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Synthwave

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 50.185.134.48 (talk) at 08:42, 12 March 2016 (as the cited source says, possibly most (but not all) SW could be called outrun). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the 1980s musical term also known as electro-wave, see Synthwave (1980s).
Synthwave
Stylistic originsNew wave, synthpop, 1980s soundtrack music
Cultural originsMid 2000s, U.S.

Synthwave, also called Retrowave is a musical style that emerged in the mid-2000s, influenced by 1980s soundtrack music.[1][2][3][4]

Style

Musically, synthwave is heavily inspired by new wave and the soundtracks of many 1980s films, videogames, cartoons and television shows.[3][5][6] Composers such as John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream are frequently cited as influences.[1][7] The style is mainly instrumental, and often contain 80s cliché elements in the sound such as electronic drums, gated reverb, analog synthesizer bass lines and leads, all to resemble tracks from that time period. However, synthwave incorporates modern production techniques such as sidechained compression and placing the bassline and kick drum prominentliy in the mix as heard in modern electronic music genres such as electro house.[7]

Aesthetically, synthwave gives a retrofuturistic perspective, emulating 1980s science fiction, action, and horror media.[5][8] In this sense, it can be considered the inverse of vaporwave; while the latter expresses disdain for 80s culture, synthwave expresses nostalgia for it[7] and attempts to capture the era's atmosphere.[9] Examples of this aesthetic may be viewed in films and video games such as Kung Fury, Turbo Kid, Drive,[6] Hotline Miami,[10][11] and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.[12][13]

Background

French artists College and the Valerie Collective as well as Lifelike[14] and Anoraak were one of the pioneers contributing to the synthwave sound. Anoraak stated in a 2014 interview: "American pop culture is definitely my background as a kid. I was born in 1980, so I grew up in a world taken by American music and movies".[15]

Following the movie Drive, several artists emerged influenced by the sound and the imagery of the movie.[16][unreliable source?][17] Swedish artist Mitch Murder [18][19] was one of the other early artists starting in 2009, and paved the way in introducing the video game music as a part of the Synthwave sound.[20][21][22]

During the same time period, several independent record labels emerged where the main focus was releasing artists in the retroesque synthwave genre, such as Telefuture Records, Rosso Corsa Records, Aphasia Records, Future City Records, Future 80s Records, and 30th Floor Records.[23][24][25][26][third-party source needed]

Apart from the early artists College and Kavinsky, a significant number of artists have emerged.[27] The darker sound from Kavinsky has been carried on by artists such as Power Glove,[28] Lazerhawk, Perturbator,[7] Carpenter Brut, Lost Years and Waveshaper,[29] and the more easy-listening heritage of the genre[failed verification] brought by College, Lifelike and Anoraak is continued by artists like Futurecop!,[30] Timecop1983,[31] Le Cassette, Kristine,[32] Betamaxx,[33] Robert Parker ,[34] Highway Superstar and Phaserland.[6][35]

Com Truise also describes his music as synthwave.[36] Other synthwave artists include Magic Sword[37] and Cold Cave.[38]

Alex Westaway and Dan Haigh of the post-hardcore band Fightstar started a synthwave side project, "Gunship", with a debut album released on 24 July 2015.[39]

Artists commonly associated with Synthwave

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Hunt, Jon (9 April 2014). "We Will Rock You: Welcome To The Future. This is Synthwave". l'etoile. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  2. ^ "A Retrowave Primer: 9 Artists Bringing Back the ’80s". MTV Iggy. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b Disabato, Catie. The Ghost Network: A Novel. ISBN 978-1612194349. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  4. ^ Young, Bryan (25 March 2015). "Synthwave: If Tron and Megaman had a music baby". Glitchslap.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  5. ^ a b Raymer, Miles (2013-02-27). "Kavinsky: Outrun". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  6. ^ a b c d Christopher Higgins (2014-07-29). "The 7 Most Essential Synthwave Artists". Nerdglow.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  7. ^ a b c d e McCasker, Toby (2014-06-22). "Riding the Cyber Doom Synthwave With Perturbator | NOISEY". Noisey.vice.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19. Electronic music has lost a lot of its musicality lately. It's all drops and bass lines looped for five minutes non-stop. Back in the '80s, you had classic themes and iconic melodies. I try to take the best of '80s music and the best of what modern electro has. The 80s were the golden age of synths too, with master composers like Vangelis and Tangerine Dream, who are huge inspirations for most of us in this genre. There's this special imagery that comes up in your mind when you think about this decade. There's a lot of '80s cliché that I find to be extremely cool, like gory practical effects or over-saturated neon colours.
  8. ^ "Perturbator - DANGEROUS DAYS". Scene Point Blank. 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  9. ^ Calvert, John (13 October 2011). "Xeno and Oaklander - Sets & Lights". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  10. ^ Haulica, Radu (7 May 2015). "Power Drive 2000 Is an '80s Inspired Arcade Racer with a Great Soundtrack". Softpedia.
  11. ^ Inverno, Julien (12 May 2015). "Perturbator et Hotline miami : du sang sur le beat". IGN France.
  12. ^ Roche, Antoine (19 May 2015). "Power Drive 2000 : un KickStarter pour un jeu de course bourré de nostalgie". begeek.fr. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Discipline Reviews: Power Glove - Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (2013)". EscapistMagazine.com. The Escapist Magazine. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  14. ^ "Lifelike Interview: Killahbeez Exclusive". Killahbeez.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  15. ^ "Interview with Anoraak". Whatsonthehifi.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  16. ^ Eric James Lyman (2015-01-11). "Eric James Lyman - Synthwave". Ericlyman.net. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  17. ^ "Spotify". spotify.com.
  18. ^ a b "Sveriges nästa superstjärna älskar synthen 29 juli 2014 kl 17:30 - Musikguiden i P3 | Sveriges Radio". T.sr.se. 2014-07-29. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  19. ^ a b "Music | mitch murder". Mitchmurder.bandcamp.com. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  20. ^ "Mitch Murder Profile | Rosso Corsa". Rossocorsarecords.com. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  21. ^ "Smooth as Chrome – An Interview with Sweden's Mitch Murder". Synconation.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  22. ^ "TILLBAKA TILL ÅTTIOTALET MED MITCH MURDER | Upplevgbg - Livets goda, På djupet". Upplevgbg.se. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  23. ^ "Telefuture - Releases". Telefuturenow.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  24. ^ "Rosso Corsa | Music Cars Fashion Lifestyle". Rossocorsarecords.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  25. ^ "Future City Records". Futurecityrecords.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  26. ^ Robert Moog. "Future 80's Records | The True Sound Of The Future". Future80srecords.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  27. ^ "DREAMWAVE-MUSIK, AXELVADDAR OCH NEON | Upplevgbg - Livets goda, På djupet". Upplevgbg.se. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  28. ^ a b "Power Glove Interview: Reviving the 80s (July 2013)". Game-ost.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  29. ^ "Interview w/Waveshaper". The French Shuffle.
  30. ^ a b "Disco Unchained: Saturday Sit-down with Futurecop!". Discounchained.blogspot.se. 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  31. ^ "Interview - Timecop1983". NewRetroWave.
  32. ^ http://www.nerdglow.com/stuff-you-hear/music/7-essential-synthwave-artists/
  33. ^ "Interview: Betamaxx". NEONVICE.
  34. ^ "Music - Robert Parker".
  35. ^ Caliandro, Christian (8 March 2015). "Dreamwave, synthwave, new retro wave. Appunti sulla nostalgia sintetica". artribune.com. Attribune. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  36. ^ a b "Meet Com Truise: Synthwave Wunderkind". 1 September 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  37. ^ Stuart, Keith (12 January 2015). "Hotline Miami 2 – listen to Magic Sword's contribution to the soundtrack". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  38. ^ a b Misir, Timothy (8 November 2013). "Appleseed Cast Gives Memorable Moscow Concert". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 19 May 2015. [...] as the gig calendar in the capital was packed with the likes of American synthwave band Cold Cave [...]
  39. ^ Interview: Fightstar “We’re going to write new material”, fortitudemagazine.co.uk
  40. ^ "Interview with David Grellier of College and founder of the Valerie Collective 2009". Whatsonthehifi.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  41. ^ "Record Makers - Drive (OST)". recordmakers.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013.
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