The Top 10 Synthwave Albums of 2022:

10. Nosebleed (Deluxe) by Midnight Drift

9. Ultrasound by A.L.I.S.O.N & Hotel Pools

8. Heroes by The Midnight

7. The Textorcist OST by Gost

6. Triangle Unicode by We Are Magonia

5. Lovers Lake by Lovers Lake

4. I by Voyage

3. AKUMA 3 by ALEX & TOKYO ROSE

2. (Tie) In Motion I & II by Memorex Memories

2. (Tie) Tortured Waters by DEADLIFE

1. Sentimental by Miami Nights 1984

Honorable Mentions

(In No Particular Order)

In Search of Tomorrow (Original Documentary Soundtrack) – by Various Artists

Forgotten Shapes by Waveshaper

Payback by Neon Nox

Synth City by All the Damn Vampires

Distorted Memories by Lucy In Disguise

Overnight, a grand drama has developed in the synth scene. The darksynth / electro producer CYBERTHING! was scrolling through Spotify to discover new music, when instead discovered the remnants of a digital heist! The alleged thief in this case had not stolen credit card numbers or bitcoin – but rather, music. Darksynth and cyberpunk to be exact – as well as album art.

It looks like the alleged thief manipulated the tracks so the Automatic Content ID system didn’t catch them. Cyberpunk indeed!

But this isn’t just a story of alleged theft – it’s also a story about how the larger synthwave community came together to identify the stolen tracks, notify the artists, and hunt down the perpetrator!

The Find

“I was just looking for new music.  I’m always looking for some new unnamed artists who can do something interesting….

So I found this guy’s ‘album’ and the first track was awesome (of course it was, cause it was Street Cleaner – Vultures) but I didn’t understand it right away, since the track was a little pitched down and sounded a lil different. But the second track was Perturbator lol. So I started to Shazam the tracks and made this Tweet after that.” – CYBERTHING!

The alleged perpetrator of this heist appears to be one “Electromedison.” They may also go by “DO.RE.MI.XX Production Story,” and/or “Cybershot.” It appears many of these albums and tracks have been up under false names for almost a year. 

We reached out to Electromedison for a comment, but at the time of this writing, we have had no response. 

Editors Note: We will not link to these “releases,” and we strongly discourage you from seeking out these releases too, as we do not want to give this alleged thief any money from streaming!

If you are a darksynth/cyberpunk artist and you’re worried your music may have been stolen, the unidentified tracks are listed at the bottom of this article, and most of the albums in question can be found on Electromedison’s Soundcloud, and they do not appear to be monetized there.

The Search Begins

Upon finding these maliciously uploaded tracks, CYBERTHING! spread the word on social media, tagging every artist who’s work he could identify. News spread like wildfire, and soon the fine folks over in Nightride FM’s discord channel had begun the hunt, finding and notifying many of the artists who had their work stolen. Eventually, DEADLIFE compiled and tweeted a list of the stolen tracks and the original artists the awesome Nightride FM community could identify.

Dozens of darksynth and cyberpunk artists and their labels are affected, including:

• Street Cleaner
•  Perturbator
•  MADES
•  Chaos Vector
•  Jack Maniak
•  Anacrhonist
•  Pomidor
•  Hexenkraft
•  Dreddd
•  Tokyo Rose
•  Graveslayer
•  Midnight Danger
•  Irving Force
•  Daniel Deluxe
•  Knightbots
•  Alex
•  Neon Nox
•  Nightcrawler
•  Tonebox
•  Compilerbau
•  Kick Puncher
•  Lazerpunk
•  VHS Glitch
•  Darkshine
•  F.O.O.L
•  Coderpunk
•  Sandman

In fact, it seems every single track from these releases was allegedly stolen, though there are still unidentified tracks.
(See the full list of stolen tracks below.)

It also appears the album art was also stolen, with one of them being identified as Steven Holliday’s Creepshow anniversary poster.

A number of artists also confided in me they believe they have found the original perpetrator, but we will not provide real names here, as we aren’t in the business of witch hunts. However, a friend-of-a-friend reached out to the person in question – and this was his response:

The Mystery Deepens

Haven’t heard of Electromedison? Us either – in fact, no one really has. This “artist” has zero social profiles. In spite of this, the pirated tracks have been spread all around the net: they’re on Spotify, Shazam, Itunes, Amazon, Beatport, TikTok, – you name it.

That’s actually why I’m writing this article – so artists who are affected can find their tracks and be sure to report them on their respective services. I can’t imagine anything worse than losing fans because Shazam took you to an imposter’s tracks.

There’s only one way that so many different platforms could fall prey to this scheme: a music distribution service.

In this case, it seems that the distro service in question is FreshTunes, though there could have been other services involved as well.

We want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and to their credit, FreshTunes clearly states in their Terms of Service that copyright-infringing material is not acceptable on their platform – and the content is currently being taken down – so this does seem like the actions of one rogue actor, and not FreshTunes. It has also been less than 24 hours since the initial complaints were made too – that’s a pretty quick turnaround time for takedowns – though the music in question is still available in several places.

We reached out to FreshTunes for a comment, but at the time of this writing, we have had no response.

List of Stolen Darksynth/Cyberpunk Tracks:

Big shout-out to DEADLIFE and the fine detectives of the Nightride FM discord who helped track down many of the stolen tracks below!

Album: Electromedison – Taste of Blood (Album Art: Steven Holliday’s Creepshow anniversary poster.)

• The Laughter Of Fear (Actually Street Cleaner – Vultures)
• M.Z.18 (Actually Perturbator – Neo Tokyo)
• The Smell Of Death (Actually MADES – Awakening (Knightbots Remix)
• Drownedman  Actually (Chaos Vector – Hellhound)
• Taste Of Blood (Actually Jack Maniak – Code 403)
• Rise Of The Machines (Unknown)
• Paranoia (Unknown)
• Alloy (Unknown)
• Dark Task (Unknown)
• Mf Lost (Actually Anachronist – Somnolence)
• Last Sunday (Unknown)

Album: Electromedison – Cyberpunk

• Hunting For A Virus  (Actually Pomidor – Space Lullaby)
• Blackweb (Actually Hexenkraft – A Flame In The Void)
• Brain Error (Actually Dreddd – Omega Beam)
• Overcharge (Unknown)
• Cyberpunk (Actually Graveslayer – Hyper Alloy)
• Timekiller (Actually Tokyo Rose – Armageddon)
• Chasing A Flash Card (Actually Midnight Danger – System Outage)
• Digital Reality (Unknown)
• Infecting All Of Humanity (Unknown)
• Cyberwitchcraft (Actually Irving Force – Overlord (Original Mix)
• Hackers Symphony (Actually Daniel Deluxe – Kindred)

Album: Electromedison – Killer’s Day

• Killers Day(Unknown)
• Murder At A Bus Stop (Actually Daniel Deluxe – Brute Force)
• Wheezing (Actually Alex – Dystopia)
• Strangers Night Call (Actually Neon Nox – Streetwalker)
• Scramble (Actually Tokyo Rose – Armageddon)
• Escape(Unknown)
• A Terrible Dream(Unknown)
• Wrong Turn(Unknown)
• Someone Else’s Script(Unknown)
• Theres A Knife In The Mirror(Unknown)
• Blood With Oxygen(Unknown)
• On The Chain(Unknown)
• Facing My Demons(Unknown)
• Moon Is Hiding(Unknown)

Album: (As Cybershot) – Mechanism Of Action

• No Weapons (Unknown)
• War Z (Actually Nightcrawler – Blood Rage)
• Explosion (Actually Daniel Deluxe – Instruments Of Retribution)
• Fear In The Eyes (Actually Tonebox – Implosion)
• Graveyard Of Cars (Actually Perturbator – Creature)
• Rough (Unknown)
• Mechanism Of Action (Actually Compilerbau – Dark Forces)
• Rise Of The Tomb (Actually Kick Puncher – Red Herring – Night Ritual)
• Werewolf (Actually Lazerpunk – Power / Raydar – The Gathering)
• Cold Night (Actually VHS Glitch – Jaw Breaker)
• Cipher (Actually Darkshine – When Darkness Is Shining)

Album Electromedison – Hacker

• Cyberpunk 2077(Actually Coderpunk – Battle Of Robots (Radio Edit)
• Hacking The System (Actually F.O.O.L – Sahara)
• Hacker  (Unknown)
• Reboot 3 2 1 (Unknown)
• Cyberhunt (Actually Perturbator – Death Squad)
• Ufo (Unknown)
• We Were Declassified (Actually Coderpunk – We Were Declassified (Vinyl Version)
• The Hacker Returns (Actually Sandman – Ignite)

January Highlights

Neko Milkshake – Neko Milkshake 

(Future Funk )

Listen

Donor Lens – Live At Pink Bird

(Vaporwave/Synthpop)

Listen

Useless – Octa & Hexa

(Vaporwave/Retrowave)

Listen

Listen

Collection Privée – Ready.Go.Disco

(Synthwave/Future Funk)

​

Listen

Pan!c Pop -5!ve 5tar

(Vaporwave/Future Funk)

Listen

Absolute Valentine – American Nightmares

(Retrowave)

Listen

Kick Puncher – LiveDieRepeat

(Retrowave/Darksynth)

Listen

Ultraboss – Gravitas

(Retrowave/Darksynth)

Listen

Lazer Station – Time Blazer

(Synthwave/Darksynth)

Listen

Dead Astronauts – Silhouettes

(Retrowave/Darkwave)

Listen

Singles & Honorable Mentions

Tokyo Rose & Johnny Craig – Dark Knights

Lau – The Cards

John Carpenter – Alive After Death

Ulver – Machine Guns & Peacock Feathers (Carpenter Brut Remix)

Night Tempo – 集中 Concentration

Paradise of Yesterday – 1994

蒸気YAMTA – 蒸気YAMTA

Iden Kai – Disco Fortuna

​

10. Droid Bishop – “End Game”

9. Yota – “The Vibe”

8. Clyde Shelton – “Spending Spirit”

7. The Midnight – “America Online”

6. W O L F C L U B – “Electrify”

5. TOKYO ROSE – “TYRAEL”

4. Florida Skyline – “Hello World”

3. Com Truise – “Galactic Melt”

2. Waveshaper – “CRT Days”

1. DEADLIFE – “Strands Unravel”

Honorable Mentions:

A.L.I.S.O.N – “Lightyears”

Voyage –  “Sync”

Dan Terminus – “Requiem”

Baldocaster – “Map to the Stars (Part 1)”

View our other Best of 2020 lists here!

Like our lists? Check out our Top 10’s from previous years:

Top 10 Retrowave Songs of 2019
Top Ten Retrowave Songs of 2018
Best of 2019 

Top 10 Synthwave Tracks of 2020

The classic demon girl is back, repressed for a new limited edition vinyl. This “SUNGOD” edition features alternative album art and some awesome new swirled and splattered records too! This record contains the best blend of synthwave retro sounds steeped darksynth I have heard. The groove on Tokyo Rose’s track ‘Sacrifice’ is a pulsing, intense ride, and ALEX’s title track ‘AKUMA’ features some of the best vocals I’ve heard on a darksynth album.

“AKUMA” is a perfect example of recent darksynth albums that still have a salient retro vibe. With this repress being released, it makes me wonder if a repress of “AKUMA II” is on the way as well, as I’m never personally informed of upcoming releases. In spite of “AKUMA II” departing from its predecessor’s retro roots, it’s still lauded by many fans as being better than the first AKUMA album – not something you usually see with concept sequels!

Either way, I missed the first press of AKUMA, so I’m incredibly happy with this release. There are a still a few left – grab yours here now!

Dropping next Friday, July 24th, “Magnatron III” is jam-packed with absolute fire tracks from some of the best hand-picked artists in the retro synthwave scene. Just listening to the gleaming production of first three singles (Waveshaper – Vivid Stars/ Wice – Interstellar / Power Glove & PYLOT – AEON) is proof-in-pudding that Magnatron III is going to be an absolute banger! With genres ranging from dreamwave to synthwave to darksynth and everything in-between, This synthwave compilation is set to be stuffed with a track for everyone.

Initial pre-sales of rare bundles are already sold out – but fear not! We’re adding more to the store at 9:30AM EST tomorrow via NRW Records. This will include standalone items in larger amounts and different colorways. – https://NRWRecords.lnk.to/MagnatronIII

Tracklist:

1. Wice – Interstellar
2. Waveshaper – Vivid Stars
3. Zombie Hyperdrive – Ghostwalker
4. Absolute Valentine – Magnatron Engaged
5. STRAPLOCKED – Active Aggression
6. ALEX – SAMUS ARAN
7. Power Glove & PYLOT – AEON
8. Tonebox – Pulsar Blast
9. TOKYO ROSE – Tyrael
10. F.O.O.L – The Truth
11. Daniel Deluxe – Frontier
12. Sandman – Destiny Unknown
13. Donbor – Brume
14. DEADLIFE – Grit Rewired
15.Turboslash – Phantom
16. ORAX – Shelter
17. Kick Puncher – Last Resolve
18. Volkor X – Aftermath

Magnatron / Magnatron III / Magnatron 3

He made the announcement last Friday, and released a farewell to synth – a righteous collab with Pylot and Essenger called “Out of Luck.” – Listen Here.

Although this may sadden some fans, Tokyo explained he’s not done making music – just departing the retro sound. We caught up with him for a quick interview to find out what’s next:

…I’m super thankful to my Synth fans for all the love and support that they have and continue to still give me.

Q: You started producing music at 17. Recently, as your music moved into a darker area, you and ALEX charted on billboard with Akuma and Akuma II.  Can you talk about your experiences with AKUMA and NRW?

“Well to start off, my experience with NRW has been great. Ten has been very supportive of me and my music since 2013. So I am incredibly grateful to him for that.

My experience with the AKUMA franchise has also been great. I feel like it has sort of its own cult following which is pretty cool. ALEX & I definitely raised the bar in the scene with those two albums. Once the first AKUMA dropped we notice so many acts turning into the darksynth side of things and borrowing our aesthetics, haha.”

Q: How exactly did your collaborations with ALEX take shape?

“Long story short, I reached out to ALEX to collab on a track. That tracked turned into an EP and that EP turned in AKUMA,” he said with a laugh.

“When we created both albums we had the goal set in mind to stand out with our production and visuals. I think we did a pretty great job along with some other fantastic artists. The production on AKUMA was pretty smooth and fast to be honest. I had my 6 tracks and so did ALEX.

With AKUMA II it proved to be a bit challenging only because ALEX & I wanted to raise the bar even further, and we were perfectionists with every aspect of the album. It was a great thing. You should never settle for less in anything you do. In the production of AKUMA II we wanted to bring in our influences at that time into AK2. We wanted something daring, fresh and new but we wanted to still keep some “Retro” elements.”

(A quick list of AKUMA I & II collaborators: Ariel ZB, STRNGR, Rachel McAlpine, Mecha Maiko, Daniel Deluxe, F.O.O.L, & Power Glove)

Tokyo Rose performing at Ace of Cups Columbus- Photo Credit Tim Evans Photography

Q: After the successes of Akuma and AKUMA II, you’ve now announced that you’re departing from Synthwave….what’s next?

“I’m just heading in a new direction. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a few years now to be completely honest. Just needed to wait till a few contracts ended to finally announce things to the public.”

Q: What was the catalyst behind this decision? Why depart synthwave after the success of Akuma?

“The main reason for my departure of the synthwave scene is mainly because of the lack of creative freedom there is for someone like me. Being committed solely to that 80’s/90’s sound and retro style was beginning to become a great bore to me. I wasn’t even born in the 80’s!” He said again laughing.

“My real childhood was the early 2000’s… so in reality I have no real attachment to the retro eras. That being said, I wasn’t allowed to really create the music I wanted to without receiving great criticism for coloring out the lines. Now that I am no longer tied down to just one music genre, I can have more freedom in creating the music that I really want to produce.

Regardless I’m super thankful to my Synth fans for all the love and support that they have and continue to still give me.”

Tokyo Rose Performing at Ace of Cups Columbus. Photo Credit Tim Evans

Q: Do you know what your new direction will be?

“There are no limits for me now. My upcoming stuff will be a lot of Midtempo with Dubstep and Hardstyle vibes incorporated. Some retro inspiration in a few tracks but taking things in a heavier and more modern approach. Been bumping a lot of 1788-L, REZZ, & Deathpact so a lot of inspiration for me has been drawing from them.”

Q: ALEX recently moved into DnB/Dubstep/Bass music territory with “Blood City,” are you leaning in this direction too?

“To an extent, yes. But like I stated earlier there are no limits for me now. If I feel like producing a full on R&B track, I will haha.”

Q: So what’s next? Do you have any albums or EP’s lined up? Any tours waiting in the wings?

“No plans on a tour anytime soon… especially with how things are going on in the world presently with the Coronavirus. But its something I am open to once things get better.

“I have some pretty amazing new opportunities that I have been approached with that I am stoked to announce… whenever I’m allowed to. I also have a single coming out this year with a vocalist I’ve been wanting to collab with for about a year now so I’m also excited for that!

Some pretty awesome plans for my stage character as well, maybe a comic and some animation to follow – I know how bad a lot of people want know the origin of my character. Website should be up soon too with some bangin’ new merch.

I’m proud and happy to say that a lot is in store for TOKYO ROSE. I hope that my Synth fans will continue to love and support me regardless of what music I produce. Big shout out to all of the fans that have been messaging me reassuring me of their support for what’s to come. I’m truly grateful!”

Cover Photo Credit: Tim Evans Photography, Courtesy of The Columbus Synth Collective

This set of absolutely killer producers is enough to turn heads, and we at NRW are honored that they were awesome enough to reimagine Akuma II!

Akuma II (The Remixes) features Lucy In Disguise, Kick Puncher, Straplocked, Power Glove, Grimlin, Tonebox, STRNGR, MAKESHFT, Sierra, and Scattle.

Each artist has brought their own particular flavor and intensity to Akuma II (The Remixes) – however they also manage to stay true to the source material and mix well together in the overall master. The end result is a listening experience unique from other remix albums which can tend to feel disjointed.

We’re absolutely stoked to release this album into the wild – we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Grab a listen here!
 

Peter Zimmermann – Through The Night (Part 1)

Florida Skyline – The Green Tapes

Arcade High – New Impressions

Megadrive – 199XAD

Billy Mays Band – Introspection

Betamaxxx – Lost In A Dreamworld

Powerglove – Playback

Top 10 Retrowave Albums of 2019

10. Lucy in disguise – Sunset Radio

9. FM Attack – New World

8. Tonebox – Cloud Highway

7. Futurecop! – Voltrana

6. Akuma II – Alex & Tokyo Rose

5. Com Truise – Persuasion System

4. Waveshaper – Artifact

3. Quixotic – Flamingo Drive In

2. Michael Oakley – Introspect

1. Ollie Wride – Thanks in Advance

Carpenter Brut – Blood Machines
(The only reason this isn’t #1 is because it technically isn’t a music video, and it’s currently not available to stream. Check out the website here to see it when it becomes publicly available!)

Jack Stauber – Baby Hotline

Confrontational – Happy Children

Korine – Elegance & You

Top 10 Retrowave Music Videos of 2019

10. Deadlife – Nothing Left But Pills

9. Morgan Willis – Lets Go Together

8. Futurecop! – We Belong (feat. Parallels)

7. Starcadian – Freak night

6. Glowline – Glow with Me

5. Carpenter Brut – Leather Teeth

4. Com Truise – Ultrafiche of You

3. Alex & Tokyo Rose – Affliction

2. Ollie Wride – Back to Life

1. Michael Oakley – Left Behind

The “In Search of Darkness” documentary about 80’s horror began as a simple crowdfunding campaign back in 2018 – but quickly met it’s goals in two days.

To accompany the October release of this maniacal 260 minute doc, we have collaborated with CreatorVC Studios many fantastic artists from various genres to bring you the stunning soundtrack for this titanic release. Critics are already raving 100% at Rotten Tomatoes!

Listen to the full album Here!

See the documentary first by pre-ordering Here before Midnight Halloween, and personalize your documentary with your name in the credits!


Here’s a full list of artists feature on the In Search of Darkness (Original Documentary Soundtrack) :

Elevate The Sky: soundcloud.com/elevatethesky
Wice: soundcloud.com/wice-music
TOKYO ROSE: soundcloud.com/tokyoroseofficial
Morgan Willis: soundcloud.com/morgan-willis-1982
Power Glove: soundcloud.com/powerglove
ALEX: soundcloud.com/alexofficialuk
Hexenkraft: soundcloud.com/hexenkraft
Waveshaper: soundcloud.com/waveshaper-2
Midnight Danger: soundcloud.com/midnightdanger
TurboVCR: soundcloud.com/turbovcr
Moonracoon: soundcloud.com/moonraccoon
Josh Lim: www.joshjameslim.com
Kick Puncher: soundcloud.com/kick-puncher
Turbo Knight: soundcloud.com/turboknight
Vilemoral: soundcloud.com/vilemoral

Every week on Friday afternoon we will be bringing you five of our favorite recent synth tracks. From outrun to darksynth, we have your weekend covered with our Weekly Selection! Check out our first picks below, in no particular order:

Waveshaper – Artifact

Alex & Tokyo Rose – Rivals (feat. Power Glove)

The Midnight – America Online

Memorex Memories – Watching Gameshows

TheBadDreamers – How to Disappear (Savior Adore Remix)