On the other hand, at least I got in on the romplers a little before the curve, although I only have a couple.

what curve are you talking about? what romplers?

I don't have any romplers but I have a FIZMO :)

Stuff that noise, OZ. The future is the 80s. Forever.

yeah OZ stop talking smack

He's just upset because it's too mainstream for him to feel special.

He's just upset because you can't find that crap at the Goodwill anymore.

Romplers.

I don't see why old synths should ever jump the shark, as you say. I think certain sounds are timeless and people should expand it beyond the 80s. When we listen to piano music we don't say it's stuck in a certain time period, but classic synths always get treated like that... like kitchy hipster dinosaurs. It's a damn shame too, because I love the sound of them.

"Caminante Nocturno
He's just upset because it's too mainstream for him to feel special."

I was never too hot on the 80s revival (or revivalism in general) but it was better this time around. The 80s revival of the early 2000s was awful.

It's what Oscar Wildcat said. I remember when people were literally throwing Juno 60s out by the side of the road, and it was only a few years ago. Even a really nice one was 0, 0, which is rankly a pretty realistic value for them all things considered. Reflects their actual quality and usefulness.

I don't have many Romplers, none of the Rolands, just a couple kinds of Alesis Quadra-series with a bunch of cards (still highly underrated, I had four of the rack units a year ago and was only in , but now I'm down to one rack unit and the old QS7.1 keyboard I got in college) and a Wavestation SR (the uncool member of the Wavestation family but it makes all the sounds).


On the other hand, I've got two nice cassette decks (a Nakamichi and a 90s Yamaha that was almost unused when a neighbor gave it to me, still had the plastic tape on the doors that held them shut in shipping) and an Otari MC5050 MKIV and so far I'm only in the hole . Given the models and condition I could easily get 00 for the lot, and that's only because someone (skillfully) rehoused the MK IV years ago; if it was in its original cabinet it would be more like 00 on its own.

I'm just bitter I didn't have the space to get in on the 80s synths like I should have, I've been through a few of them but I always sold them before they were valuable since they were so bulky. All I have left that isn't distinctly 90s is a couple of Yamaha FM rack units and a Roland MT-32.




GOOD STORY, WASN'T IT?

I also agree with Jet Bin Fever in the long term, but in the short term it's easy to get burned out on hearing the same sounds over and over once they get too popular, plus what we've got blowing up now is, predictably, the least interesting examples of music drawing from that palette, just the slavish pastiche stuff that's occasionally really good but mostly more of the same "follow the formula set by an earlier generation of music that was eschewing formulas."

What I'm saying is that most synthwave isn't really much different than something like Cherry Poppin' Daddies or The Brian Setzer Orchestra (except without the benefit of the latter's spectacular gayness) and the only reason we like it (note I say "we" because I enjoy the stuff too) is because the cliches it parrots are cliches that were imprinted on most of us in early childhood. But objectively, most of it's derivative and redundant and that's the stuff that tends to rise the highest because it's pleasant but unchallenging and already comes packaged with a simple media narrative.


So it's not about stuff being "too popular for me to feel cool" (because let's face it, the 80s synth thing has been huge for quite a few years) it's just that it's starting to reach its "Godzilla Junior" stage.


Not going to make me stop messing with them but I've noticed I'm more likely to listen to mid 60s French music than 80s soundtracks lately.


Call me when the early 2000s downtempo revival happens.

(Ultimately I just wanted to talk about synthesizers though, this is hilarious and an easy 5, trendhopping notwithstanding)



I will nitpick the fake VHS filter, though. They're getting way better and I was almost fooled but that "tape wobble" sort of effect that's going on through the whole thing (look at the edges of the letters) just isn't cutting it. I've watched a lot of shitty old EP mode VHS tapes in my day and I've never seen one that looks like it was run through the "ocean ripple" filter in AfterFX.

Still really convincing on the whole, though, and I'm still not completely sure they didn't do it the honorable way and spend for a real VCR at the good will.

I apologize for this thread.

Also, we now live in a golden age when Adult Swim regularly broadcasts fever dreams.

I think they used that on a permanent loop to demo the new four head VCRs at Lechmere when I was a kid.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that was Yanni Live at the Acropolis.

Either way, it would be on every TV screen in the big TV display next to the NES aisle, which is where I was headed.



And now I'm an old man who owns at least one Kitaro LP by choice.