Just A Leo is aural nostalgia.
Kalliope (vocals, keys, producer) and Andie (drums, bass, keys, producer) embody the true spirit of the DIY movement by producing their music within their intimate bedroom studio. Their creative synergy allows them to craft a unique music that resonates deeply with their listeners.
Just A Leo's sound is a captivating fusion of 00's dance, synth-pop, electro-pop, soul, and house. They seamlessly blend these genres into a sonic tapestry with a finesse and authenticity that sets them apart in a crowded musical landscape.
Avenue One, the electrifying DJ duo, is the brainchild of two extraordinary talents, Matt Cerf and Petr LeĆĄko. With roots in Montreal, Canada, and Zlin, Czech Republic, they joined forces in 2012, driven by a shared love for music. Both members have deep-seated connections to the electronic music world.
In July 2022, Avenue One made a triumphant debut on Anjunabeats with the mesmerizing "Upstairs Terrace," a track that resonated with audiences worldwide, thanks to its inclusion in the Anjunabeats Volume 16 compilation mixed by Above & Beyond. Their 2022 album, "Outside My Door," marked a return to the scene after a hiatus, featuring standout tracks like "Rupture" and "Explorer."
Continuing their journey in 2023, they unveiled "Sky Falls" on Anjunabeats and the captivating "Uprising" on Colorize. With their innovative sound and a profound bond with fans, Avenue One is poised for a lasting impact in the electronic music domain, promising a vibrant future filled with fresh beats and musical adventures.
Was an incredible year for Avenue One! So many new friends, so many great events, and so much new music out! It's time for our final 2023 release! Our Night Mix of Tep No's The Last Ones Standing is here! Thank you everyone!
â„ Single bitly.ws/382M5
â„ www.facebook.com/avenueonemusic/
Synthwave Music: A Guide To Synthwave
What Is Synthwave?
To put it simply, synthwave is a retro-inspired genre of electronic-based music, with a strong aesthetic linked to it. It draws experience from the 80âs â movies and games alike!
A relatively new term to the music industry, synthwave can be used as a genre term on itsâ own, or as a sub-genre of âretro waveâ music. Generally, it is a microgenre of electronic music. There are also smaller music genres that fall under synthwave that have their following â outrun and vaporwave are two notable categories.
Synthwave has very recently become quite popular â thanks to Netflixâs pivotal series Stranger Things, and the 2011 movie Drive. These two pieces of media had very iconic soundtracks that have boosted the genre beyond its previous notability.
Some of the most notable synthwave songs to date are The Weekndâs smash-hit âBlinding Lightsâ, Kavinskyâs âNight Callâ, and âA Real Heroâ by band College.
A Brief History of Synthwave
Synthwave appeared very recently â beginning in the mid-late 2000s. Since then, it has gained more traction and has become very popular! The genre was first made by French house artists and has been credited as inspired by the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack!
Most synthwave is based on horror, sci-fi, and action film scores and TV soundtracks from the 1980s, such as Miami Vice and New York 1997. As well as this, the genre takes inspiration from the artwork and aesthetics. This includes video games from the same period, too. Specifically, the genre is heavily inspired by John Carpenterâs compositions. This includes the Blade Runner soundtrack from 1982.
In recent years, the release of Drive has led to a wide range of artists appearing that have been influenced by the iconic soundtrack. The flashy visual style of the movie has also helped to shape the genre, too. This also facilitated the creation of record companies to work with these artists: Telefuture Records and NRW Records are just two examples. The genre became popular within its own little world and has sparked playlists and dedicated YouTube channels that upload mixes and longer formats than single songs. The channel NewRetroWave on YouTube is particularly recognized for this.
Characteristics of Synthwave Music
Synthwave music holds the same characteristics across the board. The main one is that the instruments used are electronic-based â synthesizers make up the main part of most songs. Analog-style drum machine beats are coupled with deep and powerful bass lines, to complement the supersonic synth sounds.
Another noticeable feature of synthwave songs is the BPM: the vast majority of tracks in this synthwave genre are between 80 and 110bpm. The fast-paced beats replicate the heart-pounding action of the films, TV, and video games that inspired the entire genre.
The genre boasts its aesthetics, which are not least influenced by science and especially technology. This harks back to the 80s decade when technological advances were romanticized, and films often featured robots or dystopian cyber futures as the antagonists. Similarly, the genre has been molded by the style of retro video games!
Now, the tables have turned, and games are replicating the older visuals and making âretroâ themed games. Some fantastic synthwave-esque soundtracks can be found in the games Hotline Miami, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and Crypt of the Necrodancer.
Synthwave itself has a sort of ethos. It embodies the feeling of summer, particularly in almost tropical USA â think Florida, or Long Beach in California. A picture of the feeling and sounds of vintage arcades, movie theatres down to sunsets across the beaches, melt through to listenerâs minds. Lyrics or sound clips in the songs, if there are any, sometimes reflect this â for instance in the song Roller Skating by MicroMatscenes.
Sub-Genres Of Synthwave Music
Outrun
Outrun can be simply another term for synthwave. However, it is generally seen as a sub-genre. The name came from the 1986 game, Out Run, as the soundtrack inspired many artists.
The game also had a choice of which music the player listened to. It became a subgenre with heavy 80s influences and more instrumental songs. The songs in this genre resemble the tracks from the time.
Recommended artist: Lazerhawk
Dreamwave
As the name may suggest, Dreamwave is a sub-genre that focuses on the chilled-out side of the synthwave scale. The songs in this category are atmospheric and almost relaxing. Heavily reverb-soaked elements come into play here!
Recommended artist: Downtown Binary
Darksynth & Dark Synthwave
Sometimes known as âHorror Synthâ, darkwave is on the other end of the spectrum to Dreamwave. Pioneered by Perturbator and Carpenter Brut in the early 2010s, the genre relies on heavy bass and fast tempos â bordering on metal and industrial styles of music. Itâs used
This type of music has been used for various video games and crosses the gap between metal and synth wave. Itâs used in horror films a lot and science fiction, such as Tangerine Dream & Power Glove.
Recommended artist: Carpenter Brut
Chillwave
Chillwave, sometimes known as Dreampop, is a more mellow type of synthwave. Featuring smoother vocals over moderate-tempo beats. Chillwave attempts to capture the feeling of 80s synthwave electropop songs. The genre was created almost completely by the internet, and was originally conceived as a joke!
Recommended artist: Washed Out
5 Of The Best Synthwave Artists
background
Here is a quick list of five recommended artists to get into the genre, spanning some of the sub-categories, too. Look out for our list of the best synthwave songs coming soon!
Kavinsky
French musician Kavinsky is one of the longest-running synthwave artists. Beginning in 2005, his career has molded the genre. Having toured with the likes of Justice, he is probably the most popular maker of synthwave tunes.
Miami Nights 84
A pioneer of the outrun genre formed in 2010, Michael Glover (behind Miami Nights 1984) helped shape synthwave into what it is today. His albums have all been hits and he has become a recognized cornerstone of the genre.
Shikimo
Shikimo, the moniker of Ryan Unash, is a passion project that was created from a love of Basshunter in the early 2010s. His songs are inspired by space, landscapes, and weather. His 2018 release, âOff-Worldâ, was named the best synth-ambient project of the decade!
M83
There is some debate as to whether M83 is a synthwave band or not, but a lot of their tracks fall into the correct categories â most notably âMidnight Cityâ. Despite being active for many years, the band remains fairly unknown.
Perturbator
Another notable French artist is Perturbator. Signed to the Blood Music label, he produces a darker synthwave with clear influences from his background in black metal. His main influences are cyberpunk and anime culture.
That Was Our Synthwave Guide!
Overall, synth-wave has become a very popular and recognizable genre. We as humans are constantly yearning for the past â especially the vibrant and exciting times in the 1980s. The media produced in that era can never be truly replicated, but synthwave and itsâ spin-off genres do an incredible job of capturing the essence of the bygone era.
With artists that span all moods from party time to relaxing atmospheres, to action-packed gaming, it is easy to see why synthwave is such a well-liked genre.
Erykah Badu, byname of Erica Wright, (born February 26, 1971, Dallas, Texas, U.S.), American rhythm-and-blues singer whose neo-soul vocals elicited comparisons to jazz legend Billie Holiday.
Badu was the eldest of three children. Although she was never formally trained in music, she majored in dance and theatre at Grambling State University in Louisiana after graduating from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas. She dropped out of Grambling in 1993 to pursue a singing career and formed the group Erykah Free with her cousin while also working as a waitress and a drama teacher. In 1995, while the group was opening for singer DâAngelo, Badu came to the attention of Kedar Massenburg, who was just starting his own record company. Badu disbanded Erykah Free when Massenburg offered her a contract; she thought that she would receive more individual attention as a solo artist at a smaller label. In January 1997 âOn & On,â Baduâs first single, was released and quickly became a hit. The next month, her debut album, Baduizm, for which she wrote all but one of the songs, was released. It rose to number two on the Billboard album chart, thanks to the crossover appeal of Baduâs bluesy vocals backed by down-tempo hip-hop beats. Baduizm won the Grammy Award for best R&B album, and âOn & Onâ took the award for best female R&B vocal performance.
USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood
Britannica Quiz
Pop Culture Quiz
Her sound drew from the roots of African American popular music, and she cited among her early influences Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. Baduâs follow-up album, Erykah Badu Live, reached the top five on the Billboard pop charts and yielded the hit song âTyrone.â The combined sales of the two albums exceeded three million copies, and both efforts were certified as platinum. That year she captured two NAACP Image Awards, four Soul Train Awards, an American Music Award, and two Grammy Awards. Her second album of original material, Mamaâs Gun (2000), sold well on the strength of singles such as âBag Lady,â and she followed with Worldwide Underground (2003), a collection that was marketed as an EP (extended play) in spite of its 50-minute length.
In 2008 she released New Amerykah, Part One: 4th World War, a bass-heavy album that blended elements of funk with Baduâs socially aware lyrics. A flurry of publicity greeted New Amerykah, Part Two: Return of the Ankh upon its release in 2010.
For the next several years, Badu continued performing, though her recording activity was limited to guest spots on songs by other artists. In 2015 she released the mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone, on which she adapted a variety of songs about phones and communication. It met with a generally positive reception.
Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.
They were both previously in the Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980.
The duo released their first studio album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little success, but went on to achieve global acclaim when their second album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), was released in 1983. The title track became a worldwide hit, reaching No.2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in Australia, before hitting No. 1 in Canada and the US Billboard Hot 100.
The duo went on to release a string of hit singles and albums, including "Love Is a Stranger", "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" and "Here Comes the Rain Again", before they split up in 1990.
Stewart became a sought-after record producer, while Lennox began a solo recording career in 1992 with her debut album Diva. After almost a decade apart, Eurythmics reunited to record their ninth album, Peace, released in late 1999. They reunited again in 2005 to release the single "I've Got a Life", as part of a new compilation album, Ultimate Collection.
Eurythmics have sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide. The duo have won an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1984, the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1987, the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1999, and in 2005 were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. In 2020 both Lennox and Stewart were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2022, the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
www.eurythmics.com/
â„ linktr.ee/cihangireryildiz
Cihangir Eryıldız is a Turkish musician, born in Istanbul in 1977. He grew up in a musical family, with his father being a Turkish classical music singer. From a very early age, music was a big part of his life, and he started playing the local string instrument "Baglama" at the age of 9.
As he grew up, Cihangir was exposed to various genres and bands, including Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, and U2. However, he became truly hooked on music when he discovered early House music sounds and legends like Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, and Junior Vasquez in the early 90s.
Cihangir began experimenting with music production in the late 90s and was heavily involved in the clubbing scene of Istanbul during the same era. In 2015, he released his first LP, "Blue Days," which featured Deep House, Indie Dance, and Down Tempo tracks. Five years later, in 2020, he released his second LP, "Basit Zevkler," which also featured a similar genre mix.
Cihangir has also DJed in various places in Istanbul, and in 2018, he released some Organic House singles and EPs that blended the sounds of East and West. Recently, he has turned his musical direction towards Deep House and House again, releasing his latest single, "Hang On," from Moonbase Disco Records.
Cihangir Eryıldız believes that "Music is omnipotent. We were all born from the death of ancient stars, so it is natural that we all aspire to become that which created us." With his love for music and diverse range of musical influences, Cihangir continues to create and share his unique sound with the world.
February 2010: Soldier of Love is released, the sixth studio album the band Sade have released during their 25 year career, and the first since Lovers Rock in 2000. For Sade herself, as the lynchpin of the groupâs song writing effort, itâs a simple matter of integrity and authenticity: âI only make records when I feel I have something to say. Iâm not interested in releasing music just for the sake of selling something. Sade is not a brandâ.
The call went out in 2008 for the group to re-convene at Peter Gabrielâs Real World studios, in the countryside of south west England. It was the first time the four principals had met up since the Lovers Rock tour wrapped in 2001. Bassist Paul Spencer Denman de-camped from Los Angeles, from where he managed his sonâs punk band, Orange. Guitarist and saxophone player Stuart Matthewman interrupted his film soundtrack work in New York, and London based keyboardist Andrew Hale gave up his A&R consultancy.
In a series of fortnightly sessions at Real World, Sade sketched out the material for a new album which, they all felt, was probably their most ambitious to date. In particular, the sonic layering and martial beats of the title track, Soldier Of Love, sounded quite different from anything they had previously recorded. According to Andrew Hale: âThe big question for all of us at the beginning was, did we still want to do this, and could we still get along as friends?â The answer soon came back as a passionate affirmative.
The album was completed in the summer of 2009, mainly at Real World. The feel of the music this time had moved away from the old country soul styling of Lovers Rock and assumed a more eclectic identity. At times the band sounded like the original Sade, with Matthewman back blowing soft sax on In Another Time and the vocal on Long Hard Road hymning. But with songs such as the joyously quirky reggae chant Babyfather, and the dramatically arranged album opener The Moon and the Sky, Sade were exploring new territory. âI never want to repeat myself,â Sade herself says. âAnd that becomes a more interesting challenge for us the longer we carry on togetherâ.
Helen Folasade Adu was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. Her father was Nigerian, a university teacher of economics; her mother was an English nurse. The couple met in London while he was studying at the LSE and they moved to Nigeria shortly after getting married. When their daughter was born, nobody locally called her by her English name, and a shortened version of Folasade stuck. Then, when she was four, her parents separated, and her mother brought Sade and her elder brother back to England, where they initially lived with their grandparents just outside Colchester, Essex.
Sade grew up listening to American soul music, particularly the wave led in the 1970âs by artists such as Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, and Bill Withers. As a teenager, she saw the Jackson 5 at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London where she worked behind the bar at weekends. âI was more fascinated by the audience than by anything that was going on on the stage. Theyâd attracted kids, mothers with children, old people, white, black. I was really moved. Thatâs the audience Iâve always aimed forâ.
Music was not her first choice as a career. She studied fashion at St Martinâs School Of Art in London, and only began singing after two old school friends with a fledgling group approached her to help them out with the vocals.
Somewhat to her surprise, she found that while the singing made her nervous, she enjoyed writing songs. Two years later she had overcome her stage fright and was regularly singing back up with a North London Latin funk band called Pride. âI used to get on stage with Pride, like, shaking. I was terrified. But I was determined to try my best, and I decided that if I was going to sing, I would sing the way I speak, because itâs important to be yourself.â
Sade served a long apprenticeship on the road with Pride. For three years, from 1981, she and the other seven members of the band toured the UK, often with her driving. Prideâs shows featured a segment in which Sade fronted a quartet that played quieter, jazzier numbers. One of these, a song called Smooth Operator, which Sade had co-written herself, attracted the attention of record company talent scouts. Soon, everybody wanted to sign her, but not the rest of Pride. Obstinately loyal to her friends in the group, Sade refused to depart. 18 months later she relented and signed to Epic records â on condition that she took with her the three band mates who still comprise the entity known as Sade: saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, keyboard player Andrew Hale, and bassist Paul Spencer Denman.
Sadeâs first single, Your Love Is King, became a top 10 British hit in February 1984, and with that her life, and that of the band, changed forever. The unstressed, understated elegance of the music in conjunction with her look â unspecifically exotic and effortlessly sophisticated â launched Sade as the female face of the style decade. Magazines queued to put her on the cover. âIt wasnât marketing,â she says, wearily. âIt was just me. And I wasnât trying to promote an image.â
At the time of the first album, Diamond Life, in 1984, Sadeâs actual life was anything but diamond-like. She was living in a converted fire station in Finsbury Park, North London, with her then boyfriend, the style journalist Robert Elms. There was no heating, which meant that she had to get dressed in bed. The loo, which used to ice over in winter, was on the fire escape. The bath was in the kitchen: âWe were freezing, basicallyâ. For the remainder of the 1980âs, as the first three albums sold by the million around the world, Sade toured more or less constantly. For her this remains a point of principle. âIf you just do TV or video then you become a tool of the record industry. All youâre doing is selling a product. Itâs when I get on stage with the band and we play that I know that people love the music. I can feel it. Sometimes I yearn to be on the road. The feeling overwhelms meâ.
Intrusive media interest in her private life has inspired a continuing reluctance on her part to participate in the promotional game. Having been travestied in print on many occasions, Sade rarely gives interviews. âItâs terrible this Fleet Street mentality that if something seems simple and easy, there must be something funny going onâ.
For most of the past 20 years, Sade has prioritised her personal life over her professional career, releasing only three studio albums of new material during that period. Her marriage to the Spanish film director Carlos Scola Pliego in 1989; her childâs birth in 1996, and her move from urban London to rural Gloucestershire, where she now lives with her partner, have consumed much of her time and attention. And quite rightly so. âYou can only grow as an artist as long as you allow yourself the time to grow as a person,â Sade says. âWeâre all parents, our lives have all moved on. I couldnât have made Soldier of Love any time before now, and though itâs been a long wait for the fans â and I am sorry about that â Iâm incredibly proud of it
www.sade.com/
Clockwork (17) Profile:
Latin / Funk / Afro-Cuban / Fusion band from Miami whose members included Lina Arguelles, Alex Cobos, Alfredo "Freddy" Perez, Frank Miret and Carlos Segura.
Alexander Cobos
Profile: Alex Cobos, Vocalist, Bass Guitar, Producer, Composer & Arranger. Born in Miami, Florida of Cuban parents, his song list ranges from Standards, 50âČs and 60âČs, Rock, Latin and many other styles.
He has been performing professionally since 1974. While still in high school he began working at The Castaways with the Latin / Funk / Afro-Cuban band Clockwork (17).
After all these years he still maintains his devotion and passion to the international languageâŠMUSIC!
Alfredo "Freddy" Perez , the original keyboard player for Latin / Funk / Afro-Cuban band Clockwork (17).
Carlos Segura Profile:
Original drummer, percussionist & vocalist for Latin Funk / Jazz / Afro-Cuban band Clockwork (17).
Carlos left the band in 1978 and went on to become the founder of the Chicago-based design firm Segura Inc. He came to the United States from Cuba at the age of nine. He began his career in graphic design as a production artist but soon gained more interesting challenges. He moved to Chicago in 1980 and worked for many prestigious ad agencies, including BBDO, Marsteller, Foote Cone & Belding, Young & Rubicam, Ketchum, and DDB Needham. In 1991 he founded Segura Inc. to pursue design more creatively with the goal of blending as much âfine artâ into âcommercial artâ as he could.
Segura Inc was the beginning of a series of commercial ventures that expanded Carlos Seguraâs creative efforts. In 1994, the T26 Digital Type Foundry was born to explore the typographical side of the business. T26 fonts are now distributed throughout the world.
Segura Inc. and T26 have received numerous awards from organizations around the world, including the Tokyo Type Directors Club, The Society of Typographic Arts, both the New York Art Directors Club and the New York Type Directors Club, and the American Center for Design. Seguraâs work has been shown in many journals including Graphis, Print magazine, HOW, and publications by PIE Books, North Light Books, Duncan Baird Publishing, F&W Publications, Rockport Publishers, Die Gestalten Verlag Publishing and others. His work has been shown in exhibits from the Denver Art Museum to Tokyo Japan.
In 2004, he launched Cartype with further expansions of the typographical segment with Biketype, Mototype, Trucktype as well as Hatch Heaven and the non-profit Streets Of Sadness project. For several years, he even had his own music label called ThickFace Records.
In 2004, Segura was named 1 of the 21st Centuryâs 100 best designers by Taschen Publishers in the Graphic Design For The 21st Century (100 of the Worldâs Best Graphic Designers) 2003 annual.
Frank Miret
Real Name: Francisco Miret
Master Audio Engineer & original member of Latin / Funk / Afro-Cuban band Clockwork (17)
Thanks for sharing 65m <3
Hello!I am "Jannes Davilla" and through its platform Blue Grey Matter I will introduce myself to you. Î make music for a long time, but not officially (only since 2021). Produced is everything around Dance, House, Deep House, Progressive House and something like that. The genre can also differ a little bit, because what I do cannot be defined exactly in one genre.
"Jannes Davilla" is already available on many online platforms: Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal, YouTube Music, Pandora and much more....
I love making music and if just a handful people around the world get up in the morning, turn on the player and enjoy one of my songs/tracks, then I have achieved my mission as an artist.
I wish you a great day and if "Jannes Davilla" catches your ears, you might want subscribe this channel â„ t.ly/PM7Z
Follow and give your love to the artist fb: â„ t.ly/vQXQ
Insta: â„ www.instagram.com/johanneskumpitsch/
Welcome to Blue Grey Matter!
Blue Grey Matter is about the music. My mission is to promote lesser known artists and keep the spirit of that House music. Enjoy my playlists that contain selection of the best house tunes I've curated over the years. As the owner of the channel I own all rights to the content of the videos and have the sole commercial use. Please do not upload material from my videos without my approval. The tracks and the content is used in agreement with the artists.
All videos are created by me, do not re-upload.
On my website you can find more information about some of the artists and read interesting articles about. greymatterrecords.blogspot.com/
If you are an artist or label and want to be featured on the channel see this e-mail: ioaninio@hotmail.com