What is Synthwave's core appeal in your opinion?

What is Synthwave's core appeal in your opinion?

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the sound

The 80s nostalgia trip.

nostalgia for a time the listeners never got to experience.

dog man

what?

I don't know, but it's a great pleb identifier

the dog man

a great way to catch up for the people who didn't hear the 20 previous 80s revival trends

it's mostly a contrarian filter.
It's not immediately clear whether you're a pleb or a patrician if you listen to synthwave. Additional information is needed.

To be perfectly fair, it's one of the very best 80s revival trends.

Don't fucking tell me nu-disco and the post-punk revival of the 2000s are anything worth delving into.

DOG MAN

You are a pleb if you listen to synthwave. There's something so disingenuous about it. I prefer the music that synthwave is based on

love synthwave

youtube.com/watch?v=50pl9u6tyTc

>disingenuous
nigger do you even know what "disingenuous" means? What makes you think that synthwave producers don't like making synthwave?

I'll tell you what: fuckall, because you don't actually think it's "disingeuous" you just don't want to like it because otherwise, the cool kids will think you're a Sup Forumsirgin who doesn't listen to 80s music. You're so fucking transparent and disingenuous, ironically enough.
I'm willing to bet that you're one of the fuckheads who's dissing city pop now that Youtube is recommending it.
>You are a pleb if you listen to synthwave
contrarian pleb detected.

if by nu disco you mean scandinavian electro disco then yes that stuff is brilliant, but if you mean the synthpop with a four on the floor beat type stuff that's popular for some fucking reason then yeah that stuff's pretty inconsequential.

Where is that fanart dude gone to?

it's fun to work out to

Synthwave is best when it's not trying to emulate the 80s. Rather it's best when it brings something new to that sound thanks to the change in technology. My two favorite guys in the genre are Carpenter Brut and Perturbator. Outside just the main two differences between they've 80s stuff and today (the sounds are more contemporary thus they are stronger, clearer, more complex/diverse, etc.) neither relies much on the 80s nostalgia and have their own styles. Brut has an obvious horror films influence in his music and that greatly affects his approach to melodies, which kinda have this spoopy feel to them (a lot his tracks end up sounding like Castlevania tracks but dance music version with more dense textures.) Perturbator has this industrial influence that makes his music sound much darker than standard synthwave. Both are also heavily influenced by the metal genre. Not just in like say...Perturbator often using thick distorted synths to emulate a guitar, but more importantly structurally with the songs often bringing quite a lot of different changes in them rather than the more pop or minimalist dance structures most of the genre follows.

Synthwave could've been just banking on the 80s nostalgia. But there are artists that are definitely trying to make more interesting works out of it. I can see the core appeal of the genre being muh 80s to most, but to me, at its best it's one of the most interesting things happening with the dance genres of electronic because the good synth wave artists offer music that is messing with ideas that th other genres choose not to mess with or can't.

To me it all sound the same. These sort of music trends never last long. A lot of the people who listen to this sort of stuff have no actual interest in electronic music.

Artists Gesaffelstein is more original than the majority of retro wave artists.

Looks like this is a sensitive subject for you. It's fake, dude. All this synthwave shit is overproduced and unnecessary. It was fun at first, but then you realize the shit it's imitating is so much better. Listening to synthwave is like listening to video game music outside of playing a game, but I bet that doesn't matter to you because you love to listen to the FarCry 3: Blood Dragon sound track for fun.

that is absolutely fucking wrong. When it tries to sound "modern" it ends up sounding fake and showoffy (and actually rather unimpressive as a result) and aesthetically self-contradictory.

If you want synthwave that doesn't emulate the 80s, you do not want synthwave

Perturbator's music is at its worst when he tries too hard to incorporate current-day electronic music techniques.

It's at its best when it sounds like early 90s sega CD game music.

The BPMs

Sorry mate some people actually enjoy the musical qualities of the music they listen to rather than just the aesthetic.

Gesaffelstain has nothing to do with synthwave.

And he's not original, he's just trying to re-introduce EBM elements into techno. Making him effectively a subpar Front 242 ersatz.

No music is necessary
all music is for fun
sounding different is not inherently a good thing

synthwave is not supposed to sound like 80s synthpop it's supposed to sound specifically like 80s action/horror movie soundtracks and early 90s video game soundtracks. As such, it should not be compared to 80s synthpop.
And whether it's overproduced or not depends on the album.

Now that this has been made clear, you can apologize for having misjudged synthwave.

the aesthetic is a musical quality, an EXTREMELY important musical quality.

I ain't apologizing for having a differing opinion. You do you

It's got a good mood. Good emotion to it. Unfortunately it doesn't have a big variety of it. It's also riddled with authenticity, and it might be the appeal that you can tell that something was made in the past 5 years but IMO the more era accurate it sounds the better. They usually fuck up with the drums.

>you do you
I'm not at stake here. You're the one who came in saying stupid shit like "synthwave is disingenuous"

Gessafelstein is just mainstream electro house with a slight industrial tinge to it. His music's not as versatile in dynamics, rhythm, layering of different synths, and in structure compared to the closest equivalent in synth wave, Perturbator.
I am not that guy but I would personally disagree because the film and video game music that has served as inspiration is far more programmatic in its process of composition, so setting the film/game's mood for that scene takes importance. Synthwave allows itself to have far more detail as songs are not meant to be the backing to scenes with other sound effects. It is "overproduced" because it adds additional ideas/detail that makes the music more interesting to listen to on its own. In fact, the eventual draw to the better synth wave artists is that it ends up being very different from this expectation that it has to sound exactly like 80s film/game soundtracks.
This is the most disingenuous garbage posted itt
>fake
How? By what dumbass shit standard is it fake?
>aesthetically self contradictory
>it's not synth wave if it isn't copying the 80s
>current day techs are bad
Yup, like I said, disingenuous. You want the genre to be this ubiquitous emulation of older music, that too older music that doesn't exactly hold up to be as interesting when listened to as songs outside their contexts of films/games. This really is the dumbest shit I have read today on Sup Forums. You're so stuck on the nostalgia trip aspect of the genre that you shit on it for trying to become its own thing.
>showoffy
How? Does every artist that have even a modicum of ambition is now showoffy?

If you want music that sounds like your 80s film/game music, just listen to those instead. Even the more ubiquitous synthwave others have talked of in this topic (that sounds the same) would not satisfy you as it uses more contemporary ways to layering synths. You have expectations that don't make sense to have on any new genre of music.

It's shit if it doesn't have the rhythm and blues influence of the best music it is trying to rip off (especially early 90s video game stuff), and most of it doesn't

>by what dumbass standard
by no dumbass standard. It's fake by the good standard of stylistic purity.

>that too older music that doesn't exactly hold up to be as interesting when listened to as songs outside their contexts of films/games.
That is objectively false. 80s thriller music and early 90s video game music objectively sounds good regardless of context.
>How? Does every artist that have even a modicum of ambition is now showoffy?
betraying the aesthetic tenets of a genre to show off your musician skills is showoffy. Stylistic purity is more precious than advanced skill.

What makes synthwave "its own thing" is NOT a handful of producers' misguided ambitions, it's simply the fact that it sounds like old soundtracks without necessarily being a soundtrack.

By trying to "break the mold", these misguided producers actually create music that's not proper synthwave, but is closer to current-day EDM, thereby making it LESS of its own thing

>If you want music that sounds like your 80s film/game music, just listen to those
that's what I do
>instead.
no need to listen to exclusively those

You are being very disingenuous by acting like revivalism is necessarily bad, despite knowing that it's not.

a lot of early 90s vidya stuff sounds a lot more like hard rock

>It's not immediately clear whether you're a pleb or a patrician if you listen to synthwave
Read through the thread again. Are you sure?

Not so sure anymore, all those who defend synthwave ITT are doing it for good reasons.

I'd have to check in the youtube comments to see if there are still people unaware of that 80s synthpop sounds like. Which is to say plebs.

Could very well be that only patricians still listen to synthwave.

>stylistic purity
Yeah...dumbass standard. There's no such thing as stylistic purity. You wanted the music to sound like something else and you're mad it doesn't sound that way.
>betraying the aesthetic tenants to show off
How are they showing off? They are being creative, which is an actual tenet of art itself, rather than the bullshit tenet of "ayyy you can change your approach to making this kind of music...EVER!" In fact what you claim goes against the very concept of creativity in art.

>objectively
That's where you lose your argument when you base subjective aspects into objectivity.

>closer to current day EDM
Not at all. Like, if you aren't fucking deaf, it's easy to hear the melodic and wildly different approach to structure from both mainstream (which follows a typical AB structure), and underground (which follows a minimalist style structure) dance music styles.

>that's what I do
And that's why you set your expectations. You are trying to turn the genre into a commodity for your nostalgia, but it doesn't give a fuck about you.
>revivalism is inherently bad
I never said that. But synthwave was NEVER a revivalist genre to begin with. The genre's origins are tied to the French house music scene. It's biggest booms came from the song Nightcall in the movie Drive, which is made by a house artist using more melodic synth based work on top of house music foundation, and the Hotline Miami games which has songs that use techniques to fit synths in certain spaces that didn't exist nor were used in the 80s film/game stuff. Being exactly revivalist was never the point of the genre.

javascript:;
>Gessafelstein is just mainstream electro house with a slight industrial tinge to it. His music's not as versatile in dynamics, rhythm, layering of different synths, and in structure compared to the closest equivalent in synth wave, Perturbator.
I know that you dipshit, thanks for reading some wiki for me. Its like you didn't even know both artist are French so if anything Gessafelstein is the bigger influence over these French artists.

You know as much about dance music is this clown over here. Who contradicts with everything you've postedYou make it sound like France has never had its own industrial scene. LMAO.

Yeah, but Gessafelstein wasn't the guy that had that influence. His sound is nothing like theirs, sounding more EBM earlier on then more like mainstream electro house than anything afterward. The earlier peeps that were doing something like synthwave were Kavinsky (from the French scene), Chromatics (not from the scene), and maybe Justice (from the French scene), too.

>There's no such thing as stylistic purity. You wanted the music to sound like something else and you're mad it doesn't sound that way.
But sometimes it DOES sound that way, and it's great when it does, cause it's stylistically pure.

>Not at all. Like, if you aren't fucking deaf, it's easy to hear the melodic and wildly different approach to structure from both mainstream (which follows a typical AB structure), and underground (which follows a minimalist style structure) dance music styles.
Song structures are irrelevant, mainstream or underground is irrelevant. What is relevant is that when Perturbator tries to do some modern-sounding bullshit on his latest album, it does sound like some modern bullshit. It ends up sounding like some IDM bullshit, which is a type of EDM
>But synthwave was NEVER a revivalist genre to begin with.
that is factually wrong. It is nothing if not a revivalist genre.
And the French house scene is heavily inspired by much older genres of music. As a matter of fact a lot of its appeal comes down to sounding reminiscent of some 80s music genres, and synthwave does it even better.

Synthwave is not supposed to be an evolution of french house. it's not supposed to be about virtuosity or skill. It IS a commodity for nostalgia and that's the greatest thing it can be. I'm sorry for you that you're too blinded by pretentiousness to realize that.

And even if it weren't the point of the genre, it SHOULD be the point of the genre because sounding like 80s thriller music is undeniably (unless you're a liar) better than experimenting in the wrong ways and showing off. That's not a subjective argument, it's a fact, it's not left to anybody's personal appreciation. If I agreed with your opinions, I would be wrong.

Justice is nu-disco, very different sources of inspiration

>and it's great when it does, cause it's stylistically pure
>Song structures are irrelevant, mainstream or underground is irrelevant
>modern-sounding bullshit
>it does sound like some modern bullshit. It ends up sounding like some IDM bullshit, which is a type of EDM
>a lot of its appeal comes down to sounding reminiscent of some 80s music genres
>some 80s music genres
I've genuinely never seen anyone this musically illiterate try to argue music with such hubris before on this board. Holy shit. Sup Forumsermin truly are the most retarded individuals.

That's funny because, for all your supposed knowledge, you still don't have good taste.

If you had good taste, you would immediately agree that synthwave objectively should sound like 80s thriller siundtracks and early 90s sega CD game soundtracks. Even if all synthwave music producers didn't want it to, that's still what it must sound like. Because it's better than the alternatives, and that's not something you can argue against.

Your disagreement proves how worthless your supposed knowledge is. As a matter of fact, listening to too much Aphex Twin and Autechre might have rotted your brain (and yes, I know these are pretty fucking mainstream).

>Song structures are irrelevant, mainstream or underground is irrelevant
You sound like you just arrived from Sup Forums or some shit. I am obviously talking about the MUSIC here.
>IDM
>on New Model
>IDM being a type of EDM
Uhhh, okay. If you wanna troll me, at least don't put so much effort in your shitposts.
>thinks French house was a revival scene
Still trolling
>virtuosity in synthwave
Troll
>calling me blinded by pretentiousness when he's literally PRETENDING that a genre's reasons for existing is based on his own opinions rather than what it actually is
Yeah definitely trolling. I won't waste my time with you anymore I got errands to run and you're too busy with your provably false bullshit and your head too far up your ass. Here's your final (You)
I know. But they were still a huge influence on synthwave. Like that other guy said a lot of these artists are French and Justicecwas huge in the 2000s.

IDM is a type of EDM. It's just a bit more experimental and complicated and unpleasant.
There's no real virtuosity in synthwave but there are ATTEMPTS at virtuosity (such as New Model) and they always sound like shit.
also, I am btw
Justice is bad compared to synthwave, by the way. Because it's
A - not properly revivalist
B - disco

you don't know what trolling means

Complexity is the only thing that matters in music which is why modern popular music will never surpass the classical western canon. Prove me wrong. (protip: you can't)

proof:
the dumbest EBM song sounds better than the entire classical western canon. It sounds fun, it sounds macho, it's danceable and groovy. Classical composers can only achieve two of those things at once. Possibly because complexity gets in the way.

These things are not quantifiable. Classical sounds much more fun, macho, danceable and groovy than EDM. Try again.

I said EBM not EDM

Same applies to EBM. Classical is superior because it's more complex and therefore more stimulating intellectually and kinesthetically.

>stimulating intellectually
worthless
>kinesthetically.
no. too irregular for that, too complex

>worthless
for a brainlet Sup Forumsirgin such as yourself maybe. No wonder video games have been going to shit this fast. The rate at which your brain is turning to shit is making it impossible for you to carry out even the most basic tasks.
>no. too irregular for that, too complex
Not if you aren't retarded. It allows for more varied body movements, meaning more muscle groups are being worked, resulting in a higher exertion of energy. Modern pop shit is very minimalistic and basic, meaning you're limited to a much smaller variety of movement to match the primitive post-african repetitions.

The girls with floofy hair

Joke's on you I don't play video games. Last time I touched vidya was in 2003.

>more varied body movements
no it doesn't. Try breakdancing to your autismal nerd music. All you'll get is a trip to snap city.

I bet you're a djent buttprog apologist too. Wouldn't surprise me from someone who thinks synthwave shouldn't be a revivalist genre just because "it's totally a subgenre of french house which it totally groundbreaking, guise".

youtube.com/watch?v=-yuI3ynLI3I

shit slaps innit?

that it does

NOW WHERE IS THAT TALENTED DRAWFAG MAN WHO MADE THIS?