Author Archives: Crash

Jun 18 2012

Mitch Murder’s new EP

Mitch Murder

Mitch Murder, the master of all things SynthWave, dropped a new EP over the weekend. The amount of new material Mitch is treating us to is amazing, and all of is literally blows the cometition out of the water. The ‘MARS’ EP is Mitch Murder on fine soundtrack form. Hold on to your space boots, we’re in for a wild electronic Sc-Fi ride.

The ‘MARS’ EP is somewhat Mitch Murder’s tribute to the artist and designer of the future Mœbius, who passed away recently. A red planet themed journey through science fiction soundscapes in that way only Mitch Murder can. The man’s skill with a synthesizer is only matched by his production chops. ‘The Deimos Incident’ is good indicator of what the EP holds, it’s a moody atmospheric peice, ominous like the planet itself but shot through with the optimism of exploration. Mitch has totally nailed the reflective ‘80’s drums and dreamlike synths. ‘Valles Marineris Pursuit’ is a twisting, sparkling slice of synthesizer gold, much like it’s EP companion ‘Phobos Gun Run’ which we featured previously, it;s got a strong Vince DiCola flavour realty capturing the ‘80’s futuristic mood with it’s lush stabs and winding melodies. We can’t really stress enough how Mitch Murder is the cream of the Synthwave crop. Flawless production & musicianship to such a high level he leaves others in his dust. Go pick up this EP right now if you are at all into electronic music.

♫ Mitch Murder – The Deimos Incident

♫ Mitch Murder – Valles Marineris Pursuit

Mitch Murder’s MARS’ is out now on his Bandcamp.

Buy Mitch Murder’s music from:

Jun 18 2012

Moonlight Matters reMixed by Punks Jump Up

moonlight-matters

You can head over here for our waffle about Moonlight Matters and Gustraph’s new single, ‘Come For Me’. It’s a massive Pop track, with that twanging late ‘80’s digital bass and orchestral hits we love so much. The single is out today on Kitsuné Music, but if you’re just gagging to hear the reMix from London’s Punks Jump Up, well, you’re in luck aren’t you.

Punks Jump Up keep in touch with the late ‘80’s Pop ethos of the track but deconstruct the tune and reconstruct it in their own image. Awash with Electro Boogie, the reMix is a sweet mixture of House beats and B-Boy basslines. Punks Jump Up has also kept on working the orchestral hits, well, who wouldn’t? That would be just crazy. In keeping with the late ‘80’s vibe they’ve also added a little of their Acid tendencies with a burbling 303 hook running underneath that comes into it’s own on the big breakdown. As far as the reMixes go on the single, it’s definitely our favourite, a great addition to the package.

♫ Moonlight Matters (Feat. Gustraph) – Come For Me (Punks Jump Up Freestyle Mix)

Moonlight Matters’ ‘Come To Me’ EP is out now, with the Punks jump up reMix an iTunes exclusive.

Buy Moonlight Matters’ music from:

Jun 18 2012

Poolside’s ‘Slow Down’ video

The new single from LA Duo Poolside, ‘Slow Down’, is a laid back, dreamy, summer Dreamwave jam that just let you know not to worry, everything’s gonna’ be alright.

The video is suitably play into the Downtempo Disco groove with  a surreal and carefree pool party directed by Shahana Khan.

Poolside’s new album, ‘Pacific Standard Time’, is out 9th July.

Buy Poolside’s music from:

      

Jun 18 2012

The Zira synthesizer

There’s always something pretty special about homebrew Synthesizers. there a love to them you don;t always find with mass produced kit.

That this instance, Paul Maddox heads up Vaco Loco, makers of unique electronic music devices and he’s a massive SynthWave and ‘80’s fan, so you know he builds kit he want’s to use. He’s just produced the Zira MonoSynth which currently uses the LowPass filter from the Korg Poly 800. It’s a dual digital oscillator, analog filter synth for a nice 80’s sound. Check out the demonstration video for a good overview of how this tiny beast sounds.

The Zira runs down as follows:

* Two oscillators, each with 48 wave forms, a sub oscillator and hard sync.
* Analogue LowPass 24dB/Oct filter. Zira uses the NJM2069AD (New old
Stock) chip found in the Korg Poly 800, DW6000, DW8000 and DSS-1 to
give a stunning warm and rich filter sound.
* The VCA is part of the NJM2069AD and is a low noise, high quality VCA.
* Two ADSRs, one for the VCF and one for the VCA.
* LFO with 4 waveforms, with delay, single shot mode and four routing
destinations.
* All parameters editable via MIDI CC.
* 64 Patch memories.

And if you want to know  how the Zira sounds in the mix, here’s Depeche Mode’s ‘See You’, all on the Zira (save for the drums).

The Zira is £250 (assembled and in it’s case. So if you’re looking for an interesting new synth, and like supporting new synth makers, then Zira is definitely worth checking out.

Jun 18 2012

Hervé & Ronika: The reMixes

ronika

So, you may be enjoying the new single from Hervé, ‘How Can I Live Without You? (Make It Right)’, featuring out girl,  Madonna Of The Midlands™, Ronika. You may be enjoying it’s bass heave old school Rave vibe. But what if it’s just not bass heavy enough for you, if such a thing is even possible? Well, don’t worry yourself, Hervé has got you covered. The reMixes turn the bass heaviness up to 11.

Hervé sometime partner in crime Sinden is up first with a stomping tribal Rave mix that drops you into a deep hypnotic groove before smacking you in the face with that massive riff. Hervé, in his Death Rose Cult alter-ego, drops a truly massive reMix that straddles the line between rave and Dubstep by layering buzzsaw rough synth over a pumping beat. This is the one that’s gonna’ rip your face off on the dancefloor. Detboi serves up a future Garage mix complete with shuffling beats and warp bassline, not heard a full on Garage track in quite a while, Detboi delivers it flawlessly. These guys really need to stop being greedy with the bass or there will be no bass left for anyone else!

♫ Hervé (Feat. Ronika) – How Can I Live Without You? (Make It Right) (Make It Right) (Sinden reMix)

♫ Hervé (Feat. Ronika) – How Can I Live Without You? (Make It Right) (Death Rose Cult reMix)

♫ Hervé (Feat. Ronika) – How Can I Live Without You? (Make It Right) (Detboi reMix)

‘How Can I Live Without You? (Make It Right)’ is out soon.

Buy Hervé’s music from:

Jun 18 2012

Mirrors’ new video

‘Hourglass’ is the new single from SynthPop band Mirrors, and sees the sounding a little The Smiths.

The video is actually taken from an animated film ‘A Lovecraft Dream’ and hence get’s all Cthulhu.

‘Hourglass’ is out today.

Buy Mirrors’ music from:

     

Jun 18 2012

Lifelike’s June mixtape

lifelike

Lifelike – Mixtape June 2012 = Here’s French Touch legend Lifelike’s latest mixtape. it’s full of filtered summery grooves, which is perfect timing seeing as (here in the UK) it has finally stopped raining. Bring on the sun!

♫ Lifelike – Mixtape June 2012

The tracklist:

01. Pitchben – Soda (Lorenz Rode reMix)
02. Pitchben – Stand Up (Tiger & Woods reMix)
03. Scandal – Just Let Me Dance (Maxxi Soundsystem reMix)
04. Kris Menace & The Kiki Twins – We Are (PWNTIAC reMix)
05. Dionigi – Italo Girls 80 (Original Mix)
06. Sébastien Tellier – Cochon Ville (The Magician reMix)
07. Cabaret Voltaire – Easy Life (Original 1990 Mix).
08. Mason – The Kickoff (Original mix)
09. Brazen – Wishing Heart (Fonzerelli Big Hair reMix)
10. Van She – Idea Of Happiness (SebastiAn reMix)
11. Mr. Gonzo – Dance On You (Tagteam Terror reMix)
12. Mickey & Monarchy – Love For Sale (Safari reMix)
13. Popular Computer – Popheart (Lifelike reMix)
14. Bonar Bradberry – Loose Grip (Original Mix)
15. Sébastien Tellier – Cochon Ville (Original Mix)

Lifelike & Popular Computer’s ‘Getting High’ is out now.

Buy Lifelike’s music from:

Jun 18 2012

Freezepop’s new ‘Doppelganger’ videos

One of our favourite cute SynthPop tracks of the last couple of years was long times faves Freezepop’s ‘Doppelganger’.

Now the video has been re-cut, the directors cut if you will, along with two new versions for the good ‘Goodnice’ reMix and the not quite so good ‘Badd-Bagg’ reMix.

You can see the two sides of Freezepop in their native environment here, and switch between the two.

Buy Freezepop’s music from:

    

Jun 18 2012

Breakbot & Oliver

breakbot

We all got hold of the surprising B-side to French groover Breakbot’s new single a while back. Now we can check out the singles lead track which sees Breakbot back together with Irfane and sounding a bit more like the Breakbot we all know and love.

‘One Out Of Two’ is a gorgeous slice of late ‘70’s synthesizer Funk which, like the B-Side, Programme’ sees Breakbot working some interesting instrumentation into his tracks. It’s some seriously smooth, lazy Disco with a uplifting catchy chorus. Also it sounds like a wacky late ‘70’s sitcom theme. The standout of the single is easily the reMix from LA Oliver themed duo Oliver, who consistently blow us away with each new track. Here they bring a sexy late night vibe to the track with that mix of Disco and Dreamwave that Oliver do best. Wicked Disco licks and strings sit next to bouncy retro synths as Oliver work the vocal and make it even more catchy than the original.

♫ Breakbot (Feat. Irfane) – One Out Of Two (Oliver reMix)

♫ Breakbot (Feat. Irfane) – One Out Of Two

‘One Out Of Two’ is out today.

Buy Breakbot’s music from:

Jun 15 2012

Synthesizer Zen

This week’s capsule of Synthesizer Zen, to carry you into the weekend, comes from analog Disco master. Arnaud Rebotini chatting about, I believe, CV/Gate syncing and stuff in French.

Video courtesy of YouTube user piepielolo.