The Strangeways staff has put together a playlist featuring their favorite selections of songs from The English Beat and all of it’s spin off groups. The playlist also includes tracks from General Public, Fine Young Cannibals and solo tracks from Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger. Unfortunately, there were quite a few songs missing from the Spotify catalog. We will keep an eye out to see if they become available in the near futu
In their prior full length release “ YR Body is Nothing”; Boy Harsher created a driving, yet stripped down musical landscape, evoking an uneasy neurotic headspace with existential sexual crisis based lyrics paired with beats that your body can’t help but dance to. It causes the listener an uneasy reaction of pleasure met with discomfort. The single release, “Pain” showed the strengths of the band captured in a single track. Let me tip my hat to another well known band who captures this feeling by saying Boy Harsher do indeed capture the “pain” that we have not only become used to, but now fully seek out and can’t get enough of.
DJ Mikey presents some his favorite synthpop, electronica and dark wave tracks from 2019. This is a great way to hear a ton of new releases and familiarize yourself with some up and coming bands. This playlist is updated daily, so feel free to follow it on Spotify to keep up with some of the latest tunes in this genre.
This is a great remix of dreamy retro synthwave / synthpop which bring together Canada’s Parallels and UK’s Futurecop! . All of the elements, including soaring vocals by Parallels’ Holly Dodson, come together beautifully, and I’m looking forward to hearing more from Futurecop!’s upcoming 2019 album release.
The England/Canada electro duo have enlisted the help of New Order’s Gillian Gilbert on their brand new single, Lifetime. They are known for remixing other artists including INXS, Erasure and Mick Jagger but this time they are being remixed by others on an EP that contains 4 different mixes of Lifetime.
DJ Mikey presents some his favorite synth and dark wave tracks from 2016. This is a great way to hear a ton of new releases and familiarize yourself with some up and coming bands. This playlist is updated daily, so feel free to follow it on Spotify to keep up with some of the latest tunes in this genre.
The first single from the legendary bands new album, Chaosmosis, takes the band in a new direction. The song takes on a dancey electronica vibe which reminds me of a cross between Miami Horror and Kasabian – indietronica groove mixed with an upbeat banger! Sky Ferreira joins the boys on vocals on this single.
Brand new synthpop from the London band that sounds like what you would get if you merged the sounds from a John Hughes soundtrack and the Drive soundtrack.
Brand new synthpop from the Sheffield duo.
The indie rock bank Bloc Party has released their 5th studio album titled Hymns. This follows last years solo record Trick from their front man Kele.
The first single The Love Within is an elcetro club banger and a great way to start off the record, which features a nice balance of indie rock tunes along with some more synth-based gems. The standout track for me is Fortress which is a hot sexy number reminiscent of Kele’s solo work.
This one got super interesting from the get-go. Opening with a syncopated drum beat that could have been lifted from a Spector-era Girl Group, shortly after to be joined by a bass line hearkening to Joy Division’s Transmission and then Synths?
Lead single “Laura” is a gem of a pop song: clocking in at a scant two minutes and forty-one seconds, the track only lingers long enough to make an impression. A propulsive drumbeat, hypnotic guitar melody, and lush synthesizer set the backdrop for Shusterich to craft yet another earwarm melody, in which she finds new ways to stretch out the name “Laura.”