Synthwave

For the 1980s musical term also known as electro-wave, see Synthwave (1980s).

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, Vangelis, and Tangerine Dream are frequently cited as influences.[1][7][8] The style is mainly instrumental, and often contain 1980s 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 prominently 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, sometimes compared to cyberpunk.[5][9] Synthwave expresses nostalgia for 1980s culture, attempting to capture the era's atmosphere and celebrate it.[10] Examples of this aesthetic may be viewed in films and video games such as Kung Fury, Turbo Kid, Drive,[6] Hotline Miami,[11][12] and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.[13][14]

Background

During the second half of the 2000s there was a desire among several artists to revive the sounds of the 1980s and early 1990s, particularly new wave and synthpop. During this period, several independent record labels emerged where the main focus was releasing artists in retroesque genres similar to synthwave, such as Telefuture Records.[15][16][17][18]

French acts including David Grellier's project College, his collaborative project Valerie Collective, Kavinsky, Lifelike[19] and Anoraak 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.[20] Anoraak later 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".[21] Swedish artist Mitch Murder,[22][23] who debuted in 2009, is also recognized as an early contributor to the synthwave genre, known for his clean sound reminiscent of 1980s late-night newscast themes.[24][25] Com Truise, whose retro synthesizer-based music was first released in 2010, has also described his music as synthwave.[26]

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.[27][28]

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. The darker sound from Kavinsky has been carried on by artists such as Power Glove,[29] Perturbator,[7] and Waveshaper,[30] and the more relaxing sound brought by College, Lifelike and Anoraak is continued by artists such as Futurecop!,[31] and Robert Parker.[6][32][33]

Since 2015, synthwave has reached a broader audience from outside musicians and popular media.[34] Alex Westaway and Dan Haigh of the post-hardcore band Fightstar started a synthwave side project, Gunship, whose self-titled debut album was released on July 24, 2015.[35] The Futurecop! track "Into Your Heart" was featured on the Cameron Crowe TV Series Roadies on June 26, 2016. The television series Stranger Things, scored by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of the synthwave band S U R V I V E, lifted synthwave into further acclaim after positive receptions by the public and critics alike.[36][37]

Artists commonly associated with synthwave

See also

References

  1. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 Raymer, Miles (2013-02-27). "Kavinsky: Outrun". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Christopher Higgins (2014-07-29). "The 7 Most Essential Synthwave Artists". Nerdglow.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 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. ↑ Lambert, Molly (2016-08-04). "Stranger Things and how Tangerine Dream soundtracked the 80s". MTV.com. Retrieved 2016-08-28. Vintage synthheads like Survive (and digital replicants alike) make music in the genre that has come to be called synthwave — or “outrun,” after the 1986 driving arcade game that let players select a soundtrack (a first). Inspired by the early days of electronic music and artists like Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, John Carpenter, and, of course, Tangerine Dream, synthwave is a postmodern take on the ’80s, aiming to capture the way it feels to watch an ’80s movie scored by Tangerine Dream late at night on TV more than to actually replicate their sound.
  9. ↑ "Perturbator - DANGEROUS DAYS". Scene Point Blank. 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  10. ↑ Calvert, John (13 October 2011). "Xeno and Oaklander - Sets & Lights". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  11. ↑ Haulica, Radu (7 May 2015). "Power Drive 2000 Is an '80s Inspired Arcade Racer with a Great Soundtrack". Softpedia.
  12. ↑ Inverno, Julien (12 May 2015). "Perturbator et Hotline miami : du sang sur le beat". IGN France.
  13. ↑ Roche, Antoine (19 May 2015). "Power Drive 2000 : un KickStarter pour un jeu de course bourré de nostalgie". begeek.fr. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "Discipline Reviews: Power Glove - Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (2013)". EscapistMagazine.com. The Escapist Magazine. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Telefuture - Releases". Telefuturenow.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  16. ↑ "Rosso Corsa | Music Cars Fashion Lifestyle". Rossocorsarecords.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  17. ↑ "Future City Records". Futurecityrecords.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  18. ↑ Robert Moog. "Future 80's Records | The True Sound Of The Future". Future80srecords.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  19. ↑ "Lifelike Interview: Killahbeez Exclusive". Killahbeez.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  20. ↑ Neuman, Julia (July 30, 2015). "The Nostalgic Allure of 'Synthwave'". New York Observer. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Interview with Anoraak". Whatsonthehifi.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  22. 1 2 "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.
  23. 1 2 "Music | mitch murder". Mitchmurder.bandcamp.com. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  24. ↑ "Mitch Murder Profile | Rosso Corsa". Rossocorsarecords.com. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  25. ↑ "Catching Up with Mitch Murder, King of the 80s Revival". Vehlinggo.com. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  26. 1 2 "Meet Com Truise: Synthwave Wunderkind". 1 September 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  27. ↑ Eric James Lyman (2015-01-11). "Eric James Lyman - Synthwave". Ericlyman.net. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  28. ↑ "Drive at Five: Revisiting the Neon-Noir Masterpiece". Vehlinggo.com. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  29. 1 2 "Power Glove Interview: Reviving the 80s (July 2013)". Game-ost.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  30. 1 2 "Interview w/Waveshaper". The French Shuffle.
  31. 1 2 "Disco Unchained: Saturday Sit-down with Futurecop!". Discounchained.blogspot.se. 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  32. ↑ "Music - Robert Parker".
  33. ↑ Caliandro, Christian (8 March 2015). "Dreamwave, synthwave, new retro wave. Appunti sulla nostalgia sintetica". artribune.com. Attribune. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  34. ↑ Stranger Things’ score is a gateway into synthwave AV Club
  35. ↑ Interview: Fightstar “We’re going to write new material”, fortitudemagazine.co.uk
  36. ↑ Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein Stranger Things OST, Vol. One”, Pitchfork
  37. ↑ How the ‘Stranger Things’ Soundtrack Became the Show’s Secret Weapon New York Times
  38. ↑ 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 with David Grellier of College and founder of the Valerie Collective 2009". Whatsonthehifi.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  40. ↑ Middleton, Ryan (September 1, 2016). "Premiere: Droid Bishop Difuses Glitter Wasteland 'Cold War' With Sugary, Synth-Heavy Remix". Music Times. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Record Makers - Drive (OST)". recordmakers.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013.
  42. ↑ "GUNSHIP DEBUT LANDS". Metropolis Studios. July 24, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  43. ↑ Edsall, Joey (18 August 2016). "Trevor Something - Soulless Computer Boy and the Eternal Render". NewRetroWave. Retrieved 2 September 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.