80s synth is pretty broad, so let me give you two fairly different recommendations and see where you land with them. First off, I’m gonna reach back a little bit to 2020 to recommend ‘Monsters’ by The Midnight, a great album by a great band:
But if you’re talking the more kind of pop-influenced, singer/songwriter side of 80s synth, I’m actually gonna recommend a really small release to you, ‘It Ain’t Too Late For One More Ride’ by indie musician Calvero:
I do consider myself a bit of a music buff and I listen to an incredibly broad range of genres and styles, but I will confess that rave music isn’t one of my specialties. But a couple quick recommendations that might fall in the same rough proximity:
First off I dig the chillout beach party vibes of some of the tracks by artist “elsaaa” on Spotify, mostly the songs on the top of her popular section:
If you just want some fun dance music that’s very modern, and you have any openness to metal, may I recommend a few tracks by the very excellent and very fun Electric Callboy, with the caveat that this is not rave music and may potential be a stretch for you:
Electric Callboy - Everytime We Touch (TEKKNO Version):
Again, these are just quick top of mind recommendations, so if they don’t hit for you or you want more recommendations, let me know and I can think on it a bit longer. But if you do check any of it out, feel free to let me know what you think!
Thats a brilliant list thanks so kuch for taking the time to do that! How have I never heard Scowl before??? That’s added to my library excellent recommendation. I REALLY like electric callboy I was hooked right away. I like some of ARMNHMR as well. Synth music I’ve not described very well it’s things like timecop83, wolfclub, betamax, prize… it’s the fast cheerful stuff I like eg all we live for. It’s a kinda unusual style!
My pleasure! I love talking music so I’m happy for any excuse.
And okay, now that I understand we’re talking like retro vocal synthwave, I have some better recommendations!
My first recommendation immediately came to mind, but I’m gonna be honest and say that the best part of this recommendation does extend past the 5yr guideline I alluded to in my original comment, so you’ll have to excuse that. She’s still an active artist, but her recent work has been as features or a 2020 album collab with a more aggressive synth artist that probably isn’t what you’re looking for. But anyway, I definitely recommend Dana Jean Phoenix if you haven’t heard her yet!
Start here, the opener title track of ‘Le Mirage’ is an absolute banger than I think is totally gonna work for you:
If you’re open to slightly darker/heavier synth stuff, ‘Megawave’ is the collab album I mentioned above with artist Powernerd, and I think it’s pretty groovy:
Beyond Dana Jean Phoenix, here are some other artists I’d recommend but with less specific recommendations (probably just listen to their popular songs to get a feel):
Summerdrive is not this sound exactly, but they’re kind of synthwave meets clean pop so you might dig them (The Midnight who I previously recommended also sit in this space, but they’re a little jazzier):
And finally Gunship are also not this sound exactly, but rather sort of what you’d get if you mixed that synthwave sound with 80s hard rock, and it’s goddamn glorious (I love Gunship):
Hey mate! I’m doing 2 quizzes next week for charity and I’d like to have a music round where I play the first 10 seconds of a song and people guess it. I need to find songs that people might know without being too obvious, and I can only think of a couple. Do you have any ideas?
I’m about to go on a trip so I only have a brief moment to answer this, I’m sorry, but here are some quick picks without having more context to go on:
fairly obvious:
1979 by Smashing Pumpkins
Ain’t It Fun by Paramore
Raspberry Beret by Prince
Meant to Live by Switchfoot
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
Thinkin Bout You by Frank Ocean
Stop by the Spice Girls
Super Bass by Nicki Minaj
I Believe In a Thing Called Love by The Darkness
Here It Goes Again by OK Go
Electric Feel by MGMT
less obvious:
Lost in the Supermarket by The Clash
All My Life by K-Ci & JoJo
Ever Fallen in Love by the Buzzcocks
Maniac by Conan Gray
Closer by Tegan and Sara
I Need a Dollar by Aloe Blacc
Disco Man by Remi Wolf
Them Changes by Thundercat
Cocoa Butter Kisses by Chance the Rapper
Swing Life Away by Rise Against.
I tried to not give you anything too obscure, but if these are too obvious or if you have a theme or direction to narrow the field I can think on it more and get back to you in a few days, probably.
edit:
I didn’t think too much about the first 10 seconds part admittedly again due to limited time, so some of these may be better to play 10 seconds a later section of the song if you’re open to that.
Mate you’re absolutely bang on the mark!!! I’ve just spent half an hour listening to them. Le Mirage is amazing and modern fairytale is so good I’ve played it twice already! Gunship is truly glorious I particularly like monster in paradise and can’t wait to listen to more. I like Nina and Summer drive too, there’s some real wins in their stuff. Honestly thanks so much you’ve made my day! Really excited 😃
Sure, if you don’t mind some random top of mind recommendations.
For 90s alt/grunge fans, I definitely recommend the latest album by Scowl, ‘Are We All Angels’:
https://open.spotify.com/album/0zDdwRsOg2sVvOFpjEOtHs
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/scowl/are-we-all-angels/
80s synth is pretty broad, so let me give you two fairly different recommendations and see where you land with them. First off, I’m gonna reach back a little bit to 2020 to recommend ‘Monsters’ by The Midnight, a great album by a great band:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1WKMbxcldmwnXaCIGgEpUW
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-midnight/monsters/
But if you’re talking the more kind of pop-influenced, singer/songwriter side of 80s synth, I’m actually gonna recommend a really small release to you, ‘It Ain’t Too Late For One More Ride’ by indie musician Calvero:
https://open.spotify.com/album/6i5MYveOM35x8twOhfpYim
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/calvero/it-aint-too-late-for-one-more-ride/
I do consider myself a bit of a music buff and I listen to an incredibly broad range of genres and styles, but I will confess that rave music isn’t one of my specialties. But a couple quick recommendations that might fall in the same rough proximity:
First off I dig the chillout beach party vibes of some of the tracks by artist “elsaaa” on Spotify, mostly the songs on the top of her popular section:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0l9ymNLUakebec39MWLAuE
I also like a bit of ARMNHMR, but they’re not super new so if you’re into EDM/rave music you may already know them:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0P2bZXPyjHYRW4guHVAFl1
If you just want some fun dance music that’s very modern, and you have any openness to metal, may I recommend a few tracks by the very excellent and very fun Electric Callboy, with the caveat that this is not rave music and may potential be a stretch for you:
Electric Callboy - Everytime We Touch (TEKKNO Version):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuBXeF5acqE
Electric Callboy - PUMP IT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnzkhQsmSag
Electric Callboy - WE GOT THE MOVES:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1NdGBldg3w
Again, these are just quick top of mind recommendations, so if they don’t hit for you or you want more recommendations, let me know and I can think on it a bit longer. But if you do check any of it out, feel free to let me know what you think!
Thats a brilliant list thanks so kuch for taking the time to do that! How have I never heard Scowl before??? That’s added to my library excellent recommendation. I REALLY like electric callboy I was hooked right away. I like some of ARMNHMR as well. Synth music I’ve not described very well it’s things like timecop83, wolfclub, betamax, prize… it’s the fast cheerful stuff I like eg all we live for. It’s a kinda unusual style!
My pleasure! I love talking music so I’m happy for any excuse.
And okay, now that I understand we’re talking like retro vocal synthwave, I have some better recommendations!
My first recommendation immediately came to mind, but I’m gonna be honest and say that the best part of this recommendation does extend past the 5yr guideline I alluded to in my original comment, so you’ll have to excuse that. She’s still an active artist, but her recent work has been as features or a 2020 album collab with a more aggressive synth artist that probably isn’t what you’re looking for. But anyway, I definitely recommend Dana Jean Phoenix if you haven’t heard her yet!
Start here, the opener title track of ‘Le Mirage’ is an absolute banger than I think is totally gonna work for you:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3NuANBUmoNZH5x2BZzXSQV
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/dana_jean_phoenix/le_mirage/
2018 album ‘PixelDust’ is probably overall the better album but it doesn’t have a mega-banger like the track ‘Le Mirage’:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1vJClfLqAeNTyAHbv5sqWN
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/dana-jean-phoenix/pixeldust/
If you’re open to slightly darker/heavier synth stuff, ‘Megawave’ is the collab album I mentioned above with artist Powernerd, and I think it’s pretty groovy:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3ft0lmyttvgoCrja0jAI0Q
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/dana-jean-phoenix-powernerd/megawave/
Beyond Dana Jean Phoenix, here are some other artists I’d recommend but with less specific recommendations (probably just listen to their popular songs to get a feel):
NINA - very similar space to Dana Jean Phoenix:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/31KAV0Dg1UNmnfSmvLT2XG
https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/nina_f11
Summerdrive is not this sound exactly, but they’re kind of synthwave meets clean pop so you might dig them (The Midnight who I previously recommended also sit in this space, but they’re a little jazzier):
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5RASv130lmR8GyP0EcQLjJ
And finally Gunship are also not this sound exactly, but rather sort of what you’d get if you mixed that synthwave sound with 80s hard rock, and it’s goddamn glorious (I love Gunship):
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3PALZKWkpwjRvBsRmhlVSS
https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/gunship
And if I’m still off the mark, hit me with another example :P
Hey mate! I’m doing 2 quizzes next week for charity and I’d like to have a music round where I play the first 10 seconds of a song and people guess it. I need to find songs that people might know without being too obvious, and I can only think of a couple. Do you have any ideas?
I’m about to go on a trip so I only have a brief moment to answer this, I’m sorry, but here are some quick picks without having more context to go on:
fairly obvious:
1979 by Smashing Pumpkins
Ain’t It Fun by Paramore
Raspberry Beret by Prince
Meant to Live by Switchfoot
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
Thinkin Bout You by Frank Ocean
Stop by the Spice Girls
Super Bass by Nicki Minaj
I Believe In a Thing Called Love by The Darkness
Here It Goes Again by OK Go
Electric Feel by MGMT
less obvious:
Lost in the Supermarket by The Clash
All My Life by K-Ci & JoJo
Ever Fallen in Love by the Buzzcocks
Maniac by Conan Gray
Closer by Tegan and Sara
I Need a Dollar by Aloe Blacc
Disco Man by Remi Wolf
Them Changes by Thundercat
Cocoa Butter Kisses by Chance the Rapper
Swing Life Away by Rise Against.
I tried to not give you anything too obscure, but if these are too obvious or if you have a theme or direction to narrow the field I can think on it more and get back to you in a few days, probably.
edit:
I didn’t think too much about the first 10 seconds part admittedly again due to limited time, so some of these may be better to play 10 seconds a later section of the song if you’re open to that.
Mate these are amazing!! I’d never have thought of any of them thanks so much
Glad to help! I wasn’t kidding when I said I basically always enjoy getting to talk about music 😅
And now I’ve listened to modern fairytale three times and I’m just sorry it’s not four
Mate you’re absolutely bang on the mark!!! I’ve just spent half an hour listening to them. Le Mirage is amazing and modern fairytale is so good I’ve played it twice already! Gunship is truly glorious I particularly like monster in paradise and can’t wait to listen to more. I like Nina and Summer drive too, there’s some real wins in their stuff. Honestly thanks so much you’ve made my day! Really excited 😃
I’m so glad you dig the picks! Happy to help, feel free to ask me about music anytime ✌
You’ll rue the day you said that haha
To add another real quick, they don’t have any recent output, and they’re frequently instrumental, but FM-84 might be up your alley too:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1xvEo98zythSrgN69GQevk
https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/fm-84
Oooooh nice one! I just had a listen Everything is an absolute win