Synthpop

We both heard the same beat in the beginning, but where did you go from there? Perhaps you discovered one or two favorite styles then settled back to explore similar bands. Some of my friends have stayed  hovering around one genre since the day I met them, never venturing out to try something different or perhaps checking out a track or two but then scurrying back to the familiarity of the soundtrack of their youth. I’m a bit [...]

Here’s my pick of the five best synthpop albums recently released on Spotify.   Depeche Mode – Remixes 2: 81-11 (Deluxe) Synthpop’s most successful act just released a new album of remixes in a variety of formats. It’ll cost you a pretty penny to collect them all, but Spotify users are blessed with not only the full 3-CD “deluxe” version (which gives us the treasured new Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder [...]

The Electricity Club is without doubt the most important website for fans of synthpop old and new. Featuring dozens of exclusive interviews with electro legends like Thomas Dolby, John Foxx, Heaven 17, New Order and OMD, TEC nevertheless doesn’t wallow in 80s nostalgia: you’ll also find reviews and features from the cream of current synthpop and electronic bands. The Electricity Club recently celebrated its first birthday, so [...]

With The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk and Underworld all recently scoring soundtracks for films, I thought it’d be a good time to have a look at Spotify’s choice of electronic movie soundtracks. There are some great Various Artist electronic soundtracks (Blade, Run Lola Run, The Beach, Spawn) but for this Top 10 we’re concentrating on single artists with soundtrack albums you can listen to on Spotify. Read on for my Top [...]

Here’s five great new electropop singles on Spotify. New bands Funsize Lions, Curxes, Torul and Vaylon all show tremendous promise, while Lady Gaga brings synthpop to the masses and provides a global platform for the British talents of Goldfrapp, Hurts and Mirrors.   Lady Gaga – Judas (The Remixes Part 1) When three of my favourite synthpop bands provide remixes for hyperstar Lady Gaga it’s time to set aside my chart-avoiding [...]

A few emails have come in today asking about the music used on our audio ad that’s currently running in Spotify. The track is a particular favorite of mine: it’s called Supermagic by Australian band Parralox. Supermagic was released as a single last year and is featured on the superb album Metropolis. parralox.com conzoomrecords.de    

Blackvector Magazine is a Swedish blog specializing in electro, EBM, futurepop, synthpop, harsh electro, and “clubby industrial” music.  They’ve recently started adding Spotify links to their reviews, so I thought this would be the perfect time to find out a bit more about the blog. Björn Andersson is the man in charge; I got in touch and asked him to tell us a little about his site, how and why he blogs, and his thoughts [...]

Rounding off our trilogy of hard-electro features, here’s a quick post to let you know that an article I wrote for Side-Line Magazine is now online: Spotify for Electro-Heads! Side-Line is a music magazine devoted to electronic music, in particular electro-goth, synthpop and industrial. It’s my top go-to site for electro news so I was especially honored to be invited to write for them. Thanks Bernard!

If you like your electronica a bit darker, a bit more twisted and industrialized from the norm, then there’s plenty to choose from on Spotify. Here’s a selection of some of my favorite new dark-electro releases to chill your bones and get you dancing like a zombie.   First Aid 4 Souls – Deathstep The second full-length release from Hungary’s First Aid 4 Souls sees them taking a step towards a faster, darker [...]

Progressive Electronic is rapidly becoming my new favourite genre. The term doesn’t really help explain this style, for while it is electronic and it is progressive, it’s also ambient, minimal synth, psychedelic chillout and retro sci-fi. It started in the mid-70s with Jean Michel Jarre and Space Art, taking the epic but meandering sound of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze and giving it some purpose. The original version [...]