Showing posts with label synthwave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label synthwave. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Antoni Maiovvi - Shadow of the Bloodstained Kiss (2009)


Synthwave before they were calling it synthwave. I know it's weird to gatekeep a genre that's so blatantly referential, but it's gotta count for something that Maiovvi was doing this shit before Stranger Things turned everyone into synth fanatics a few years ago.

Track listing:
1. Nightmoves
2. Witchcraft
3. They Return
4. Interstellar Space Exploration
5. Velocity Central
6. 6000SEX
7. Plymouth Fury
8. Future Space Love Party
9. The Chase, Part 1
10. The Chase, Part 2


If you like this, listen to:

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Voyag3r - Doom Fortress (2014)


Detroit synthwave. In addition to the expected pulsing Carpenter synths of horror, Voyag3r incorporate live drumming and riff-y, shredding guitars for a fuller, heavier, more organic sound than many of their wholly-synthesized peers.

Track listing:
1. Summoning the Forgotten One
2. One's True Intentions
3. Doom Fortress Escape
4. In the Hands of the Computers
5. Il Guanto Nero
6. Lord of Doom Fortress

Something nasty in the woods

You should also hear:
John Carpenter & Alan Howarth -
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1989)
Protector 101 -
Protector 101 (2011)

Monday, October 8, 2018

Umberto - From the Grave... (2009)


First album from one of the OGs of modern synthwave. When I first heard Umberto, his schtick -- making music for non-existent horror movies using synth maestros like John Carpenter and Alan Howarth as primary sources of inspiration -- was a new, even radical idea. As with anything cool and deceivingly simple, it's been done to death now. Don't get me wrong: I still love Perturbator, Dan Terminus, and GosT, but there are a whole lotta projects doing really boring takes on the same sound. Outside of all of this, though, Umberto reigns supreme.

Track listing:
1. Opening Titles
2. Running Blade
3. Forsaken Dawn
4. The Child
5. Dream Sequence
6. Intermission
7. It Came from the Swamp
8. Shower Scene
9. In the Name of Zuel
10. End Credits

Someone chasing someone through a house

More like this:
Jay Chattaway -
Maniac (1980)
Pentagram Home Video -
Who's Out There? (2014)

Friday, October 13, 2017

Pentagram Home Video - Who's Out There? (2014)


Pentagram Home Video is a London-based producer who creates dark, synth-based soundtracks to movies that never existed. According to the plot summary on his bandcamp, Who's Out There? would be a rip-off of the original Terminator if it, y'know, were an actual movie.

Track listing:
1. Pentagram Home Video Ident
2. Vision 1 / The Ocean
3. Opening Titles
4. Reel 2 / "Who's Out There?"
5. Vision 2 / The Beginning
6. Reel 4 / Across 10 Blocks
7. Reel 6 / Heavy Leather
8. Vision 3 / Night
9. The Pursuit
10. A Powerful Hallucinogen
11. End Credits

Do you think you'll ever be free?

More 80s horror-synth revivalists:
Zombie Zombie -
A Land for Renegades (2008)
Protector 101 -
Protector 101 (2011)

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Com Truise - Wave 1 (2014)


A friend of mine died sometime in the early morning on Thursday. He was 36. We'd kinda drifted apart over the past couple of years, but he bartended with my wife so we still got to shoot the shit somewhat regularly. The last time I saw him, he gave me this record because, like a week before, I'd been talking about how awesome the new Com Truise was. Super solid, thoughtful dude. The kind of guy that actually remembers what you're into and asks about it. The world is worse off without him.

He def did hella drugs, often more than one at once, but he was a fucking pro and always seemed in control. As many of you surely know, I'm very much pro-drug use. That being said: we really gotta be careful, especially when mixing downers with other downers. Them shits amplify each other, and it's a great way to make your heart stop. And if your friend seems way too fucked up -- like, they're passed out and unresponsive --and you're worried and thinking about taking them to the hospital, PLEASE listen to your instincts and just do it, as it might mean the difference between a wretched hangover and never waking up.

The world's a pretty shitty place, to be sure. But never forget that there are some really, truly good people right there in the shite with you, and the only way to avoid getting sucked down is to recognize them, listen to them, hold them close, and cherish them like the priceless treasures they are.

Track listing:
1. Wasat
2. Mind
3. Declination (feat. Joel Ford)
4. Subsonic
5. Valis Called (Control)
6. Miserere Mei
7. Wave 1

Have a good time all the time 'cause you don't get nothing when you die

More like this:
Protector 101 -
Protector 101 (2011)
Etienne Jaumet -
La Visite (2014)

Monday, October 17, 2016

Protector 101 - Protector 101 (2011)



Synth-tastic, 80s horror-inspired electro from US producer Jake Freeman. Dance your way to a screaming, blood-drenched early grave. Free/name your price via bandcamp.

Track listing:
1. The Park Plaza Mall
2. Fighting Spirit
3. M.A.R.K. 13
4. Vision
5. Hero
6. Runners
7. Late Night Drive
8. Stalkers

Still he kills

More like this:
Jay Chattaway -
Maniac (1980)
Dan Terminus -
The Wrath of Code (2015)

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Dan Terminus - The Wrath of Code (2015)


Hard-hitting, synth-driven electro from French producer Dan Terminus. Gotta love that feeling of listening to intense dance music while wearing slippers and sweatpants and petting a cat. The only way I can imagine actually dancing to this would be after taking molly and railing a bunch of Adderall -- which, I guess, would be how it's typically done.

Free/pay as you will via the Blood Music bandcamp, where you can find a whoooole bunch of really great stuff, all for the same deal. This is really rad of Blood Music, so please consider actually throwing some $$$ their way. Also, you can get more from Dan Terminus at his bandcamp.

Track listing:
1. Cherenkov Blue Overdriver
2. Heavy Artillery
3. Avalanche
4. Death by Distortion
5. The Chasm
6. Eternal Annihilator
7. It's Too Bad She Won't Live
8. Grim
9. Restless Destroyer
10. Pegasus Pro Ultra Fusion
11. Tuned to a Dead Channel
12. Detonation
13. The Wrath of Code (feat. Perturbator)

Without a trace

I have no doubt whatsoever that if you like this, you'll like:
Perturbator -
The Uncanny Valley (2016)

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley (2016)


Dark, driving, electro bangers that nod to 70s/80s horror soundtracks while maintaining an undeniably current, harsh feel. Think Crystal Castles remaking the Halloween III soundtrack. Wonder how many times I'm going to have to re-file this under "electronic" after my coworkers mistakenly put it in "metal" based on the album cover. UPDATE: As of 5/20, it has happened twice. Called it.

Available for ye olde "name your price" via bandcamp.

Track listing:
1. Neo Tokyo
2. Weapons for Children
3. Death Squad
4. Femme Fatale (feat. Highway Superstar)
5. Venger (feat. Greta Link)
6. Disco Inferno
7. She Moves Like a Knife
8. Sentient (feat. Hayley Stewart)
9. Diabolus Ex Machina
10. Assault
11. The Cult of 2112
12. Souls at Zero (feat. Astronoid)
13. The Uncanny Valley

Where the hell are we, Wang?

And here's a couple of those soundtracks:
John Harrison -
Creepshow (1982)
Goblin - Patrick (1978) +
Tenebre (1982)