SEATTLE-BASED DARK ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC DJ
BEST OF 2023
SYNTHWAVE & DARK EDM
F.O.O.L
Machine
Fuck Our Oridinary Lives, or to most F.O.O.L, unleashes this collections of cyberpunk collaborations on VanBC's Monstercat about a couple months ago, and I have had no shortage of club bangers on this record. If anything, I have a hard time deciding which one(s) I liked best. It starts with a bit of dubstep in its title track followed by a bouncy cut with Extra Terra "Agonize" and then with THIRST to throw a bit of phonk with "Motor", which heads into breaks territory with "Valhalla" before some funky outrun-esque synthwave with Waveshaper in creating "Encounter". It was like this producer created a Cliff Notes version of what you could hear at my Tech Noir night at The Mercury.
Fury Weekend
Afterglow
One thing you'll know about this genre is that there is a LOT of collaboration between its artists and this album by Belarusian producer Fury Weekend is no different. A lot of heavy hitters in the genre such as Ollie Wride, The Anix, Maxthor, and Nouveau Arcade lend their talents on different tracks that each have a mind of its own but yet surprisingly arranged very cohesively. "Delirious (feat. Platforms)" and "Dangerous (feat. PRIZM)" were easily my favourites from this record, with the former being a regular in my synthwave sets.
Gunship
Unicorn
The fact that Gunship has never performed live is a crying shame, although if we were to truly get the true experience live that stage would have to be humongous so we just have to use our imaginations...which is what this album sets out to do. And again, a lot of collabs with the likes of Carpenter Brut & former Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale coming together on the single "Doom Dance" to Dave Lombardo of Slayer fame contributing on the first track "Monster In Paradise". You even get collabs with HEALTH, Power Glove, and legendary horror film director and composer John Carpenter, as well as the legendary sax-man Tim Capello appearing on multiple tracks. The arrangements tell a story of our best days as a planet being behind us with only our imagination to keep us going, and the atmosphere & sound design remain consistent throughout that story. Unicorn solidifies why Gunship remains firmly entrenched in synthwave's Mr. Rushmore.
Moris Blak
Burial + Void: Final Cut
Originally this was going to go into the EPs...and then Brian had to mess it all up by adding another track to it and four remixes. Given how this all came together, there are worse things in this world to complain about. The Gothfather of Industrial Bass Music continues to evolve his groundbreaking sound and style with another jaw-dropping blend of dark techno, techstep, and cyberpunk influences to go along with MORE COLLABS (get used to it...ALL these releases have at least a few collaborations...deal with it). The artists involved do manage to set their own collaborations apart from each other on top of that foundation that sets dance floors into utter chaos everywhere.
Sierra
A Story of Anger
I was almost going to knock this one down because this album wasn't digitally available on Bandcamp (hence why you got a Spotify player instead of a Bandcamp one), but it's not Sierra's fault that their label decided not to do that. Besides, after a series of some amazing EPs as well as collab splits with Matteo Tura it was overdue that a full-length LP would see her name. A Story Of Anger gives us not only an evolution in production polish but also in songwriting prowess, and shows what an artist coming out of their comfort zone looks like. As with every one of these picks, there are some incredible collaborations with artists such as HEALTH, Carpenter Brut, and Corvad...but the main artist still stands on their own. Best way I can describe it is if the five stages of grief were described all on one record. It's brutal, visceral, and emotional, and even in the short time I've spent with this record it's made this list. As I continue to listen to it, I love it even more.