by Flack » Wed Jan 05, 2022 2:31 pm
(Note: While reading this review, I suggest you open the following YouTube link and letting the music run in the background: Chillwave / Synthwave Mix)
Back in 2013 I discovered a game called Hotline Miami. Set in the neon glow of 1980s Miami, the game mixed ultraviolence with a soundtrack right out of the 1980s... except it wasn't. The game's soundtrack was full of new bands (M|O|O|N, Perfurbator, Scattle, El Huervo) performing what sounded like music from 80s films. I didn't know it then, but I had just discovered a new genre of music: Synthwave.
The Synthwave movement dates back to 2006-2007. It is sometimes referred to as Retrowave, Futuresynth, or simply Outrun, and there are a dozen subgenres (Dreamwave, Darkwave, Cyberwave, Chillwave), but we're splitting neon hairs here. Synthwave -- the umbrella term for all of it -- refers to modern synthesizer-based music created as an homage to 1980s soundtrack music. Not everybody agrees on that definition, but Synthwave is so undefined that the only thing most members of this miniature musical subculture agree on is that few of them agree on everything.
One of the few things most Synthwave enthusiasts agree upon is who inspired the genre: John Carpenter. Carpenter is well known for writing and performing the synthesizer-driven soundtracks to his films (including Halloween, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China, and They Live), and most of the performers interviewed for this documentary cite Carpenter as the Grandfather of Synthwave. Carpenter appears throughout the film, providing random bits of commentary and insight. Carpenter's biggest surprise is that anyone would be inspired by his musical work, staying that synthwave is about today's musicians, and nobody should care about what he's done. Fair enough. Other inspirations from the 1970s and 80s to the genre are mentioned including Tangerine Dream, Goblin, and Kraftwork, but make no mistake -- Synthwave is new music that only sounds retro. The other direct inspiration for Synthwave artists is the 2011 film Drive, which contained a Synthwave soundtrack. Someone describes the soundtrack as "making it feel cool to walk around at night."
The documentary interviews dozens of musicians currently active within the Synthwave community, and other than the sound of the music itself, few of them agree on much else. Some of the bands consist of a single artist, while others contain multiple members. Some of the musicians create their music at home in their bedrooms while other have dedicated recording studios. One group says the most important thing about Synthwave is the community that was formed on MySpace and continues to thrive today. Another performer says the internet is garbage. Some say that real Synthwave bands must perform live while others only make songs in their bedrooms and share them online. Some use vintage instruments (keyboards, samplers, and tangled nests of patch cables) to create their music while others use the latest audio software and plug-ins to emulate those same sounds. While most of the bands featured here do not include vocals, a few do. Some of the genre's performers go to great lengths to hide their identities, appearing in the documentary with their faces hidden in shadows or while wearing face-covering hoods. Others show their faces freely. One performer says he hides his identity so that he won't have a visual aesthetic to his music. Another musician says hiding one's identity
is a visual aesthetic.
One of the few things that most of these musicians have in common is that most of them aren't old enough to remember the 1980s. "How do you feel nostalgic about a time you don't remember?" one of them asks.
Somehow, despite the fact that few of these musicians agree on anything, their music is so similar that it's almost interchangeable. All of it sounds like it could have come from one of a thousand movies from the 1980s. Put on a track, close your eyes, and you can almost see the scenes unfold. Depending on the tempo and style you can imagine the cool guy driving in his car, or the training montage that takes place right before the big fight.
A few of the artists lament that the genre has been spoiled by attention. But again, not everyone agrees on this. Some feel like the genre is being exploited and that the music began to suffer when "anyone with a computer tried to make it," while others feel the more the merrier. It's odd to see so many fractions within what seems to be a microscopic community.
The Rise of the Synths contains just about everything most people would ever want or need to know about Synthwave. For many, I suspect their interest in the genre will begin and end here. For a few, perhaps this will inspire them to seek out some of the performers featured and mentioned in the documentary (80's Stallone, Kavinsky, Colleuge, Carpenter Brut, Gunship). And who knows, maybe it'll inspire someone to put on their puffy white high tops and shiny windbreaker and make a trip down to their local thrift store to check out the dusty keyboards for sale in the music section.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usnW-CsFVwI[/media]
[i](Note: While reading this review, I suggest you open the following YouTube link and letting the music run in the background: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhCuCqJbOVE]Chillwave / Synthwave Mix[/url])[/i]
Back in 2013 I discovered a game called Hotline Miami. Set in the neon glow of 1980s Miami, the game mixed ultraviolence with a soundtrack right out of the 1980s... except it wasn't. The game's soundtrack was full of new bands (M|O|O|N, Perfurbator, Scattle, El Huervo) performing what sounded like music from 80s films. I didn't know it then, but I had just discovered a new genre of music: Synthwave.
The Synthwave movement dates back to 2006-2007. It is sometimes referred to as Retrowave, Futuresynth, or simply Outrun, and there are a dozen subgenres (Dreamwave, Darkwave, Cyberwave, Chillwave), but we're splitting neon hairs here. Synthwave -- the umbrella term for all of it -- refers to modern synthesizer-based music created as an homage to 1980s soundtrack music. Not everybody agrees on that definition, but Synthwave is so undefined that the only thing most members of this miniature musical subculture agree on is that few of them agree on everything.
One of the few things most Synthwave enthusiasts agree upon is who inspired the genre: John Carpenter. Carpenter is well known for writing and performing the synthesizer-driven soundtracks to his films (including Halloween, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China, and They Live), and most of the performers interviewed for this documentary cite Carpenter as the Grandfather of Synthwave. Carpenter appears throughout the film, providing random bits of commentary and insight. Carpenter's biggest surprise is that anyone would be inspired by his musical work, staying that synthwave is about today's musicians, and nobody should care about what he's done. Fair enough. Other inspirations from the 1970s and 80s to the genre are mentioned including Tangerine Dream, Goblin, and Kraftwork, but make no mistake -- Synthwave is new music that only sounds retro. The other direct inspiration for Synthwave artists is the 2011 film Drive, which contained a Synthwave soundtrack. Someone describes the soundtrack as "making it feel cool to walk around at night."
The documentary interviews dozens of musicians currently active within the Synthwave community, and other than the sound of the music itself, few of them agree on much else. Some of the bands consist of a single artist, while others contain multiple members. Some of the musicians create their music at home in their bedrooms while other have dedicated recording studios. One group says the most important thing about Synthwave is the community that was formed on MySpace and continues to thrive today. Another performer says the internet is garbage. Some say that real Synthwave bands must perform live while others only make songs in their bedrooms and share them online. Some use vintage instruments (keyboards, samplers, and tangled nests of patch cables) to create their music while others use the latest audio software and plug-ins to emulate those same sounds. While most of the bands featured here do not include vocals, a few do. Some of the genre's performers go to great lengths to hide their identities, appearing in the documentary with their faces hidden in shadows or while wearing face-covering hoods. Others show their faces freely. One performer says he hides his identity so that he won't have a visual aesthetic to his music. Another musician says hiding one's identity [i]is[/i] a visual aesthetic.
One of the few things that most of these musicians have in common is that most of them aren't old enough to remember the 1980s. "How do you feel nostalgic about a time you don't remember?" one of them asks.
Somehow, despite the fact that few of these musicians agree on anything, their music is so similar that it's almost interchangeable. All of it sounds like it could have come from one of a thousand movies from the 1980s. Put on a track, close your eyes, and you can almost see the scenes unfold. Depending on the tempo and style you can imagine the cool guy driving in his car, or the training montage that takes place right before the big fight.
A few of the artists lament that the genre has been spoiled by attention. But again, not everyone agrees on this. Some feel like the genre is being exploited and that the music began to suffer when "anyone with a computer tried to make it," while others feel the more the merrier. It's odd to see so many fractions within what seems to be a microscopic community.
[i]The Rise of the Synths[/i] contains just about everything most people would ever want or need to know about Synthwave. For many, I suspect their interest in the genre will begin and end here. For a few, perhaps this will inspire them to seek out some of the performers featured and mentioned in the documentary (80's Stallone, Kavinsky, Colleuge, Carpenter Brut, Gunship). And who knows, maybe it'll inspire someone to put on their puffy white high tops and shiny windbreaker and make a trip down to their local thrift store to check out the dusty keyboards for sale in the music section.