Saturday has evolved into the retro-day numero uno here on this blog. And I don’t mind one bit. Synthwave is FUN.
And what’s more, it’s the perfect genre for people who can appreciate the 80s sound but was dead tired of the 80s hits already by the time we turned to the 90s. Yeah, like me.
And today I got no less than FOUR recent discoveries.
The Bad Dreamers – She’s Really Not That Into You
Starting this session with a real nugget of a track. I mean, just the title alone is just fantastic. 😀 And that sound at the beginning of the track, do you know what that is?
This is so eighties teen flick soundtrack vibe that I just have to give in and sing along, “She’s really really not that into you, so just deal with it”!
Spot on eighties vocals and an arrangement that sound so eighties that one could totally believe this to be a remastered release from the fabled decade.
And that sound right at the start? A definite generation thing, that one. Some of you need to have it explained, for others it’s a sound that is embedded forever in our very souls. That’s the sound of a cassette inserted and played!
Munatix – You Just Keep Hanging On
Maybe the most legit sounding release from a technical perspective, this one sounds spot on eighties synth pop. Legitimacy through the roof!
I do wonder if the title is a nod to the massive ’86 hit by Kim Wilde, “You Keep Me Hanging On”. But the sound of the track is more early Aphaville than Wilde.
But again, a track that deserves a placement on both our synthwave list as well as yours!
Matt Welch – Starfighter Dreaming
Matt is from Melbourne, Australia, and this song is “written as a tribute to The Last Starfighter”, a space opera movie from 1984. And with the dialogue samples that’s just so classic eighties.
This isn’t just a track that sounds like it is a relic from the eighties, it sounds like a HIT from that decade too.
Pablo Iranzo – Something (Plextro 80s Remix)
The last track today is one that was actually saved by the chorus!
From a pure technical legitimacy perspective it has a bit too modern production vibe over it. Well mixed and mastered, absolutely, and legit synth sounds and arrangement. But sounds suspiciously modern, still.
And the legitimacy perspective is a core component when I consider tracks for this column.
However, a couple of minutes into it I figured we just had to include this one too. Don’t you agree?
All four are found on our excellent Synthwave playlist, “More Eighties Than The 80s itself”.