Oof!
After finishing my journey through these over 6,000 albums (328 pags ŕ 20 albums) I am dead inside, uh, I-I mean, here is what I could find that counts as
80s instrumental synth pop or synth rock. Not much, but all of them are new to me and it's like fishing - sometimes they bite, sometimes not. This time, I could haul some nice tracks to my meanwhile renamed "Rare Grooves and Production Music" (a.k.a. THE TREASURE CHEST) folder. I mean, these groups might not be "rare" if you know them as I suspect "PERU" for example to be known to the one or other, but they are also obscure and hidden deep inside long lists or being lost and pale compared to the (manipulated) so-called "chart hits" of each decade, but these albums add so much to the mix.
Oh boy, was that a journey. The amount of instrumental cover albums from "Synthesizer Hits" like "Tubular Bells" and "Chariots of Fire" on a kid's CASIO keyboard, Donald Trump-esque manboys with a trumpet on the cover looking to seduce aunt Maude to buy into this subpar performance of "Amacing Grace", literal shovelware of disgustingly cheap tracks, the 156th FRANK POURCEL album, releases with the name "SAX and SEX" with more naked breasts on the cover than actual audio content on the disks (and there were 8 volumes or so of that rubbish), psychadelic nonsense albums that a bonobo could produce where you get high from the smell of the spliffs the cardboard cover emits from looking at the JPG alone, the 246 wipe out surf muzak cover bands - of course only in "high fidelity stereo" of 1967 and "Rare Tracks" that sound like the first Edison records rather than enjoyable music (from cassettes probably found between the seats in the tunnel.ru admin's USSR-built LADA) with 98% surface noise and 2% music, much of that blog can be called "Cassette Hiss, Record Crackle and White Noise - Best Of".
Inbetween there are some absolutely cringeworthy albums of some Bavarian/Swiss brass bands where you can see how uncomfortable the men on the cover were - maybe they are self-aware of the quality of it and regret both the recording session and the photo. [And there are great library recordings in that range -
Intersound ISST 189 for example] And I say this as Bavarian who grew up with "Blasmusik" at every "Volksfest" we have, hearing that "Oompa Oompa" coming through the ventilation shafts of the mobile toilet where the beer wants to get out the way it came in, but also a 16-year retail employee and 6-year manager has his limits and I don't want to reach them ever again
like that. I was relieved to see some Freddy Mercury-wannabe Russian singer inbetween that just wants to express the hardship of life that should not exist in the self-proclaimed glorious society of the communist and socialist countries behind the Iron Curtain in the first place.
I'd mostly sit on the couch with my tablet and scroll through the lists while watching TV, both my brain and my right thumb are so numb I need to listen to some CAVENDISH tracks to rekindle my will to live.
But inbetween here some remarkable albums that I might want to bring to attention.
Due to tracing reasons, I can't put links here.
I will put the post id up instead. Enter the webpage and after .ru/, paste the ID listed.PERU is a Dutch synthesizer group and they created these great albums of music that could well fit into the big libraries of SONOTON, BRUTON and the likes. The sound is high-quality and great to listen to, these people knew their trade. For the one 128 kBit/s release, I suggest to actually buy the album for real, even though I wonder how much that even benefits the actual creators.
> [METRONOME] Peru - Continents (1983)DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-Peru-Continents
> [CNR RECORDS] Peru - Points of the Compass (1986)DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-PERU-POINTS-OF-THE-COMPASS
> [RED BULLETT] Peru - Forlian(1988)DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-peru-forlian
[128 KBit/s only]> [RED BULLET] Best of Peru 1979-1999 // Synth pop, Space Pop, New AgeDISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-Peru-Best-Of-Peru-1979-1999
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Mario Mathy (from Belgium) is a special oddity. To me, as a German, this kind of music was very common in the 80s and 90s here in Europe both in TV as well as some radio stations. This cheerful and innocent tone of his music is really bouncing between "muzak" and "music", but for some reason, it's this cheerfulness of a person "just making music" that gets me good mood. If you'd turn on public television in Germany in the 80s and 90s, chances are that some Alfred J. Kwak or Nils Holgerson episode (or other more obscure anime productions) featured musik
like that.Not for everyone for sure, but I kinda like it.
> [BLENCO RECORDS] Mario Mathy - De Beste Van (1996; compilation album, release date my vary per track!)DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-mario-mathy-de-beste-van
> [LIMBO RECORDS] Mario Mathy - Breakout (1988)DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-mario-mathy-break-out
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Caravelli is normally known for his orchestral tracks from 60s and 70s. In this late 1980s album he gets full electronic synthesizer'ish and creates a nice fusion between classic and pop. This is not new - Rondo Veneziano (don't quote my spelling on them!) is a thing - but still refreshing and nice. I can only assume the poor rating (2/5) on Discogs is due to leaving the known trails and yet becoming a Rondo Veneziano clone, but to me, these tracks are really worth a listen!
> [CBS] Caravelli - Passions (1987)DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-Caravelli-Passions
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Klaus created a nice instrumental album with great, energetic tunes that are ranging from pop to rock. The fantastic and very distinctive late-80s sound is off-set a bit by both the not-so-great quality of the medium and a mastering that could be done better, but eh, it also adds to the vibes.
> [Europhon Records] Klaus Brendel - Waiting (1987)DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-klaus-brendel-waiting
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Fritz Köberl und Peter Janda, famous SONOTON/Orange power composers, are doing "their thing"
Some of it is super cheesy, but that is up to everyone to judge. It is really a mixed bag, so I suggest to check out every song and not giving up after trying one or two.
> [Azur] Background 1, 2 and 3 (1987)DISCOGS LINKDISCOGS LINKDISCOGS LINKPOST IDs: post-various-background-3 / post-various-background-2 / post-various-background-1
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Mostly intrigued by the funky cover art, the music on this album is not any different. 80s space synths, some breaks in there, harsh and cold tunes and experimental sound go hand in hand with fast-pace rock themes. Really worth it and a real kicker for me, especially tracks like "Robomanie".
> [Editions 23] Francis Lai - Astrolab 22 (1985)DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-francis-lai-astrolab-22
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This Claudia Hirschfeld album is, I know I repeat myself here, a bit odd again. I think this is coming from commercial releases that are instrumental and often don't seem to know where to go to, and I also expect the higher ups in the record labels are often unsure to release instrumental tracks as the voice and person is what sells (e.g. on the shelf in a record store). But anyways, this disk has some odd and quirky tunes in it that might catch with the one or other - like me
> [Wersi] Claudia Hirschfeld - Impressionen/Impressions (1990) (I recommend you using the cover art from the website and not Discogs')
DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-claudia-hirschfeld-impressionen-1990
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Polish New Wave sounds from the mid 80s (Discogs says '85, the website '84). As it's a SP it has only two tracks on, but both are 6 minutes each. It is rare that such long songs keep my attention, but holy moly, once I hit the play button, it keeps me interested all the way through.
> [Pronit] KLINCZ - Latarnik (1984)DISCOGS LINKPOST ID: post-klincz-latarnik-1984-sp
