First off I'd like to apologise for the lack of posts at the end of this past week, my internet was down for most of Friday and Saturday which made it impossible for me to do anything on here. The music I was planning on covering will be taken care of next week though.
It's been yet another big week in releases and quite a few kick arse new artists are surfacing with new sounds and ideas that are very exciting. It's the diversity of sounds that will keep the 80s synth scene engaging and relevant, I believe. There are still many, many untapped 80s experiences for the modern producers to discover and reinvent, which always gives me faith that the scene will grow, evolve and cement itself for the duration.
2013 is already huge for a new releases and artists barely two months in, so lets get rockin with some of the brightest stars lighting up the 80s sky in this week's Weekend Update on Synthetix.FM.
Going directly for the jugular is the enigmatically named Dot with the solid gold rockin hit Chupame Señora(pero no mames). This duo have been producing for about a year and have a tight grasp on how to make 80s pop magic happen. Be sure to check out their wonderful track Chaffinch on their soundcloud too.
Andy Fink's back and rockin with his latest single release Vice Love available now through Future City Records. This experience takes some delicately intimate synth work and contrasts it with a sinister bass line and dramatic percussion. The end result is quite unlike anything else as the senses are pulled in different directions all at once.
Lost Years has tantalised us with another new demo, this time of Red Horizon, which is already up to Version 2. This powerhouse track is direct in it's delivery and raucous in it's presence but the delightful synth melodies combine the elements into something even more huge. Marvellous work, once again, from one of the most consistently rockin producers in the scene.
Turning up the funk and moving towards a more modern flavour is Peter "PH Groove" Hecher's new experience The Breakdown. This track really combines many influences from different decades but the bass line is just so catchy and the synths deliver so much joy that I'd be remiss not to include it in this Weekend Update. The vibrant melange of sounds are invigorating and by the time the sax hits I'm sure you'll agree.
New Arcades are back with an awesome new teaser track from the upcoming EP. 'Dreamers' is full of deeply emotive synth romance that intimates beautifully with a brightness and warmth of pure 80s love. The new EP promises six tracks of New Arcade magic, which I'll be sure to fully investigate on Synthetix.FM as soon as possible.
French producer Run Vaylor has been plying his craft for nearly a year on soundcloud with lots of diverse synth based music. His latest track, End Game, is definitely his strongest thus far. An air of moroseness is blended with hopeful synth melodies that swirl and flow through the soundscape. It's a very engaging experience with beautifully arranged movements throughout the journey.
Definitely one of the most exciting things to happen in the scene this week was the new preview for Embryonik's new Night Flight release. This producer explores many varied territories of electronic music but it looks like he's found himself in a decidedly 80s frame of mind for this new venture. Each track is sounding absolutely stunning thus far and it's looking to be an exceptionally rockin experience.
Two of my favourite producers have combined their talents for an epic new experience. Flash Arnold and Perturbator have taken the energy right down low to a slow a pulse and added smoothly evil synth sounds to melancholy guitar and called it Los Angeles. Superbly arranged and vast in scope this yet another kick arse tune from both producers.
Python Blue certainly isn't one to rest on his laurels. After the just released the Change of Clothes album (to be reviewed next week on Synthetix.FM) he has released a stellar new jam in Reminders. This piece has a marvellously visceral energy about it and the guitar track adds even more depth. Totally rockin.
Chaconne resurfaced this week with another stunning example of his incredible music with Heart To Heart. I can't think of many producers in the scene at all who come close to the sound Chaconne conjures up. There seems to always be a massive amount of energy, mood and groove that is always identifiable as being a Chaconne experience. I really hope he has an EP or album release in the pipeline for 2013 as this producer deserves a much larger audience than he currently has.
Cougar Synth keeps on rockin with the best of them and his new track, Aeromotive, really shows some incredible progression and refinement in his sounds. This smooth as glass synthscape is punctuated with inventive percussion and melodies that entrance the listener. Beautiful in every respect, and also currently available for FREE download. Many thanks to Alex Karampas for the heads up on this one.
Hungarian synthficionado Quixotic has returned with an emotionally resplendent piece in Dust To Dust. This massively atmospheric journey is poignantly arranged with delicate synths that are contrasted with totally shredding guitars. I've often said that the producers who really incorporate other instruments, like guitars, into their sounds are going to be the one who set themselves apart and Quixotic has done this exact thing in Dust To Dust.
Keeping right on Q we have the final track for this week's Weekend Update which is an absolutely kick arse new tune from Quasars. With the best song title ever, Rockers, Quasars have elevated their sounds to stratospheric new levels. The opening build arrangements are massive, filling the soundscape with their trademark monster drum sounds which then leads into crescendo of synths and guitars that rock to the absolute max. Majestic in every respect and also currently available for FREE download too!
That does us for another Weekend Update on Synthetix.FM. I hope you found some rockin new tunes to enhance your weekend with 80s love. I'll be back next week for more k-rad tunes, so remember to stay 80s and keep on rockin!
What can I say but “thank you Lord for giving us The System, their sounds and great music that they create and play!” And thank you Lord that I revealed them now, no matter how late it is. Namely, I have been following the R&B funk and soul since my teenage years in the late seventies and early eighties and I thought I knew all the major artist in the genre in the legendary golden period of music. But a few days ago, while checking on a few songs from Robert Palmer, I remembered the song “You Are In My System” which blew me out back than in the mid-eighties, and I went on YouTube to check it. And there, among the comments about that great performance of this completely different sounding, subtle, hypnotic in a positive way (no drugs needed), glorious and open-minded song, I learned that it originated from another band. And that’s how I discovered The System!
ReplyDeleteMay I say that, only after hearing their other songs, I stood completely amazed. They truly are the originators of the synth-funk sound of the era, and they led the genre right to the perfection and, as we can learn from this great site and Wikipedia, also helped the other great artists of that time to sound better (read closer to them!). The irony is that, we can appreciate it clearly now, that most of these artists─-no matter how great they were─-were still not nearly as perfect as The System, at least from the synth-funk genre point. OK, we, the fans of that genre, must be and are real about the well-known “facts of life”, like that their music, sound, message, art and sublimity may be superior to others while still not being promoted and recognized as it should! But I hope that, also thanks to this website, there will be more and more people who would discover that. So thank you Synthetix FM for this site, and thank you Rick and Dave for your fantastic melodies, harmonies and rhythm, and your great lyrics! Your fan forever, Robert (robert.lexton@gmail.com)
Keep on rockin, Robert!
ReplyDeleteKeep that love strong and alive!