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Thread: Synthpop, Italo, etc.

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    Synthpop, Italo, etc.

    We've got the dreampop thread, the grunge one, a couple dubstep ones that keep popping up. Isn't it high time we show some love to the effete 808 jockeys who showed us the future?

    This song, "Music For Girls" by Baxendale is an absolute lost classic. I've always wanted to write a Broadway musical about New Romantics with this as the overture:



    Who doesn't absolutely adore "Chains of Love" by Erasure?



    "Chinese Eyes" by Fancy is audio cocaine:


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    I unashamedly love synthpop. It's not even a guilty pleasure, 'cos I don't feel a shred of guilt about it.

    Two of my favourite classics:



    Some lesser known, yet excellent, gems:



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    I want to make sweet, sweet love to this thread.




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    as a huge synthpop and italo junkie, i feel the two are different enough to warrant separate threads... but i'll make two posts with some favorites. some underrated synthpop/minimal synth gems:















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    and some major italo disco cuts:














    i made a bunch of italo mixes here: http://www.systemsofromance.com/blog...s-and-spandex/
    Last edited by frankie teardrop; 05-13-2012 at 09:31 PM.

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    EDIT: commercial new wave already covered in the 80s thread
    Last edited by frankie teardrop; 10-21-2013 at 02:08 PM.

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    i know i choked this thread, but here's another recent DJ staple:


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    A long time favourite:


    ...And a recent discovery:

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    parade ground are amazing. it's always a tradeoff between 'moans' or 'gold rush' as a favorite. front 242-related as well- the brothers were part of the band during the 90s records (generally considered inferior but still pretty solid).


    also, some favorite ladies:


    Last edited by frankie teardrop; 05-31-2012 at 11:01 AM.

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    just got this tasty treat (7'') in the mail this morning!


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    in another thread, someone said that grimes does great modern synthpop. i respectfully disagree and offer this as a counterpoint:




    there's a whole scene of modern synth music that is far better than the grimes/cold cave/pitchfork universe. accept no substitutes, and by substitutes, i mean posers.

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    This Cold Cave track really gets me going (& sounds like it could've come off Violator):


    Largely agreed, though. If I want good 80s sounding stuff I'll most go directly to the source. There are a few bands kicking around these days who know what they're doing with the genre, but for most unfortunately it's style over substance.

    I know Depeche have their own thread, but here's my favourite of their early singles:

    The Combination Mix is grand too.

    Speaking of "favourites"...

  13. #13
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    just won this MONSTER of a 12'' off ebay for a clean hundred:





    (italian, epic)

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    double post...
    Last edited by frankie teardrop; 10-21-2013 at 02:03 PM.

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    a tasteful bump:








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    just found this gem recently. great for the end of summer.
    Last edited by frankie teardrop; 08-29-2013 at 11:50 AM. Reason: sorry, posted the dub version accidentally

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    dropping this one in a forgotten thread because it's not from the 80s, nor does it belong in the post-punk/coldwave thread either. but this is one of my favorite "modern" synthpop artists:



    shares a member with this glorious track, which is pretty much a combination of madonna & clan of xymox:


  18. #18
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    italo as in Italo Disco?

    because my fiancee and i have been obsessed with modern talking for several months







    also, kano is pretty awesome


  19. #19
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    this thread was made partially redundant by allegro's excellent 80s thread, but yeah, italo disco is certainly one of the sounds we're talking about here. love that stuff. sure, it's shameless. sure, it's corny. sure, it's a glossy, 80s tinged version of a sound that sucked and rightfully died in the late 70s, but i'll be damned if it doesn't REALLY hit the spot from time to time. i never cared for the late 70s disco, but the gear, textures, and sound used in italo somehow correct everything that was wrong for me about the original movement.

    i posted a bunch of videos here in the past, including 'commercial' new wave and big-beat synthpop (which is better served in the 80s thread), minimal synth (which is a more primitive, DIY sound that lends just as much to early industrial experimentation as it does to depeche mode's speak and spell) but outside of the 80s synthpop stuff, i feel like i'm the only dude around here that's really into the minimal synth/obscure tracks side of the genre.

    however, if you're new to italo, i have a bunch of introductory italo mixes (up to 8 now, i think) on my blog, systems of romance. i generally steer towards the darker, less cheese-ball stuff, which is kind of an oxymoron but if you compare certain tracks to others i think you'll see what i mean. i prefer my italo to have a more goth meets john carpenter film score-esque vibe to it, even if the hooks are big and obnoxious. this is the exact sound the chromatics/johnny jewel, etc. try (and successfully) replicate, albeit with more modern sensibilites. if you liked the drive soundtrack, this is the REAL DEAL for that style.

    that said, it's a curious genre, difficult to get a full grip on. as with any dance trend (see also: new beat, freestyle), there are so, so many tracks, especially confusing to keep track of considering there were a lot of random re-recordings (covers within a year of each other), clone acts, and pseudonyms. most italo (and new beat for that matter) was handled by the same series of producers, writers, etc., even if the vocalist was unique to each recording. if you want a cream of the crop list, consider this the best of the eight mixes i made. i won't clog the thread with any more youtube links, but here's a list of essentials that are worth obsessing over if you dig this sound:

    1. spacer woman- charlie
    2. grace- three of you
    3. nineteen ninety-three- lama
    4. when i let you down- m&g
    5. christine (part 2)- john carpenter
    6. driving- sensitive
    7. come back- moskow
    8. blue room- kirlian camera
    9. hesitation- mya and the mirror
    10. you've got the night- lame'
    11. dark silence- art fine
    12. nite lite- young men
    13. cybernetic love- casco
    14. gitano- fockewulf 190
    15. you- boytronic
    16. somewhere in the night- stereo
    17. eyes of glass- east wall


    there's PLENTY more where that came from, but that's a good batch to either get you obsessed or serve all your needs if you just need a little dose of this stuff.
    Last edited by frankie teardrop; 10-21-2013 at 02:02 PM.

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