Synthwave Essentials: Early Synthwave

So someone created a cool infographic called Synthwave Essentials, which has pictures and names of all the essential Synthwave albums (according to someone). I decided it might be fun to listen to and review all (yes, all) of those Synthwave albums (there are 137 albums on the infographic).

You can find the infographic here.

They are divided up into categories, and I'm going to a post for each category, with my reviews and ratings. So without further ado, here are the reviews for the first category.

Early Sythwave 

Well, this is apparently where the genre started!  So it seems like an appropriate place to start going through the reviews.

Kavinsky: Eps and Singles 

Kavinsky is one of the most well-known and well-liked artists in this genre (though he’s not a hugefavourite of mine). “EPs and Singles” isn’t a release, but a reference to a bunch of shorter releases he did from 2005 to 2013, when he released the landmark album Outrun. I don’t find Kavinsky’s tracks amazing, but they are well produced and executed. It reminds me a bit of Mlada Fronta’s recentsynthwave work (which really should have been included in this collection), and that’s a pretty good thing. 

Rating: 7/10 

Makeup and Vanity Set: Charles Park 

I love this album! I’m not sure if its synthwave, but it’s a weird, quirky, glitchy electro album, with an industrial feel at times. I have actually been cranking this at the gym and I really love it. Definitely worthchecking out – these guys have loads of other albums too which I will hopefully get to at some point. 

Rating: 8/10 

Lifelike: So Electric 

This is a VERY short (two track) single from French produce Lifelike, and being released in 2007, is one of the oldest releases in this whole collection. It’s not bad, but not too exciting. Pretty cookie cutter French electro from 2007, clearly following in Daft Punk’s footsteps but not adding much new to the mix. This would be a good addition to an electro house DJ’s music collection, but I’m not revisiting it. And I don’t really feel it’s synthwave either. 

Rating: 5/10 

Chromatics:  Night Drive 

This is some trendy indie dream pop / electro band from Canada, and I can’t stand them. The sounds and production are underwhelming, the songwriting is all over the place, and the vocals are terrible. It includes a terribly uninspiring cover of Running Up That Hill (yawn). Avoid this at all costs. 

Rating: 2/10 

College: Secret Diary 

College is some solo French artist, and this is an album from 2008. It’s quite minimal electro / synthpop, with a bit of an EBM / New Romantic feel to it. It’s not amazing but I quite liked it. I might check out some of his other releases. His stuff was released on a French label ran by MInitel Rose, another band in this category. I would have liked more tracks with vocals, since it is a bit too minimal at times. 

Rating: 6/10 

Minitel Rose: French Machine 

This is pretty typical French electro house / electro pop from 2007, and sounds pretty much just like you would expect it to. It’s reasonably well done but not inspiring or exciting. Basically like Daft Punk but with more vocals and not as good. I don’t think I’ll be revisiting these guys. 

Rating: 5/10 

Anoraak: Nightdrive With You 

Anoraak really strikes me as a band with potential to succeed. They have good production and well-put together songs. However I just feel a lot of the time on this album they were failing to hit the mark. It felt like they were underperforming and capable of more. The only exception is Waiting for your Phone Call, a really fun and catchy song. I might check out their later work to see if they lifted their game. 

Rating: 6.5/10 

MIami Nights 1984: Early Summer 

This band for me really captures and typefies the synthwave vibe and feel. If someone said “What isSynthwave and what does it sound like?”, I would probably point them to this release. I’m not saying it’s the best, it actually isn’t very good, but it just sums up and demonstrates the genre pretty well. I honestly didn’t mind it as background music, it's decently produced, but not very exciting. 

Rating: 6/10 

Flashworx: Two Guys in Tokyo 

This is a terrible name for an album, but it’s not terrible music. It’s a bit more electro / electro-house than synthwave, but it’s pretty fun and well done. Not bad for listening to while working or writingsynthwave reviews, but nothing terribly exciting. 

Rating: 5/10 

Futurecop: It’s Forever Kids 

This album was strangely not available on Spotify, so I had to listen to it on Youtube. This is a synthwavedue from Manchester who have been around the traps a while. It’s pretty upbeat and bubblegum, but I don’t mind it. Lots of vocals so feels more like electro-pop or synthpop at times, though the 80s vibe ispretty strong. Actually after a second listen, this is dangerously addictive stuff, and I would probably classify as a guilty pleasure. This is what FM Attack should have been doing (see below). 

Rating: 7.5/10 

The Outrunners: Running for Love and Money 

This is some obscure project from France I think. They only did a couple of releases and they aren’t on Spotify, so I had to trawl through Youtube to find each song. This is pretty simple instrumental synth music with an 80s sci-fi vibe. I didn’t mind it but there’s nothing groundbreaking here. 

Rating: 6/10