Monday, May 1, 2017

Mixed Signals by FM Attack

The number of tracks on my phone has exploded; from about 2,200 or so last summer to well over 3,100 now (and a good 100+ more to add; as soon as I calibrate the volume and trim dead space at the beginnings and endings of tracks.)  Much (but not all) of this growth has been in the synthwave space; gloriously, unapologetically retro 80s electronic music.  I've found that while I don't mind the guys making instrumental tracks that sound like part of some video game or 80s movie soundtrack, naturally my favorite stuff has vocals, and really is just overtly 80s synthpop rather than its own genre, I think.  It's amazing to me just how incredibly big this scene really is.  I still discover new guys completely by accident, often when I find that they've done a remix of someone else's song, or when they've been dumped into a mix video on Youtube, which is a great way to find new stuff.

FM Attack is the first of those to me.  I think I first heard of them when they remixed Coming Home by Visitor.  I posted this song (although I did a different mix) a few months ago, but the FM Attack mix is the one that seems to particularly get around as a favorite of the synthwave set.  That said, I still didn't really pay attention to FM Attack until I found a Best of FM Attack mix and found that I really liked almost every single track on it.  This is one of my favorites; and for an old timey electronic music fan, it's curious that I find that the use of an 80s flavored electric guitar is a great touch.  I remember there being a time when I denied guitars a place in electronic music at all (Depeche Mode's Music for the Masses cured me of that nonsense.  I don't know why New Order hadn't already done so, if not someone else.)