Synthenebrism

Synthenebrism is a music blog dedicated to exploring harsh EBM and synthpop music with the intent of sharing underexposed or under-appreciated bands. Along the way, I look at connections between a broad range of musical styles, from chiptune to black metal to jazz. The idea for the blog comes from my interest in music that mixes disparate styles. I especially enjoy songs that have a dark undertone with harsh textures coupled with an attractive melody, or clean and upbeat songs with a darker side. The word “synthenebrism” is a portmanteau of “synthesizer” and “tenebrism.” Tenebrism relies on darkness to enhance the light portions in a painting, and the contrast and interplay between those elements reflects my interests in electronic music.

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Tesla Boy — Fantasy In the five years since their first release, Tesla Boy have managed to create some of the finest pop tunes ever conceived.

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Juveniles — Fantasy Of all the modern, disco-vibed synthpop bands out there, the big two for me are…

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Mitch Murder (feat. Miranda Carey) — Just Till Midnight Mitch Murder normally creates mellow instrumental synthwave tracks, though he steps out of his routine a bit for this incredible song with…

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Classixx (feat. Nancy Whang) — All You're Waiting For I enjoyed that Shit Robot track with Nancy Whang so much, now feels like a fine opportunity to play another song with her laid-back and seductive style.

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Grum — Turn it Up

Next, let’s check out a song by Graeme Shepherd, a Scottish DJ who works under the name Grum. He creates a pretty healthy mix of synthpop, nu disco, disco house, and other styles. For “Turn it Up,” he builds his modern disco vibe on top of a solid 80s synthpop foundation. The song is from 2010′s LP, Heartbeats.

A casual bassline and…

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Shit Robot — Take 'Em Up

Life got in the way of this blog for a while, but I’m going to get back in the swing of things by picking up where I left off. Shit Robot is the artist name of Marcus Lambkin, and he has released two albums to date. The first, 2010′s From the Cradle to the Rave, is a solid release with a host of guest vocalists. The diversity of…

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Nu Shooz — Point of No Return

I enjoyed the last post so much, I think I might run with a female vocalist theme for a bit. Nu Shooz wrote several albums in the 1980s, though it was their 1986 release, Poolside, that landed the group on the the US charts. The success of that album was driven by two singles, “I Can’t Wait” and “Point of No Return.”

Of the two, “I…

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Paula Abdul — I Need You

Since I’ve been talking about overlooked songs, this seems like a good opportunity to drop right into one of the biggest pop albums in history. Paula Abdul‘s 1988 hit Opposites Attractmanaged four #1 US singles, including ”Opposites Attract,” “Forever Your Girl,” “Straight Up,” and “Cold Hearted.” The opening song, “The Way That You…

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China Crisis — Animals in Jungles On the topic of underrated synthpop bands: China Crisis is one of the best groups of the 1980s in terms of consistency and musical quality, though they remain relatively unknown outside of their native UK.

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Naked Eyes — Voices in My Head Known for several big hits in the '80, especially "Promises, Promises" and the cover of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me," …

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The Twins — In My Broken Dream

From a US perspective, The Twins have to be one of the most under-appreciated bands of the 1980s. The German group released five full-length albums between 1981 and 1986, making them one of the more productive acts at the time, and they found moderate success in Europe, especially in Germany and Italy. However, they never caught a…

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Chaz Jankel − Number One

I’m going to step into the ’80s for the next several posts, beginning with this song from Chaz Jankel. “Number One” is usually remembered from the soundtrack for the 1985 film Real Genius. For many, myself included, it is almost impossible to separate the song from the themes and characters in the film, though the strength of that…

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Beborn Beton − The Colour of Love

Since I mentioned Beborn Beton in yesterday’s post, now seems like a fine time to touch on some of the German synthpop band’s music. Formed by Stefan Tillmann, Michael B. Wagner, and Stefan Netschio, the band has a relaxed and confident style that always bears a strong visual character for me. It sometimes borders on swagger, though…

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Neutral Lies − Rose in the Coffin

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Jean François Dean and Nicolas Delbarre comprise the group Neutral Lies. The band is fairly flexible with its style, mixing together elements of industrial, EBM, futurepop, and synthpop to give each song a bit of its own unique character. “Rose in the Coffin” is found on the band’s debut LP, 2011′s A Deceptive Calm. It is one of the more…

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Melotron − Endstation im Labyrinth

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The synthpop group Melotron stands out in my mind for its near-exclusive use of German lyrics. Too often, I think European bands give in to pressure to sing in English, even if their audience is not primarily comprised of English speakers. As a listener, this can disrupt my enjoyment of the music in a few ways. There is the possibility for…

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Eleven:Eleven − Escape

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Eleven:Elevenis a Texas-based group consisting of vocalist Sicca and songwriter J. Childs. After a pair of exciting singles, the band released its first full-length album in…

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Chinese Theatre − I'm Leaving You Behind

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Since I mentioned Krister Petersson’s work with Chinese Theatre in my last post, I thought it would be worth listening to some of the group’s music at this point. The band features Martina…

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