Sep 4 2012

Alpha Boy’s ‘Heroes On Tape’ album

Berlin based SynthWave producer Norman Knight, better known as Alpha Boy, is fast becoming one of he most prolific artist on the scene. It was only April that he released his last compilation of work, the Blockbuster Album, and he’s already set with a brand new LP. Released today, Heroes On Tape cements Alpha Boy’s status as one of SynthWave’s unsung heroes. How does he keep the quality up?

From the second the album begins, with an intro piece titled Crus’n In 1982, it;s clear that despite his high quantity output, Alpha Boy isn’t just chucking out any old tracks. Heroes On Tape is fourteen track of some of the best ‘80’s inspired Electro around. The album is built around tributes to classic TV shows and movies of the decade. With titles like Master Of The Universe, Macgyver, Harold F., Flux Capacitor, BMX and Starman, the album is is the music equivalent of a night in with a stack of VHS tapes. Continuing the trend seen on Blockbuster, Heroes On Tape keeps the retro soundtrack feel, but moves itself away from standard SynthWave fare with musical nod to classic SynthPop and Pop of the era with rolling drum fills and catchy lead lines. Various tracks take on audio cues too, like Danielson [sic] (as in Daniel San), a homage to The Karate Kid, which gently covers the post-Italo electronics with an oriental feel and the tense sense of urgency found amongst I’m Coming To Get You. Highlights of the album have to be the warm Sci-Fi Italo melodies of Master Of The Universe, which dips and builds and never looses it’s dancefloor excitement. Harold F., a track so full of soaring synth leads that just listening to it is uplifting. Flux Capacitor, which powers along in rapid fire arpeggios, keeping things danceable amidst the hypnotic synths and evocate tones, and the nostalgic electronic pump of BMX. Alpha Boy has delivered another amazingly good body of work here, how he keeps up the pace is anyone’s guess, but he never seems to let the high output damage the music’s quality, in terms of either arrangement or production. Definitely recommended SynthWave.

♫ Alpha Boy – Master Of The Universe

♫ Alpha Boy – Harold F.

♫ Alpha Boy – Flux Capacitor

♫ Alpha Boy – BMX

Heroes On Tape is released today at Alpha Boy’s Bandcamp.

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Sep 3 2012

Awkoder reMixes Tiam Wills

Awesome French SynthWaver Awkoder has dropped his latest reMix. A reworking of fellow Frenchman Tiam Wills’ new single Hardiscount and it’s a surprising massive Nu-Disco monster. Surprising because we’re more used to atmospheric synth epics from Awkoder, and this reMix is full of funk. Good surprising though.

Kicking of with a wicked Disco lick the track soon descends into a retro synth love-fest. Drawing in the particularly Disco end of the Italo spectrum, Awkoder whips up big slice of synth Funk a throws in a little French Touch filtering and some of those crisp SynthWave lead lines for good measure. Keeping the vocals to a hypnotic mantra, Awkoder lets them become the tracks underlay. A base on which his intertwining arpeggios and crystal clear chord stabs can play out with a nice late ‘80’s feel and a solid dancefloor leaning. This one’ll keep them moving at peak time.

♫ Tiam Wills (Feat. Elsalou) – Hardiscount (Awkoder reMix)

You can download the whole Hardiscount reMix Single here, including work from Alex Carlson and Ben Flav.

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Sep 3 2012

Jowie Schulner’s new tune

Boombar Music main man Jowie Schulner is celebrating the release of his new single, Two Hearts, with a bonus free track. This free gift to than fans for supporting the single is a classical powered progressive monster titled From Here To Eternity.

Not connected to the legendary Moroder song of the same name, this track is a Trance-like take on a classical piece, reminiscent of Ferry Corsten or William Orbits experimentations with bringing classical to the dancefloor. In fact, the tune is quite a unique mixture of Classical, Trance and SynthWave. It’s an uplifting, euphoric slice of vintage synth, peak time, dancefloor bliss. Enjoy, and check out Jowie’s new release.

♫ Jowie Schulner – From Here To Eternity

Jowie Schulner’s Two Hearts is out now.

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Aug 31 2012

Arc Neon’s ‘Night Heat’ EP

‘Night Heat’ is the new EP from London SynthWave producer Arc Neon. His second since moving on from Indie-Electro outfit Wolf And Yeti into the realms of ‘80’s soundtrack inspired electronics. Whereas his last EP, Wet Dreams, was very focused on samples from news reports etc… this new collection is much more a self contained imaginary soundtrack.

Kicking off with Prey For Your Life, the EP immediately sets itself up as an ominous musical narrative. This headmost track droops you right in the thick of it, with Italo basslines and stabbing lead synths conjuring feelings of oppressive city nights and the shady, desperate, lives of those within. Arguable the EP’s lead track, Night Heat Theme is a definite cop show classic, this is where Arc Neon shows if his musical chops. The track is five minutes of intertwining melodies, intricately crated, SynthWave, based on a vintage drum machine beat, that adds layers and layers of hooks lead lines until it reaches it’s emotional peak. At this point the the EP, you really start to feel how Arc Neon sets himself apart from a lot of the SynthWave pack. His retro influenced go beyond the standard soundtrack fare, with elements of Electronic Soul and B-Boy Electro permeating all of his track, not just in terms of arrangement, but production style too. It’s a refreshing take on the genre. Midnight Madman is a chaotic mid-point of the EP, juxtaposing hard Industrial beats with euphoric leads to produce a schizophrenic aural assault. This a nicely followed by the moody respite of Breaking In By Moonlight, loaded with lush atmospherics and an urban bassline and The Golden Rule, the EP’s most standard SynthWave track, rich in progressions that inspire. The EP ends on perhaps it’s strongest track, Femmé Fatalé (Ending Theme) (although, soundtracks ending themes being their highlight isn’t exactly unusual). Femmé Fatalé revolves around a haunting melody that will be stuck in your head all day, it’s a unique production in the world of SynthWave, placing raw Electro Funk alongside heartfelt synth soundtrack work to brilliant effect. The SynthWave scene feels like it’s due for a shake up soon, the danger is there of it becoming full of copycats, and growing stale, Arc Neon is amongst those who could do the shaking.

♫ Arc Neon – Femmé Fatalé (Ending Theme)

♫ Arc Neon – Night Heat Theme

♫ Arc Neon – Breaking In By Moonlight

Arc Neon’s Night Heat EP is out now.

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Aug 30 2012

Jordan F reMixes Sun City

We don’t know too much about Perth based Indie-Electro duo Sun City at this point, although they may well deserve out further investigation. What we do know, however, is Australia’s greatest SynthWave export Jordan F. The latter has reMixed the formers’ track Zoetrope, and it’s chilled out retro radness.

Jordan’s been releasing quite a lot lately, it seems like he’s got his groove back and is bringing his A-game to every track he drops. This reMix of Zoetrope is a delicate retro workout loaded with nostalgia and innocence. Taking the best of the quiet moments in 80’s movie synth soundtracks and applying them liberally to a laid back beach groove works perfectly with the introspective vocals. What you are left with is a track that hides rich emotional power in it’s beautiful electronic dream.

♫ Sun City – Zoetrope (Jordan F reMix)

Check out more from Sun City on SoundCloud.

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Aug 24 2012

Silenx’s ‘Hyperion’

A new track from from Portuguese funky retro SynthWave guru Silenx is always cause for celebration, and Friday is just when we like them, it;s something to funk out way into the weekend with. So today is Friday, and Silenx has released this little synthetic groove monster, prefect timing.

Hyperion warbles along on a spikey, rolling Moogy bassline full of funk flourishes laying the groundwork for a cosmic array of ringing chimes and inspiring chords. Silenx has dropped another one of his galactic Disco tunes, once again soundtracking a wondrous journey through deep space. Everything in this track is Sci-Fi evocative. The grumbling bassline the ships engines, the resonant chords the depth of space and the twinkling melodies…well, you can guess where we’re going with this. Silenx always manages to make his tunes both funky as hell and dreamily atmospheric. That’s no mean feat and we salute him for it.

♫ Silenx – Hyperion

Hyperion is out now at Silenx’s Bandcamp.

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Aug 24 2012

Mitch Murder’s ‘Traces To Nowhere’

Well, this is a nice surprise for a Friday. the bringing together of two of my favourite things in the world, Swedish SynthWave master Mitch Murder and David Lynch & Mark Frost’s early ‘90’s unsettling-fest Twin Peaks. Mitch’s new track is a love letter both to the show and to Angelo Badalamenti’s soundtrack.

Titled Traces To Nowhere (the title of the first, or second, episodes of the show’s first season, depending on your perspective on whether the feature-length pilot is counted as episode one), the track is an obvious homage to Badalamenti and Julee Cruise’s Falling, Twin Peak’s theme tune, but never attempts to replicate it. The track is more a cover version of a mood, an atmosphere, than any one piece of music. Building upon the same foundation of the shows soundtrack, Mitch takes those elements in his own direction, layering lush, haunting synths over a Trevor Jones soundtrack style bass. It will feel familiar, but at the same time brand new. Amazing work.

♫ Mitch Murder – Traces To Nowhere

Mitch Murder’s Glass CitiesEP is released 1st August.

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Aug 24 2012

Jowie Schulner’s new single

Jowie Schulner, head honcho over at Boombar Music, this week released a brand new single, Two Hearts. Having dipped his toes in the waters of Euphoric Track in recent months, Two Hearts sees Jowie back in the SynthWave saddle, but bringing a little of the euphoria with him.

It;s all sparking melodies and soaring synth leads in Two Hearts. Carried along on a rapid fire arpeggiated bassline Jowie brings together the best of his two sides evocative, nostalgic synth sounds and uplifting sunrise dance music. Two Hearts is pure bliss in synthesizer form, with a melody that will get under your skin. reMix duties are covered by Germany’s top duo, Final DJs who bring some smooth Disco tinged SynthWave to the tune, upping the stakes with their feel-good dancefloor magic and shining lead lines. Two tracks guaranteed to rock any party.

♫ Jowie Schulner – Two Hearts

♫ Jowie Schulner – Two Hearts (Final DJs reMix)

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Aug 23 2012

Pilotpriest reMixed by Tommy

Canada’s soundtrack wizard Pilotpriest and the French SynthWave master Tommy. Could you ask for a better combination. Here we have two of our favourite producers of the last year, one reMixing the other as Tommy takes on Streets Of Fire, from Pilotpriest’s Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album.

Tommy takes the best of the original, the brooding intensity, the sense of foreboding and apprehension, and adds to that a nice ‘80’s pop cultural element. Heavy pounding drums, washed with reverb, hammer out a new level of drama in the track while haunting guitar and evocative synths play out the narrative of the track. Tommy has crated a flip side tot he original Streets Of Fire, a different part of the same soundtrack. Streets Of Fire sets the scene, Tommy’s reMix raises the stakes.

♫ Pilotpriest – Streets Of Fire (Tommy reMix)

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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.