Synthwave – 7th Level Music

Review: Fling ii – iii

What if you made something for absolutely nobody? This is the question Fling ii asked before making their newest album, 3. They, like all of us, were exhausted by every click, view, and preference being commodified and resold to us and the world at large. Could they make an album that offered nothing to anyone? What could an album that, according to the press release I received, was inspired by “the vastness of parking lots, the prismatic strangeness of online advertisements for walking tai chi, and the passive performance of a basket of fruit sitting in a gas station” have to offer the band or anyone else?

As it turns out, a pretty cool record of krautrock / no wave electronica that borders on New Age music and vaporwave. Opening track “lau” pops and bubbles like the sound of a robot’s Zen alarm clock. “inke” drifts like a leaf on a stream that has no particular place to go and no timeline to get anywhere.

“bant” sounds like the opening to a weird VHS home course on meditation or computer science. “beem” takes on a slight country twang with its guitar tones but doesn’t lose the motorik beats or 32-bit synths. The electric piano takes the lead on “ilia,” creating a sound like an android’s morning commute radio station broadcast.

The album ends with “mago,” a trippy electro / krautrock cut that stretches to nearly sixteen minutes and takes you out of your current headspace and into some sort of forest that you’d find in the world of Tron.

This album immediately intrigues you and is the kind of record that will reveal something different every time you hear it…or maybe it won’t. After all, it was made to present you with nothing in particular. Again, from the press release, the band even states the album was “made especially for us and not for you, with all the gear we could get our paws on.” and that it “…stands as a quiet argument for surprise, accident, and the possibility of making something simply because it felt worth making.”

That’s accurate. Not everything has to be catered to your likes. Discovery, and being able to sit content with a discovery instead of seeking instant pleasure from the “next thing” is a lost passion. 3 proves this in every track.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dan from Discipline PR.]

Review: Almost Heaven – Raw Cranium EP

Hailing from Austin, Texas, Almost Heaven (Stefan Barazza – production and vocals, Jaelyn Valero – drums) have come to party on their debut EP, Raw Cranium, and they want you to join them. After all, one of their messages is “Dance or die.”

Starting with “Power Music (Electrik Revival),” the EP embraces its krautrock / Berlin-industrial / and dance punk love as Barazza sings about an “organutan spilling zombie juice all over the stage” and the perils and pleasures technology can bring. It will have you jumping right away. “Oscilation” starts off with crowd cheers, brings in fuzzy guitars and synths, and vocals that might belong to Valero or to Barazza. It’s difficult to guess because they could be altered with vocal effects. It works well either way to create an uplifting Justice-like dance track.

“Fever Trying to Blow” is a standout with Barazza asking anyone who wants to dance to the front because he wants to “let loose” after a long week at work. “I deserve this,” he says. We all do. Valero’s beats on this are downright wicked while Barazza’s synths and vocals skitter around the room like water thrown onto a hot frying pan.

“Wherever you are, come away from the TV and come to the dance floor,” Barazza implores on “Commotion,” a song that fully intends to cause such a thing. The wild beats of “Hypnoxia” echo around you while the synth-bass elevates your pulse and Valero’s post-punk beats make you twitch.

The EP ends with the lovely “Baby Teeth” – a song that borders on MGMT electro-house and synthwave. “Make sure it’s tough, so they never know your weakness,” Barazza suggests. It builds to a big, bright payoff that will have you bouncing with new breath.

Like any good EP, Raw Cranium leaves you wanting more. You’re a bit exhausted from all this dancing, but you’re ready for more. Dance or die, after all.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cheyenne Doerr!]

Review: Various artists – DJ Notoya Presents Tokyo Pulse

Famous crate digger DJ Notoya has put together another excellent compilation of rare Japanese city pop and funk tracks from 1974 to 1988 – Tokyo Pulse. Some of these tracks were only released as a single or a demo, and never on a full album.

Starting with Naomi Chiaki‘s “Yoru E Isogu Hito,” the compilation drops you into the funky flotilla right away. It helps that Chiaki’s backing band is Godiego, a highly successful prog-rock band in 1978 Japan. Steve Fox‘s bass groove almost carries as much weight as Chiaki’s voice. Yumi Murata‘s “Ranhansha” is a great disco track that belongs in about a hundred movies from 1979. The horn, piano, and synth arrangements in it are all solid.

L-E-V-E-L were an all-female city pop trio who got help on their 1981 album eve and the track “Bagdad No Atari Nite” from none other than Masahide Sakum – creator of the legendary TR-808 drum machine. “Lake in the Forest” by GAM (Great American Music Band) is a weird blend of reggae and synthwave that somehow works despite all odds.

Nami Shimada‘s 1988 track, “Mitsumeteirunoni,” is bright city pop that makes you think that Japanese pop singers were light years ahead of U.S. ones in the 1980s. Tiffany wishes she had a single this cool. Bread & Butter cook up “Memory” from their 1974 album Barbecue. It’s fully of groovy hand percussion, porn music guitar, and even a wicked harmonica solo from Satsuya Iwasawa.

“After Image” is a stellar find, as it comes from Minoru Koyama‘s only album, 1980’s Hard to Be a Man. The bass walk on it by Mike Dunn is top-notch. “Island Cuckoo” by Chikara Ueda & The Power Station doesn’t team Ueda with the Robert Palmer-fronted 1980s band, but that doesn’t matter because it’s a solid jazz-funk track with sharp keyboard work from Ueda. The compilation ends with HIgurashi‘s “Anata Wa Doko Ni Irundesuka,” which could’ve been a Bond movie theme in another life.

This is a gold mine for city pop fans and might lead you down several rabbit holes to find other stuff like it. Be prepared.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: The Human League, Soft Cell, Alison Moyet – Chicago Theatre – Chicago, IL – June 23, 2026

It was a sold out night at the Chicago Theatre for this triple bill of 1980s music giants. The crowd was full of Gen Xers and Boomers who were buzzing outside the theatre and giddy once they got inside the place. I saw two people in their twenties there. I’m sure there were more, but they were vastly outnumbered…which is a shame because synthwave is hot stuff right now among the younger crowd. Go watch Stranger Things if you don’t believe me.

Alison Moyet started the night sounding and looking fabulous. Her backing band was sharp, especially her guitarist who subtly put down some slick riffs for those paying attention. Moyet was all smiles throughout her set, telling stories and expressing her thanks to the crowd. She played a good mix of stuff from her solo albums and Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S. for some weird reason) records. “Changeling” and “Only You” were lovely, and ending your set with “Don’t Go” is always a power move.

The modern version of Soft Cell was up next. Marc Almond is still on lead vocals and personality. David Ball died last year but not before they finished a lot of new material for their upcoming record, Danceteria. The new lineup came out right away with “Memorabilia,” the B-side to their first single, “A Man Could Get Lost,” which they also played. It was a weird new wave switch from Moyet’s sultry disco set, and I loved both. “Nostalgia Machine” (a clever takedown in 2022 and now) and “Out Come the Freaks” were other standouts, and, of course, they ended with “Tainted Love” to get everyone on their feet. They mentioned they’d be back in the spring to do a full show.

The Human League came out in full synthwave force with “The Sound of the Crowd” and “Mirror Man” with lead singer Philip Oakley quieting any curiosity about the strength of his voice right away.

Here comes The Human League…and the Mirror Man.

“The Lebanon” was a good highlight, and even stronger in 2026. An interesting moment was when I spotted a couple slow-dancing to “Human”…a song about infidelity. There’s a story there, I thought.

“Love Action (I Believe in Love)” is already a great song, and it’s even better life. The same goes for their mega-hit “(Keep Feeling) Fascination.” Their encore included “Being Boiled” (their first single) and “Electric Dreams,” a collaboration Oakley did with Giorgio Moroder.

They had a fun energy for the whole show, including multiple costume changes for Oakley, Susan Sulley, and Joanne Catherall, good visual effects, and Oakley prowling around the stage like some mysterious wizard. They’ve said they plan to keep touring as long as people want to see them and they’re healthy enough to do it, so get to a show while you still can.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Brian!]

Desire drop your new favorite summer anthem – “Summer Skin.”

For two decades, Desire have been making music for romantics. Created by Megan Louise and Johnny Jewel, the Montreal group emerged from the shadows of underground synth-pop to build a world entirely their own — where beauty lingers, heartbreak glows, and every song feels like the beginning of a love story.

Later this year, Desire return with Physical, their fourth studio album. Led by the euphoric first single “Summer Skin,” out today via Italians Do It Better Physical is a record about attraction, freedom, pleasure, movement, and being completely present while life is happening.

Windows down.

A favorite song playing at exactly the right moment.

The feeling that summer might never end.

“Summer Skin” opens with the sound of light from our nearest star dancing across the water. Yesterday is here to stay…That cyclical motif echoes the past lives we all carry with us, but each day is new & anything is possible. Summer brings us a recurring romantic optimism. Let’s celebrate & live in the moment. If the world feels like it’s ending…Turn the radio on & dance. Drip Drip…” – Johnny Jewel“Summer Skin” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43bfGZEfKTo

Written between continents, airports, hotel rooms, backstage corridors, and late nights at home, Physical captures the moments we spend our lives chasing — and the memories we carry long after they’re gone.

Since “Under Your Spell” became one of the defining musical moments of Drive, Desire have quietly become one of modern synth-pop’s most beloved cult acts, soundtracking fashion runways, bedrooms, films, dance floors, and late-night drives across the globe.

Desire return with their most immediate and intimate work to date.

“Physical is about falling in love with life again. The people around you, the music you’re listening to, the sunlight on your skin, the moments you wish could last forever.” — Desire

Desire are also set to tour Europe later this year with all dates listed below.

Tour dates:
15 Nov — Prague — Bike Jesus
17 Nov — Copenhagen — Hotel Cecil
18 Nov — Berlin — Frannz Club
20 Nov — Groningen — Simplon Poppodium
21 Nov — Rotterdam — Rotown
23 Nov — Brussels — Beursschouwburg
24 Nov — Lille — La Grand Mix
25 Nov — London — Colour Factory
27 Nov — Manchester — White Hotel
28 Nov — Glasgow — Stereo
30 Nov — Paris — Petit Bain
01 Dec — Grenoble — L’Ampérage
02 Dec — Bern — Dachstock
04 Dec — Ravenna — Bronson
05 Dec — Rome — Monk
08 Dec — Zagreb — Mochvara
09 Dec — Belgrade — Zappa Baza

Tickets: https://lnkfi.re/desirelive

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Frankie at Stereo Sanctity!]

Review: Rare DM – Attention

It’s no surprise that Rare DM (Erin Hoagg) titled her new, entirely self-produced and recorded album Attention. The whole thing demands your attention, and your pulse.

Opening track “Compliment” hits all the right beats and gets your pulse elevated for what’s to come. You’ll need the energy for all the dancing, and Rare DM’s often breathy vocal delivery is as seductive as the beat. “The Ring” throbs in your head and your hips, and, yes, it’s about the Japanese horror film Ringu and the wicked ghost in it who slays people via VHS tape. Rare DM loves blends of music and visuals, technology and humanity, sex and science fiction. It’s a perfect fit.

“Honey” has a drifting, floating, tactile sound that sounds like a cool darkwave track you haven’t heard in years. The question on Rare DM’s mind at the beginning of “Mean Girled” is “We’re not even fuckin’, but am I worried about you?” She’s trying to figure out a weird relationship dynamic and if it’s worth taking to another level or if she should just walk away.

“Butterfly Historian” is drenched in muted bass and sultry sweat. “325” might be the best love song about a vehicle since Queen‘s “I’m in Love with My Car.” Speaking of vehicles, the next track is “LA Traffic,” in which Rare DM laments (over drum and bass beats) over being stuck in it while friends wait for her at the club. “Lil DM” has her wishing for at least a night free of phone calls and e-mails.

“Skater Hits Me Harder” has Rare DM looking back on an adolescent crush through the lenses of adulthood and time. “Significant Other” is an instrumental banger. “Do you like me better, now that I’m like you?” Hoagg asks on the near-industrial “Feel Nothing.” She’s come to realize that she doesn’t need what her lover is selling. The album ends with the lush “Landed,” showcasing Hoagg’s misty voice and sunlight-through-the-fog synths (most of which, by the way, are vintage gear she’s collected from all over NYC).

Pay attention to this album. You’ll notice something different every time.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

Félicia Atkinson creates new score for a classic French horror film.

Today, renowned French musician and artist Félicia Atkinson announces new album SANS VISAGE, a reimagined score for Georges Franju’s cult 1960 horror classic Les yeux sans visage (Eyes Without a Face), out June 26 via Viernulvier Records. The news arrives alongside lead preview “Les Yeux II” and follows her recently released collaborative album with Christina Vantzou, Reflections Vol. 3: Water Poems, via RVNG Intl., as well as her acclaimed solo releases Promenades and Space as an Instrument on Shelter Press.

Atkinson first saw Les yeux sans visage when she was a teenager, around the turn of the century. The film made an impact for its iconic imagery and the way Franju draws on the aesthetics of early filmmaking, from its score that relies on stylistic markers typical of the 1940s or 50s to the decision to shoot in black and white. Even four decades after its first release, it was clear that this was a work that stood outside of the cultural moment that birthed it, speaking through time in ways that were uncanny, but profound.

A quarter-century later, Atkinson was approached by the Belgian cultural center VIERNULVIER to create a new score for Les yeux sans visage for its celebrated Videodroom series, which has seen artists like claire rousay, Mabe Fratti, Lee Renaldo, and many more create new original scores for cult classics and genre cinema. Atkinson’s music, with its sublime meditations on space and proximity, its elusive sense of narrative development, mirrors the pacing and mystery at the heart of horror filmmaking. There is a shadow at the heart of her soundtrack to Les yeux sans visage, an ever-shifting wisp and an insinuation of encroaching transfiguration. Echoing a climactic moment in the film, the music obliquely points to “the Beyond,” an impossible place of discovery and revelation.

Atkinson envisioned her music as something akin to the air moving throughout and beyond the many cages that appear in the film, unconstrained by the bars and with undefined borders. Those cages hold the victims of a madman surgeon, determined to graft a new face onto his daughter, the protagonist Christiane Génessier, who lost hers in a car accident while he was behind the wheel. Atkinson was reminded of her predecessors at the pioneering French studio the GRM, who approached sound in a less sinister, but similarly surgical manner, and took inspiration from their playful approach to cerebral soundmaking for the electroacoustic topography into which the piano is embedded. As such, Atkinson’s reactions to the larger themes and the minute-by-minute happenings onscreen are both audible simultaneously.

A film about a man who destroys the lives of young women marked by their beauty and similarity to his daughter in a shame-fueled rage has clear, continuous cultural resonance. “Through the music, I decided to bring back their empowerment despite what they endure,” says Atkinson. “This is why the record is also dedicated to Gisèle Pelicot, whose trial happened while I was in the process of composing the music and kept thinking of her strength and her decision to share her trial in order to reverse the shame.”

This recorded version of the soundtrack is a 34-minute synthesis of the full 90-minute score, presented on LP along with an essay by writer-musician Claire Cronin and drawings by Momo Gordon, together forming a complex reflection on the film’s themes. If these sounds move as if the bars of cages are no barrier, they also intimate the freedom and power of those held behind them. Rather than simply mirroring the fear and confinement shown onscreen, Atkinson offers an elusive escape, a beacon for the characters, and the listener, to follow as they reckon with the narrative and move through it.

Listen to “Les Yeux II” above and stay tuned for more from Félicia Atkinson ahead of the full release of SANS VISAGE on June 26 via Viernulvier Records.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cody at Terrorbird Media.]

Cornelius unveils long-awaited new music with “Yumenemi.”

Today, Cornelius returns with his first new music in years, opening a long-awaited new chapter on Eat Your Own Ears Recordings. His new single, a cover of “Yumenemi,” was originally released in 1989 by one of Japan’s most iconic singer-songwriters, Yosui Inoue, and remains a cult Balearic classic.

Reimagined through Cornelius’s singular lens, the track marries his signature collage-like production, intricate rhythmic detail and soft-focus electronics with a lilting tropicalia inflection, for a swirling, heady track befitting of it’s title, which roughly translates to “dreaming”.

Watch the video for “Yumenemi” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sqPMEL21PE
Other streaming links:https://cornelius.lnk.to/yumenemi

The new track arrives following a recent resurgence of interest in his work, including a viral TikTok moment and a nod from Rosalía, who featured “Typewrite Lesson”, originally a b-side from Cornelius’s iconic 1997 album ‘Fantasma’, in her Met Gala–themed Vogue playlist of all-time favourites.

Cornelius is the musical project of Japanese multi-instrumentalist Keigo Oyamada, who began his career in his teens and launched the Cornelius name in the early 1990s after his band Flipper’s Guitar. The project takes its name from Planet of the Apes.

He broke internationally with 1997’s Fantasma, a genre-blurring album of cut-and-paste production that drew comparisons to Beck and The Beastie Boys and was released worldwide by Matador Records. Often dubbed a “modern-day Brian Wilson,” Oyamada became a sought-after producer and remixer, a “musician’s musician”, collaborating with artists including Blur, Beck, Sean Ono Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band, Haruomi Hosono, James Brown and many others.

With 2002’s Point, Cornelius shifted toward intricate loops of organic sound sources, from water droplets to vocoder-heavy reinterpretations, pushing his meticulous sound design further on 2007’s Sensuous. His live shows are renowned for precision-synced visuals, custom lighting, and immersive, band-led performances that treat the stage as a fully integrated audio-visual system.

The companion release Sensurround + B Sides was nominated for Best Surround Sound Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

“Yumenemi” marks the start of a long-awaited new body of work, set to unfold over the coming months.

Cornelius links:
https://www.corneliusjapan.com/
https://www.instagram.com/corneliusofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/corneliusofficial
https://x.com/corneliusjapan
https://www.eatyourownears.com/releases
https://eatyourownearsrecordings.bandcamp.com/

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Rare DM’s newest single, “Honey,” is pretty sweet.

As Rare DM, Erin Hoagg fuses moody pop songwriting, vintage synthesis, and striking visuals. The New York City-based artist will release her second full-length, Attention, on May 29, 2026. Today, she shares the pensive and catchy new single “Honey,” which stemmed from the complexity of a budding romance. She ponders the vulnerable rush of admitting you love someone over a meticulous electronic arrangement. A brooding self-directed video, which nods to classic vampire movies, contrasts the euphoric subject matter.

On the single, Rare DM shares: “’Honey’ is my first happy love song. I wrote it during the uncertain time before saying the words ‘I love you’ – you’re in a constant state of butterflies: it’s sweet, vulnerable and a little scary. I wrote it in my old studio in Bushwick when I was being swept up, and really got into the symphony of things, percussive polyrhythms; chopping up my vocals. ‘Honey’ is one of the first songs I finished with producer Ross Fish aka Moffenzeef Modular (also from 4MS). I’m thrilled with how it turned out – super wide and swirly. I really enjoyed dialing in the finishing touches together. It’s one of my favorite songs to perform live.

‘Honey’ the video is leaning into the best part of being in love: having fun and being silly. Dating is a lot of sifting through trash, looking in the wrong places, getting caught up in games, battling decision paralysis… there are so many fish in the sea, you have to be willing to make a fool of yourself to find the right one. I am a strong believer that the most important part of a relationship is making each other laugh. The world is too serious.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

Top 25 albums of 2021 – 2025: #’s 15 – 11

We’ve reached the top 15 of albums I reviewed (not released) over the last five years. Read on to see who made the list!

#15: Maquina – Prata (2024)

That cover image pretty much sums up the sound of this wild post-punk / noise rock / dance rock album. It’s a stunning record, and I’m happy to report they’re close to releasing a new one.

#14: Lair – Ngélar (2024)

Indonesian psych-rock? Yes, please. Funky, groovy, weird, and playful. This is a delight from start to finish.

#13: Sextile – yes, please. (2025)

Possibly the best dance-punk album of 2025. This record slams non-stop and gets you moving whether you want to or not.

#12: Ki Oni – A Leisurely Swim to Everlasting Life (2023)

A beautiful album about grief, our continued, changed existence after death, and a salute to Ki Oni’s late grandmother all wrapped up in lush ambient music.

#11: No Joy – Bugland (2025)

A brilliant return for No Joy and their shoegaze rock. This album sprinted into the top ten of 2025 for me the first time I heard it.

Speaking of the top ten, come back tomorrow to see who’s in the top ten of the last five years!

Keep your mind open.

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