Sep 25 2012

Robots With Rayguns’ new album

Today sees the release of LA ElectroPop producer Robots With Rayguns’ second album. Following 2010’s Electro Isn’t Dead, this new record sees Lucas Patrick Smith continuing down his path of retro styled SynthPop with modern production.

RWR is a collection of ten dancefloor oriented synthesizer workouts. Robots With Rayguns’ music has always been painted with a brush of retro 80’s synth, but sounds too clean and digital to really sit amongst the vintage haze of SynthWave and Outrun, and RWR perfectly displays this unique sound. Take Reflex, the album’s first track proper, it’s a grinding Nu-Disco-esque groove with lush Dreamwave synths and a little chainsaw Electro in there, but the biting production give it a Germanic, almost EBM edge, making it slightly more abrasive, more aggressive than it’s counterparts. Your Love, featuring the vocals of Blu-J is an example of Robots With Rayguns at his best, when working with a simple vocal hook, RWR seems to shine that little bit brighter, and be able to bring some of that ‘80’s warmth into his tracks. This culminates in his collaboration with Patrick Baker, Runaway, the album’s highlight. On Runaway Patrick’s vocals are bring a real human feel, allowing Robots With Rayguns to deliver a rich synthetic backing track (including his beloved pitched up vocals) which combines to produce a catchy , euphoric, ElectroPop monster. Elsewhere the album slips between blissful, nostalgic, Dreamwave-esque tracks and full-on Electro floorfillers. Occasionally RWR slips into Futurecop! lite, but when Robots With Rayguns finds his own voice, the album really flies.

♫ Robots With Rayguns (Feat. Patrick Baker) – Runaway

♫ Robots With Rayguns – Reflex

♫ Robots With Rayguns – Control

♫ Robots With Rayguns – Keep It Simple

Robots With Rayguns’ RWR is out today on Bandcamp.

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Sep 19 2012

Chordashian’s ‘Illusion’

Chordashian have joined the Binary family! When did that happen? I’m sure I’m supposed to get a memo about these things. I’m definitely going to say it was a good call from Josh and Kyle bringing these guys into the fold, we’ve been supporting Chordashian in these pages for a while now and the Brooklyn duo seem like a perfect fit.

Their first single for Binary is a free download, Illusion. Whenever I read the word Illusion my mind immediately switched to Just An Illusion by Imagination mode, Chordashian’s new tune is nothing to do with that infectious ‘80’s hit, and may just be catchy enough to break Imagination’s mental monopoly. This Illusion is a rolling slice of Beach Disco, a pumping Housey jam with a Tropical feel. It’s got a nice warehouse groove that really get you moving, and washed that with a layer of sun-kissed Disco sounds, wicked licks and some ace digital sax, to add a good-times flavour to the mix. top everything off with some distant, dreamy, vocals and you’ve got the prefect beach party tune.

♫ Chordashian – Illusion

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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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Sep 13 2012

Room8 (and Electric Youth)

Blimey! We’re not really sure who Ezra Reich and Nic Johns A.K.A. Room8 actually are, their email came out of the blue, but you have to give them credit off the bat for putting together all the prefect elements to relive the golden years of modern Electro. New retro synth record? Check. Featuring Electric Youth? Check. Artwork by The Zonders? Check. It’s like we’re partying like it’s 2007 (when we all pretended it was 1985)

But the namedropping doesn’t stop there, Room8’s new album, Transduction, also features Martha Davis from, The Motels, M83 saxophonist Ian Young, guitar work from Giorgio Moroder arranger Richie Zito, and was mixed by mixed with Gavin Mackillop (Human League, General Public, Heaven 17). That’s a hell of a support staff! Visions Of You, the Electric Youth featuring track off the album is a frantic, Italo tinged, ElectroPop track that perfectly pairs up Bronwyn’s sweet vocals with some classic retro synth work while Neon And Dice lets that sax flow over some rich, smooth electronics. Both track are amazing examples of SynthWave done right. Can’t wait to hear the rest of this album!”

♫ Room8 (Feat. Electric Youth) – Visions Of You

♫ Room8 – Neon And Dice

Room8’s Transduction is out soon.

Check out more from Room8 on SoundCloud.

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Sep 13 2012

Quinten 909’s ‘Closer To Me’

Out this week is the new monster from Dutch Nu-Disco producer Quinten 909. Bringing on-board American funkster Mayhem for a talkbox groove workout, Quinten drops Closer To Me on On The Fruit Records just in time for the warn evening of the end of the summer. Because these are pure evening jams. Time to get sexy.

You should definitely take the time (or the whole afternoon) to check out every version of Closer To Me, but for us the highlights are the Classic Mix, a soaring synth, warbling talkbox, Disco basslined juggernaut of laid back funk. Infectious and impossible not to move to, Closer To Me brings together all the elements of the groove into one giant groove machine. So what can be better than that? Three little words. Ride The Universe. The four Dreamwave warriors add a little Dub sound to their slick as all hell synthetic Disco, and with the talkbox vocals in tow it’s an unbeatable combination that just goes to prove why Ride the Universe are the top of their game.

♫ Quinten 909 (Feat. Mayhem) – Closer To Me (Classic Mix)

♫ Quinten 909 (Feat. Mayhem) – Closer To Me (Ride The Universe reMix)

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Sep 13 2012

Tesla Boy’s ‘Fantasy’ video

Here’s the new video for the amazing Tesla Boy’s devastatingly good recent single Fantasy.

Complimenting the sexy DiscoPop is a clip featuring model Dasha Malygina. i should tell you something about it, but I’ll wait until you’ve watched it.

It’s NSFW, just so you know.

Tesla Boy’s Fantasy is out now.

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Sep 5 2012

Keenhouse’s new album

Ken Rangkuty has long been one of the most interesting, and talented artists working in Dreamwave/Nu-Disco. In fact, he’s been a favourite of ours for so long it’s hard to believe that Four Dreams, released this week, is only his second album. As Keenhouse, ken has been a pioneer in the melodic retro synth field, first coming to our attention back when he was championed by the Valerie Collective and was very much part of putting Dreamwave together, both as a musician and as a part of the Binary stable. His music keeps evolving, more so than many of his contemporaries, and this new album, inspired by Keenhouse’s worldwide travels, encompasses all his myriad influences.

Kicking off with the stabbing chill HousePop of Lost In the Night the album, you immediately notice the wild variety of musical cultures present on this record. East Asian instrumentation, in particular, get’s readily worked into Keenhouse’s jazzy synth dreams. Most evident on Echoplants and Taura. As we predicted in July, the album flows from one track to the other and on the whole is really a concept album, a music journey to represent Keenhouse’s travels and listening to the album as a whole (the only way it should be heard) you really feel the mood shift as if moving from place to place. Where I Belong, the albums preview track is one of the records highlights, an upbeat, spacey tune that is just one part of the whole experience. Ken’s gentle, hushed vocals are the prefect compliment for many of the tracks on this album, such as Twilight Bridge, an energetic Synth Funk workout which seems to serve as a bridge, hurrying the listener from one section of the record to the next. In fact, it does feel like this album is broken into chapters, each part of the story featuring quieter moments and moments of grandeur. Diary 11 is one of those majestic moments, powerfully combining ominous chords with uplifting piano and and a soaring synth lead. There’s also time, such as the experimental Lounge Jazz of Patchworld, where Ken indulges himself and just had fun with things. Things get a little more frantic toward the end of the record, culminating in the hypnotic synth House groove of Wet Earth, before Ken signs off with The Lullaby Of Keenhouse, a soothing piano track that is a final testament to Kens musicianship. While all this may sound a little ambient, don’t get us wrong there are many club tunes on Four Dreams, such as the pumping Emergence and the tense I Can’t Sleep Since, they just happen to be slightly more musical, and intelligent that your standard ‘banger’. Four Dreams is a masterpiece that invites the listener to enjoy the wealth of Keenhouse’s diverse cultural experiences and multi-instrumental musical talent, whilst pleasing with familiar synth jams. Very, very recommended.

♫ Keenhouse – Where I Belong

♫ Keenhouse – Diary 11

♫ Keenhouse – Wet Earth

♫ Keenhouse – Twilight Bridge

Keenhouse’s Four Dreams album was released yesterday on Binary.

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Sep 5 2012

Televisor featuring Patrick Baker

Check out the kind of awesome things that happen when two massive talents get together. We’ve previously shown love to both British/Dutch Nu-Disco collaboration Televisor and awesome retro ElectroPop artist Patrick Baker. What happens? Pure funky vintage Pop is what happens!

Run Away, the result of this meeting of minds, is a summery Pop gem, loaded with Televisior’s synth Funk and Baker’s Pop sensibilities it’s a track that you can’t help but smile to. Dominated by massive retro synths and Baker’s classic Pop croon it’s an easy-breezy song, but once the sax solo hits, it;s taken to the next level.

♫ Televisor (Feat. Patrick Baker) – Run Away

Check out more from Televisor on SoundCloud.

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Sep 5 2012

Noosa reMixes Cinnamon Girl

Camilla Roholm A.K.A. Cinnamon Girl’s Devil In Me is the first track we’re really feeling from this Danish songstress, but we are really feeling it. It looks set to be her breakthrough tune, and with it will come a host of reMixes. One that has caught out ear right now is this version from New York DreamPop outfit Noosa.

Noosa tame the raucous post-ElectroClash of the original, smoothing it out for a totally different, but no less fun, vibe. Gone are the chainsaw synths in favour of dreamy guitar and easy going synths. Held together with a dancefloor beat, this carefree reMix is just the ticket for summer parties. Cinnamon Girl’s vocals work amazingly well in both contexts, but right here it’s time to just give in to the swirling DreamPop of this take on the song.

♫ Cinnamon Girl – Devil In Me (Noosa reMix)

Devil In Me is out now, available from Cinnamon Girl’s Bandcamp.

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Sep 4 2012

Tommy’s ‘Outer Space Adventurer’

Yesterday Frenchman Tommy, one of the leading lights of the second wave of SynthWave producers, and hands down one of the best SynthWave producers out there, released his début full length album, Outer Space Adventurer. With a handful if singles and EPs behind him, Tommy’s body of work has always impressed and seen this prolific producer rise above his contemporises both in terms of musicality and production.Now his album is here we are glad to report, it was worth the wait.

The soundtrack to an imaginary space opera epic, Outer Space Adventurer is a musical journey, one track flowing effortlessly to the next, sliding from one mood to the next, as it lays out a narrative of interstellar exploration. Did we mention it was long too? Twenty tracks of blissed out Sci-Fi SynthWave ranging from high energy Italo workouts to dreamy introspective mood pieces. The whole album is quite the masterpiece, there’s far too much awesomeness to catalogue it all right here, so hear are four of our favourites from Outer Space Adventurer. Blast Off Into Space is the first proper track on the album and where the Italo vibe really gets going. Punchy arpeggios create a rock solid groove for Tommy’s shimmering space age synth line to dance atop. The combination of the rhythm section, steady and mechanical and the keys exuding a sense of wonder realty sets the scene for the album’s story. Destination Ultime is the kind of track where Tommy let’s his Vangelis-esque side shine. A beautifully atmospheric piece, layers of synthesizer goodness and soaring lead lines convey a total futuristic fascination. The Hour Has Come To Fight is, I suppose, the albums action set piece. Far from brutal though, The Hour Has Come To Fight is a bright slab of retro ElectroPop. Energetic and euphoric it really feels like the album’s kinetic high point. The duelling square and sine lead lines are pure synth joy. Fugitives And Hunters is another of Tommy’s more introspective works. Pounding ‘80’s drums and an ominous ambience are tempered with some optimistic sounding keys that seem to soar over the lush tonal pallet below. If you are at all a fan of synth music, of ‘80’s sounds, or even Sci-Fi, then Tommy’s Outer Space Adventurer is an essential album, and a benchmark for the new breed of SynthWave.