Synthwave

Peenuts

Resident Doctor
Jun 28, 2020
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Not a genre i'm too well acquainted with, but i recently got to heard Robert Nickson's take on it and i'm really digging it.

Post your recommendations here!

Analog 82 - Youthtopia

 

BS_BlackScout

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2020
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24
Hell, Brazil
Not a genre i'm too well acquainted with, but i recently got to heard Robert Nickson's take on it and i'm really digging it.

Post your recommendations here!

Analog 82 - Youthtopia
This is Nickson?? Awesome!

The Midnight feat. Timecop1983 - River of Darkness

 

Gijs

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2020
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Zuid-Holland, NL
My favourite youtuber, Summoning Salt, uses a lot of this type of songs in his videos, notably this one:
(Not sure whether this falls under synthwave or vaporwave though, I've never been the best at discerning genres)
 

dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
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IMO this genre started going viral around the time of Stranger Things season 1, with initial support likely dating as far back as the hype surrounding vaporwave and the announcement of Cyberpunk 2077 (and the release of other cyberpunk-y games).

This is one of my favorite tracks from synthwave. It definitely has a futuristic city, Blade Runner-esque feel to it, but it also feels like what would play in a movie cyberpunk nightclub.

Perturbator ft. Greta Link - Venger [2016]
 

Archon

Gagi
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
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Got to listen to a few of stunning albums in my synthwave phase. Will post those later, but first things first, Junkie XL's Distance Between Dreams OST is just pure synth heaven. It doesn't have that synthwavey 80s happy feel to it, but it's amazing nonetheless and something I can listen to all the time.
 

chreddy

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2020
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CPH, DK
So recommendations, huh? Anything by The Midnight really. Especially the stuff on their Endless Summer and Nocturnal releases. Not a single bad track on those releases if you ask me. Their newer stuff are also great, this includes their album Monsters, which was just released earlier this month.

Other than that, I really like Scandroid a lot (some people might know his more known artist name Celldweller). I recommend listening to his 2 first albums, Scandroid and Monochrome.
A few of my favorite Scandroid tracks - all youtube links. Decided to add them as links instead of embedding them, as it would easily make this post way longer that it could've been:
Datastream
Monochrome
The Force Theme
New York City Nights
Neo Tokyo (Dance With The Dead Remix)
Awakening With You (PYLOT Remix)
Thriller (PYLOT Remix)
 
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Archon

Gagi
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
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This is what I could dig up from my Deezer favourites list.

Stranger Things OST is a good one to start with, definitely recommend it. I think I liked most of the tracks from Vol. 2.

This guy is/was responsible for the most of Vsauce YouTube channel soundtrack.


(Joyrides & Girls and The Dream are my favs)

(loved Dirt and Low Fog)



 

Peenuts

Resident Doctor
Jun 28, 2020
331 Posts
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Been busy the past week so it's taken some time to listen through some of these:

Really impressed with The Midnight and i've checked out all their albums thus far!

Distance Between Dreams, although not synthwave, i enjoyed too, esp the more melodic synth-driven tracks: The Workx and Always Ready.

Scandroid sounds a bit too adrenaline-fuelled for my liking, although i can certainly appreciate it.
 

Archon

Gagi
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
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Distance Between Dreams, although not synthwave

Yeah I'm not sure how I'd classify it myself. But, it features a lot of legendary synths (some from the 80s), a modular wall and maybe some software. It's just pure synth heaven for me. If you're into this, Junkie XL had a lot of videos featuring his most used hardware synths on his YouTube channel.
 

Peenuts

Resident Doctor
Jun 28, 2020
331 Posts
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A synthwavey track from ilan's last album. Really good! Better than his regular trance stuff in recent years

 
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Hensmon

Admin
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
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UK
notably this one:
Man, I really enjoyed that one.

I dont know if this one below is synthwave, vapourwave or other wave style, but I like it. What is the difference between those generes?

Mitch Murder - Breeze
 

dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
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Man, I really enjoyed that one.

I dont know if this one below is synthwave, vapourwave or other wave style, but I like it. What is the difference between those generes?

There's not much. I would say vaporwave is more ambient-oriented and has a bit of a political connotation and meme culture around it, whereas synthwave can be danceable. Both are inspired from '80s/'90s popular culture, but vaporwave draws more from
slowed-down, chopped samples of smooth jazz, elevator, R&B, and lounge music from the 1980s and 1990s
(source)

whereas synthwave also draws from house, synth, and nu-disco. Vaporwave became huge in the early 2010s with the release of Floral Shoppe, several years before Stranger Things boosted synthwave's popularity.
 

Archon

Gagi
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
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I'd love it if you posted some obvious examples to differentiate between the two. I thought they were the same.
 

dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
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I'd love it if you posted some obvious examples to differentiate between the two. I thought they were the same.

Sure.
Vaporwave:

Honestly just give a listen to the entire Floral Shoppe album from 2011. It's what defined the genre:

Synthwave:

 
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Daysleeper

Lost in Trancelation
Jul 13, 2020
2,495 Posts
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Sweden
I was ALL-IN on synth/retrowave in 2017/2018. Feels like it has already had its "peak", no?


Something related to this is tracker/mod/8-bit/16bit/vgm music, which has some of the most positive creations ive heard. Really nice if you need to get picked up and put in a little bit better mood.