Something I'm hoping this blog does, in some small way, is to make producers of electronic music aware of the audience and love many people have for these niche genres. It's common to browse someone's back catalogue on Bandcamp or soundcloud and find a couple of 80s style pieces amongst a plethora of other styles, but this was something they 'moved on from' as opposed to it being their true love.
When I come across an artist like Python Blue and I look back through his many releases I become very aware that although his new album is totally rockin the 80s vibe; it would be something he may not continue doing for the long term as the yearning for a wider audience, and expanding one's musical horizons is a lure of much temptation. I look back through some of my favourite singles from 2009-10 and find so many wonderful 80s experiences by artists who've since abandoned the vintage styles in favour of different musical rewards.
I'm a firm believer that alot of this musical meandering is that these people just didn't think they had an audience listening and the thought of toiling entirely in obscurity wasn't a pleasant one. Synthetix is here to encourage, nurture and applaude all producers that feel the 80s love and recreate it with modern day tools (or vintage ones!) in their own vision. This is my main hope and drive to keep writing on here, to expose these artists to an audience who will embrace them with open arms and encourage them to continue to create beautiful music.
Which brings us back to Python Blue's totally rockin Prison of the Mind LP. A super high quality synth soundtrack affair glazed with glossy 80s sounds and moods. This is not Python Blue's first soundtrack style album, not by a long shot, and his previous experience doing this genre shines through in each track making it feel like a destination from his previous soundtrack journeys and a place we hope he decides to stay a while.
True soundtrack synth is a difficult genre to master, much like the electro synth stylings we've previously visited with Bluezz Vylez this week, it's often used as an interlude in many EPs and LPs, sort of like a punctuation mark or a period between set pieces. With Prison Of The Mind we're presented with track after track of soundtrack synth and each is a set piece unto itself. What Python Blue has done is take all the different moods, colours and experiences of what constitutes 80s soundtrack music and condensed each flavour into a different track then weaved a cohesive experience as a complete album.
Darkened streets, laced with danger and excitement are countered with triumphant and soul warming upbeat pieces. High action vignettes with explosive conclusions make their stand after the ubiquitous 80s love scene, when tortured hearts lay it on the line every second of the way. The passages these pieces all occupy are instantly engaging and meticulously constructed, conveying vivid images without a need for any on-screen action.
The tracks move in and out of eachother, keeping a theme, and then extending into the next part of the aural storyboard. Energies are coloured with the many facets of human emotions and segue between each stage in a marvellously complimentary manner. The experience of the album from start to finish is a work of majesty in itself as the length and breadth of what is covered musically far exceeds what could possibly be used in a traditional soundtrack.
The care in even the track positions creates perfect narrative for which the imagination can conjour it's own visual spaces, we're never left wondering what is happening in each track as the music speaks clearer than any possible dialogue could and does so in a language we all feel and understand. Keeping this sustained for the albums duration is not to be discounted and is, once again, a testament to Python Blue's talent as not just a producer of music but a creator of worlds.
The final chapters of the Prison Of The Mind contains some bonus content in Python Blue's covers of Gary Numan's Red Sky and The Sisters Of Mercy's Never Land, this is a rather impressive renvisioning of both tracks as they do fit in beautifully to the over aesthetic of Prison Of The Mind in much the same way many other previously released songs work in motion picture soundtracks. The haunting Never Land provides the perfect finisher as the credits roll by.
The Prison Of The Mind LP is a marvellously written and produced work of refined 80s soundtrack synth, taking the listener on a journey deep with dimension and charged with emotion. This is one of the text-book examples of making this style work in it's ideal format and is a bonafide Synthetix Approved Experience. You can take home your own copy to own of Prison Of The Mind on Python Blue's Bandcamp here. I encourage everyone with a love for quality 80s sounds to pick this up and hopefully some day soon Python Blue will take us on another fantastic voyage through his beautiful world of 80s soundtrack synth music.
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