synthpop please?

[~dorian]

can anyone suggest some good melodic softer synthpop. like Elegant Machinery, NukleoN, Cosmicity, Mesh, Anything Box, Ganymede, etc?

please. no Apop wanna-be's. or VNV-clones or blatent-christian-futurepop scandinavians disguised as abbrassive industrial-dance groups.
(no offense if youre an abbrassive scandinavian :P)

+kristopher+

[~cliffwalk]

Sure...

This is REALLY old but Dimbodius made nice stuff, he seems gone now: http://www.mp3.com/dimbodius

Pop Star Who Kills (http://www.mp3.com/pswk) - Dark and moody but melodic and tasteful.

Iris (http://www.irismusic.com) - Very upbeat/poppy songwriting meets a very good programmer.

Faith Assembly (http://www.faithassembly.com) - Ghostly... not REALLY what I'd call Synthpop, but what do I know.. many call it that. He sort of is like an updated version of the New Romantic scene. (once again: My translation)

Color Theory (http://www.colortheory.com) - An Acquired Taste... his latest album (something beautiful) is all acoustic. "Pony Tail Girl" is a great CD.

Wave In Head (http://www.mp3.com/waveinhead) - Sort of Depeche Modish but well done.

These are 6 bands I find rather impressive just from a talent standpoint. There's a ton on here, ADD, etc...

Dave

[test]

Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris, Iris and still more Iris! :D

[~tclutz]

Yes, definetly Iris, of course I am sure you already know about De/Vision who is the #1 favorite of most synthpop fans of your tastes. Otherwise, to get near that high of quality, I would have to suggest early Distain, Sea of Sin, Second Sight, 7 Red 7, Cause & Effect, Celebrate the Nun, Cetu Javu & Agnes Poetry.
Some of that stuff is out of print, but obtainable if you search a little. Good luck!

[7red7]

Well tclutz pretty much named everything I was going to add, but I do have a couple more to check out for you :)

Brave New World

Machine In Motion

Real Life (get the album Lifetime, trust me it's a classic early 90's soft synth, you'll love it)

HAPPY LISTENING!!!

DAN

[~Eyuva]

get these albums

New Order - Substance
Iris - Disconect/ Awakening
older Pet Shop Boys stuff
and Position High on MP3.com

[~electromannyc]

Good suggestions!

But New Clear Sky is a must for sheer talent and forward reaching synthpop. The utmost in originality, with hardly any of the typical "oonze oonze" ya hear in everything else!.

Good luck in your search.

Manuel

[~A04]

Originally posted by dorian
can anyone suggest some good melodic softer synthpop. like Elegant Machinery, NukleoN, Cosmicity, Mesh, Anything Box, Ganymede, etc?

please. no Apop wanna-be's. or VNV-clones or blatent-christian-futurepop scandinavians disguised as abbrassive industrial-dance groups.
(no offense if youre an abbrassive scandinavian :P)

+kristopher+

I don't know what to suggest, because your definition is rather constrictive. When I got into this scene, the first bands I got into were Depeche Mode, Front 242, Manufacture, Yaz, and Lords of Acid. I saw them as different artists along the same spectrum. There's a lot of good music out there. What are you going to do when your favorite band starts sounding futurepop? It happens. Just talk to a Covenant fan...

[~rivetbadtz]

Originally posted by A04

What are you going to do when your favorite band starts sounding futurepop? ..

Dance with joy!

Originally posted by dorian
[b]
please. no Apop wanna-be's. or VNV-clones or blatent-christian-futurepop scandinavians disguised as abbrassive industrial-dance groups.
(no offense if youre an abbrassive scandinavian :P)
b>

Ummm...uhh, no comment^_^

[~ilvisintetic]

Blue October, Neuropa, Erasure, Daily Planet, Empire State Human, S.P.O.C.K, Wave In Head, Automatic, Metal Y Ca, Waq, Second Decay, Equatronic, Love?, Point Of View, Distain!, Alphaville, Forbidden Colours, Never Endless, L'image, L'avantgarde, Avant Garde, Intuition :)

[~Juliekins]

Hi dorian,

Mesh, New Clear Sky and Iris are my top picks for the "meaning of synthpop" these days. I'm starting to really dig NASA too.

peace

[~cliffwalk]

I forgot about New Clear Sky.

As for "Future Pop"... here's the thing. From what I hear segregating what we call "FuturePop" and "Synthpop" is literally very little. All I hear really is instrumentation choices for Future Pop are a bit more updated. In some cases they work and in others they sound stale because some of the people trying to venture into more sophisticated instruments haven't entirely learned how to be as creative with them as they were with their predecessors.

I'm an oddball but I think the latest Covenant is quite nice. Terrible lyrically but some great ideas brewing beneath the surface. Definately a weak album but they were obviously learning new toys on it.

Dave

[Synthpopalooza]

Ok, my list of people:

I Satellite: http://www.mp3.com/isatellite ... analog synthpop with a touch of the Yazoo. Very nicely done.

Travelogue: This is some highly experimental analog futurist pop (by that, I am talking Kraftwerk, John Foxx, early Human League before 1981, and Fad Gadget) ... not your usual fare in this scene, but I think you will like it. No website currently, but go to http://www.plastiqmusiq.com

Empire State Human: http://www.empirestatehuman.com ... these guys are unstoppable. Some of the best quality synthpop to come out of this scene in recent memory.

Gary Flanagan: http://www.garyflanagan.ca ... lightweight, simple synthpop with some catchy melodies and hooks. This stuff is addictive as hell, especially the french-rap "Metro Boulot Dodo" which has shades of Falco in it.

Equatronic: http://www.equatronic.de ... male-female duo with heavy Erasure influences. Check out their plas:tique album ... you can preview it at http://www.metawavemusic.de

Agency-X: http://www.agency-x.net ... the newest arrival to synthpop featuring vocalist davidmahr, and keyboardist Lars Wallden from the swedish band Avant Garde.

Seven Words: http://www.sevenwords.co.uk ... simply the best songwriting in this genre, this side of Color Theory.

And lastly, there is my project, Synthetik FM, at http://synthetik.synthpop.fm ... retro-synthpop with guest vocalists (including NukleoN).

[Avil]

Well what to recommend?

Alphaville maybe? :) www.alphaville.de

Also:

Brand new idol (great synthpop) www.brandnewidol.com
L´ Avantgarde (more great music) www.lavantgarde.de
Sweep (sweeeeeet music) www.sweep.nu
Space Age Baby Jane (wonderful new music) www.spaceagebabyjane.com

that´s all for this time...enjoy!

Christina

[~spi]

Originally posted by cliffwalk
Sure...

This is REALLY old but Dimbodius made nice stuff, he seems gone now: http://www.mp3.com/dimbodius


I second the vote for Dimbodius he makes some really good music. According to his website as of last fall he was still recording his full CD which he hoped to release sometime this year. I guess we will see if we ever hear another peep from him.

-steve

[~Bedsitter]

I'd like to suggest Wolfsheim "Spectators," and And One "Virgin Superstar."

And, my favorite: Soft Cell.
Their latest is "Cruelty without Beauty." And out of Marc Almond's solo albums, I think "The Stars we Are" is the best.

[~SynthezObserver]

hey Guyz you all forgot about TATU :)

btw one girl out of two was about to go thru operation on throat cords recently but she luckily escaped the scalpel.....

[~emma_stormhatt]

Just to defend the Scandinavians. We are not all into Apop music. Some of us still sound like Elegant Machinery. Take for exampe

This Fish Needs a Bike (http://www.inferno-inc.com/fish/)
The Mourning After (http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/70/mourning_after.html)

OK they are dead but half of the band went to
scapesonik http://www.scapesonik.com

Moulin Noir
http://www.moulin-noir.com/

Bands that tried to move on but refuses to sound like VNV, Apop

Marina Sirtis (self)
www.marinasirtis.net

[brus]
www.brus-online.com

[~David Vesel]

Here are some other folks you may want to consider that haven't been mentioned yet:

* Blue Audio
* The Mystic Underground
* Monolithic (a little harder sound but way fantastic)
* Also check out Cliffwalk (he was too humble to nominate himself I guess :)


And of course, I can't carry these guys' shoes, but I'd be thrilled if you wanted to take a listen. Just click on my sig.

[~intervox]

Let's see, not in any order...



Color Theory, Iris, Wave in Head, The Nine, Brand New Idol, Faith Assembly, Pop Star Who Kills, David Vesel, Cliffwalk, Monolithic, Gebrauche-Musik, Seven Words, Cetu Javu, Plus One, Equatronic, Eloquent, Clan of Xymox, Synthetik FM, The Morticians, Intuition, Blue October, Echoing Green, 7 Red 7, Red Flag, Camouflage, Mass-hit, Covenant, De/Vision, Mourning After, Blue Moon Friday and Room 1201...

I'm sure I've forgotten some though....

[~Bornslippy]

Dude get

Loveless (from Sweden) definetely get this one..
Psyche
Leihdorus(errr i keep forgetting how to spell that bands name)

Backlash(Sweden)

Iris

Stacey Q(j.k)

Cher(I heard she's synthpop now j.k.l.o.l...someone shoot me, if I hear a remix of "I got you babe" pls shoot me)

Melotron(get Weltfrieden)

[~damupp]

Empty Words - Swedish synthpop

http://www.mp3.com/emptywords
http://stage.vitaminic.se/empty_words

please check it out :D

[~rivetbadtz]

Well Im not going to say too much 'oomph' causes a band to move from one genre to another, I guess there is a fine 4/4 line between synthpop and other stuff. Im all about the EBM futurepop, but skipping a few harsh beats down I like some Neuroactive, that one Wolfsheim song, and Echo Image...along with my all time fave synthpop band, the Beloved^_^

[~dorian]

im quite an echo image fan meself ^_^

[~SFARAH]

The synthpop king last year had a name: MELOTRON.....this year I'll recommend that you get Sweep (if it ever comes out that is) is promised to be quite something, B machine and Iris are a most have too.