Retrocution

Retrocution: FM Attack’s “New World”

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So, I’m not gonna lie: it feels, lately, like the synthwave universe is ganging up and trying to get me back into writing this column by sheer force of will. The release of FM Attack‘s latest full-length, New World, this past Friday marks the second time in the last three weeks that we’ve been graced with drop-everything, appointment listening from an absolute genre heavyweight. And dammit, I did drop everything and make my listening appointment. And now I’m here to tell you about it, because it might be the album to beat in synthwave this year.

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Retrocution: Lost Years’ “Venom Part II”

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Swedish synth act Lost Years released new album, Venom Part II, on May 27.

So, by now, it’s probably no surprise to y’all that I have trouble keeping up with writing. A quick glance at the Retrocution archives shows that my last post in this series — and indeed on Nine Circles, period — was way back on March 9. Whoops.

I always like hopping on the Audio Thing. But when it comes to writing, I dunno….working a full-time nursing schedule leaves me just sufficiently brain dead as to be unable to come up with post-length #taeks on the things I’m listening to. Talking’s easy enough, but writing…often requires more time and brain power than I usually find myself with presently.

Still, every now and again, there’s something that compels me to drop everything and put fingers to keyboard. And this past Monday — Memorial Day — just such a thing happened: the release of a new Lost Years album, Venom Part II. This was tremendous, [insert-gif-of-our-pal-Seth-Werkheiser-dropping-his-phone-and-running]-esque news on a couple of different counts.

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Retrocution: SelloRekT /LA Dreams’ “Phases”

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[glances at album artwork] Mmm…yes…the ’80s are strong in this one.

[snaps out of trance] Oh! Hey everyone! Welcome back to another edition of Retrocution. It’s been, perhaps, a bit longer than I’d like — life, am I right? — but it’s finally time to kick it retro-style again. In this week’s edition, we’re going to take a look at Phases, the latest album from SelloRekT /LA Dreams.

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Retrocution: AWITW’s “We Are Hypersensitive”

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Welcome back to another edition of Retrocution! Yes, more than five months after our most recent edition of this column — during which your writer finished school, passed his licensure exam and, oh yeah, realized he needed a break from metal something fierce — we’re back to continue spreading the gospel of ’80s-loving electronic goodness. To (re-)kick things off, let’s take a closer look at We Are Hypersensitive, the latest album from the prolific French act, AWITW.

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The Nine Circles ov…How I Became a Synthwave Fan

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synthwave

After what feels like an eternity in the “development” stage — damn you, nursing school! — we’ve finally gotten our Retrocution column going here at Nine Circles. And damn, does that feel killer. I’ve gotten to a point in my music listenerdom where I’m listening to as much of this stuff as I do metal, if not more — and my attempt to build out this column certainly isn’t going to change that trend.

But, one thing said attempt has done is, it’s gotten me to look back at exactly how I got into this stuff. For a long time, I couldn’t — or never really tried to — pinpoint that. If asked why / how I got into the genre, I’d give a generic answer about “the aesthetics” or something, and just shift the topic to the genre’s latest offerings. And to be fair, “the aesthetics” are certainly part of the equation — but the music is the truly important part, and I’d never given any real thought to my foundations on that side.

So, let’s change that, shall we? Without further ado, I present The Nine Circles ov How I Became a Synthwave Fan. Continue reading →