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CHUCK PERSON - “ECCOJAM A3”

It’s a well acknowledged opinion that the Summer of 2010 was a flashpoint moment for experimental electronic music: chillwave, synthwave, vaporwave, and the like. A lot of articles from that time capsule are being re-introduced to the collective hipster consciousness in the form of B-sides and previously unreleased cuts, and there’s just some stuff that sadly went unnoticed because everyone was too busy listening to Psychic Chasms (no hate). Daniel Lopatin, the experimental golden boy behind Oneohtrix Point Never and collaborative projects Games and Ford & Lopatin, released one such gem back in that fateful season. Sporting the pseudonym of Chuck Person, Lopatin released an extremely limited run of only 100 cassette tape copies of Eccojams Vol. 1 via The Curatorial Club. Akin to his Memory Vague collection of super lo-fi Sunsetcorp videos, the album is a mish-mash of chopped and fucked pop hits filtered through Lopatin’s unique brand of nostalgia-evoking editing. With “Eccojam A3”, arguably the standout jam in the two-sided compilaiton, that hazy liquid capitalism vibe of traditional VHS-wave artists like 18 Carat Affair, Dreams West, and Miami Vice is present in full force, but with an added hypnotic aspect to it, due to the incessant looping. True to his technique, Lopatin appropriates samples from teeny bopper diva JoJo’s “Too Little Too Late” and early 2000’s eurodance trio Ian Van Dahl’s “Castles in the Sky”, pitch-shifting the shit out both and looping with heavy reverb into infinity. The accompanying footage above is a bad found VHS montage of people just kicking it and keeping it real by Youtube curator Patryk Ludamage, and the audio is easily an octave higher than the original composition (and a bit faster as well), which can be found here. It’s remarkable how heart grabbingly, throat punchingly catchy this blended mass of glitzy cultural consciousness and surreal witchiness is, begging the listener to listen repeatedly, as only Daniel Lopatin’s bastardized compositions can. Chuck Person’s Eccojams Vol. 1 is most definitely out of print and very difficult to find, but it needs to be rediscovered en masse, so do tha right thing and grab a free MP3 download of “Eccojam A3” below, and ghettoblast it at the next party you attend.

MP3 Download of “Eccojam A3”, by Chuck Person (from Eccojams Vol. 1)

MIRROR KISSES - “RUNAWAYS”

George Clanton, despite jumping on the all too familiar bandwagon of modernized new wave, has really tapped into a gold vein in terms of radio friendly pop sensibility, while still retaining some serious hipster cred (*cough* Diamond Rings *cough*). Not only has Mirror Kisses’ Kickstarter page for their new album already hit goal (with five days left to go), but their new single “Runaways” is definitely one to remember. Released for free only hours ago via their Bandcamp page, the titular A-side on Runaways b/w Kameron bears all of the glittering neon vibe and exotic chic present in today’s collection of modern synth-funk and VHS-wave “hits”. The twilit synth leads are right at home in any throwback 80’s dance party, the jangly guitar perfectly channels the boogie sounds of times past, and Clanton’s melodramatic vocals and lyrics are the very manifestation of synthpop itself. The featured video, “a compilation of things that have happened in the past 2 weeks”, is hopefully a pretty exact representation of the live Mirror Kisses experience, something we’d kill to experience, by the way. Hopefully, once Heartbeats is inevitably pressed on vinyl, some tour dates will be in order, because we will go out of our way for Mirror Kisses’ retro 80’s-inspired fanfare. Do tha right thing, and grab a free download of the first two official tracks in the form of Runaways b/w Kameron here, or just grab our pick below. If you like what you hear, toss a bone to Mirror Kisses in appreciation. First, though, you have to watch his video about the project here. George seems like a really funny guy, and we think he may actually be a bigger fan of 18 Carat Affair than we are. Wait, no. That’s impossible. It’s on, George!

For fans of: Future Unlimited, The Ice Choir, or Warm Ghost

MP3 Download of “Runaways”, by Mirror Kisses (from Heartbeats)

Luxury Elite’s “Farewell” is one of a full house of retro lo-fi synthwave jams available for free download on Fortune 500’s Music of the Now Age mix. Jam-packed with the slickest and smarmiest vintage synth-funk and boogie tunes known to hipsterkind, the playlist is the third release by this young start-up bedroom label, and it is a keeper. Luxury Elite, along with Wasted Nights, Malewarlock, and many others contributed to this legit mixtape that’s sure to keep you coming back for more VHS-wave melodrama. “Farewell” is one of our absolute favorites on The Music of the Now Age, and Luxury Elite has just actually released an album on the label, called TV Party. It’s an instrumental slow jam, awash with lo-fi reverb-soaked percussion and warped, melted italo-disco synth loops in the vein of 18 Carat Affair, Dreams West, or Vektroid. Luxury Elite’s babewave vibes are best paired with twilight waterfront cruises, awful 80’s anime sci-fi films, and good old-fashioned lovemaking sessions. Do tha right thing, and grab a free MP3 download of Luxury Elite’s “Farewell”, and check out the rest of The Music of the Now Age, available for free via Fortune 500, afterwards. If you wanna go big or go home, we feel that a download of TV Party is in order as well.

MP3 Download of “Farewell”, by Luxury Elite (from The Music of the Now Age)

MAROON 5 - “ONE MORE NIGHT (COM TRUISE REMIX)”

One thing that I think we can all agree is fantastic about New Jersey synthwave artist Com Truise is that he can take the most left field of jams and mix it down into a total masterpiece. He’s re-interpreted everything from Twin Shadow’s hipster pop to Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy soundtrack. With this iteration of his trademark dreamwave re-imaginings, Seth Haley (Com Truise) colors Maroon 5’s “One More Night” with retro cyberpunk effects, warped analog synth leads, and stabbing digital beats. Sassy vintage keys twinkle along like electronic lights on decaying machinery, and the vocals take on a far more triumphant vibe, like the computer world national anthem before the annual light cycle olympics. Really, is there anything Mr. Truise can’t make perfect? Do tha right thing, and don’t waste any time in checking out Com Truise’s futuristic downtempo remix of Maroon 5’s “One More Night” We’d love to include a free MP3 download of the track, but we’re a twinge wary of having the shit sued out of us by them. So, sorry ‘bout it. Is Maroon 5 really still making music anyways?

SAND CIRCLES - “WHITE SAND”

This bleak reverb-heavy number was brought to our attention while plumbing the equally dank depths of the hipsteriffic underworld of the internet. Stockholm’s Sand Circles purveys an epic wasteland soundscape with “White Sand”, a jam that unites the faded doomtronica of artists like The Sight Below with the retro scientific sensibility of film scores by the likes of Howard Shore or Tangerine Dream. A dark wind hisses throughout the duration of the tune, much like the pervasive ambiance present in David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Amidst the aural decay is a simple, slowcoming beat that neither fails nor flinches, tinged by fuzzy synth horn tracks that arise sonorously like flames from a burnt out bomb shelter. “White Sand” is lightless, a lo-fi downtempo ode to living amongst dystopian destruction. Do tha right thing, and download this cinematic synthwave sound experience below, and be sure to explore the rest of Sand Circles’ work afterwards.

MP3 Download of “White Sand”, by Sand Circles (from Motor City)

NAPOLIAN - “HOOBANGIN ‘96 (BLUE WRANGLER SPORT)”

While noodling around on last.fm, we stumbled across this unique Los Angeles electronic artist, along with this equally unique jam. Napolian’s aesthetic presence and his audio vibes are certainly a fairly odd couple, juxtaposing awful retro gangster hip-hop graphics with hipsteriffic VHS-wave tones. “Hoobangin ‘96 (Blue Wrangler Sport)” is easily the standout tune on 2011’s Guns & Synths, an admittedly brief ode to that urban Miami Vice-esque grit and the uptown cosmopolitan late-night fare. Grainy synth tracks do their best to smooth out the sassy 8-bit flute sampling and the computerized bass guitar slapping. This is music for pixellated palm trees, soundtrack material for a Kickstarter video game with 16-bit graphics that mirrors what Grand Theft Auto would have been like if it were featured in the corner arcade of days past. Fans of 18 Carat Affair, Lasership Stereo, or Vektroid will revel in Napolian’s ironic infusion of decayed magnetic tape reel tone with the “blood in, blood out” attitude. Do tha right thing, and grab a free MP3 download of Napolian’s experimental “Hoobangin ‘96 (Blue Wrangler Sport)” below, and then buy Guns & Synths from my main man afterwards, if you like it enough.

MP3 Download of “Hoobangin ‘96 (Blue Wrangler Sport)”, by Napolian (from Guns & Synths)

VEKTROID - “MOTIONS FEEL”

Washington DOS-wave artist Vektroid self-released an elusive early collection of works under the name of Telnet Erotika some time ago, and we found it. Kicking the five-track EP (of sorts) off is a scintillating slow version of Roger Troutman’s early nineties R&B staple “Emotions”. Vektroid’s kaleidoscopic re-work is titled “Motions Feel”, and it isn’t the first time that some hipster has sampled that specific Roger tune. Oneohtrix Point Never put together a collection of retro lo-fi Youtube videos that we covered about a year-and-a-half back, and “Emotions” was pretty well chopped and fucked in his “End of Life Entertainment Scenario #1”. This time around, Vektroid successfully created a sprawling, silky track with soul of epic proportions and a Windows 3.1 vibe. Whiplash beats crash down continually in slow motion, as digital malfunctions occur all around to the tune of Roger Troutman’s heavily edited urban stylin’. Do tha right thing, and grab a free MP3 download of Vektroid’s “Motions Feel” below. If you like the vintage pitch-shifted synthwave of this artist, check out the remainder of Telnet Erotika, which also includes a nod to Oneohtrix Point Never’s “Nobody Here”. Also, Vektroid’s third and newest release, Color Ocean Road, is available for a very reasonable price via Bandcamp and is highly recommended for fans of that garbled tape machine sound. Apparently, this guy is only, like, nineteen years old, and he’s already grooving way harder than any of us ever will.

MP3 Download of “Motions Feel”, by Vektroid (from Telnet Erotika)