Rolling Synthwave/Retrowave/Outrun 2017 Thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4WLX8hfpJw

drive into the sunset to destiny shit

Here's a good example of that for those inclined

https://open.spotify.com/user/newretrowave/playlist/3SA018Uo3yhzvQocaF02MV

https://www.reddit.com/r/outrun/

I just bought the debut album by Into The Fire, a UK duo whose music is sort of synthwave crossed with postpunk (some very New Order-ish bass lines present) and early 80s UK pop.

https://intothefire.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-fire

love this Palm Highway Chase record, melancholy Carpenter vibes, relentless-8th-note-stabs. there's something a little rough or blown out about the production that gives it a strange lovely understated glow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLYmQQFh1MA

a lot of kris menace stuff fits in here, like this one with fred falke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNgVSqrSNWE

simply huge sounding

some lifelike too, obv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G22X5X49VhM

sorry, these are all old

Winter Severity Index - Human Taxonomy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiG88c_8qjs

some Italian postpunk/goth shit, I guess? the album is actually from 2016, but I don't think it's ever been mentioned on ilx. Mushy (aka Phantom Love, aka Valentina Fanigliulo) was once a member of this band and it seems like her music is slightly better known.

Drab Majesty
The Demonstration
(DAIS Records)
Release Date: 1/20/2017

http://www.metalnerd.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Drab-Majesty-3.jpg

http://drabmajesty.bandcamp.com/album/the-demonstration
http://open.spotify.com/album/2OjnZ8zI3lfjaOvi7xXAHP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EaUhtqJ6DM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqn9fXzYWoo

Surprised this hasn't come up yet in the thread... As Brooklyn Vegan said when they premiered the album before it's late January release, "Drab Majesty started as the solo project of Andrew Clinco (aka Deb DeMure), who also drums in Marriages, but expanded into a duo in 2016 with Mona D. The Demonstration is their first album since then, and the followup to their 2015 debut Careless. It’s rooted almost exclusively in ’80s synth-goth (making for a good fit with Cold Cave) — you can hear a good amount of Robert Smith in Deb’s voice, but musically Drab Majesty are closer to like, Clan of Xymox (who they’e opened for), than The Cure. Drab Majesty may wear their influences on their sleeve, but they do this sound well and The Demonstration is pretty damn enjoyable."

I think it's quite good, very retro obviously, but a very enjoyable album including the four remixes that came on the CD.

^ my favorite album of 2017 so far, so good.

the standout track from his previous album sounds like slowdive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU0Mw2bY-vM

that album sounds pretty gorgeous, not sure it fits here though, too grey and cold, not enough sports car vibes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pi-6c6jwVw

From the 80s, so I guess it would be "wave" instead of "retrowave". I think this would sound good on a nightdriving playlist.

such a great great track by Yello.
one of my favourites.
as a teenager i used to blast this on headphones as loud as my ears would allow, late at night, in the dark.

Wolf and Raven : that one hits the spot.

not sure re the more goth stuff ..
i like the machine arcade graffix/synth soundtrack side of this.
which yes will become tiresome after a while,
but at the moment, its still very enjoyable.

well, temptation got the better of me i picked up the GUNSHIP cd today.
rather glad i did, nice to have this style of analogue synth stuff thats not brickwalled a la a lot of the GoST/perturbator material.
and according to the wiki page, its not soft synths, but the lads have a massive collection of original hardware ..
also, had no idea but they released the album on cassette with a c64 game on the other side.

why does every one of these bands use the art from the same image meme generator

no idea .. seems to be part of the rules of the outrun genre.

i had never heard of outrun until this thread, and from a quick dig around, it appears to be very specific subgenre with narrow parameters both in sound and vision.

ahh .. as per the reddit link by calstars upthread !

missed that earlier.

and : https://www.reddit.com/r/outrun/comments/33r5mi/what_is_outrun/

sure but it makes it impossible to take any of it seriously

sorry for the irrelevant post upthread -- I thought this thread was a catch-all for old-school synth revivalism, but it looks like you're after a specific aesthetic. this outrun stuff wasn't on my radar until now, so thanks for that!

This is super thread and is possibly the king of all music to accompany exercise for that Rocky Balboa running up the steps feeling

sure but it makes it impossible to take any of it seriously

lol I mean it's just fun music it's not a thinkpiece

not if every time you listen to it you are conscious that the art makes it seem as if it was conceived as a shitpost

if you present your music as a meme it will be treated as such

also it is quite a feat for not a single person involved in that reddit thread linked upthread to mention the name Giorgio Moroder

surely you mean sergio valente?

yeah i hadn't considered kids making memes and stuff. it does straddle the "are you kidding me" line a lot of the time. i just revel in the neon vibes,

man all subgenres come with non-musical signifiers, some of which are really shitty. yeah you can judge synthwave by the crappy cover art memes just like you can judge disco by the bell-bottoms, and you're not wrong to do so, but sometimes enjoying music involves deliberately turning a blind eye to some of its worse non-musical signifiers.

This stuff deserves no discourse whatsoever. Just listen and enjoy, that's really all there is to it. Popcorn VHS fantasy music.

Trans Am's synthier stuff and aesthetics feel like a precursor to this stuff

This stuff deserves no discourse whatsoever. Just listen and enjoy, that's really all there is to it. Popcorn VHS fantasy music.

this is it for me.

i know i will tire of it, but at the moment, it's pure ear candy.
that said, the releases on blood music are a step away from the outrun material, and often use different visual templates (mainly heavy metal espeically GoST/Perturbator)

Trans Am's synthier stuff and aesthetics feel like a precursor to this stuff

― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

I completely agree... Futureworld could easily be called a synthwave album.
And even Kavinsky was doing his thing before the genre really had a name.

yeah the french were on this early i feel.. see also: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41KhJgxEFFL.jpg

I also would agree, there is no discourse needed. It's nostalgia fluff, mainly. It's about your futuristic muscle car and your homemade spaceship that really works and the first love your life that dumped you and that feeling you got when you read Neuromancer for the first time.

You could tie it into late stage capitalism and the crumbling legitimacy of neoliberalism and a desire to return to simpler, more clear-cut geopolitical narratives such as those of the 80s, but I think that's overthinking it!

huh went to spotify and trans am is back with a very synthy single!

http://www.stereogum.com/1927581/trans-am-alles-verboten/music/

"And even Kavinsky was doing his thing before the genre really had a name."

didn't click until this week that the genre name, outrun, was taken from kavinskys album.

that cant be something that happens too often i.e. a genre name lifted from an album name ?

one that does not use arcade video stylings.

i've not seen this before :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCSWzt56CC0

looks like old 80s movie clips, but i dont think they are ??

warning : not for the faint hearted.

Pretty sure "outrun" comes from the old car racing video game

what I assume anyway, I don't really know

ahh, i have never heard of that game.
i guess that's where kavisnsky got the album title from.

yeah i think it's the game

this stuff feels like an outgrowth of chiptune stuff, maybe they grew tired of the limited sonic palette of chiptune stuff

Step back a few more years to '02 and you've got Thomas Bangalter's singles on Roulé and the Irreversible soundtrack, one of the tunes from which is "Outrun," though it fits less on this thread than other tunes like "Night Beats" and "Paris by Night."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhXrjQyT6ho

yeah that works ..
not heard any of TBs material before.
suspect some of the munich machine album by (dj) hell fits this groove now,
but have to be careful that we dont drift into electroclash ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4CHNIfLPd4

I need to make an workout playlist with some of these songs

This stuff gets me pumped

Some precursors to the Synthwave boom

Ural 13 Diktators (2001):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiAIor2knU0

FPU - Crockett's Theme (2003)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSdBTPoS_iU

and the granddaddy, Laserdance - Power Run (1984):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak5P_FVbs9k
"by 2017, the world economy has collapsed..."

why do synthwave people have such horrible taste in vocalists?

This is from 5yrs ago but fits the bill:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMPBXr5td0w

I like that, you don't often hear this sort of stuff in lo-fi, but it works great.

I finally made it to that Xordox album in my listening queue and it's fun and recommended for anyone who likes this stuff, especially the John Carpenter soundtrack + homage fans

Xordox ?

massive vhs glitch bundle for buttons.

https://groupees.com/vhsglitch

currently in process of downloading it all now...

what i have heard i like.

Sweet thank you

i suspect that this whole thing will now dwindle away as there really has not been a definitive crossover act/album.
yeah, advertising execs will suck up a few of the crew, and there will be a lot of AV syncs that will hopefully pay the bills.
but as for a big album that blows the scene up, i think the moment has passed.
i mean, even perturbator has moved on.

loving the VHS Glitch collection that i got via that offer earlier.
best so far is the MORAL DECAY album.

new album by GosT

https://blood-music.bandcamp.com/album/possessor

more variety in the sound design, i.e. its not just one solid slab of distorted synth (of course there is a lot of that style, as thats just the way with GosT).
and after i got over the excess of 'garruth', some of its rather bloody good.

I really liked last years Occams Laser album.

i only have Ascension by OL and its very much in the same groove as GosT with a love for over driven synth noise, and yeah, very enjoyable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D__6hwqjZAs

has this been linked to here/elsewhere on ilx? it feels like it belongs here.

channel also has Everybody Wants To Rule The World playing in an empty shopping centre and Don't You (Forget About Me) playing in an empty shopping centre, among others

far out.. there's actually a subgenre of vaporwave called "mallsoft" that aims to recreate such atmospheres

ok, so its just the standard songs playing in an empty shopping mall (urgh, for a uk'r that very phrase ... ) ?
sorry, but, i dont get it.
yeah yeah, zombies etc.
but ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQaH3lh-CA4

meanwhile GUNSHIP are back with new material and i love it ..
hopefully there is a new album as i still listen to their debut on a regular basis.

mallsoft in general makes more sense if you think of it as 'ambient' music or whatever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qut4OjmBS0

01. Welcome 0:00
02. Lobby 4:05
03. Elevator 8:18
04. Restroom 12:16
05. Abandoned 17:17
06. Bookstore 21:52
07. Escalator 26:40
08. 2nd Floor 29:54
09. Food Court 33:59
10. Northwest Plaza 38:06

would buy an album with that track listing (hello john carpenter) !

as for the so called mallsoft genre .. nah.

https://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/album/palm-mall

blood music is back in action, and pushing the metal vs synthwave groove hard.
the aforementioned GoST album followed up by the Hollywood Burns, and MASTER BOOT RECORD releases are now up for grabs.
not totally sure re the MBR album as its very metal/vocals at times, but i may succumb.

np: Replicant - The Reckoning. pretty good!

also zoned out to a whole afternoon of 'dungeon synth' which is a whole other thing but adjacent maybe?

link ?
and WTF is "dungeon synth".
sounds awful.
in other news.

this is the best proper synthwave album i have heard in a long time :

https://deadlyavenger.bandcamp.com/album/everyday-is-kill

massive budget production levels as this was made while making crap for high profile tv shows etc.

ok the vocals are a little silly on the vampire tip:

https://open.spotify.com/album/3kSCSwWkDmGUQeImiOiNnc?si=-VjUNR39TkimE7ybr-ifXA

here's a whole channel of dungeon synth stuff

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UChmm356a5qe1luUsoatAgjA

as with all things bm-related, i have no idea if these guys are nazis! be careful

another impressive bundle for a few quid :

https://groupees.com/synth12

looking forward to hearing quite a few of these albums (scandroid, occams laser, and facexhugger).

https://open.spotify.com/track/7osXqK8lh9HmSyi9LY6yq3?si=-tYOIgKZTr-AYY6fqCBNDw

Advisory Circle - be seeing you

dont have spotify, but isn't Advisory Circle Jon Brooks (aka King of Woolworths) ?

oh, and that bundle I linked to recently, turns out it has Richard X involvement.
one of the albums is by Nina, and it has the Richard X produced track, Beyond Memory on it, which is very lovely electro-pop vs neon sunsets track.
also, the latest facexhugger album, 'sci-fi violence' is a massive step up in sound/production values, so he clearly has learnt a few tricks over the last year.
in fact, of what I have heard so far, (scandroid, gregorio franco, meteor, facexhugger, nina, cloud battalion), its a bloody cracking bundle, even better than the last one.
and there is more to be unlocked should things go to plan.

Enjoying the Midnight today :
https://open.spotify.com/track/51gfE7P4Ewjwjab4Xe9HmC?si=LDSQ7N2YQGKqF-CKlbirvA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1wKa7TjVV4

Diggin' this one pretty good

Midnight features on a really good track with Timecop1983.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYh4yxDqpqI

Mellow one from FM-84
https://open.spotify.com/track/1znnwRl4cNhCNCfz7NjtAO?si=N0FngnF4RuqcVrwPyaXV6A

https://mindspringmemories.bandcamp.com/track/a-6

The drop at 12:15 kills

facexhugger has made all his stuff for 'name your price' :

https://facexhugger.bandcamp.com/

also, Carpenter Brut and GOST are coming to a town near me later this year.
I may have to get off my sofa to see this show.
however, I suspect I will look like the taxi service for those in the moshpit.

New Midnight album is a little cheesy and upbeat but I like it
https://open.spotify.com/album/49ItLbfOzgYIVOeIdxxrnn?si=hSMwT6pART2Ip5GsPYU2tQ

looking forward to the forthcoming perturbator 2 volume retrospective release before he moves on from synthwave.
that said, his 'new model' ep from last year was still in the same sonic world albeit with extra bass noise in the mix.

America 2 and Kids(Reprise) on The Midnight album are great!

New Futurecop! album is full of collaborations and sounds really good. Very positive vibes, fresh!
https://open.spotify.com/album/4cEg5mb75YugZ9fZn2P5yn?si=9Z_GuadkQayBXIx05ADI5Q

Yes, very nice, if not very ambitious. Thanks for posting

https://youtu.be/xGLbx52KMKs
^
Super cool synthwave mix

https://synthwave.hu/

https://daily.bandcamp.com/big-ups/perturbator-james-kent-big-ups

the new album is very goth vs synths.

being going through and thought i'd add some favourite synthwave stuff I was listening to from 2015-2018ish

Tek.Lun - From above

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzPCGvlyiK8

Evil Needle feat Sivey - Next Gen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njEjBYhGTZw

Hudson Mowhawke - Bluetooth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xD7YfXufBU

Joss Ryan - A dark tale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w-JkP2asVU

Geotheory - Desiree (Aye)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUruLIHL-4g

J-E-T-S : pyrite blue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_kstFtns8U

Prymdplaza - Dream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2ous6WXjmg

The Midnight's latest tour sold out a few 2000+ capacity venues, they seem to have surpassed their synthwave peers in commercial success. An interview where they talk about breaking out of the synthwave sandbox