Nov 19 2012

[Audio] Sally Shapiro reMixed by Com Truise

This is one of those track that just reading the title gets you excited. Sally Shapiro reMixed by Com Truise! If ears watered with appetite, like your mouth, then the thought of Sally and Johan Agebjörn’s blissful ElectroPop reworked by the master of SynthWave would leave drool on our lobes. Which is a pretty gross analogy, so let’s just say it’s a pretty exciting thought. OK.

The track is ace, Com’s reMix of the new Shapiro single, What Can I Do?, takes a funky 80s stab at the track. the Truise way, which is Boogie fuelled beats and basslines mixed with more cosmic, esoteric synth work is very much present here with a digital bass powering the track giving the rest of Com’s sound pallet free reign to swirl in and out of Sally’s vocals. The contrast between the thick Electro Funk and the ominous vocal manipulation & atmospheric synths make for a track destined for both the feet and the head. Amazing retro synth goodness.

♫ Sally Shapiro – What Can I Do? (Com Truise reMix)

Sally Shapiro’s What Can I Do? is released November 20th on Paper Bag Records followed by the new album, Somewhere Else 26th February next year with contributions from Anoraak, Le Prix and Electric Youth.

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Nov 19 2012

[MP3] Arcade High’s ‘City Lights’

City Lights is the new one from Ryan Boosel, A.K.A. Arcade High. This guy has had a hell of a year, coming from nowhere to take the SynthWave scene by storm. Just use that little search box to your rights and check how much we’ve featured Arcade High in the last twelve months, we’ve pretty much loved everything he’s done, even moreso now he’s started dabbling in adding vocals to his work. City Lights is, unfortunately, vocal free (although it seems like it might have been arranged with vocals in mind?) but still shows off Arcade High’s beautiful, nostalgic, SynthWave sounds.

This is how we like our SynthWave, sparkly and emotional. Boosel wraps the listener up in a warm haze of vintage drum sounds, lush chords and melodies that slip into your mind. City Light’s is a nice combination of soundtrack-esque sounds with just a hint of Boosel’s ChipTune influences. It;s a really slick piece of SynthWave, we can’t help but wonder what it would sound like with vocals though.

♫ Arcade High – City Lights

Arcade High’s The Art Of Youthis out now.

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Nov 19 2012

[Audio] Hot Hot Hawk’s new single

Russia’s Hot Hot Hawk have only just dropped their amazing collaboration with Patrick Baker, but they are already promoting their new single, the Pasha featuring Space Traveller. Two new releases so close together can feel a bit cramped, but that doesn’t diminish the quality of either tune. Space Traveller is released later this month with a packed reMix collection.

The original version of the track is an amazing slice of post-Kraftwerk Italo, and a schizophrenic beast. Starting off as a Cosmic Disco tribute to das robots, thick bassline playing off against the Teutonic synths, as soon as the vocals arrive Space Traveller morphs into a warm mixture of Italo and 80s Electric Soul. As the song rises and rises, with more layered sounds and soaring vocals, tit becomes pretty epic. To be honest the reMixes are a little hit and miss. The definite standouts comes from London’s 80s Stallone, who injects the SynthWave Italo with a little retro Disco, Just his subtle use of cowbell, claps and vocoders, give the track a little more groove, and DigitalNativeDance, who also turns in one of the better mixes. DND’s mix brings a Boogie flavour to the tune and emotional use of piano and Acidic synths. Summer Of Haze bring the single to a nice conclusion with a post-Chillwave marching soundscape. The rest of the reMixes are OK, but a little uninspired, but all-in-all it’s a great release.

♫ Hot Hot Hawk (Feat. Pasha) – Space Traveller

♫ Hot Hot Hawk (Feat. Pasha) – Space Traveller (80s Stallone reMix)

♫ Hot Hot Hawk (Feat. Pasha) – Space Traveller (DigitalNativeDance reMix)

♫ Hot Hot Hawk (Feat. Pasha) – Space Traveller (Summer of Haze reMix)

Hot Hot Hawk’s Space Traveller is released 23rd November on Emerald & Doreen Rec.

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Nov 19 2012

[MP3] Maethelvin reMixes Kris Menace & Miss Kittin

So, we dropped Kris Menace’s new single, Hide, featuring the voice of ElectroClash, Miss Kittin, a couple of weeks ago. The single is out now and the surprise track of the reMix package is the return of Valerie mainstay Maethelvin. It’s been a long long time since we heard from this guy. He dumped a few new/old track on his soundcloud early in 2012 but hasn’t released anything since 2009.

The remix kinda’ makes us miss the pure Valerie sound. SynthWave/Outrun has moved on a little since those days, become more bombastic, and Dreamwave morphed into a more Indie inclined synth nostalgiafest. Here, though, Maethelvin delivers three and a half minutes of pure French, 80s influenced, teen movie soundtracking, Italo-Disco rocking, synth brilliance. Laidback and groovy, this reMix lets Miss Kittin’s vocal become a bit more musical as it glides over Maethelvin’s washes of electronics.

♫ Kris Menace (Feat. Miss Kittin) – Hide (Maethelvin reMix)

Kris Menace’s Hide is out now.

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Nov 16 2012

[Audio] Pelifics & Electric Youth reMixed by Poindexter

Swedish retrowave hero Pelifics’, Electric Youth featuring, Wish It Could Last is definitely one of the highlights of this year, and we’ve been waiting for Brilliantine to drop the reMix package for what seems like ages. One of the rumoured reMixes in particular has held our interest, and that’s from Disco rising star Poindexter. And here it is.

It sounds like a late 70s TV theme. Regardless of how you read that last sentence, it was intended as high praise indeed. Just the right combination of Funk and Disco have gone into this reMix, and it all works brilliantly with Bronwyn’s 80s retro vocal style. It’s a total laid back dream of a track. Rolling bass, Moogy stabs, shimmering chimes, haunting synths, all this is churned up in the mix and come out as smooth as silk. You don’t listen to this tune, it flows into you.

♫ Pelifics (Feat. Electric Youth) – Wish It Could Last (Poindexter reMix)

The Wish It Could LastreMix package is released 19th November.

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Nov 16 2012

[Audio] Mitch Murder reMixes Kristine

Greece’s finest, retro Pop artist Kristine’s Modern Love EP is released this week. We had a look at the title track and Powerglove’s reMix a while back, but, of course, one of the track on the EP we were particularly looking forward to was this reMix of The Danger by SynthWave king Mitch Murder. Mitch and Kristine previously collaborated on an amazing track called Feel The Air, so the thought of these two teaming up again was pretty exciting.

And the track doesn’t disappoint, and it will put an immediate smiley on your face. It’s put epic soundtrack Pop that could easily be the lead song from a mid-80s action flick soundtrack. The vocal track that makes a good single, but still works well in the context of the film. Soulful and moody, both Mitch and Kristine are pitch perfect on this track. Gentle arpeggios, lush pianos and a vintage beat alongside Murder’s trademark digital bass and Kristine’s Stevie Nicks-esque vocals, all work just right, slowest building toward the dramatic finale. The pinnacle of retro Pop.

♫ Kristine – The Danger (Mitch Murder reMix)

Kristine’s Modern Love EP is out now on Tuff ‘Em Up.

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Nov 15 2012

[Video] Keenhouse’s ‘Can’t Sleep Since’

Keenhouse’s new album, Four Dreams’ is still getting a lot of play round these parts. It’s pretty much an electronic masterpiece. One of the tracks from it, Can’t Sleep Since, is now presented in cyber-psychedelic video form.

Produced by Keenhouse himself, the clip is a nice early 90s style CG freak out.

Keenhouse’s Four Dreams album is out now.

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Nov 9 2012

Jordan F & Le Cassette

Remember Australian SynthWave master Jordan F’s Under The Sun? The man dropped it early last month, a shimmering piece of beautiful, introspective retro synth work. Well, now the track has been recreated and remoulded as a stunning slice of vintage SnythPop with a little vocal help from London’s Le Cassette.

Vocals take the track to a whole new level, especially in Le Cassette’s authentically 80s style. The moody, enigmatic, vocals work as a nice juxtaposition to Jordan’s typically upbeat, nostalgic, music. This combination of Le Cassette’s croon and Jordan’s sparking aspirational SynthWave ends up hitting just the right point for perfect 80s Pop, melancholy with a hint of optimism, exemplified by the best Pop from that era. We’ve been dying to hear Jordan team up with a vocalist for a while now, and we haven’t been disappointed.

♫ Jordan F (Feat. Le Cassette) – Under The Sun

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Nov 8 2012

Ogre’s ‘194’

Sometimes, just sometimes, we get an email that takes us completely by surprise. Someone come from out of the blue with a release that makes us wonder why we haven’t been following this artist for years. We’ve just had one of those emails. It came from Exeter based producer Ogre (no relation to Skinny Puppy’s Ogre) and after a little flattery he dropped his latest release, 194, on us. We were pretty blown away.

You may be familiar with some of Robin Ogden’s previous work, specifically his reMix of Robortom and Au Reviour Simone’s Paganini Rocks under the moniker Monster! Monster!. In-case you were wondering, Ogre is nothing like that. What Ogre is, is the soundtrack to the dark middle instalment of a movie trilogy, a soundtrack to the inevitable robot uprising and a pounding electronic accompaniment to your very survival. Ogre’s 194 walks the line between retro, 80s soundtrack influenced, SynthWave or Outrun Electro and distorted Elektro Industrial. The opening salvo, Gongola, exemplifies this and wraps it up in a jackhammer dance beat, before the album finds it’s footing as a collection of atmospheric synthetic moods. 2019 feels like the set up of the album proper with traditional soundtrack elements like string and horn sections, playing against frantic arpeggio and marching drums. Imaginary soundtrack albums such as this need a musical narrative, and 2019 is where this one starts. By the time Cold Protocol, reminiscent of Daft Punk’s Tron soundtrack meeting Tengerine Dream and the dark tones of Street Legal have passed you get the idea that this narrative isn’t an easy one. Our heroes, if there are any, are in for a rough time. Of course, with titles like 2019 and V.K., you know that a fair amount of Ogre’s influence for 194 comes from BladeRunner, and Vangelis’ legendary soundtrack, but whilst there are moments during the album when that is very apparent. The similar sounds and tones to Vangelis’ soundtrack never feel copycat, more homage. If anything, much of 194 sounds like the Blade Runner soundtrack’s evil twin. The soundtrack to a BaldeRunner sequel when LA is invaded by a replicant army maybe? Some of the highlights of the albums whopping 18 tracks include the soaring synths of Sniper One, the futuristic Italo of Stairwell and the film, sorry, album’s End Titles, which actually work as the perfect closer to the whole story. Orge had done, with 194, what many try to achieve, but few actually pull off this well. A self contained audio story, one which feels natural when listened to in it’s entirety, and when it’s finished it does feel like there is a satisfying conclusion to this musical tale. So do yourself a favour, pick up 194 and set aside 40 minutes to experience the whole journey.

♫ Ogre – End Credits

♫ Ogre – Sniper One

♫ Ogre – Gondola

♫ Ogre – Stairwell

Ogre’s 194 is available now as download, limited edition cassette and limited edition CD.

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Nov 8 2012

Embryonik reMixes Evanton

Time to roll out the lino and turn the boombox up to 11. Electro wizard Embryonik is back with a brand new reMix. This time he’s tackling the title track of the new EP from Evanton. Evanton is a Greek Italo duo featuring Binalog head honcho Evangelos Zacharopoulos who are creating some awesome retro Electro sounds.

The original version of the track is like a musical Terminator, A relentless machine march of vintage beats and Moroder Disco basslines. Embryonik mixes things up a little, bringing to robot drive of the track into fresh melodic places. Equal parts Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaataa, the track has got that combination of B-Boy beats and chilly European soundscapes that first formed the Electro sound. It’s got a killer riff too. Whether with the juggernaut Electro beats or the breezy synth melodies, Embryonik hit just the right note here. Another quality tune from the man.