Tag Archives: SynthWave

Feb 21 2013

[Audio] College reissues classic début album

College

Sometime in the last year the world went Drive crazy. The PR email that landed in our Index for the new release from Valerie head honcho College uses the word ‘Drive’ six times. Which is milking it a bit too much, it’s getting embarrassing. The man known to you an me as the founder of the Valerie collective and one of the originators of the SynthWave scene, and now apparently known to the rest of the world as “Drive star College” (I didn’t know College was Ryan Gosling!), is rereleasing his classic début album Secret Diary alongside the Teenage Color EP .

Both releases will get a vinyl and CD reissue courtesy of Invada Records, the label of the legendary Portishead’s Geoff Barlow. There’s not much point me telling you what it sounds like, I expect everyone who reads this site has probably already got both releases, but of vinyl junkies out there this is a pretty cool opportunity to pick up these tunes on record. Well, worth picking up, ‘cos don;t get us wrong, David Grellier is an amazing artists, one of our favourite producers, we just think it’s time for everyone shut up about a movie released two years ago and get on with some new music. That would be amazing!

♫ College(Feat. Electric Youth) – She Never Came Back

♫ College – The Energy Storm

College’s Secret Diary and Teenage Color are rereleased on coloured vinyl and CD 6th May.

Buy College’s music from:

 

Feb 21 2013

[MP3] Stellar Dreams’ ‘Nightvoid’

Stellar Dreams

We first featured Malaysian outfit Stellar Dreams’ brooding SynthWave epic Nightvoid mid last year. Not the track is getting a full single release via Keiz beats with a host of complimentary reMixes. Daryl and Wolf Saga step up for mix duties while the original is put in prime position as the standout of the package.

As we mentioned last time, Nightvoid is an atmospheric, evocative, retro piece. A marching post-Italo epic, multi layers with vintage synth sounds compounded into a soulful opus by Dana Jean Phoenix’s big, authentically 80s, vocals. Belgian Daryl delivers a groovy, jackin’, warehouse version of the track. The vocals in this mix are slightly pitched up. I know! Pitched up! Breaking the now tedious cliché of pitching down vocals for Chicago House track, Daryl flies in the face of convention on turns in an energetic House anthem. Wolf Saga takes a different approach, making his version of Nightvoid a deep unrelenting, SynthWave mix with powerful drums and upping the atmospherics even more. Finally, a solid release for this awesome tune.

♫ Stellar Dreams (Feat. Dana Jean Phoenix) – Nightvoid (Original Mix)

♫ Stellar Dreams (Feat. Dana Jean Phoenix) – Nightvoid (Daryl reMix)

♫ Stellar Dreams (Feat. Dana Jean Phoenix) – Nightvoid (Wolf Saga reMix)

Stellar Dreams’ Nightvoid is released 11th March.

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Feb 20 2013

[Audio] Garth Knight’s ‘Goliath’

Garth Knight

Of all the recent crop of new SynthWave artists to break in the last twelve months, Glaswegian artist Garth Knight has stood out from the pack both in terms of composition and production. This has marked his début album as one of the more eagerly anticipated SynthWave releases of 2013. The album saw the light of days earlier this month via Lunar Boogie, and having given it repeated spins in the last week or so we can definitely say it doesn’t disappoint.

The albums title continues Garth’s obsession with the dark side of Knight Rider. Named Goliath after Michael and K.I.T.T.’s evil counterparts Garth and K.A.R.R.’s own semi-truck in the show the record drops lots of Knight Rider references, but musically and lyrically, which nicely sets the tone of the album. Made up of the best of garth’s releases over the past twelve months sprinkled with new tracks, Goliath kicks off with the epic six minute Mainframe which lays out Garth’s particular brand of dirty basslined SynthWave perfectly, giving you a fair amount of time to acclimatise to this world of action packed anthems. Autotron keeps the grimy synth bass vibe going, setting it against haunting pads and if followed by Turbo Boost, the albums first sit-up-and-take-notice track. A rolling Italo jam, Turbo Boost comprises a vintage beat and a spikey FM melody that provide backing for a ridiculously simple, but catchy vocoded vocal. Skipping over Break Point, the album’s aberrant off-track (it’s a bit of an embarrassment compared to the rest of the release), you find Headstart, a frantic, arpeggio fuelled, race track that lift the energy of the album back up and delivers a synthetic rush before the second half of the Goliath. Silent Strike is another standout, drawing dangerously close to ElectroPop in it’s Poppy hooks and euphoric vibe. Silicon Dawn and Transcoding follow, both injecting the collection with a darker tone, before giving way to the retro synth Funk of Solidstate. Solidstate is driven along by a deep, groovy bassline that’s layered with Cosmic synths and an ethereal melody. The album eases you out of it;s world with the Jarre-esque Time The Healer, a beautiful slice of melodic 80s synth work. Goliath is a solid release, and fans of the genre should already have this record in their collection.

♫ Garth Knight – Turbo Boost

♫ Garth Knight – Headstart

♫ Garth Knight – Solidstate

♫ Garth Knight – Silent Strike

♫ Garth Kight – Time The Healer

Garth Knight’s Goliath is out now.

Buy Garth Knight’s music from:

 

Feb 19 2013

[MP3] Chrome Canyon reMixed by Chateau Marmont

Chrome Canyon

Last month we raved about Brooklyn synth magician Chrome Canyon new video for Generations which is taken from his jaw droppingly good album of last year Elemental Themes. It’s a gorgeous slice of Sci-Fi synth work that has now been given an eclectic workout by French analog adventurers Chateau Marmont. The meeting of these two yields an amazing, nostalgic, evocative synthesizer excursion.

To be released on Chrome Canyon’s forthcoming Elemental reMixes EP, which, as you can probably guess, holds some killer reMixes of tracks from Elemental Themes. Including this one. Imagine the BladeRunner melody from Generations, paired with eccentric percussion and, just a revelling in analog synths. Injecting the original with an exotic edge only highlights the culture mashing Dystopian feel to the track. The EP will also include work from Peaking Lights, Tomas Barfod, Gavin Rusom, Mike Simonetti, ATTAR!, Matthewdavid, Airbird, Eclectic Method, Saarid and Freak You

♫ Chrome Canyon – Generation (Chateau Marmont reMix)

Chrome Canyon’s Elemental Themes album is out now.

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Feb 18 2013

[MP3] Jordan F reMixes Flume

Flume

There’s Chillwave in the air as SynthWave master Jordan F takes on electronica producer Flume, resulting in nothing we were expecting. Flume deliver quite a Lo-Fi, reverb drenched take on electronic music to begin with, and Sleepless, in all it’s incarnations, exemplifies their sound. Jordan takes it to the next level, while still retaining a little of the 80s guru we all know and love.

There’s hints of the Jordan’s SynthWave core in this tracks opening synths, and punchy bassline, but this is washed with the spacey Funk of Chillwave. The result is the best of both worlds. Leaning slightly more toward the Lo-Fi, Jordan wraps us up in waves of hazy synths and ghostly vocal snatches. It’s the most experimental thing that Jordan has released to date, and we’re loving it. When a producer like Jordan F becomes comfortable enough with himself, and his talents, to really indulge himself, beautiful things happen.

♫ Flume (Feat. Jezzabell Doran) – Sleepless (Jordan F reMix)

Flume’s Sleepless is out now.

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Feb 15 2013

[MP3] Nightcrawler’s ‘Road Blaster’

Spanish SynthWave producer Nightcrawler released his Road Blaster single this week. Not only has he delivered a stormingly powerful slice of retro synth music, but he’s collected some of the top talent in the scene to contribute reMixes to the release. Miami Nights 1984, Tommy, Dynatron, Protector 101 and 80s Stallone all put in an appearance, which reads like a whos-who of the cream of the scene. It;s almost impossible to pick favourites here.

The original version of Road Blaster is a driving example of atmospheric instrumental Italo. Fuelled by  rich, dark synths and a stomping beat, Road Burner offsets it’s ominous tone with playful melodies and an exciting tone. Miami Nights 1984 reMix injects the tune with a little vintage electronic Funk, bringing out a bouncing bassline to give the track some groove, whilst layering his thick 80s chords with some of the most beautiful piano work and soloing we’ve heard in a SynthWave track for a long time. MN84’s reMix is truly epic. Frenchman Tommy’s take on the track is suitably Sci-Fi. Utilising waves of cosmic synths to wrap the listener in a wash of electronic wonder. For a darker, more dystopian, vision of Road Blaster Protector 101 dials back the tempo and works his was around haunting and sometimes oppressive sounds but with an air of optimism throughout.  The whole is EP an excellent excursion in nostalgic soundtrack Italo and well worthy of your attention. It’s free too.

♫ Nightcrawler – Road Blaster

♫ Nightcrawler – Road Blaster (Miami Nights 1984 reMix)

♫ Nightcrawler – Road Blaster (Tommy reMix)

♫ Nightcrawler – Road Blaster (Protector 101 reMix)

Pick up the whole EP right now, for free, on Nightcrawler’s Bandcamp.

Buy Nightcrawler’s music from:

Feb 15 2013

[Mixtape] Ronika’s ‘Sweetheart, Dont Be A Nightmare’ Mixtape

Ronika

Ronika – Sweetheart, Dont Be A Nightmare Mixtape = Here’s a Valentines gift from Ms. Ronika featuring a whole heap of gloriously funky synth jams ranging from the stomping to the emotional. Just like a relationship, really.

♫ Ronika – Sweetheart, Dont Be A Nightmare Mixtape

The tracklist:

01. SebastiAn (Feat. Mayer Hawthorne) – Love In Motion
02. Boxcutter – TV Trouble
03. Class Actress – Keep You
04. Com Truise – Brokendate
05. Palmbomen – Galore
06. John Maus – Hey Moon
07. Onra – Don’t Stop
08. Kindness – Anyone Can Fall In Love
09. DâM-FunK – One Less Day
10. George Benson – Turn Your Love Around
11. Sébastien Tellier – La Ritournelle
12. Julie London – End of a Love Affair

Buy Ronika’s music from:

 

Feb 14 2013

[Audio] Mild Peril’s ‘Voyager 2010’ EP

Mild Peril

This week London based Italo Experimentalist Mild Peril released his latest EP. Well, latest as in ‘just released’, the tracks themselves date from 2010 (hence the EP’s title, Voyager 2012), but sound as fresh now as ever. Running the gauntlet from Italo to Minimal Synth to EBM to Cosmic Disco, Voyager’s three epics deliver vastly different styles, but are neatly tied together in Mild Peril’s rich analog atmosphere.

Separated into Sequences, the EP kicks off with Sequence I-II, an immediate attention grabber. It’s an evocative slice of Sci-Fi synth with a nostalgic Italo-Disco vibe. Whilst the pulsating Disco bass groove would be easy to get lost in on the dancefloor, the real joy of this eight minute odyssey is just sitting back and listening to the playing. The layers of intertwining melody sweep about the track carrying the listener through a music narrative with some hair raising solo moments. Sequence III is Minimal Synth meets SynthWave affair. Punchy drums, undulating arpeggios and a surprisingly sweet organ deliver an upbeat, driving exploration of live synth works. The EP closes on Sequence IV which sees the organ return in a much more ominous capacity over a track with classic EBM in it’s DNA. Considering this EP was pieced together out of older oddities in Mild Peril’s repertoire, it leaves us pretty excited to hear what he’s got planned going into the future.

♫ Mild Peril – Voyager, Sequence I-II

♫ Mild Peril – Voyager, Sequence III

If you’re in London this weekend you should check out Mild Peril’s EP release party, also featuring Soft Riot and A Terrible Splendour, details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/323188217785131

Voyager 2012 is out now.

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Feb 12 2013

[MP3] Final DJs reMix Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Germany’s finest, Final DJs, really know how to take a track you already love, and give it a spin that bring it right up to date without loosing any retro cool. They have delivered once again with this storming reMix of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s 1983 début, Relax. Trevor Horn produced slick 80s funk-Pop meets soaring synth Dreamwave Disco, a match made in heaven.

Frankie always had a somewhat Sci-Fi element to their brand, and Final DJs ramp that up considerable. This is Frankie Goes To Hollywood in the year 2019. A dance track that reaches the songs emotional core, bringing out this big chord progressions with layers of lush synths and a retro bassline, so powerful it moves you with each key change. The prefect platform of FgtH’s instantly recognisable tune, the track goes next level when the solo kicks in, from then on in the seven minute epic just soars, and you are helpless to resist being carried with it.

♫ Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax (Final DJs Relax On The Beach reMix)

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Feb 12 2013

[Mixtape] Follow Me’s ‘Winter 2013’ mixtape

Follow Me

Follow Me – Winter 2013 = Ready for some beautiful, and sometimes funky, synthesizer love? Follow Me’s new mixtape captures the winter mood perfectly with piercing synth tune throughout, accompanied by warming Disco tunes.

♫ Follow Me – Winter 2013

The tracklist:

01. Mille – Shitstorm
02. The Killers – Runaways (RAC reMix)
03. Joey Chicago – It’s You
04. Lessovsky – Cherish Any Time (Monitor 66 reMix)
05. Benoit & Sergio – Bridge So Far
06. Erkka – Excommunication
07. Marco Darko + Mykel Haze – Computer Love
08. Sonny Fodera – All The Things
09. Moon Boots – No One
10. Follow Me – ???
11. Pool – Flex (Aeroplane reMix)
12. Millennium – ICU
13. Jesse Ware – Sweet Talk (Cyril Hahn reMix)
17. Miguel Campbell – Dedicated Music

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