« Nostalgic, dramatic and not short on synth, my 2nd album is the kind of album that takes you on a journey to cosmic space stories and to the brave new world, this planet is becoming these days. »

To anyone with any leftover apprehensions towards the Sovietwave sound, ‘1984? Нет!’ is yet another impeccably produced chance to fall in love with the sounds of interstellar nostalgia.

‘1984? Нет!’ is out now via Bandcamp.

After a few calm weeks on the retrowave front, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better way to tune your ears back to the nostalgia waves.

Favorite tracks : Summer In Space

Lefonk ‘Summer In Space’ is out now via bandcamp.

Be sure to also check out EET’s Bandcamp page to grab a gorgeous neon-green and white vinyl of the album.

Experience EET’s latest work here:

Favorite tracks : Fly Me to the Groove, Descend (The Inverted Pyramid)

Eagle Eyed Tiger ‘Untether Unravel’ is out now via Spotify and Bandcamp

As the artist explains, the album is a tribute to the people of the “second world”.

It’s also a tribute to the suffering people of the so called ‘Second world’, those who weren’t able to get along after the collapse and ended up as ”Alconauts” once poverty, crime, drug use, alcohol use and suicides skyrocketed. Plus, it’s my tribute to the groundbreaking achievements of the Soviet space program.

The title ”Alconaut” is a cross-breed of alcoholic and cosmonaut, a reference to any human being who can either achieve the highest high becoming an astronaut or dropping to the lowest low as an alcoholic…and sometimes even both worlds may collide…

If you haven’t gotten around to giving Sovietwave a chance, this epic, heartfelt release will serve as an excellent entry point to a whole new perspective on retro synth music.

АЛКОНАВТ (ａｌｃｏｎａｕｔ) by Клет

Клет’s АЛКОНАВТ (ａｌｃｏｎａｕｔ) is out now on Bandcamp

He’s back this summer for another adventure!

SUPERNOVA : In Search of Adhara drops this Summer on all download and streaming platforms.

Many thanks to legendary voiceover actor Richard Darbois, the official French voice of Harrisson Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Glover, Kurt Russel, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Dennis Quaid, Richard Gere  and many other actors… for his participation to the project !

Stay Tuned!!!

We can hardly wait !

Be sure to follow Morgan Willis on social media for the latest news on the album:

Bandcamp

Twitter

Facebook

This compelling LP builds upon the tonal themes of previous releases from Lucy in Disguise but changes the equation just enough to remain fresh and engaging. Still present are the wonderfully warbly synths and unique melodies Lucy in Disguise is known for – but here the voice of each track feels a bit more complex and layered. The trademark funky house feeling has been traded – dialed back just a bit to make room for a larger soundstage – taking this release further into the realm of the ambient genre. The result is an exciting, absorbing mix that feels more like a novel compared to a short story.

Behind the different sound of “Unknown Frequency” you can clearly hear an improvement to the production value – feeling cleaner and more delightfully analog than previous releases. Of course, the previous releases from Lucy in Disguise were already well-produced, so this step-up really takes the music from great to absolutely stellar.

In summation, “Unknown Frequency” feels like a fantastic voyage through the cosmos – with twists and turns to gleaned from multiple listens to each track. Lucy in Disguise has truly given us an fantastic update to his signature sound – an update that changes just enough to remain fresh and new while still satisfying old fans as well. Between the dreamy layered synths and scattered beats lies something awesome waiting to be found.

Top Tracks: “Discovery,” “V.T.W.A. (feat. Laura Claire),” “Unknown Frequency,” and “Interstellar Transmission.”

Bandcamp Link: Unknown Frequency by Lucy In Disguise

Funk.

It means all kinds of things. Let’s look at the two most binding definitions of the word:

This iconic game has plenty of jams and plenty of implied bad smells… and a lot of everything else, too. ToeJam & Earl is a piece Mega Drive/Genesis bedrock, not to mention a game that stood unique among contemporaries with its gameplay style and innovative combination of concepts. Further boosted by its incredible soundtrack, the game is part of any core collection for the console.

Work began on TJ&E in 1989, when two Electronic Arts developers – Mark Voorsanger and Greg Johnson – set out on their own to develop a game that combined the real-time action of a console title with the elements of a roguelike.

What’s a roguelike, you ask? Well, it’s kind of like an RPG… except you’ll almost certainly die, the world you’re in is randomly generated, and everything is turn-by-turn instead of real-time. That is, you control the pace of the game completely, and in between actions, it remains frozen in time. The term comes from the original game of this kind, Rogue, which is a rather bland-looking (by modern standards) text and ASCII based game for early computers. There are newer reworkings with graphical tiles and enhanced interfaces, but the idea remains largely the same. Voorsanger and Johnson took this idea to Sega, and Sega liked it so much that they asked to publish it exclusively for the Genesis.

TJ&E can be played by one or two people, controlling the titular characters: ToeJam (a little red guy whose entire “head” is represented by two long stalks ending in huge eyes) and Earl (a tubby orange alien wearing some stylish shorts and classic wraparound shades). Their totally righteous but comically designed rapmaster spaceship has crashed, and they need to find all of its component parts to repair it and continue on their way through the cosmos.

The greatest part of this vehicle’s design is its total and brazen ignorance of the fact that sound does not carry across the vacuum of outer space. It also looks like something Jacques Cousteau would draw on a napkin while high as fuck.

Players guide the duo across a plethora of floating space-islands in ¾ perspective, avoiding constant peril and totally lame hassles all the while. If ToeJam and Earl end up separated, the screen simply splits along the middle, tracking their separate wanderings. The universe through which this search-and-retrieve mission is conducted can be randomly generated at the time of play, or a fixed-in-place set of levels that are the same each time you play the game.

ToeJam hard at work, while Earl… well, Earl just kind of stands there. Good job, Earl.

Besides your ship’s missing parts (which are represented VERY abstractly), you’ll find all kinds of funky shit on the ground and wandering around this bizarre floating maze. One of the primary elements of play is the scattering of pickups represented by garishly wrapped presents all over the place. Mimicking another element of most roguelikes, these presents all do different things (most good, some bad), and once you open a present of a certain type (using the menu you access with the B button), you’ve identified all future instances of its kind that you find. Until then, they are mysteries. One present even randomizes (and thus negates all your identification of) all presents. What a pain in the ass.

You’re not alone on this bizarre chunk of earth, either; an astonishing variety of weirdos roam the environment, some wishing you more harm than others. One of my favorites is the hula dancer. She often shows up around more harmful guys like the little red devils, and drawing too near her results in ToeJam or Earl compulsively mimicking her dance (and allowing the other nasties to get the jump on you). There’s little in the way of offensive tools in the game, forcing players to adopt a careful and thoughtful approach to moving through the world. Some beings will be found asleep, and holding down A allows you to creep by them slowly but quietly. Some also behave in certain predictable ways, allowing you to pay attention and use that to your advantage. Telephones reveal parts of the map (accessible by pressing C), and elevators move you up to the next board. Usually, a hint will appear to tell you that a ship part is on the level you’re entering… so scour the whole thing!

ToeJam & Earl features a lot of color and wackiness in it graphics, strongly tied to its overall early-nineties vibe. Its amazing soundtrack, composed by John Baker, comes on even stronger with the 90s power, with a R&B funk style inspired by musicians like Herbie Hancock and thick with bass and flex. The music is another example of a soundtrack really turning that YM2612 all the way out, and I rank it among the finest in the Genesis game library.

Initially, ToeJam & Earl sold poorly, but it built a cult following and also rode on the coat-tails of Sonic the Hedgehog during the Christmas of 1991. It spawned two sequels, and a Kickstarter for a new game successfully reached its funding goal in 2015.

I give ToeJam & Earl 8 out of 10. It’s a pretty fun game, if not a little meandering and open-ended sometimes… but it was definitely a unique spin on console gaming with its combination of source ideas. And man… that SOUNDTRACK.

See you in September! Get your asses back to school (or just get ready for autumn if you’re a grown-ass adult) and STAY RETRO!

It’s great. Seriously, this album is very good for the entire duration and doesn’t let up. Opening track “Roam” is largely a mood-establishing track, but when Hayley Stewart’s vocals kick in, drenched in space, it’s hard not to get chills, and even harder not to get them when the strange synth melody starts playing behind it. On Arms of Night, Hayley Stewart gives her best vocal performance to date. Her range has increased since Constellations, and the delivery has taken on an ethereal quality that matches the instrumentals even more than on any of the band’s previous releases. Jared Kyle’s vocals are still unlike anybody else in the scene and channel the 80’s underground heavily. Male vocals in synthwave are still somewhat of a novelty, so most male vocalists manage to sound distinct on synthwave tracks. Even if an established cliche male vocal style existed in the genre, I don’t think Kyle’s vocals would qualify as it. Just listen to the album’s titular track. Apart from the compositional, melodic, and lyrical nod to Echo & the Bunnymen, there is a serious channelling of the unsung heroes of the 80’s. 

There’s a lo-fi vibe to much of this album, but it largely adds to the experience and highlights just how strong the melodies are. The chorus of “War We Fight” is prime example of this, and also a prime example of the best weapon in Dead Astronauts’ arsenal. When Kyle and Stewart sing in unison, it is always the best part of the song. I’m not sure how this would translate if an entire track was constructed like this, but by using it where they do, it creates clear highlights in the songs where it’s used. “No Voice Remains” and “Black Echo” are two standouts in a row as the first half of the album ends. The former is catchy from the ground up, with something pleasing to hear in every layer of its constant use of countermelody. The latter is one of the poppier moments of the album, which is definitely not a bad thing. Pop is not usually associated with darksynth, but when Dead Astronauts tap into their pop sensibilities they are at their most memorable and exciting. There is a real ear for hooks. 

“Eject” might be the best song on the album, and more than any other song that the group has released deserves to be listened to on the best headphones you have. The pairing of low synths with chirping synths against a pulsing background groove recalls some of the Crystal Castles best work but with Dead Astronauts clearer sense of melody and retro aesthetic. The strange “Invisible Creatures” follows, which has some of the oddest sounds on the album and uses them to great effect. 

This album deserves, at the very least, a listen from anybody casually interested in the genre. It is a solid evolution from one of the most original artists in the scene and manages to be a standout in already standout year. 

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

]]> https://newretrowave.com/2016/11/19/dead-astronauts-arms-of-night/feed/ 0 https://newretrowave.com/2016/06/30/jamatar-spacesounds/ https://newretrowave.com/2016/06/30/jamatar-spacesounds/#respond Thu, 30 Jun 2016 18:22:24 +0000 http://new-retro-wave.com/2016/06/30/2016630jamatar-spacesounds/

You will know within the first 20 seconds of “Gravity”, the opening track of Jamatar’s Spacesounds is an EP that you will love or skip. It straddles the line between being a heavily chiptune-influenced synthwave album and a heavily synthwave influenced chiptune album. Chiptunes aren’t for everybody, and people can sometimes write off any aspect of that genre quickly. That’s a shame though, because there isn’t a second on Spacesounds that isn’t fresh and infectious.

            The debut EP by the Australian artist is at it’s most impressive when it is using the same Gameboy source to create interesting textures and layer them. “Gravity” does this masterfully, mixing warmer, rounder tones with the more brittle, distinctive video game sounds we are all accustomed to. “Singularity” follows by doing much the same. While filled with layered melodies, the song is more subdued and chilled out. It is more house-oriented than the other tracks, but the wash of nostalgic sounds manages to keep it from sounding overly repetitive.

            “Dead Space” sees Jamatar channeling darker atmospheres that wouldn’t be out of place in an old Metroid game, but with Final Fantasy sounding melodies, if that makes sense. It is an overtly chiptune song, without as much of the synthwave influence. The next song, “Asasamu” is a highpoint of the EP and brings back the retro-synthwave feel with full force, blending it with a little bit of that the house music vibe of “Singularity”. It is ultimately a track showcasing most of Jamatar’s strengths as an artist.

            “Space Sounds” and “Unity” close out the EP, making it one of the few releases that is bottom heavy, as opposed to top heavy. Many artists put their best songs in the beginning of releases, but the three longest, and by far strongest Jamatar tracks occupy the back half of the EP. If you are on the fence about it, start from “Asasamu” and work your way to the end from there. It’ll be interesting to see if Jamatar continues along the path of synthwave composition in a largely chiptune format, or if we blends more into that distinct Gameboy-generated sound. “Unity” implies that it could be more of the latter, and that makes me really excited for this artist’s future releases. 

COMMUNITY RATINGS

 

]]> https://newretrowave.com/2016/06/30/jamatar-spacesounds/feed/ 0 https://newretrowave.com/2015/07/27/metroid-nintendo-1987/ https://newretrowave.com/2015/07/27/metroid-nintendo-1987/#respond Mon, 27 Jul 2015 17:30:56 +0000 http://new-retro-wave.com/2015/07/27/2015727metroid-nintendo-1987/

In my last article, I discussed Doom, a landmark game that takes place in a dark future. Doomguy isn’t the first poor soul the video game world has sent into space to deal with a voracious alien threat… in fact, someone else undertook the voyage 7 years earlier, on one of gaming’s iconic consoles.

Her name is Samus Aran, and she is one of the most well-known early female protagonists in video gaming history.

This image is actually from the Player’s Guide for the SNES sequel, but cutaways are f*ckin’ cool and I wanted to include it. Click to view a larger version.

When I was a kid, I admit I wasn’t terribly into Metroid, because I didn’t get how you were supposed to progress through it. I was dense, and I also had kind of a short attention span. Looking back, it deserves all the praise and fan-following it gets. It was unusually advanced in concept for 1986; its gameplay features nonlinear exploration and multiple endings, two ideas that were more or less in their infancy at the time. The Famicom disk version had proper save game slots (think Legend of Zelda style), but the export version (released in ’87) required passwords to resume a previous game. In fact, the password screen could be used to enter certain cheat codes. Another fresh idea implemented was the concept of permanent “powerups.” In games like Super Mario Brothers and other standard platformers of that time, you’d lose a powerup when hurt or it would fade off after a set time. The items you find in Metroid act either as permanent upgrades or modifications, and you keep them once you’ve found them.

The box’s front cover…

…and this time I was able to find a good scan of the back cover as well!

In Metroid, Samus Aran must fight her way through the base of some space pirates on the Planet Zebes who have made off with samples of the titular organism. Samus must stop the pirates because Metroids are beings so potentially dangerous that they could be used as weapons of mass destruction, and that’s exactly what the pirates plan to use them for. Little does Samus know that she must eventually face Mother Brain, the alien intelligence directing the pirates’ actions from deep within the planet. Samus must do this alone, but she is a capable combatant and fast on her feet. Based on how quickly you complete the game, you get one of five endings; this gave the game replay value and also nurtured early speed runners by rewarding them in-game. Metroid also focuses primarily on exploration, unlike most of its fellow side-scrollers from that period. You have to backtrack, keep some kind of map (at least mentally), and unlock restricted areas by various means.

This isn’t the only place you find powerups, but it’s certainly one of the creepiest.

These are Metroids. Do NOT let them touch you, because they will keep touching you until you are dead.

At the start of the game, Samus has only a weak pea-shooter of a weapon. However, a diligent search of the surrounding areas will reveal more weapons; your gun gets better, you gain the capacity to shoot missiles, you can roll up into a ball and drop bombs, and then there’s the famous Screw Attack – the somersault that kills. Many of these weapons are also tools – some doors require missiles to open, and you will need to roll up into a ball more than once to get where you need to go. When you destroy an enemy creature, you usually get extra missiles or “energy,” which is tracked as a numerical value and functions as Samus’s “life bar.” The game is fairly gentle on your energy at the beginning, but if you find yourself getting the crap kicked out of you, death is certainly a strong possibility.

At first, you face pretty manageable enemies, like little bugs that cling to walls, slow-flying things that look kind of like fish, and ceiling-clingers that drop predictably down on you. Things do get harder, as not only will the menagerie of alien foes expand, so will the hazards built into the environment. If you see anything that looks like liquid, it will probably hurt you to immerse yourself in it. The two sub-bosses, Kraid and Ridley, are encountered fairly late in the game and are both kind of a joke once you know what to do. If you prepare ahead of time and make sure you’ve got plenty of firepower, you can ace them pretty easily. Mother Brain is a different story. Dealing with her is a two-fold challenge; you must first breach her considerable outer defenses before blasting her into oblivion. Once you’ve defeated Mother Brain, the last challenge is escaping before a timed self-destruct mechanism goes off.

A brief look at the barriers and hazards awaiting you in Mother Brain’s chamber.

Metroid’s graphics are pretty detailed for their time, with a rich palette and lots of organic/mechanical trade-offs. The sound and music are where the game’s theme really shines through; Hirozaku Tanaka’s soundtrack is appropriately sparse, yet meaningful in the context of the game’s plot. The score was written to emphasize the alien nature of Samus’s surroundings and the sense of isolation one would feel undertaking such a serious mission all alone on a distant, hostile planet like Zebes. The music is arranged so that the deeper you go into the compound, the creepier it gets.

The Metroid series has remained one of the most beloved among Nintendo purists. An entry into the series has been produced for almost every Nintendo system, with the notable exception of the N64 system. The games range from expansions on the original format to attempts at adapting the gameplay to an FPS (first person shooter) style. Samus herself has become one of the company’s most celebrated icons; she is not just lauded for being one of the first female protagonists in a console game, but also simply for being a total badass.

…um, okay.

And you know what? Someone had to stop those damned space pirates… why not a badass like Samus Aran? 

Stay tuned in August, RetroManiacs! Until next time!

]]> https://newretrowave.com/2015/07/27/metroid-nintendo-1987/feed/ 0 https://newretrowave.com/2015/07/07/a-space-love-adventure-synth-punk-ep/ https://newretrowave.com/2015/07/07/a-space-love-adventure-synth-punk-ep/#respond Tue, 07 Jul 2015 19:11:21 +0000 http://new-retro-wave.com/2015/07/07/201577a-space-love-adventure-synth-punk-ep/ A Space Love Adventure has released an EP, and it’s everything his fans and supporters have been waiting for. Since 2011, ASLA has been producing synthwave music and honing his skills. You may have heard him on the Outrun Europa comp, as well as a few other places, but ASLA has finally given us his first full EP, a true-to-form set of tracks that is very 80's, very cool, and very easy to enjoy. 

]]>

A Space Love Adventure has released an EP, and it’s everything his fans and supporters have been waiting for. Since 2011, ASLA has been producing synthwave music and honing his skills. You may have heard him on the Outrun Europa comp, as well as a few other places, but ASLA has finally given us his first full EP, a true-to-form set of tracks that is very 80’s, very cool, and very easy to enjoy. 

It’s only four tracks, but all of them will kick you straight in the ass and make you ready to rumble. “Red Blaze” is the opening anthem, and it’s an excellent way to start things off. A driving mid-tempo thump races alongside chord hits, guitar wails, and celestial high-end. The breaks and change ups are timed fluidly, and the track flows very well. “Avalanche 29” definitely has more of a darker sci-fi feel to it, with a similar tempo to the previous track but a more wandering, brooding feel. It is strong and intense. Once again, high and low blend beautifully, and the ever-present guitar continues to sing. Its keening solos are very realistic. ASLA (Alessandro) told me himself: “I normally like to use a real guitar, but for the Synth Punk EP, since I have no guitar with me, I used Garageband’s electric guitar VST, which I think is dope.” I’m inclined to agree with him!  

We go even grimmer with “Reign of the Outlaws,” a slower track that nonetheless matches the others in raw intensity. Its arpeggio bass line, dreamy high notes and vast back-end invoke images of a post-apocalyptic sunset… gloomy, yet oddly hopeful. “Thunderchrome” wins me over as my favorite track on the EP; I love nothing more than to hear an artist wrap up a record with a track that has balls of steel. True to its brothers on the album, it has a driving tempo to it, and that old-boombox fade in effect is always a cool way to drop us into the action. In some superficial ways, it is similar to the first track, but definitely has its own character. 

Alessandro posted this EP on social media with the disclaimer that it was “100% DIY” and said “don’t listen if you’re looking for polished sounds.” He was trying to be modest, which I appreciate, but let me clear things up: This is pretty damn polished for a DIY synthwave album. It’s very clear that a lot of effort and passion went into creating the music, and it’s obvious that ASLA will only continue to climb in altitude from here. I give Synth Punk EP an enthusiastic eight out of ten. Sunlover’s asking €3 for it, but it’s worth much more. I’d suggest you grab it!

COMMUNITY RATINGS

]]> https://newretrowave.com/2015/07/07/a-space-love-adventure-synth-punk-ep/feed/ 0 https://newretrowave.com/2015/03/03/fred-perry-x-space-invaders/ https://newretrowave.com/2015/03/03/fred-perry-x-space-invaders/#respond Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:05:00 +0000 http://new-retro-wave.com/2015/03/03/201533fred-perry-x-space-invaders/           Fred Perry the well known UK clothing brand for casual and sportswear has just launched a one-off line of gear inspired by the 80's arcade classic Space Invaders and will definitely catch your retro-interests.

]]>             Fred Perry the well known UK clothing brand for casual and sportswear has just launched a one-off line of gear inspired by the 80’s arcade classic Space Invaders and will definitely catch your retro-interests.

Space Invaders (スペースインベーダー Supēsu Inbēdā?) was an arcade video game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado and released in 1978. Originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, but later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally.  The crude blips and bonks and boops of this game are still recognized by many and still enjoyed as one of the building blocks of what is now video game culture.

And now the Fred Perry Capsule collection have used their wits and combined the characters of Space Invaders and splashed them across the Fred Perry style. It’s retro-casual. Imagine getting together with your friends for some drinks on Saturday before running into a street fight with this smart gear on. Kick off will never be the same and you’ll look like a boss at the next donnybrook. Track tops, trainers and polos decorated with the trademark Fred Perry logo and the Space Invaders laser cannons, aliens and fonts.

 The full collection has been available to buy online from Fredperry.com and other online vendors as of Monday 24th February 2015.

(Source: http://www.fredperry.com/men/space-invaders/ )

 

PROMO VIDEO – FRED PERRY X SPACE INVADERS: 

]]> https://newretrowave.com/2015/03/03/fred-perry-x-space-invaders/feed/ 0