Here’s the new video for Shiny Toy Guns’ Dreamwave epic Fading Listening. The track is taken from the LA Indie-Electro outfit’s excellent third album, III.
Luke Eberl and Edgar Morais direct this clip which kinda; continues a current trend for videos with mini-me’s in/
Shiny Toy Gun’s III is out now.
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It’s that time again. Time to kick off your shoes, put your feel up and sink into the blissful nostalgia of Mr. Mitch Murder, the heavyweight champion of SynthWave and retro electronic music. Mitch is in the place once more to show everyone how vintage synth music should be done, and his new tune, Operator, does exactly that.
Operator, in the context of an 80s movie soundtrack, would be the ‘busy montage’ scene. Conveying a sense of urgency with popping synth riffs and bouncy arpeggios until the big sweeping chords enter the track to make everything seem more important. The way Mitch cuts in and out of the various sections of his tunes is one of his masterstrokes, switching the listener from mood to mood whilst keeping an overall musical continuity. The work of a true soundtrack genius.
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LexiconDon singles are coming thick and fast now, hopefully this means the album is on the horizon the latest track, Pretending, is a freebie. The track shows another side to LexiconDon, set against the three other recent singles. Single four is probably a good time to bring in a different mood ahead of the album.
Haunting and atmospheric? No, I prefer dreamy and hazy. Pretending is like the musical equivalent of waves lapping on a beach. A warm and moody ElectroPop track that is loaded with lush sounds and rich chords that intermix with distant effected vocals. At time the track seems in danger of slipping into Chillwave territory, but never fully crosses the line, the steady kick and LA vibe keeping in firmly in the land of groove. It’s good to know that the new album will be soothing the soul as well as bringing the party.
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UK SynthWave superheroes Futurecop! have spent the last couple of months busying away in the studio, cooking up a selection of tracks that they have been giving away for free on their SoundCloud page. Now, with the release of their latest tune, a tribute to the late, legendary, John Hughes, these almost an album;s worth of material out there. So, Futurecop! have collected it into a SoundCloud set for you listening pleasure.
There’s seven tracks in the collection so far, but here’s our pick of the breezy synth tunes on offer. The most recent track Futurecop! have unleashed is John Hughes (Teenage Love), obviously a homage to the greatest teen movie director to have ever lived, and it’s a track that could fit right into the soundtrack of any Hughes movie. Thick with Futurecop!’s trademark nostalgia, John Hughes (Teenage Love) is an upbeat party tune that takes you back in time whilst moving your feet. Dictionary has a more 80s British Pop feel to it thanks to the plucked guitar sound and rolling bassline. It’s a sprawling SynthWave tune that’s full of atmosphere. Taking a more traditional Futurecop! route is The Sun Is Mine, all driving arpeggios and soaring leads that perfectly mixes a retro sound and modern arrangement. ‘Till Eternity (I Miss You) is the collections reflective piece, a shimmering wall of snyths and gentle piano, set to a laid back beat, they captures and exemplifies Futurecop!’s dreamy outlook on life. the whole collection is free to download and at seven new tracks, should tide you over ‘till Futurecop!’s next album.
♫ Futurecop! – John Hughes (Teenage Love)
♫ Futurecop! – The Sun Is Mine
♫ Futurecop! – ‘Till Eternity (I Miss You)
You can find the complete set of Futurecop!’s recent free work right here.
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London based SynthWave producer 80s Stallone has always been at the top of the scene. Having been around since the scenes early days, back on MySpace, he could be considered an OG of Outrun. and also a staple on these pages. One of the unsung heroes of 80s synth music, Stallone today releases his new album, Hotline, which is twelve tracks of robotic, romantic, retro awesomeness.
Hotline is a collection of a few tracks we’ve heard before, but mostly new material, that perfectly displays why 80s Stallone is so revered amongst fans of SynthWave. Driven kicks the album off, it;s a pumping track we’ve heard before and although being a high energy opener it’s an odd choice for track one, it doesn’t really represent the rest of the album, being almost Psy-Trance in places. Daylight follows, now this is more like it. Daylight is a slick retro synth track with some haunting, but infectious vocoded vocals and a bright, reverby lead line, that lends itself to the nostalgic contemplation that this album so expounds. Summer Lovers is another well played Dreamwave track that was on repeat round these parts when it first broke ground which gets you in a comfortable beach vibe before smacking you in the face with the Electro Funk of Work Your Body, which rocks B-Boy Beats and robo vocals against warm, emotional melodies. unfortunately, Quantum Leap isn’t 80s Stallone’s cover of the TV show them tune, but what it is though is a post-Italo Boogie bassline-fest. The albums highlights come thick and fast, Smoke & Mirrors dreamy Sci-Fi atmosphere nicely follows Super Pursuit Mode’s futuristic dystopian vibe. Radioactive brings a deep 80s Funk while Pictures begins the albums trail out with big Italo fashion with soaring solo work and hypnotic vocoding. Expectation powers the album toward it;s collusion with pulsating, moody snyths, before the album sees itself out with Time, an slick combination of machine beats, sparkling leads and classic SynthPop vocoded vocals. For lovers of synthesizer music, of all kinds, 80s Stallone’s Hotline can be considered pretty essential, an intelligent excursion into vintage synth music with a modern take.
♫ 80s Stallone – Daylight
♫ 80s Stallone – Work Your Body
♫ 80s Stallone – Smoke & Mirrors
♫ 80s Stallone – Pictures
♫ 80s Stallone – Time
80s Stallone’s Hotline is out today, pick up a copy here.
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It’s Oxford new tune, and from the moment that funky bass kicks in it’s goin’ off. The Frenchman has delivered another massive slice of Sci-Fi Disco. A pre-cursor to his forthcoming release, if the new single is anything like the slick groove found here, we can’t wait.
Combo hit you like the best French Electro and Disco. With a butt-shakingly infectious bassline, seriously this bassline is like a funky brain worm, Combo gets all the points of Disco just right. Lush strings, cosmic synths and a feel-good vibe wash all over this track, a track put together by someone who really knows what they are doing, musically. There’s even a nice baroque breakdown. I really hope the seemingly early fade is remedied if this track gets a proper release, it ends all too soon.
Check out more from Oxford on SoundCloud.
Russ Chimes – Expressway Mixtape Part 5 = Mr Chimes is finally back with the next instalment of his Expressway mixtapes. No longer just the domain of retro ElectroPop, Dreamwave and Disco, Chimes works a little House into the journey. The whole thing is the best hour long party you’ve been to in a long time!
♫ Russ Chimes – Expressway Mixtape Part 5
The tracklist:
01. Russ Chimes – Expressway 5 Intro.
02. Acos Coolkas – Free Flight (Sare Havlicek Mix (Russ’ Expressway Edit))
03. Bastille – Flaws (Russ Chimes reMix)
04. Kolombo – My Own Business
05. Hot Chip – Flutes (Sasha reMix)
06. Breach – You Won’t Find Love Again
07. Cassian – I Love It
08. Anna Lunoe & Touch Sensitive – Real Talk
09. Plezier – Plezier Anthem
10. Starsmith – Zeros
11. Montero – Indoshine
12. Russ Chimes – Back 2 You (Acid Jacks & Generik reMix)
13. Russ Chimes – Back 2 You
14. Real Nice & Cubiq – Had Enough
15. J. Wiltshire – Warning
16. Nneka – Shining Star (Joe Goddard reMix)
17. Andre Crom & Martin Dawson – Back To The Future (Flashmob reMix)
18. Ellie Goulding – Anything Can Happen (Alex Metric reMix)
19. Justin Martin – Don’t Go (Dusky reMix)
20. The Realbirds – Left, Left
21. Flume – Sleepless
Russ Chimes’ Back 2 You is released 30th July as a Beatport exclusive.
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Wearerussians are bringing us the best of Russian synth and Disco once again with the new EP from Hot Hot Hawk. the track itself, Rise And Down featuring the vocals of Ksenia Popova, has been out a while now. We covered it back in August, but now Wearerussians have dropped a full reMix package, for free no less.
Rise And Down, is a piercing vocal Disco track that nicely merges hot Hot Hawks lush, vintage sound with Ksenia’s accented vocals. Adding a little Tropical vibe to Hot Hot Hawks usual output, Rise And Fall has got more than a couple of summer anthem qualities. Phalanxes Of Fingers beef up the ‘80’s Disco side of Rise And Fall’s equation with big synth stabs and a playful lead line whist ElectroPopper Voyager instil the track with a warehouse vibe and some nice early ‘90’s House tones. Moskva-Kassiopeya deliver a pumping Electro track for their version. Starting off gently, Moskva-Kassiopeya gradually build their reMix into a galactic dancefloor monster. The reMix package also comes with work from electronic producer Acid Harbour, and the whole thing is well worth picking up. Russia shows us how it;s done once again!
♫ Hot Hot Hawk (Feat. Ksenia Popova) – Rise And Down
♫ Hot Hot Hawk (Feat. Ksenia Popova) – Rise And Down (Phalanxes Of Fingers reMix)
♫ Hot Hot Hawk (Feat. Ksenia Popova) – Rise And Down (Voyager reMix)
♫ Hot Hot Hawk (Feat. Ksenia Popova) – Rise And Down (Moskva-Kassiopeya reMix)
Hot Hot Hawk’s Rise And Down is out now. You can download the whole package from here.
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Our rekindled love affair with LA Electro-Rockers Shiny Toy Guns continues as everything we’ve heard off their new album, III, so far has been an excellent return-to-form, even embracing a bit of Tropical on their recent single Fading Listening. Shiny Toy Guns have always had a weird relationship with reMixes, they tend to attract middle-tier Electro producers who have seemed to deliver mediocre reMixes for the band, which we’ve always considered a shame. Shiny Toy Gun’s tracks are amazingly reMix-able, and they have had some talent work on them in the past, but nothing has ever really gelled. Treasure Fingers has a good ol’ attempt here though, and turns in one of the best Shiny Toy Guns reMixes we’ve heard.
His version of Fading Listening nicely plays on the LA Dreamwave vibe of the original and injects it with a little bouncy Electro and some touch Acid burbling. Bringing a little of his hard Disco vibe to the track, Treasure Fingers largely keeps the vocals intact and uses then to their fullest , brining the track down for Carah Faye’s verses and slickly rolling a syncopated synth bass along with the hazy choruses. Treasure Fingers provided a smooth summery Disco tune that heads toward a dirty synth finale. All we need now is for Shiny Toy Guns’ album to come out.
♫ Shiny Toy Guns – Fading Listening (Treasure Fingers Epicfadewave Mix)
Shiny Toy Gun’s III is released 22nd October.
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It was May this year that saw the evolution of Andrew Verner from RoboPop commissioner Short Circuit into slick ElectroPop act Touch Tone. His début single, Home Away From Home, was something really special that had talented producers clamouring to remix it. Now the Touch Tone follow-up is here and sees Andrew teaming up with LexiconDon’s Alex Koons for an old school Binary jam.
Make Believe is more Housey then we would have expected, and a lot more Tropical than Home Away From Home, but those two elements, in Verner’s hands, come together to form some sort of blissful holiday ElectroPop monster. An uplifting beast with a kind of unspecific nostalgia, the 909 beat and digital bass have obvious early 90’s House references, but the warm Dreamwave sounds and Island Disco lead line blur the specifics of sound and Touch Tone delivers a smooth, comfortable slice of Pop House that become more infectious with each listen. Alex Koons lends his brand of LexiconDon heartfelt storytelling to the track, and it turns out to be the perfect match, especially in the asthenic chorus. We expect producers to be clamouring to reMix this one too.
♫ Touch Tone (Feat. Alex Koons) – Make Believe
Touch Tone’s Make Believe is out now on Binary.
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electronic rumors 