Synth Single Review: “Tapeheads Unite” by Louvers

by Karl Magi

Louvers’ “Tapeheads Unite” rises to life with encouragement and neon illumination while the drums collide and the bass pushes forward. The lead singer captures the exuberance of the lyrics while tones burst out with positivity and light the whole track with thrilling brilliance.

Anticipation and celebration flow out to grasp me while tiny digital tones flicker like LEDs and trembling notes shine with uplifting energy. Warming, nostalgic chords Infuse the music with happiness and enthusiasm.

The percussion explodes while the guitar shines with dreamy radiance and the lead singer touches me with unbridled joy. The continually slipping background is cut by clean drums rebounding before the song ends.

While others dismiss them as crazy, the tape heads spend hours "baking all day until the screen lights up" and fill their time with VHS tapes and friendship. The song calls for like-minded people to unite and celebrate VHS forever in July where they meet under Pennsylvania skies.

Asking one another where they came from and if they found anything cool, the tape heads would reject you if you said VHS is dead. They spent time camping or staying in a hotel with a pool and the narrator concludes, "Ten years down the road, when I’m lost and getting old, (I’ll) remember this time and place when we brought back yesterday."

Synth Remix Review: “Alexandra” by Valley Lights & Driver405

by Karl Magi

Valley Lights’ “Alexandra (Driver405 Remix)” jumps with a sleek technological edge that generates irrepressible motion, creating an exhilarating mood which brims with growing excitement and a hint of trembling anticipation. As Kai Mammoser’s vocals echo distantly, bells ring out chord changes which shine with a striking aurora as the dance floor friendly underpinnings fuel a powerful rhythm, permeating the music with energy.

Driver405 foregrounds Kai Mammoser’s unmistakably fiery performance as the drums accelerate and the track builds to a crescendo. Bass and drums intermingle with sharp angled tones, transporting a cleanly slicing melody that creates an exciting feeling. The vocals twist and drift with strangeness while the percussion adds huge muscle to drive everything.

The anthemic chorus generates enormous uplift while bells create brilliance and the leaping low end is joined by gargantuan beats. All of the musical elements grab me, surging with live wire energy. The background buzzes with ominous sounds that echo like growing darkness, balanced with the smouldering desire in Kai Mammoser’s voice. The main theme erupts with dramatic wildness before the towering rhythm carries the song to a close.

The narrator is deeply attached to Alexandra and can’t live without her. He pleads with her not to let him go, creating overwhelming longing. The mood becomes more bittersweet as he admits that Alexandra’s still in his dreams, where he can pretend that everything between them is still alright.

Synth Single Review: “Torque” by Alex Boychuk

by Karl Magi

Alex Boychuk’s “Torque” begins with pellucid tones delicately tracing outlines through a hazy background, growing in a constellation that expands with piercing tones dropping through. A crescendo leads to a heavy rhythmic beat thundering against arpeggios spinning out in a cosmic pattern while the background swirls before Alex Boychuk's guitar unwinds a melody that reaches into outer space with yearning and growing force.

Distant light twinkles from fragile chimes that spread out into the vastness around them as a solar wind sweeps and metallic notes cascade. Another crescendo rises as the guitar creates a wide blanket of galactic light spreading across the universe, transmitting all of its boundless power and majestic breadth to me.

The rhythmic heartbeat guides the journey while the arpeggios twirl and the music creates the impression of outer space structures with enormous size and inspiring beauty. The track closes on a soft exhalation and glides out into silence.

Synth Single Review: “Crystal Beach” by St.Cliche & Nightflyer

by Karl Magi

St.Cliche & Nightflyer’s “Crystal Beach” splashes as softly tremulous tones move with a ringing bell that permeates the music with meditative sensations before the rhythmic percussion gives the track solid weight. Vaporous, pipe-like notes trickle downward like waves on white sand before the main synth carries a melody with laid back calm, reflecting a seaside mood.

Tiny flickers of sound evoke light on blue water and the entire track exudes imagery which paints a picture of spending time on a long expanse of beach, watching the sparkling waters splash on the shore as a melody eddies like a summer zephyr all around me.

As the guiding foundation pulses,intermingling notes call up sensations of escape and undeniable peace, slipping in a graceful line while the aquatic notes wash. Elevated sounds shine like gulls turning in the wind before the soft percussion and drifting synth falls silent.