Frenchman Michael Brun, otherwise known as Lueur Verte, makes some of the richest retro SynthWave you’ll have heard in a while.
Steeped in Italo and ‘80’s Sci-Fi soundtracks Lueur Verte creates brooding, atmospheric synth peices and then takes a leaf out of fellow countryman’s Jean-Michel Jarre’s book with intricate melodies and solos. Check out his latest track, ‘Last Flight’, which is so dark future it boarders on EBM at times. Evocative stuff!
Check out more from Lueur Verte on SoundCloud.
In addition to the already posted Silenx reMix, Russian ElectroPop duo have dropped a bunch of new reMixes of their track ‘Don’t You Dare’ The Tapeaters.
First up fellow Russians Sohight deliver a funky ‘80’s inspired version with a nice Moog Funk bass and big retro sounds that have The Tapeaters sounding a little like Tesla Boy. There’s some amazing electronic music coming out of Russia right now and Sohight are another name to watch. Spanish producer Nelue’s take on the track starts off as a slick exercise in Disco Funk but soon evolves into a bright, shimmering, quite classic sounding ElectroPop track with some really emotive synths.
♫ The Tapeaters – Don’t You Dare (Sohight reMix)
♫ The Tapeaters – Don’t You Dare (Nelue reMix)
The Tapeaters’ album ‘Visions’ is out now.
Buy The Tapeaters’ music from:
Young Digerati – Imzadi Mix = Young Digerati’s latest mix is a high-octane forty minutes of soaring SynthWave and dreamy ElectroPop sounds. Makes an awesome long distance driving mix!
The tracklist:
01. Edward Artemiev – Lullaby
02. Cadillac – Make You Feel
03. Koobra – Thrills
04. Foster the People – Helena Beat (Lenno reMix)
05. Grum – Runaway (Nightriders reMix)
06. Silenx – Long Lost Love
07. Erika Spring – 6 More Weeks (Chrome Canyon reMix)
08. Flashback – Flashback Theme (Jordan F reMix)
09. Meridians – Animals
10. Schwefelgelb – Regen Aus Rosenquartz (Awkoder reMix)
11. Oxford – The Last Indian (N’Joy reMix)
12. The Magician (Feat. Jeppe) – I Don’t Know What to Do (Fabian reMix)
13. Merdance (Feat. Dan Ling) – Ocean Night Drive
Check out more from Young Digerati on SoundCloud.
So here we are.
After a year when the current wave of ElectroPop, Nu-Disco, SynthWave, Nu-Italo and Dreamwave all seemed to find a maturity, seemed to suddenly become a lot more confortable with themselves and their groove, we find ourselves with a nearly impossible job for picking the top twenty songs of the year, and a winner.
To those we missed, or forgot, we’re sorry. We’ll be beating ourselves up about it for weeks to come as some awesome track from January slides back into our brain, but it’s time to stop worrying and just go for it. So here it is.
And our top song of the year comes from She’s The Queen, it’s the lead track on their self-titled début EP and it’s one of the slickest ElectroPop tracks you’ll ever hear. Because, over the year just gone, I have grown to call She’s The Queen’s Drew and Emily friends I actively tried not to place them in the top spot. So concerned was I about bias that I sought out tracks that had more of an impact on me in 2011, anything that could reaffirm my sense of integrity and make me not give the number one place to mates. But I just couldn’t. Whether friends or not, there is no two ways about it, ‘Waiting Game’ is the track I have rocked to the most this year, the track I have been most impressed with, the track that is, without doubt, electronic rumors’ Best Song of 2011.
electronic rumors’ best song: 2011
01: She’s The Queen – Waiting Game
♫ She’s The Queen – Waiting Game
…and the rest of the list:
02: Vanbot – Make Me, Break Me
03: M83 – Midnight City
04: Cordova – Paradigm
05: MiGHty mOUse – Between The Pavement And The Stars
♫ MiGHty mOUse – Between The Pavement And The Stars
06: Queen Of Hearts – Shoot The Bullet
♫ Queen Of Hearts – Shoot The Bullet
07: Holy Ghost! – Wait & See
08: Ronika – Wiyoo
09: The Magician (Feat. Jeppe) – I Don’t Know What To Do
♫ The Magician (Feat. Jeppe) – I Don’t Know What To Do
10: Monsieur Adi – Fire Fire Fire
♫ Monsieur Adi – Fire Fire Fire
11: Electric Youth – Coming Right Back To You
♫ Electric Youth – Coming Right Back To You
12: Peter & The Magician – Twist
♫ Peter & The Magician – Twist
13: Jordan F – Definitely Miami
14: Short Circuit – How We Speak
♫ Short Circuit – How We Speak
15: Clancy – Panther
♫ Clancy – Panther
16: Substatic – Gold
♫ Substatic – Gold
17: LIGHTS – Toes
♫ LIGHTS – Toes
18: Bright Light Bright Light – Disco Moment
♫ Bright Light Bright Light – Disco Moment
19: Justice (Feat. Ali Love) – Civilisation
♫ Justice (Feat. Ali Love) – Civilisation
20: Xeno & Oaklander – The Staircase
♫ Xeno & Oaklander – The Staircase
As always, you should definitely pick up some of these songs, they are all highly recommended and most can be purchased here:
Next we come to what we have optimistically called the Reader’s Choice award.
This was quite a last minute idea, we liked the idea of having an open category but really, who wants to run a poll at X-Mas? No us! So this award was given based on the number of downloads the track received, which is quite a nice representation of popularity. Of course it doesn’t take into account streaming only tracks, or videos we’ve shown, or tracks readers may have dug that we didn’t feature, but we think it nicely represents what readers have been excited about this year.
And we have a winner, the track most downloaded from electronic rumors in 2011. Fear Of Tigers’ reMix of ‘Bulletproof’ by La Roux. First given away be Mr. Tigers as a thank you to everyone who sponsored his London marathon run this year, to raise money for WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals). It’s an storming reMix that really should have made the official single. With a huge big room take on ElectroPop it’s no surprise that this mix as so popular.
electronic rumors’ readers’ choice: 2011
01: La Roux – Bulletproof (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
♫ La Roux – Bulletproof (Fear Of Tigers reMix)
…and the rest of the list:
02: HURTS – Better Than Love (Marsheaux reMix)
♫ HURTS – Better Than Love (Marsheaux reMix)
03: Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers (The Magician reMix)
♫ Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers (The Magician reMix)
04: Madeon – For You
05: Gypsy And The Cat – Jona Vark (Starsmith reMix)
♫ Gypsy And The Cat – Jona Vark (Starsmith reMix)
06: RüFüS – Paris Collides
07: Dirty Vegas – Electric Love (Cassette Club reMix)
♫ Dirty Vegas – Electric Love (Cassette Club reMix)
08: Avril Lavigne – What The Hell (Robots With Rayguns Mix)
♫ Avril Lavigne – What The Hell (Robots With Rayguns Mix)
09: Chromeo (Feat. Elly Jackson From La Roux) – Hot Mess (Duck Sauce reMix)
♫ Chromeo (Feat. Elly Jackson From La Roux) – Hot Mess (Duck Sauce reMix)
10: The Human League – Sky (Plastic Plates reMix)
♫ The Human League – Sky (Plastic Plates reMix)
As always, you should definitely pick up some of these tracks, they are all highly recommended and most can be purchased here:
With fewer and fewer albums being released in favour of more cost-effective EPs and singles the Best Album category becomes harder and harder to preside over, luckily for us there were some choice cuts this year and some amazing records dropped.
The winner was very nearly going to be Mitch Murder‘s recently released ‘Current Events’. Which, to my mind, is the best SynthWave/Outrun/Dreamwave album ever made. However, the album that has kept us constantly rocking this year has to be Holy Ghost!’s self-titled début. Although I had loved the previous singles I really didn’t expect the album to be this damn good throughout, it was fresh, well written, and sounded like nothing else. It’s a record that is crammed full of potential singles and does an seriously good job of mixing up ElectroPop and New York Disco with a hint of Indie-Electro to make something that appeals to Indie Kids, SynthPopsters and Disco Heads alike.
electronic rumors’ best album: 2011
01: Holy Ghost! – Holy Ghost! (DFA)
…and the rest of the list:
02: Mitch Murder – Current Events (Rosso Corsa Records)
♫ Mitch Murder – Telefuture Theme
03: Cinnamon Chasers – Science (Modus Records)
04: Monarchy – Around The Sun (Hacan Sound /100% Records)
♫ Monarchy – Maybe I’m Crazy
05: Johan Agebjörn And Friends – Casablanca Nights (Paper Bag Records)
♫ Johan Agebjörn & Ercola (Feat. Queen Of Hearts) – The Last Day Of Summer
06: Fabian – Say Goodbye (Binary)
♫ Fabian – Last Flight
07: Com Truise – Galactic Melt (Ghostly International)
08: Yelle – Safari Disco Club (V2 Records International)
♫ Yelle – Que Veux-Tu
09: Shine 2009 – Realism (Cascine)
♫ Shine 2009 (Feat. Paula Abdul) – So Free
10: The Sound Of Arrows – Voyage (Skies Above)
♫ The Sound Of Arrows – M.A.G.I.C.
11: Vanbot – Vanbot (Lisch Recordings)
12: Shelby Grey – The Music Is On His Side (Holographic People)
♫ Shelby Grey – April’s Legacy
13: Soft Metals – Soft Metals (Captured Tracks)
♫ Soft Metals – Psychic Driving
14: M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Mute)
♫ M83 – OK Pal
15: Washed Out – Within And Without (Sub Pop Records)
16: The Human League – Credo (Wall Of Sound/[PIAS] Entertainment Group)
♫ The Human League – Sky
17: Mirrors – Lights And Offerings (Skint Records)
♫ Mirrors – Into The Heart
18: Noir Deco – Future To Fantasy (Playmaker Ent.)
♫ Noir Deco (Feat. MPM Soundtracks) – Journeys
19: Ladytron – Gravity The Seducer (Nettwerk)
20: Camille R – Last Limit (Self Released)
♫ Camille R – 100 $
As always, you should definitely pick up some of these albums, they are all highly recommended and most can be purchased here:
There we a lot of cool videos that premièred in 2011, but we fell in love with this year’s Best Video winner instantly, and so did everyone we showed it too.
Com Truise’s ‘Brokendate’ is a brooding slice of SynthWave that’s manages to be both robotic and soulful and it’s retro synth sound is perfectly matched by it’s Will Joines directed mini-movie accompaniment. Paying homage to every classic ‘80’s Dystopian Sci-Fi movie you can think of, the clip captures a Cyberpunk vibe effortlessly but keeps it’s tongue firmly in it’s cheek. It’s a video that makes us nostalgic for weekend VHS rentals.
Buy Com Truise’s music from:
Jordan F is fast becoming the Vangelis of the SynthWave world. After dropping a bunch of beach party tunes Jordan seems to have turned his attention to soundtracking a dystopian future, as he does in his latest EP for Rosso Corsa Records.
The ‘Summers of Tomorrow’ EP is a journey through rain the back streets of some megacity, bather on a neo glow with only the rain for company. The EP kick off with ‘Beginnings’ which, as you can imagine, is a sweeping, epic, title sequence peice, slow basslines, reminiscent of the ‘80’s ‘V’ are accompanied by some powerful melodic work that draws you in and sets you up for the other three tracks. ‘Abandoned Streets’ drops you right into the ‘plot’ of the EP, moody Italo beats and basslines and Sci-Fi synths convey the mood of Jordan’s future metropolis. His skilful melding of Italo, Outrun Electro and EBM allows him to create these Cyberpunk atmospheres in his tracks without ever becoming over-run by it, as with ‘Renegade’, you realise Jordan can evoke this BladeRunner-esque imagery, but never looses sight of just being a good song either. ‘Renegade’ is both narratively exciting and a damn good retro Italo tune. The EP wraps up with the title track, the rousing, hopeful, aftermath of the release. this has been an amazing year for Jordan F, having gone from Dreamwave newcomer to one of the big players of the SynthWave scene and a bit of a wizard behind the synths.
♫ Jordan F – Abandoned Streets
♫ Jordan F – Summers Of Tomorrow
The ‘Summers Of Tomorrow’ EP will be available for free download on the Rosso Corsa Records Bandcamp soon.
Buy Jordan F’s music from:
Miami Nights 1984’s X-Mas gift to you all!
After a period of quite Miami Nights 1984 drops another tune, hot on the heels of ‘Ocean Drive’. ‘Saved By The Bell’ is pure electronic nostalgia. A pretty gentle tune that works it way into you heart and soul with a solid Italo beat and some of the richest, most pleasing, synth work I have heard in ages. I hope we hear more from Miami Nights 1984 in 2012 than we did this year.
♫ Miami Nights 1984 – Saved By The Bell
Check out more from Miami Nights 1984 on SoundCloud.
Dutch duo Legan And Met first came to our attention with their recent reMix of Forster The People’s ‘Helena Beat’.
The guys have now released their début EP containing five original tunes (good on them for not just flooding everyone with reMix after reMix, just to get their name around!) for us to sink out teeth into and get to grips with just who Legan And Met are. SynthWave with an Electro beat could sum them up, but that would be doing the twosome a disservice, their tracks are much more intricate and varied than that. they create epic, synthesizer soundscapes that are both emotionally melodic and Sci-Fi insane, with Cosmic Disco grooves for people in shiny jumpsuits. The songs on the ‘Future Odyssey’ EP are constantly evolving and building from start to finish, so the finale of each tune is a rousing electronic set-peice. Serious retro-future stuff.
♫ Legan And Met – Voltage Controlled
♫ Legan And Met – Only Your Love Creates My Momentum
♫ Legan And Met – Future Odyssey Part 01
Check out more from Legan And Met on SoundCloud, where you can pick up the whole EP.
electronic rumors 