Playlist of the Week (2018/49)

Playlist of the Week: Alex Pope's Hover Car Radio Synthwave/Retrowave collection

This week’s Playlist of the Week is Hovercar Radio: Synthwave/Retrowave/Dark Synth. It’s compiled by Alex Pope, the Bristol based producer behind Dark Smoke Signal, an 80s-inspired synthwave and electronica act. He’s a bass-playing multi-instrumentalist who has been involved in a number of other projects, such as the Hot Freaks. He’s only released a couple of tracks so far under the Dark Smoke Signal moniker, but they’re very well made. If you only listen to one, check out The Big Stage: it’s worth it for the stunning bassline alone, but there’s far more to it. Imagine a synth-pop mashup of Daft Punk, Gorillaz and Kids in America by Kim Wilde and you should be getting close.

This playlist is unabashedly retro. It kicks off with the titles of Blade Runner by Vangelis.  There’s a strong synthwave element running through it, as you might expect, peppered with artists such as Kavinsky, Kalax, Com Truise and Daft Punk as well as the odd 80s classic track. In addition, there are plenty of tracks by artists you might not have heard before.

Playlist of the Week (2018/21)

This week’s POTW is KevOz’s Pianoscapes, on Spotify, which features (wait for it…) piano-centred music.

KevOz is an independent musician that has been heard by millions of people, because some of his music is used at Tokyo’s Disneyland. His music is difficult to categorise – it has a quirky mixture of styles and influences, but it is based around synths and keyboards and there is an 80s influence evident in many of his tracks, but always with a twist. KevOz’s music is not synthwave, but it’s clear he has dipped into that particular pool of inspiration.  Style-wise, there is a fair overlap with my own Stoneygate music, but with his own very individual stamp.

The Pianoscapes playlist features a range of artists, and KevOz has been very kind and included my Spiralesque track amongst the tracks featured. This one should be a good one for playing whilst you get your work done if you use music to help you focus.