I often think of myself as having a rather limited range of musical interest as a fan/listener. My wife teases me that “If it wasn’t written in the 80’s it doesn’t even exist for you”.. and I guess I’ve internalized that a bit.
I’m not nearly so narrow really… I’m a fan of Goth-Industrial (and a host of related subgenres), as well as 80’s New Wave (and subgenres springing from them such as synthpop etc..), and I also like a lot of EDM (Trance, Techno, Electronica, and yes I’ll admit it – even Dubstep)
When I step back a bit I realize “If it’s electronic or strongly synth-backed, I’ll probably like it”
So, in that vein it’s not at all surprising that I like Synthwave and Darksynth…. what is surprising to me is that I only just discovered the genres (as a named thing) recently thanks to a fascinating interview with Glitbiter over at spinditty.
Of course, I immediately found her on SoundCloud and had a listen. I want to share my favorite track of hers here. It’s called See You in the Trees. It’s got this kind of Tangerine Dream vibe to it at first, but then the beat comes in and she starts singing and it truly becomes something unique.
Having grown up in the 80s and having played keyboards/synth as well as having been an avid gamer in those early years of arcade and PC gaming, Synthwave and Darksynth truly speak to me. This is a genre I’ve been waiting for… how it took me this long to discover, I’m not sure.
Synthwave is what you get when you apply modern synths/music production and stylizing to a core 80’s aesthetic. Or maybe a better way to say it is it’s kind of a retro-80s vibe for modern electronic music?
There’s a strong element of “postcard from Los Angeles from the 80s” to the genre’s core though I’m more into it for the “Modern synths/electronic music calling back to the visions we had of the future of science and technology in the 80’s”
Eh Maybe I should let someone who knows it better say it:
I found a really good deep dive over at Iron Skullet.