Author: musicbytheg

Just eleven more days until Cosmopolis is out! I’ve been working on this album for more than a year now, so it hardly feels real. But I’m really proud of it, and am very excited for all of you to hear it.

In the meantime, I thought I’d tell you a little more about the project. I make music for the road. My first release for TimeSlave Recordings, Postcards from LA, is a love letter to the Pacific Coast Highway. But I’m also a science fiction junkie, so I started playing with the idea of retrofuturistic road music. Eventually the idea coalesced into a trip to Cosmopolis, a city not unlike Los Angeles, but up among the stars. Here’s a first peak:

I’m very excited to announce my new album with TimeSlave Recordings, Cosmopolis!

Like Postcards from LA, Cosmopolis is road music–the soundtrack to an epic journey. But whereas Postcards takes you up the California coast, Cosmopolis takes you beyond our world, to an imagined city among the stars.

It’s also quite a bit moodier than Postcards. I wouldn’t call it a dark record, per se. But it does have a wider emotional range.

I’ll be posting teasers on here and SoundCloud. Keep posted…

After being in a pretty gruesome mood for several weeks, musically speaking, I’m back to more upbeat stuff. Here are a few on heavy rotation, new and old:

Absinth3, Unstable

Ethan Gray, aka Absinth3, is only 17-years old. Let that sink in as you listen and realize that he’s also lightyears ahead of almost everyone in the synthwave scene. I’ve always liked his music, but I’m straight up floored by how good the songs and production are on this one. It’s dreamy, smooth and full of heart.

Kid Neon, Darker Days

The debut album from my label-mate, Kid Neon. It’s upbeat, energetic and a bit raw, which only adds to the charm. Pretty sure I’m picking up an influence from early ’90s techno and rave music, which is welcome in a scene that’s gotten awfully tropey. “Faraway Land” and “Transcending Redux” are the standout tracks in my opinion.

Boney M, Nightflight to Venus

One of the campiest, and by extension, best examples of Eurodisco. “Rasputin” and “Daddy Cool” were in heavy rotation at this Bulgarian tavern in Lower Manhattan I used to frequent back in the early ’00s. So naturally they are amazing.

Welcome to a new post series, where I recommend (or a guest recommends) 3 music releases I am (or they are) currently listening to! Whenever possible, I’ll include a bandcamp link (so you can both listen and, if you so choose, support the artists). If not, I’ll grab one from Spotify. Here’s what’s on my tape player right now:

Makeup and Vanity Set, Wilderness

This is an album I keep going back to. It’s dark and brooding, but avoids the cliches of dark synth. The album is both retrofuturistic and deeply emotional, exploring themes of death, loss and renewal. “Hand in Hand,” a collaboration with Jasmin Kaset, is probably my all-time favorite vocal synthwave track. But the whole thing is just gorgeous.

Computronic, Even the Score

Computronic is a mastering client of mine, and I had a blast working on this album. It’s synthwave by way of Vince Clarke-era Depeche Mode. The vocal tracks are all standouts, and feature four equally excellent yet distinct vocalists: Vicky Harrison, Becca Star Bird, Vandal Moon and Historiaster. It’s also a concept album, the soundtrack to a film that’s one part John Hughes and another part Ready Player One. An outstanding debut.

Syntax, The Space Tapes

Syntax has been one of my favorite synth artists for a while now. I love the late-70s science fiction aesthetic he’s cultivated, both in his music and the artwork he commissions, which makes his albums stand out in a scene that can sometimes tend towards conformity. The Space Tapes, like all his music, reminds me of how it feels to look up at the stars and imagine what’s out there.