the scene in 2005 with an Arular, an abrasive and original album that mixed dancehall, punk, electronic music and rap.

With the arrival of Kala, the British-born Sri Lankan rapper would influence pop’s aesthetics and sound for the next 15 years. After Kala, Diplo would go on to collaborate with global acts like Major Lazer, Madonna, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Joji, and Bad Bunny, advancing the genre-fusing style he made famous with M.I.A. Since the song’s gun shots and cash register sound effects announced itself in 2007, M.I.A.’s "Paper Planes" has played everywhere —  in movies, television, the radio — and has been remixed by major rappers, including Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Kala received almost perfect reviews by tastemaker publications, landing on NME and Rolling Stone’s "Greatest Albums of All-Time" lists as well as Billboard's "Year-End Top Electronic Albums" of 2007. While "Paper Planes" was a huge international hit, the rest of Kala was equally profound for its blend of Bollywood, hip-hop and Brazilian funk, as well as its embrace of DIY recording techniques and rave culture. M.I.A. also built upon the political manifesto of her debut album, penning  songs around issues of motherhood, poverty, gentrification, industrialization, and late-stage capitalism.

Lykke Li -Youth Novels (2008) 

Swedish artist Lykki Li crafts short bursts of pop and dance music perfect for laissez-faire dancing with friends. It’s easy to see how her songs influenced TikTok dance crazes, such as "I’m Good, I’m Gone" which could easily be scored by singles from Li’s debut album, Youth Novels.

The album predated the fragile, Lilithian vocals of artists like Grimes, Sky Ferreira and FKA Twigs, each of whom is influenced by Li’s Euro-centric pop sensibilities. The album is sparse on lyrics, as heard on "Melodies & Desires" and "This Trumpet in My Head" with Li often repeating the same line ad nauseum, creating a trance-like rhythm.

This effect comes from Björn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn, and John, who produced the album and was instrumental in creating the borderless sound of 2000s-era indie dance music. (He also produced records for Camera Obscura, Primal Scream, Robyn and the Shins). The resulting  sound was progressive, atmospheric and contemplative — a first for this era of indie dance artists.  While Li was asking much of her listeners, she did so knowing they could handle it.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs - It’s Blitz (2009)

The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs' It’s Blitz was listed on over 20 best of lists for 2009, and added to 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album’s punk sensibilities are evident from the jump, and Karen O.’s larger-than-life vocals send an uppercut through the established boy’s club of electronic music. The album’s cover, the now iconic egg-smashing hand, was an apt visual representation of what the album would bring sonically.

O. has that feverish, tremor hitch of Iggy Pop, featuring gnarls, yips, and barks punctuating a synth-laden album full of rock-influenced left turns. O. is most threatening when she breaks from cryptic and vague to vogue and vamp on tracks like "Heads Will Roll" and "Dragon Queen." These are infectious, groovy numbers that ushered in a new age of dance vocalists who were interested in deconstructing the genre’s patriarchy.

While the album’s production doesn’t reinvent the wheel, the overall vibe carries a real sense of danger. As America boils over from inflation, crumbling democracy and a never-ending pandemic, it may be the perfect time to revisit It’s Blitz and dance the ennui away.

Le Tigre - Feminist Sweepstakes (2001)

Formerly of Bikini Kill, riot grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna used multiple projects and mediums to work through her left-wing socio-political theories and assertions. Of the lot, Le Tigre was undoubtedly the most danceable, slyly presenting feminist and anarchist ideology in light-hearted, lo-fi pop.

From the album’s opening line of "For the ladies and the fags, yeah, we're the band with the roller-skate jams," you know you’re in for a fun time.

Feminist Sweepstakes was the first Le Tigre album to feature JD Samson, whose   background in performance art and queer-theory sharpened Le Tigre’s already rebellious focus. But the album doesn’t let itself become too bogged down by all the political mining. Cheesy electronic beats, new wave keyboards and rollicking drum machines keep the album fun, while catchy choruses hide a crash course in sexual politics.

While songs like "Fake French" and "Well Well Well" glide between rap and post-punk influences, Hanna’s lyrics  on "FYR." feel ever more prescient in a post- Roe v. Wade America. In one of the cheekier references to the film Psycho, Hannah sings: "One step forward, five steps back/ One cool record in the year of rock-rap/ Yeah we got all the power/ getting stabbed in the shower/ And we got equal rights on ladies' night."

CSS - Cansei de Ser Sexy (2006)

Sex was always an integral part of indie dance music in the 2000s — you felt it as you bumped close to strangers in the dance clubs, or in long drives with crushes, windows down and speakers blaring. This can be felt in CSS’s "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex," a sultry punk-inspired song which likens music to foreplay through erotic metaphor.

The Brazilian band mostly sang in Portuguese, so their vulgarity and feminist lyrics largely went unnoticed by American audiences. Today, dancing to languages you may not speak is familiar ground for Americans (see Bad Bunny, for example), but it was new territory in 2006. CSS' in-your-face singing style was edgy and engaging, and expanded dance music to include non-English speaking artists who were fluent in sex, drugs and rock 'n'roll — essential ingredients to any dance floor ruckus.

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