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Synthwave

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This article is about the house-influenced genre from the 2000s. For topics related to the term used in 1980s magazines, see Cold wave (music), Minimal wave, and Dark wave.
Synthwave
Other names
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsMid-2000s – early 2010s[1]
Subgenres

Synthwave (also called outrun, retrowave and futuresynth[1]) is a genre of electronic music[2] influenced by 1980s film soundtracks and video games.[4][5] Beginning in the mid 2000s, the genre developed from various niche communities on the Internet, reaching wider popularity in the early 2010s.[1] In its music and cover artwork, synthwave engages in retrofuturism, emulating 1980s science fiction, action, and horror media, sometimes compared to cyberpunk.[6] It expresses nostalgia for 1980s culture, attempting to capture the era's atmosphere and celebrate it.[7]

Style

Synthwave was inspired by many 1980s films, video games, and cartoons,[8] as well as composers such as John Carpenter, Vangelis, and Tangerine Dream[4][9][10], however the genre itself arose from electronic dance music genres including house, synth, and nu-disco.[11]

The subgenre name "outrun" comes from the 1986 driving arcade game Out Run, which was known for its soundtrack that could be selected in-game.[9] According to musician Perturbator (James Kent), the style is mainly instrumental, and often contains 1980s cliché elements in the sound such as electronic drums, gated reverb, and analog synthesizer bass lines and leads, all to resemble tracks from that time period.[12]

This aesthetic has been incorporated into retro themed movies and video games featuring synthwave artists. According to Bryan Young of Glitchslap, one of the most notable examples of this is Power Glove's soundtrack to the 2013 video game Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.[3] Another popular example of the genre crossing into other media is David Sandberg's short film Kung Fury.[13]

Background

Synthwave originates from the mid 2000s.[1] French acts including David Grellier (College), Kavinsky, and Justice are recognized as the pioneers contributing to the early synthwave sound. These early artists began creating music inspired by famous 1980s score composers; music which was, at the time, largely associated with French house.[1]

Popularity

The release of the movie Drive in 2011, whose soundtrack featured several synthwave artists, helped drive new fans and artists inspired by it toward the genre.[14][15] Following the various influxes of new artists into the genre, several of these artists gravitated toward specific aspects of synthwave carved out by the early artists, leading to a wide variation in styles between artists who are associated with the genre. [16] Nerdglow's Christopher Higgins cited Electric Youth and Kavinsky as the two most popular artists in synthwave in 2014.[8] Since 2015, synthwave has reached a broader audience from outside musicians and popular media.[17]

Fashwave (a portmanteau of "fascist" and "synthwave"),[18] is a largely instrumental subgenre of synthwave and vaporwave, with political track titles and occasional soundbites,[19] that originated on YouTube circa 2015.[20] The phenomenon was described as self-identified fascists and alt-right members appropriating vaporwave music and aesthetics.[19]

List of artists

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

GosT

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Neuman, Julia (July 30, 2015). "The Nostalgic Allure of 'Synthwave'". New York Observer. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Robert (23 September 2016). "On The Synthwave Genre and Video Games". Surreal Resolution. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Young, Bryan (25 March 2015). "Synthwave: If Tron and Megaman had a music baby". Glitchslap.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  4. ^ a b Hunt, Jon (9 April 2014). "We Will Rock You: Welcome To The Future. This is Synthwave". l'etoile. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  5. ^ Neuman, Julia (June 23, 2015). "A Retrowave Primer: 9 Artists Bringing Back the '80s". MTV Iggy. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  6. ^ "Perturbator - DANGEROUS DAYS". Scene Point Blank. 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  7. ^ Calvert, John (13 October 2011). "Xeno and Oaklander - Sets & Lights". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d Christopher Higgins (2014-07-29). "The 7 Most Essential Synthwave Artists". Nerdglow.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  9. ^ a b Lambert, Molly (2016-08-04). "Stranger Things and how Tangerine Dream soundtracked the 80s". MTV.com. Retrieved 2016-08-28. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  10. ^ "The Nostalgic Allure of 'Synthwave'". Observer. 2015-07-30. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  11. ^ Skullet, Iron (2018-03-01). "What is Synthwave? 2018 Edition • Iron Skullet". Iron Skullet. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  12. ^ a b c McCasker, Toby (2014-06-22). "Riding the Cyber Doom Synthwave With Perturbator | NOISEY". Noisey.vice.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  13. ^ Vehlinggo, Aaron (2015-07-26). "Catching Up With Mitch Murder, King of the 80s Revival". Vehlinggo. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  14. ^ Eric James Lyman (2015-01-11). "Eric James Lyman - Synthwave". Ericlyman.net. Archived from the original on 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2015-05-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Drive at Five: Revisiting the Neon-Noir Masterpiece". Vehlinggo.com. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  16. ^ 5 Synthwave Artists to Introduce You to the Blissed-Out Genre-Study Breaks Magazine
  17. ^ Stranger Things’ score is a gateway into synthwave AV Club
  18. ^ Hann, Michael (December 14, 2016). "'Fashwave': synth music co-opted by the far right". The Guardian.
  19. ^ a b Bullock, Penn; Kerry, Eli (January 30, 2017). "Trumpwave and Fashwave Are Just the Latest Disturbing Examples of the Far-Right Appropriating Electronic Music". Vice. Retrieved February 6, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Coleman, Jonny (December 19, 2016). ""Fashwave" Is Fascist Synthesizer Music and Yes, It's an Actual Thing". LA Weekly.
  21. ^ Pearis, Bill (22 December 2016). "French synthwave act Carpenter Brut touring North America in 2017". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved 2 February 2017. [...] French synthwave act Carpenter Brut touring North America in 2017 [...]
  22. ^ 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 [...]
  23. ^ "Interview with David Grellier of College and founder of the Valerie Collective 2009". Whatsonthehifi.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  24. ^ "Meet Com Truise: Synthwave Wunderkind". 1 September 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  25. ^ "Danger". Retro Synthwave. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  26. ^ Middleton, Ryan (September 1, 2016). "Premiere: Droid Bishop Difuses Glitter Wasteland 'Cold War' With Sugary, Synth-Heavy Remix". Music Times. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  27. ^ "Dynatron - Stars of the Night". NewRetroWave | Stay Retro! | Live The 80's Dream! | Retrowave is the Future |. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  28. ^ Harrison, Andrew (August 12, 2016). "The sound of the Upside Down: Stranger Things make sinister synths mainstream". The Guardian. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  29. ^ Vehlinggo, Aaron (December 20, 2017). "Electric Youth's Deeper Hidden Meaning". Vehlinggo. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  30. ^ "Disco Unchained: Saturday Sit-down with Futurecop!". Discounchained.blogspot.se. 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  31. ^ Murphy, Dan (17 November 2015). "Synthwave Band GUNSHIP to Release an Album on Cassette with a C64 Game". God is a Geek: Video Game Reviews, Previews, Videos, Podcasts, and More. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  32. ^ Rossignol, Derrick (28 April 2017). "GUNSHIP's Remix of Lionface's "No Hope State" is Dreamy '80s Synthwave (Premiere) | Nerdist". Nerdist. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  33. ^ Vehlinggo, Aaron (2015-08-11). "Highway Superstar Aims High On Endgame". Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  34. ^ Magnetic. "KEENHOUSE RELEASES VIDEO + ARTWORK FOR "FOUR DREAMS"". Magnetic Magazine. Magnetic.
  35. ^ Liz, Ohanesian. "Riding the Dreamwave with Binary Entertainment". L.A. Weekly. L.A. Weekly.
  36. ^ Deeds, Michael (2016-09-22). "'Risky and fun' Boise synthwave band Magic Sword goes on national tour". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  37. ^ Zistler, Andrew (2016-08-29). "The Midnight - Endless Summer". New Retro Wave. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  38. ^ "Catching Up with Mitch Murder, King of the 80s Revival". Vehlinggo.com. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  39. ^ "The sensational Synthwave Siren". NewRetroWave. New Retro Wave. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  40. ^ "Synthwave Queens Nina and Parallels redefine nostalgia". Orlando Weekly. Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  41. ^ Zistler, Andrew (2017-05-23). "Dana Jean Phoenix - Synth City". NewRetroWave. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  42. ^ Vehlinggo, Aaron (2017-05-14). "5 Things Vehlinggo Didn't Write About That You Should Hear". Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  43. ^ "Power Glove Interview: Reviving the 80s (July 2013)". Game-ost.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  44. ^ Edsall, Joey (2016-11-04). "Scandroid - Self-Titled Scandroid". NewRetroWave. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
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