One of the most interesting things about synthwave as a genre is the way in which an artist’s unique experiences manifest in their music. It’s always immediately clear, for example, if an artist has experience in metal music or with scoring films. Certain traits appear in the songs. For SID64, that prior experience is interesting. Mastering tracks professionally at Preference Mastering, it’s clear that Charles Michaud had the endpoint of each song in mind as we wrote, recorded, and mixed the eight tracks on his EP Sunset Waves.

It’s difficult picking the best part of this release beyond saying “the first four tracks”. “Not A Dream” opens the album with a pulsing and deceptively interesting beat. It seems initially like a standard four-on-the-floor kick pattern with snares on every other beat, but there are sounds buried in the mix the enrich every aspect of the song. The song is an excellent representation of SID64’s skill in trading off between melodies. The main melodic hook of the song doesn’t last an entire measure and let’s the pulse of the bassline shine for just the right amount of time before adding another melody to trade off with. The second melody uses this extremely funky synth that pops up throughout the album and is one of the best aspects of the release, as well as one of its most defining characteristics.

Spoken word can be something of a mixed bag in synthwave, but the latter half of “A Message For You” uses it to tremendous effect. The majority of vocal synthwave is in English, and so when you hear the French plea of “Pourquoi?” in the song, it is refreshing and unlike much of the scene. Groove is added to the upbeat “Xpand at Night” that follows. If pressed, I would say it is the best song the album was the offer. There isn’t a single moment in the song that isn’t catchy and it just feels like a song where everything is exactly where it belongs, both compositionally and sonically. “My Dream With Tangerines” has the same upbeat groove and cohesive nature. There is always something strange and pleasant happening to latch onto, and the less-than-subtle reference to the influential electronic group Tangerine Dream is appreciated, as I believe our scene owes a lot to them.

“Gym O’Clock” transitions the album toward its conclusion. It’s full of positive energy and highly rhythmic bass fills. It occupies a space that feels like an intersection of Green Hill Zone and Interstellar 5555. “The Lost Theme” is the best song on the back half of the album and is the perfect choice for a closer. It has the same perfectly complementary melodies, subtle deviations from rhythmic expectations, funky synth, and upbeat mood that makes the best parts of this EP so good. It feels like a synthwave version of James Ferraro’s “Linden Dollars” with its unrelenting hooks and manic energy. It ends way faster than you might expect and makes three minutes feel like thirty seconds.
 

It’s worth noting that the CD is going to include some different mixes and completely different mastering than the digital release. SID64 states, “The music won’t be leveled to what you find in digital platform today and the audio spectrum will be closer to what we used to hear in the 80’s.” It’s going to be interesting to see how these great songs translate to a different mix.

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]]> https://newretrowave.com/2016/12/15/sid64-sunset-waves/feed/ 0 https://newretrowave.com/2015/11/09/highway-superstar-endgame/ https://newretrowave.com/2015/11/09/highway-superstar-endgame/#respond Mon, 09 Nov 2015 00:48:24 +0000 http://new-retro-wave.com/2015/11/10/2015119highway-superstar-endgame/

I’m guilty of describing music in terms of hipster mathematics. Death Cab For Cutie + Neutral Milk Hotel = The Decemberists. That sort of thing. Fifteen seconds into “Cast Away”, the opening track of Highway Superstar’s Endgame, the musical arithmetic was firing away. The Cure + a-ha, I thought. This isn’t any sort of indication of a lack of creativity. Instead, it’s evidence of strong songwriting, the most prominent trait through the album’s eleven track run.

The album fluctuates between tracks with guest-contributed vocals and purely instrumental tracks. Both manage to be memorable, and the album carries a baton of energy efficiently between the songs. I’m ordinarily a bigger fan of vocal tracks in my synthwave albums, but Endgame makes it difficult to choose between the two. “Stalemate Punks” is the highlight of the purely instrumental tracks.

The opener of “Cast Away” features vocals by Dana Jean Phoenix, a name that at this point in the scene is synonymous with quality and melody. Her voice and the onslaught of guitars from Hugh Myrone and Guy Elyahu give the song an edge and momentum that is extremely fresh in the genre. Guitars are not a new concept in synthwave, but the application of them in this song is what is important.

The songs on the album are impeccably mixed. The chiming highs are never piercing. The bass synths and kick drums sit comfortably in the mix, never overbearing the track in a way that a novice might. Every track on Endgame is indicative of how much Highway Superstar knows what he is doing.

“Burn This City” is an example of everything Highway Superstar does right all in one song. The song is confident, funky, and has little flourishes all over the place. Alex Karlinsky, the human behind Highway Superstar demonstrates his vocal chops alongside Honey Colonna, a singer who contributes to many of the best moments on the album. The result is an outstanding track filled with strong moments.   

2015 is proving to be a year of albums that are reaching new heights in different directions. So many good albums with distinct sounds have been released. Endgame doesn’t just sit comfortably with those releases, it manages to hold a position near the top of the pile. 

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