This week’s capsule of Synthesizer Zen, to carry you into the weekend, comes from this short documentary about the Roland TR-808 .
Video courtesy of Vimeo user Focus Forward Films.
Yes. You read that headline right. I honestly don’t know that to tell you, London’s Nude Disco is just like that.
Vern claims that if he didn’t do it, then somebody else would have sooner or later, we’re not so sure. Only history will be the judge of whether taking The Nolans’ 1980 hit Who’s Gonna’ Rock You? and turning into a massive filtered Disco floorfiller is a stroke of madcap genius or just plain insanity. Ah, what the hell, it’s awesome! Have a good weekend!
♫ The Nolans – Who’s Gonna’ Rock You? (Nude Disco reMix)
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Got the heads up about this over on Breaking More Waves, on of the UKs best, and most passionate, music blogs. Robin at BMW predicts that London ElectroPop duo Avec Sans will soon have the music blogosphere’s tongues wagging, and he could very well be right. So let’s start the ball rolling.
Avec Sans are Alice Fox and Jack St James who, after a seriously classy cover of Bon Iver’s Perth, have dropped this début tune, the amazingly titled Heartbreak Hi. Amazingly titled ‘cos not only is it a reference to casually greeting heartbreak, but also sounds like an awesome Australian teen drama from the early ‘90’s. Now that’s wordplay! The track itself is glorious, rousing slice of razor sharp ElectroPop. With a very slight Industrial quality to it, that is tempered by Alice Fox’s impassioned vocals. It’s rare for a new ElectroPop act to come along and sound so polished and mature from the get-go. Avec Sans are going to do big things, mark my words.
♫ Avec Sans – Perth (Bon Iver Cover)
[Via Breaking More Waves]
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Hot on the heels of his recent MARS EP, which was hot on the heels of his awesome Current Events album, comes this new hot track from SynthWave legend (Yes. I said legend. What?) Mitch Murder. All that being hot on the heels stuff must be pretty hard to keep up with, but Mr. Murder keeps releasing tune after tune that literally blows 95% of his peers out of the water. When Mitch drops a new SynthWave track, it;s in a totally different ballpark.
Daybreak is his latest offering, captures the good vibes of Tropical Disco and the sunrise euphoria of Balearic House, takes those feelings and applies them to his deeply musical SynthWave. The ability to conjure a mood in music, and to let that music resonate the mood back to the listener is on of Mitch Murders biggest strengths, and here the man delivers the ambience of sunrises, deserted beaches, waves lapping at their shores. Not a place Mitch has taken us to before, but one he handles with effortless perfection. This is synthesizer art, Mitch paint a aural picture for the listener with rich synth textures.
Mitch Murder’s MARS’ is out now on his Bandcamp.
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Rogue Vogue is that rare beast, a Chicago House producer actually from Chicago. I wonder if that makes him really smug at Chicago House producer get-togethers? If it was me I would well play the Chicago card all the time.
His latest track, When I Looked At You, was premiered on the last of The Magician’s Magic Tapes, and is released soon through French Express. It’s a proper deep Chicago groove complete with piano hook and hollow bass. Apparently, with the resurgence of early ‘90’s House sounds people are saying “jackin’” again, well this is without a doubt a jackin’ tune with a smooth vocal hook. Proper late night danceflor stuff whit this amazing lead line that occasionally drops in and out. This is the real deal.
♫ Rogue Vogue – When I Looked At You
Check out more from Rogue Vogue on SoundCloud.
Dutch SynthWaver Met Mitchell is one have of production duo Legan And Met, who we’ve featured here a once or twice. He’s just dropped a couple of new solo tunes that show his journey into vintage synth music is about to go to the next level.
Folding in a little ChipTune into his SynthWave, Met’s Echoes Like Shadows is a synthetic journey through retro sounds. Taking the soundtrack feel and emotional resonance from SynthWave and the video game sounds of ChipTune and combining them with a solid Italo groove makes for a pretty sweet track. A rich listening experience, Echoes Like Shadows is an impressive solo début. It’s follow up, En Route, is a slightly smoother affair, the synths are still buzzing and piercing, but the overall mood is more relaxed. This pensive track weaves along under a beautiful lead line, using lush synth sounds to thoughtful effect.
♫ Met Mitchell – Echoes Like Shadows
Check out more from Met Mitchell on SoundCloud.
There’s a few reMixes of Australian Pop superheroes Sneaky Sound System’s new single Friends around, the whole single package is really good, including work from BeNi, Sneaky SoundSystem’s own Black Angus and an awesome mix from Plastic Plates we featured last week. Of the tracks on the single that are fresh to our ears, the mixes from Jonny Pow!! and Norman Doray are the standouts.
Plastic Plates aside, Jonny Pow!! delivers the best of the crop. A Funky ElectroPop tune that takes Connie’s big vocal and adds more Disco groove and this infections synth hook that worms it’s way into your brain. This is definitely, alongside the Plastic Plates mix, the more intelligent reMix in the package. For summer DiscoPop connoisseurs If you want massive danceflor action, then Norman Doray delivers, generic Trance lead aside it’ll do the job, just try not to think about it too hard. It’s all good fun.
♫ Sneaky Sound System – Friends (Jonny Pow!! reMix)
♫ Sneaky Sound System – Friends (Norman Doray reMix)
Sneaky Sound System’s Friends is out now.
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OK, try an ignore the fact that Swagbot is a truly terrible name, the guy is a young Canadian producer who generally makes some pretty decent Italo noises. But right now just sit back and enjoy the massive SynthWave sounds that Manchester’s Mindscramble has produced in reMixing him.
Mindscramble (which, no dis, isn’t gonna’ win prizes in the names category either), conjures up such a rich tapestry of synthetic sounds with is reMix of Planet X that it’s hard not to get lost in this track. Intricately programmed riffs fly left and right while a solid, but emotional, rhythm section keeps the densely layered tune in check. It’s hard to produce tracks with so much going on, the mix is hard to get right, but Mindscramble seems to handle the balance with ease. With an underlying euphoria that shows Mindscramble’s roots this reMix is both driving and emotionally resonant, and what more could you ask for on the dancefloor?
♫ Swagbot – Planet X (Mindscramble reMix)
Swagbot’s Planet X is out now.
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Here’s the history of Electro-Rock outfit Shiny Toy Guns. In 2004 they are an awesome New Wave/ElectroPop band. In 2005 the release the slightly more guitary, but still amazing We Are Pilots. In 2006 they sign to a major and re-release that album as, basically an electronically based alt rock album. In 2008 they kick out singer Carah Faye (boo!) and it all turns into tedious mediocre rock. Stuff happens between 2008-2011 that isn’t very interesting. In 2011 they get Carah Faye back (yay!) and start releasing some really interesting material. And here we are.
Waiting Alone was released this week, their new single, and it really plays to Shiny Toy Guns’ strengths. Carah Faye and Chad doing call-and-response vocals, big beats and lush synths, sprinkled with a little guitar and a big passionate performance. The thing about Carah Faye’s vocals, and indeed Chad’s too, is that they always sound so real, so genuine. It’s very nice to hear Shiny Toy Guns back in the electronic arena. If they keep this up we’ll be very interested to hear their forthcoming new album, III.
♫ Shiny Toy Guns – Waiting Alone
Shiny Toy Guns’ Waiting Alone is out now.
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electronic rumors 