I bought two Rough Trade compilations at the same time, one was absolutely rubbish (Psych Folk 10) and one was a work of genius (Synth Wave 10).
The tracks on Synth Wave are not your standard brand of 80's synth pop, but the dirtier, homemade variety peddled by the likes of Crystal Castles. A fair few of the tracks have a distinctly amateur feel and sound like they've been patched together on a decrepit i-mac in some seedy bedsit. What more could you want?
I've literally just realised that the title 'Synth-Wave' refers to a combination of synth pop and new wave genres, which is clever in a geeky kind of way. So if you want your synth pop to be altogether less wholesome than Erasure then check out virtually all the acts on here. Most of them sound like they could do with a nutricious meal, some vitamin pills, a good wash and a thorough checking over at the local STD clinic, but perhaps I'm being a little unfair.
The overall standard is high, but there are several standout tracks on this 20 strong compilation. The Cosmetics 'Black Leather Gloves' is a sleazy homage to black leather gloves (what else?) in synth-wave form, Terror Bird sound fantasticly homemade on 'Shadows in the Hall' with some of the best off-kilter harmonies you can imagine, and my absolute favourite is the stark old-school synths of Led er Est's 'Scissors' which brings to mind a minimal, darker version of Vince Clark with Ian Curtis on vocals. Needless to say I've bought the Led er Est album and am looking forward to sticking it into the car's cd player with no little glee.
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