By Devin Duckworth | March 26th, 2012
Early synthwave of the 80s is a projecting influence we often encounter in music today. Here, we have a title track from synth pioneer Harald Grosskopf’s 1980 LP Synthesist. More than two decades after that music was first heard, the RVNG label has remastered and repackaged the album, giving synth advocates something to drool over. This rework of “Synthesist” is mixed by Brooklyn duo Blondes, who breathes juicy life into a song that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
At first listen, Blondes’ reinterpretation of “Synthesist” seems to drift hypnotically with glimmering repetitive tones, but as the track develops, the clashing percussions, thrashing beats, and lustrous soundscapes of audible atmosphere expand in both intensity and solidity — only to fade once again before disappearing entirely into the obscure synth abyss.