A New Beginning

!! WE HAVE MOVED !!

Dear Readers of Playmaker,

It is with great pleasure we announce our new website. Fully integrated we welcome you over at:

WWW.PLAYMAKERMEDIA.NET

Set your bookmarks and enjoy the new blog, webstore, links and more!

We would also like to thank Kenzo for the new logo!

Zayaz

Toronto-based synthwave producer and relatively new kid on the block Zayaz keeps coming with one awesome track after another. Here's a short overview of some tracks he's recently put out there.

Let's start off with 'Delta City Blues', a crispy produced track that weaves it's head around with vocal stabs, a sawtooth lead and a booming bass arp.



Not just throwing around some random 80's cliches, Zayaz likes to dedicate his work other specific nostalgic or futuristic references, as in this case, that stellar 70's blues vibe through the band Chicago. It shows through his work that the artist has a rich and deeper understanding of historical importance.

Going for the more clubby sound, Zayaz's latest track is a dance floor stomper, filled with dreamy leads, sparkling bleeps and nicely side-chained bass waves. The song takes by the hand and leads you into a scientific, futuristic talk of singularity concept by the year 2045.



Let's cap it off with some pure retro bliss, his track 'Miami Motorfunk'. Pull up and no fronting, this one takes it straight to the streets with banging drums, stabbing synths, rolling bass and yes, a steeldrum midtro. Yes, this track is another floor filler or essential tune for those long drives home.

Label profile: Power Lunch

When it comes to good, authentic and original vaporwave, the Power Lunch label is doing a fantastic job. Besides the pitched down and slo-mo cliche's we'll take a closer look (and listen) to a few of their recent releases as we highlight three stand-out works.

First off, the recently released album by Azuresands大麻 does justice with some epic sampling as if 80's gold gets contracted somewhere out of a hidden, mystic music cave. Channeling the mysterious 'Chrystal Coyote' through some reverbing Casio beats, echoing keys, swoon basslines and twirling flutes, this release surely carries many emotions and sets wide waves into the spectrum of well assembled overlays and dubbed greatness.



Get ready for a uplifting plunderphonic power routine. Secondly, we have Echo Beach with the rad 'Slo-Mo Aerobics'. No haste on this tape, even the casual stoner can get along with this program. From slowed down italo disco to pitched pops songs, ironically, not all songs are exactly slo-mo, some tracks do carry a faster paced vibe, yet, they are killer sample cuts and if anything, they do make you bump your head to the groove.



And then... Enter at your own risk because last but not least, we'll take you on wild and somehow controversial trip with Meznoyume on the label's latest release 'Bohemian Groove', acting as a satire on the infamous Bohemian Grove (help! it's rumoured as the world's ruling elite "secret garden"). This release stands out in all it's tropical 80's glory with marimbas, the occasional steel drum and side-chained synths yet you need to be aware of potential danger lurking... The task is simple, don't get shot and get into the groove as you tag along some crazy sampling, wild bongo vibes, bohemian groove's arpeggiating semi-acid lines and zany drum programming.



That concludes this label profile. Check out more stunning releases through their respective pages. If you are on the ball and quick enough you might just be able to snatch some of their latest limited cassettes, too.

Bart Graft & Bubble Keiki

When two musical masterminds impact and write an album together you know something magical is bound to happen. So did synthwave mastermind Bart Graft and post-vapor prodigy Bubble Keiki and came out with this massive ambient, chillwave concept spilt album called Emerald.

Sparkling across the spectrum from deeper bass, futuristic and pitched down drums, floating synthlines with an airy ambience, this album truly stands out in it's own fashion.

Working towards the concept, both artists' unique sound leaks through but it's a cohesive enough collaborative work that puts you in a great uplifting and near meditative space of listening.

Who Ha

Gusting like a tornado with a new song in his fine playful, satiric tradition, The Who Ha is back on track as the in-house jinglemeister from the Beyond Synth radioshow and continues the series with a banging new extended version.

This time he's actually chasing tornados while making it really creepy, paying homage to the 1996 blockbuster 'Twister', spiking it full of samples and references to the movie in a way only he can do. The song really carries a dark undertone, satirical of course, as Who Ha shifts his persona to Who Hell and is pledging allegiance to the lay sacrifice, making a "Donation of the Beast" which is ultimately supporting your hard-earned moolah to the world's greatest synthwave radioshow 'Beyond Synth' with Andy Last.

A fun time guarnateed: Listen to new episodes of the Beyond Synth Podcast hosted by Andy Last
every Thursday at 8pmEST (following an all-live Vox Populi: The Podcast lead in hosted by Who Ha at 6pmEST).

Sferro

If you're accustomed to the scene and our blog since several years then the name Sferro must ring a bell (or two). Not only is Sferro a name in the scene that stands for brilliant and original synthwave, he's also behind the label Girlfriend Records, putting out quality content we love to promote.

Enter his latest offering where he leaves his homestall and releases a full album of gems on British Columbia's respected record label/collective Rosso Corso.

"All things converge" truly makes sense when you listen to it as Sferro neatly puts all of his different jams together in a well pieced together album that rages from vapor, synthwave, chillwave to italo disco and outrun electro, ... all with that sweet and dreamy Sferro touch.

Most certainly a must have for all Sferro fans out there as this is some of his most outstanding work to date.

As said before, the Rosso Corso Collective has released the mp3 version of this album, so grab it there. But wait, there is more, as Pure Destructive Records has a pre-order up for the vinyl version to come later this year!

Gyan Rosling

The Retro Promenade label, run by Who Ha, always delivers. After doing a bunch of great seasonal compilations and various other themed productions, they are back with a full 6 track EP by the up-and-coming Gyan Rosling.

Get set to go on an adventure with the Retronaut to move along on a journey to the stars and beyond. A mesmerising work of interstellar composition, executed without any haste, taking it's time and putting you in a space of unwinding.

Really sweet synthwave that just hits the spot.

Carpenter Brut

Boy, it's been a while since we've actually reported on Carpenter Brut. Alas, the way this act has evolved through the years has been truly remarkable and amazing. In fact, we had CB as a part of our first Halloween compilation 'Miami Cannibal Massacre' in 2013. It's just amazing to see this act grow to their full potential as CB is the perfect example of forming a killer live band, pushing the boundries of synthwave, growing out of it's shadowy depths.

Fast forward to 2017 then. The three CB EP's have taken the world by storm and have gotten a proper release as an album, gaining recognition on a wild worldwide scale. Part of that recognition isn't simply through the music recorded in the studio, though. A big part of that is thanks to CB's enormous live reputation as a full band. If you've seen them live then you know what we are talking about. It's an incredible act that just totally rocks your socks off and is probably the most complete synthwave band out there.

So, in await for new material, what CB have decided to do now is actually drop a full live album that truly captures the energetic feeling of what the live band is really capable of. That is truly amazing and it's showcases the extremely tight musicianship that brings the songs even more to life as their whole set just gets blasted through to a whole new dimension. Just wade yourself inside the live concert of the full CB band and dive into the moshpit as they are jamming their set subliminally while topping it off with a killer cover version of Flashdance's Maniac.

Elric

The mighty Elric rides again. This time the producer behind the Michael Moorcock inspired music project goes deeper into the epic fantasy woods and comes out with yet another brilliant work, dedicated to the sword-wielding prince Corum series.

Minimal 8-bit dungeon synth at it's finest, this is a killer follow-up to the first 2 previous albums 'Stormbringer' and 'Elric of Melniboné' and making us wonder what other adventures this mysterious synth crusader will take us next...