Synthentral! 20170605

New episode of Synthentral is now online!

Today’s episode features music by Tactile Frequency, Rivers Want, Marnie, Ruined Conflict, Funker Vogt, Collide, Red Mecca, Lionhearts, Anthracitic Moths, Unity One, Telekon, SuperScience, Elect, Memory Tapes, Jules Verne Theory, The Human League, Calling The Ghosts, Tenek, Time To Change, Radiomun, Star Generator, THYX, Bionic, Necrotek, KryoniK Moon, Dukstrab, Vainerz, and The Azoic

Just click on the synthesizer below to listen!

Music Time! “Women of Synth” (Volume 3: F to J) Edition! 11/06/16

Nov6

I love most everything synth-based, especially Synthpop, Futurepop, EBM, Industrial, Industrial Dance, Synthwave, Darkwave, etc. Hell, I even like some synth-based New Age music (in other words, not Yanni). But you know what I really like? Those genres with women vocalists! So it’s music time with women vocalists (and musicians) in the Synthpop, Futurepop, EMB, Industrial, and Darkwave world! I didn’t realize there were so many until I actually started thinking about it. There are so many I’ve had to break this up! So here is Volume 3: F to J!

ARTIST: Fangoria
SONG: Geometría Polisentimental
ALBUM: Canciones Para Robots Románticos
YEAR: 2016

ARTIST: Feathers
SONG: Familiar So Strange
ALBUM: If All Now Here
YEAR: 2013

ARTIST: Freezepop
SONG: Natural Causes
ALBUM: Imaginary Friends
YEAR: 2010

ARTIST: FrontAngel
SONG: Wunderschöne Welt
ALBUM: Paradox
YEAR: 2014

ARTIST: Future Perfect
SONG: The Hunter
ALBUM: Dirty Little Secrets
YEAR: 2010

ARTIST: The Girl & The Robot
SONG: Another Love
ALBUM: The Beauty of Decay
YEAR: 2010

ARTIST: Glasser
SONG: Exposure
ALBUM: Interiors
YEAR: 2013

ARTIST: Glow
SONG: Gabriel
ALBUM: Rain Theory
YEAR: 2004

Without a doubt my favorite local band here in Austin. The genius musical talents of Mike Peña, the awesome percussion work of @Shawnie Doogans, and the brilliant and wrenching (as in tugs on your soul) vocals of Lisa Perkins make for an amazing combination. If you live in Austin keep an eye out for this up-and-coming band who recently opened for Assemblage 23.

And go buy their album! You won’t regret it. It’s a nonstop barrage of awesomeness and synth magic. Oh, and they just released a cover Journey’s “Who’s Crying Now?” that’s beautifully tragic and gloriously magical at the same time, so give that a listen as well.

ARTIST: Hamerzya
SONG: Are We Likely
ALBUM: Welcome, Strange Visitor
YEAR: 2016

ARTIST: Helalyn Flowers
SONG: Before The Sunshine
ALBUM: White Me In Black Me Out
YEAR: 2013

She doesn’t sing on every track, but when she does it’s magical…

ARTIST: Hidden Place
SONG: Legendary Divers
ALBUM: Novecento
YEAR: 2012

Some songs by HMB have a male vocalist, but I really love the songs where she sings…

ARTIST: HMB
SONG: Revelation
ALBUM: Great Industrial Love Affairs
YEAR: 2001

Such an influential band in the synth-based music world (even to this day)! This is definitely a band that cannot be left off any Women of Synth list (even if the women vocalist were often background vocals for the lead male vocal)!

ARTIST: The Human League
SONG: (Keep Feeling) Fascination
ALBUM: The Very Best of Human League (Deluxe Edition)
YEAR: 1983 (song)

ARTIST: Hungry Lucy
SONG: Grave
ALBUM: Apparitions
YEAR: 2000

ARTIST: I Am The World Trade Center
SONG: Future Sightings
ALBUM: The Cover Up
YEAR: 2006

ARTIST: Invisible Ballet
SONG: Escaping Light
ALBUM: Escaping Light
YEAR: 2005

ARTIST: Invisible Limits
SONG: Kill Me Dearly
ALBUM: A Conscious State (Expanded)
YEAR: 1989

ARTIST: Javelynn
SONG: Morphine
ALBUM: Chimaera At Heart
YEAR: 2011

ARTIST: Junksista
SONG: Strictly Physical
ALBUM: High Voltage Confessions
YEAR: 2014

Music Time! “No Man’s Sky” Edition. 8/20/16

Aug20

I’m in love with No Man’s Sky. If you’re an avid action game player, this game may not be for you. Don’t get me wrong, I love my action games, but I also like games that allow unlimited exploring. NMS is massive in scale when it comes to exploring. Hello Games said that even after everyone’s done playing it years down the road, 99% of all star systems will still be undiscovered. That’s some serious scope. It also means I’m dedicated to finding as many star systems as I can, even going “off mission” to do it!

There is action (just not mission-to-mission driven action like in most games). On some planets the Sentinals will attack you on sight. On others you can choose to attach them if you’re really desperate for some action. There are predators on some planets that will attack you if you’re not careful. And space pirates! You gotta defend yourself against them. You can also choose to defend freighters being attacked by space pirates when they put out a distress call (this increases your standing with that alien species).

The game isn’t perfect. I’d change a few things if I could. Primarily, I’d change the space scanner so that it identifies major resources and planet conditions from orbit. The space scanner only detects “anomalies” and sometimes a single building in a star system (your suit scanner (if installed) is more powerful than the one in your spaceship). It’s kinda useless in that sense.

I’d also change the dog fighting. Most of the ships you can salvage from crash sites or buy at space stations/land ports have super slow maneuverability and by the time you turn around to fire at the oncoming ship, they’re right on top of you, firing beams and cannons and you’re taking pretty heavy damage. You constantly have to repair your shields (if you don’t get killed while trying to repair it, as the repair screen is not a pause screen). So make sure you keep plenty of ingredients on board in a storage slot just for shield repairs.

And did you notice the synth soundtrack? Oh yeah!

So in honor of No Man’s Sky, here’s a bunch of music about, well, the sky!

ARTIST: Glis
SONG: Blue Sky Night
ALBUM: Alfa Matrix – Matrix Downloaded 004
YEAR: 2015

ARTIST: The Presets
SONG: A New Sky
ALBUM: Apocalypso
YEAR: 2008

ARTIST: The Dust of Basement
SONG: In This Sky
ALBUM: Awakening The Oceans (Deluxe Edition)
YEAR: 2004

ARTIST: Rhea’s Obsession
SONG: Between Earth And Sky
ALBUM: Between Earth And Sky
YEAR: 2000

ARTIST: Necro Facility
SONG: Painted Sky
ALBUM: The Black Paintings
YEAR: 2005

ARTIST: CHVRCHES
SONG: Night Sky
ALBUM: Bones Of What You Believe, The (Deluxe Edition)
YEAR: 2013

ARTIST: Book of Love
SONG: Yellow Sky
ALBUM: Book of Love
YEAR: 1986

ARTIST: Killing Joke
SONG: A Southern Sky
ALBUM: Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
YEAR: 1986

ARTIST: The Human League
SONG: Sky
ALBUM: Credo
YEAR: 2011

ARTIST: Psyche
SONG: Skywalking
ALBUM: Daydream Avenue
YEAR: 1991

ARTIST: Information Society
SONG: The Sky Away
ALBUM: Don’t Be Afraid
YEAR: 1997

ARTIST: Covenant
SONG: Liquid Sky
ALBUM: Europa
YEAR: 1998

ARTIST: Mental Discipline
SONG: Multilight Sky
ALBUM: Fallen Stars (CD Single)
YEAR: 2011

ARTIST: Distant Project
SONG: Flower in the Sky
ALBUM: Flower in the Sky EP
YEAR: 2009

ARTIST: Twice a Man
SONG: Chiba Sky
ALBUM: Fungus & Sponge (A Dreamlike Exspansion In The Audiofield)
YEAR: 1993

ARTIST: Martyn Bailey
SONG: Red Sky Supernova
ALBUM: Gravity Zero
YEAR: 2013

ARTIST: Days of Fate
SONG: Open Sky
ALBUM: Home-Made Cake Of The Day (Deluxe Edition)
YEAR: 2003

ARTIST: Syrian
SONG: The Night Sky
ALBUM: Kosmonauta (Limited Edition)
YEAR: 2005

Music Time! “LOVE” Edition (Part Two)! 6/14/16

Jun14

Earlier I posted Part One of the “LOVE” edition of my music shuffle. My Facebook feed has been full of hatred from many sides of many arguments and issues and I’ve just had enough. I also learned today that my daughter frequented Pulse in Orlando. I just don’t have the time or the inclination to deal with people’s hatred. So with that said… here are some more “love” songs from my library…

ARTIST: Missing Persons
SONG: Hello, I Love You
ALBUM: The Best of Missing Persons
YEAR: 1987

ARTIST: Droid Bishop
SONG: In Your Love
ALBUM: Beyond The Blue
YEAR: 2014

ARTIST: The Sundays
SONG: Love
ALBUM: Blind
YEAR: 1992

ARTIST: And One
SONG: Love You To the End
ALBUM: Bodypop
YEAR: 2006

ARTIST: Book of Love
SONG: Book of Love
ALBUM: Book of Love
YEAR: 1986

ARTIST: The Shamen
SONG: L.S.I. Love Sex Intelligence
ALBUM: Boss Drum
YEAR: 1992

ARTIST: The B-52’s
SONG: Summer of Love
ALBUM: Bouncing Off the Satellites
YEAR: 1986

ARTIST: boyfriendgirlfriend
SONG: Down in the Love
ALBUM: Boyfriendgirlfriend EP
YEAR: 2000

ARTIST: Conetik
SONG: Lovesong 1
ALBUM: Carbon Elektriq V2
YEAR: 2005

ARTIST: The Mission
SONG: Sea of Love
ALBUM: Carved In Sand (Limited Deluxe Edition)
YEAR: 1990

ARTIST: Blaqk Audio
SONG: Semiotic Love
ALBUM: Cexcells
YEAR: 2007

ARTIST: Eve’s Plum
SONG: Loved By You
ALBUM: Cherry Alive
YEAR: 1995

ARTIST: Inter-Connection
SONG: Breathing Love
ALBUM: Chrome
YEAR: 2012

ARTIST: Thompson Twins
SONG: Get That Love
ALBUM: Close To The Bone
YEAR: 1987

ARTIST: Echo Image
SONG: Messing With Love
ALBUM: Compuphonic
YEAR: 2001

ARTIST: The Beloved
SONG: Rock to the Rhythm of Love
ALBUM: Conscience
YEAR: 1993

ARTIST: The Human League
SONG: Love Is All That Matters
ALBUM: Crash
YEAR: 1986

ARTIST: The Cure
SONG: Lovesong
ALBUM: Disintegration
YEAR: 1989

ARTIST: Midnight Oil
SONG: Outbreak of Love
ALBUM: Earth and Sun and Moon
YEAR: 1993

ARTIST: Ambra Red
SONG: The Complete Love Story
ALBUM: Electronic Creations For Special People
YEAR: 2010

Music Time! 3/24/16

Mar24

Shitty busy day at work. Finally got some quiet time for about an hour before my next everybody’s yelling conference call, so time to eat lunch and listen to some music. Come on MediaMonkey, shuffle me some good tunes!

ARTIST: The Shamen
SONG: Transcendental
ALBUM: In Gorbachev We Trust
YEAR: 1988