Mar 26 2013

[MP3] Arcade High reMixed by Jordan F

Well, this is just a meeting of two SynthWave minds that we’ve been looking forward to for a while. Back in July last year, Pittsburgh producer Arcade High released his track On The Edge Of Summer, which closely followed his excellent The Art Of Youth album. Now, with summer approaching (hello UK, yes, this is sarcasm) a year later the mighty Jordan F has delivered his reworking of the tune. Time to get on the edge of summer once more.

Jordan smoothes out the spikey production of the original, give it more of a sunkissed feel. If the original heralded the warmer months from an urban rooftop, Jordan F’s reMix welcomes the sun from a prime position on a lounger by the pool. Loaded with lush, thick, synths and playful melodies, Jordan, never one to get complacent with his music, performs a brilliant tempo adjusted breakdown before launching into the track’s Disco’d out finale. Synthesizer bliss.

♫ Arcade High – On The Edge Of Summer (Jordan F reMix)

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Mar 5 2013

[MP3] Let Em Riot reMixed by Arcade High

Pittsburgh SynthWaver Arcade High, who you may remember making our top twenty songs of 2012 in the last electronic rumors Awards had delivered this sweet reMix of our very own Let Em Riot. Let Em Riot’s Say What You Need To Say first appeared on a SynthWave compilation a few months ago and caused quite a stir, immediately attracting a ton of attention for the album.

Arcade High’s take on the track is a beautiful whirlwind of dreamy synths and vintage drums. Using Let Em Riot’s vocals to their fullest, Arcade High wraps them in a star-field of sparking synths. Driving and gloriously nostalgic, Arcade High’s reMix just proves what we already knew, when Ryan Boosel works with vocals, special things happen.

♫ Let Em Riot – Say What You Need To Say (Arcade High reMix)

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Nov 19 2012

[MP3] Arcade High’s ‘City Lights’

City Lights is the new one from Ryan Boosel, A.K.A. Arcade High. This guy has had a hell of a year, coming from nowhere to take the SynthWave scene by storm. Just use that little search box to your rights and check how much we’ve featured Arcade High in the last twelve months, we’ve pretty much loved everything he’s done, even moreso now he’s started dabbling in adding vocals to his work. City Lights is, unfortunately, vocal free (although it seems like it might have been arranged with vocals in mind?) but still shows off Arcade High’s beautiful, nostalgic, SynthWave sounds.

This is how we like our SynthWave, sparkly and emotional. Boosel wraps the listener up in a warm haze of vintage drum sounds, lush chords and melodies that slip into your mind. City Light’s is a nice combination of soundtrack-esque sounds with just a hint of Boosel’s ChipTune influences. It;s a really slick piece of SynthWave, we can’t help but wonder what it would sound like with vocals though.

♫ Arcade High – City Lights

Arcade High’s The Art Of Youthis out now.

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Sep 17 2012

Arcade High’s ‘Only In July’

Bringing a vibe for reminiscing about all the awesome times you had over the summer comes Arcade High with a new, free, single, Only In July. Ryan Boosel is rapidly becoming somewhat of a prolific artist in the old SynthWave game. It seems we can;t go a month with out a new Arc hade High release these days, and he never let’s up on the quality either!

Only In July is Arcade High’s “farewell to the summer”, and he has captured that mood perfectly. It’s a track build ion gentle waves of warm synths melodies that immediately sound like an old friend. Only In July displays a relaxed energy that really does feel like the winding down of a few months filled with love and laughter. It’s not melancholic, just nostalgic and pensive, but in a good way. Ryan’s mastery of lush synth layering and lead lines shines through making each synth one part in an orchestra of good memories.

♫ Arcade High – Only In July

Arcade High’s Only In Julyis out now.

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Aug 22 2012

Arcade High’s ‘Beauty Queen’ EP

Hot on the heels of his The Art Of Youth album, Pittsburgh SynthWave producer Arcade High has this week released a new EP, Beauty Queen. We really liked his album, but with this EP he seems to have stepped things up a notch including his first exploration of vocal tracks (apart from the Maddie Ardillo featuring Crush).

The EP kicks off with it’s title track. A gentle, nostalgic, easing into the proceedings. A beautiful swirl of retro sounds, a cascade of the sounds of growing up in the ‘80’s. A theme which reoccurs throughout the EP, but is most evident in the dancing melodies of Beauty Queen. Which leads us to Blacktop Rendezvous. This is the EP for us, this is the easily standout track. This is the track where Arcade High, A.K.A. Ryan Boosel, beaks out his vocal chops, and he nails it. The simple addition of an emotionally resonant, very personal, vocal elevates the track beyond what we would have expected from the EP. When we featured the video for Blacktop Rendezvous earlier in the week, we likened the track to “an ‘80’s SynthWave version of The Postal Service”. Both in songwriting and vocal style the are a lot of similarities between Boosel and the Post Service’s Ben Gibbard. The introspection, the vocal quirks that made Gibbard’s vocals so listenable are all present in Blacktop Rendezvous. Couple that with some sweet vintage ElectroPop and you have a track that worth the asking price of the whole EP alone. Dream Of Me follows and gets us back into the post-Italo SynthWave groove with an infectious groove and sparking synths. As with most of the EP, Dream Of Me is a fairly upbeat tune that conceals a layer of haunting melancholy, like the best ‘80’s tunes, which, we suppose, could be a metaphor for coming-of-age tale the EP represents. Up next is the deep romanticism of Prom Night, Everything you’d expect from this moment in an ‘80’s teen movie is present, gently swelling chimes, slow bass, and a sax solo, all adding to the ambiance that flow into the EP’s closer, You Said Forever. This final track feels like the prefect closer to the EP’s narrative. Slightly bittersweet in it’s use of deep warm synth sounds conveying a sense of sadness while a shot of optimist is introduced with the lead line. Arcade High’s début album was well received ‘round these parts, but with this new EP, he’s well and truly blown us away. Definitely something you should look into.

♫ Arcade High – Blacktop Rendezvous

♫ Arcade High – Beauty Queen

♫ Arcade High – Dream Of Me

Arcade High’s Beauty Queen EP is out now.

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Aug 20 2012

Arcade High’s ‘Blacktop Rendezvous’ video

Here’s a brand new song and video from Arcade High, Blacktop Rendezvous. It’s taken from the forthcoming Beauty Queen EP and sounds like an 80’s SynthWave version of The Postal Service. And that’s amazing!

Arcade High’s Ryan Boosel himself directed this video, loaded with youthful exuberance.

Arcade High’s Beauty Queen EP is released 21st August.

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Jul 27 2012

Lueur Verte reMixes Arcade High

arcade-high

The Maddie Ardillo featuring Crush was one of the highlights of Pittsburgh’s SynthWave export Arcade High’s recent album The Art Of Youth. As seeing as how it’s was an all round excellent album that’s really saying something. So good was it that French retro Electro master Lueur Verte couldn’t keep his hands off it and delivers a stunning, hazy, rework of the tune.

Lueur Verte brings all his skills to the table here, crafting a delicious dream of a track. Sweet vintage synth lines crash against the Italo beats like waves of nostalgia. Each wash conjuring the mood of decades gone by. The synths sparkle, the bassline bounces along, the chords are rich and emotive, Lueur Verte plays to his strengths and works the vocal to bring out a new kind of passion in the performance. Uplifting and euphoric. There are some who are right at the top of the 80’s synth scene, Lueur Verte is definitely one.

♫ Arcade High (Feat. Maddie Ardillo) – Crush (Lueur Verte reMix)

Arcade High’s The Art Of Youth is out now.

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Jul 9 2012

Arcade High’s ‘On The Edge Of Summer’

Arcade High

Late last month we reviewed Pittsburgh SynthWave producer Arcade High’s début album The Art Of Youth and was very impressed. The man must be a workaholic, the album is only just out and he’s already dropping new tunes.

On The Edge Of Summer picks up the pace and injects some feel good vibes into Arcade Highs work. Just from the title you can infer what to expect here. Sunshine nostalgia in synthesizer form, this is a track with a slight Dreamwave feel to it and a carefree attitude that come across in playful melodies and a smooth, laid back, rhythm section. Stick this track on, lie back, and relax.

♫ Arcade High – On The Edge Of Summer

Archade High’s The Art Of Youth is out now, for free!

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Jun 25 2012

Arcade High’s début album

Arcade High

Pittsburgh based SynthWave artist Arcade High’s music is a cross between the kinda of SynthWave we are used to, influenced my ‘80’s TV and Movie themes, and the adrenaline chaos of video game arcades a couple of decades ago. Prepare for sweet lead lines with a ChipTune edge with his début album The Art Of Youth.

Appropriately the into track is called ‘Inset Coin’ and after a selection of 8-bit sounds we are dropped into the first song proper, Miami Nights. It’s in this track that you start to get a feel for Arcade high. Rich retro synths build thick, nostalgic sound full of synth flourishes and uplifting progressions. There’s something thoughtful and pensive about Arcade High’s music, despite his neon flashing muse. The albums highlights, for us, were 1987, a deep boogie of a cop show theme tune with a video game lead line amidst the shimmering synths. Electric City is digital bassline gold, growling like an angry Italo beast and providing a core for the Disco-esque lead line to play around it’s space. The surprise track of the record was Crush, the albums only vocal track that enlists the voice of Maddie Ardillo and delivers a catchy Italo slow-jam with a ‘90’s Indie overtone. The whole eleven tracks of The Art Of Youth are worthy of your attention, a strong début for Arcade High. Did we mention it was free?

♫ Arcade High – Miami Nights