Happening Again #64
Return to the 80s
Hello!
If last time was another ambient edition, this issue I seem to have veered into modern synthwave territory more than I expected to. Must have it on the brain.
I’ve had another influx of new subscribers recently, so hello to all new readers. I hope you’ll discover all manner of new music through this newsletter (and maybe some other bits and bobs that interest you).
Anyway, here’s what I’ve been spinning recently…
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L’Avenue
EN VOGUE
Bandcamp
I’m sorry to disappoint you all, but Jesse Reuben “L’Avenue” Wilson isn’t actually French. The UK-based electronic musician feels like one of those voices in synthwave that has been around forever, with his latest musical foray being his ‘En Vogue’ LP. Dripping in nostalgia, its 1980s references are as pure and undiluted as they come. The album conjures a certain anemoia for me, particularly opener ‘Cover Girl’, especially when those horns kick-in. ‘Electric Eyes’ has been on repeat since I first heard it. Those descending chords? The vocals? The melodic shifts? ‘Photo Shoot’ is like a synthpop à L’Avenue, and features a fab sax solo from Alex Bone, and I love the electronic growls that roar through ‘Monaco’. Make sure you’ve got the corded phone and the CRT telly at the ready when you have this on. Maybe skip the leg-warmers though (actually, don’t).
Wavefinder
RAVEFINDER
Bandcamp
The last time we saw this pairing was back in 2023 when Eric Sferro and Makeup And Vanity Set teamed up for their self-titled ‘Wavefinder’ debut. Wasting no time, the group wrote second album ‘Ravefinder’ while touring in 2024. They’re such an exciting pairing, lively synthy stabs puncturing chill, airy chords. Tracks like ‘Bomberstage’ have a late 90/early 00s drum and bass streak to them (very “racing game on the PS1”), while ‘Upgrade System’ jaunts along with an almost psychedelic funkiness, and a round of applause for the bright synth tones of ‘Ohio Funk’, that lends the track a certain playful buoyancy - like the field recording of a particularly intense game of ‘Pong’. Don’t let this one slip your notice.
Jim Kirkwood
CASTLES OF SAND
Out Of Season
Originally released in 1992, ‘Castles Of Sand’ is one of Jim Kirkwood’s many, many fantasy-influenced albums, the man having become a bit of a mythical figure within the dungeon synth scene (something he didn’t even discover until 2019). Initially in a metal band with his friends and brother, he soon gained an interest in synthesisers and the Berlin School, and in the 90s started releasing what has now been recontextualised as “dungeon synth”. ‘Castles Of Sand’ is one of his many cassette albums that have been re-released by the Out Of Season imprint, and you can instantly hear why this man is so revered. ‘The Spell That Binds’ could have been taken from an 1970s episode of ‘Doctor Who’, otherworldly screams layered on top of a spectral drone that haunts the thud-thud of bass, as ritualistic vocal samples speak their enchantment. ‘Shaper Of Forms’ is rich with a multitude of synthesiser melodies and looping motifs, almost feeling like a prog track at points. And of course I went straight for ‘Tangerine Dreams’, for all the reasons you might expect. I hope Kirkwood has been enjoying his renaissance - he’s more than earned it.
KLSR & James Adrian Brown
SLIPSTREAM
Bandcamp
James Adrian Brown returns with his first bit of new music since his debut solo outing ‘Forever Neon Lights’ which released at the start of this year. ‘Slipstream’ is a collaboration with audio-visual artist KLSR, and is a beautiful piece of vibrant but delicate electronica. The way those panicked arpeggios buzz like a swarm of mechanical insects around the muted rumble of bass and forlorn, expansive strings? It adds another dimension to Brown’s music, KLSR sanding the harsher corners of that analogue synthesis. The accompanying ‘Hologram Mix’ of the track isn’t half bad either, morphing ‘Slipstream’ into a slowly expanding cloud of hazy drones and wailing textures. What a collaboration. Brown just gets better and better. Thank God he switched from guitar to synths.
Miami Nights 1984
DISK 1
Bandcamp
This is a nice, zingy EP that slipped out towards the start of the month. As Miami Nights 1984, Canadian musician Michael Glover has been at the heart of the internet synthwave scene since 2010, founding Rosso Corsa Records as well as releasing a slew of electronic, synthesiser-focussed music. ‘DISK 1’, it says here, is “the first installation from a world where dial-up never died and the internet felt like an adventure”. Sign me up! He’s even managed to pull a few pals on board, including WOLFCLUB and the normally-elusive Lazerhawk. It’s all great stuff - the sparky ‘We’re Online’ bounces forward with hissing textures and groovy synth chords; ‘Overclock’ ups the ante with renewed Outrun vigor, speeding along like some neon-lined steam engine. But Lazerhawk’s appearance on ‘Server Ghosts’ is where things sparkle, those heavy electronic pulses and bassy twangs leading into a barnstorming key melody. ‘Disk 2’ is on the way, thankfully.
Jon Hopkins & Imogen Heap
RECKONING
Megaphonic
Imogen Heap is an artist that I’ve always thought should be way bigger than she actually is (and she’s hardly underground). She’s been an electronic music innovator for years now, and has been tinkering with AI years before the generative boom. She’s had a huge influence across the musical spectrum, and has been namechecked and sampled by the likes of Ariana Grande, A$AP Rocky, and probably most famously, Jason Derulo. She’s also been mates with Jon Hopkins since they were both teens, Hopkins having played in Heaps’ first touring band. This pairing has been a long time coming then, and ‘Reckoning’ is the perfect melding of Heap’s vocals and Hopkins’ beats. Heap’s ethereal voice, backed the hiss-hiss of percussion lays a foundation that Hopkins builds on, warping vocal fragments into head-nodding clubbiness. Neither guides the other - rather both voice and rhythm snake in tandem. Would love to hear a whole album of these two together.
That’s it for this time. As always you can find my ramblings elsewhere in both print and online in Electronic Sound. I am going to tentatively dip into the world of microblogging again, so follow me on Bluesky if that’s your sort of thing.
But before I go, here are some Stray Thoughts and things from across the internet that have caught my eye…
// I know I shouldn’t be moaning about Reddit in the year 2026 but, following on from the “CRT is the same as IMAX” discourse on /r/movies this week, there’s something to be said about the absolutely mad stuff that makes it to the front page these days.
// I do not need to write a paragraph about what I think about this.
// Couple of film trailers have caught my eye recently. First up, the final trailer for ‘Coyote Vs. ACME’, which I’m so glad is getting a theatrical release after all the bullshit it was put through. It looks hilarious.
// I am very much looking forward to Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’.
// This looks interesting as well. ‘Buddy’ follows a group of children as they try and escape a surreal 1990s children's ‘Barney’-esque TV show as their host loses the plot rather violently. It stars Patton Oswalt, Cristin Milioti, and Topher Grace, and is directed by Casper Kelly, who also directed for ‘Too Many Cooks’.
// And just for the hell of it, if you haven’t seen ‘Too Many Cooks’…