synthpop | Musicosity

synthpop

St. Lucia

Even in the urban wilds of Brooklyn, there may be no one else like Jean-Philip Grobler, aka St. Lucia. Originally from Johannesberg, St. Lucia grew up performing with the Drakensberg Boys Choir School. When the choir wasn't traveling - they toured Japan, Australia, Europe and more - they stayed in an enclave tucked in the South African mountains, learning everything from Bach to minimalist opera.

Arcadia

There are at least 5 bands with the name Arcadia: 1. Arcadia was the pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, during a break in that band's schedule. However, Roger Taylor appeared in only a few band photographs and in none of the music videos, and stated he was only to be involved in the recording side of the project (he also had minor involvement in The Power Station, the other Duran Duran splinter group). The name of the band was reportedly inspired by the Nicolas Poussin painting Et in Arcadia ego (also known as "The Arcadian Shepherds").

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Villa

www.myspace.com/villanese
With almost ten years of DJ experience behind them, Fredo & Thang step up their game. First there was the Gameplay edit of Beirut’s indie gem Nantes – cooked up as a secret weapon but soon receiving kudos from major players such as Laurent Garnier, Dixon and Tim Sweeney. Soon after, a hook up with vintage synth collector Seba, resulted in the birth of Villa. The well seasoned composer/producer resides in his cosy farmhouse, surrounded by a collection of rare musical toys – a perfect setting for this new musical venture.

Jamaica

Jamaica, formerly known as Poney Poney is Antoine Hilaire and Flo Lyonnet. These guys are dropping new tracks with Justice's Xavier de Rosnay and Daft Punk sound Engineer Peter Franco on the production. Their first single was "I Think I Like U 2". The second song they released was "Short and Entertaining", which was featured on the 9th installment of the Kitsuné Maison Compilation series. Their debut "No Problem" is out due August 23. http://www.myspace.com/ithinkilikejamaica

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Point of View

There are at least 5 bands with the name Point of View: 1. Point of View(POV) is a German synthpop band formed in the mid 90's. 2. Point of View is also a progressive rock/metal band residing in Poland with three releases to their credit. 3. Point of View also is a Belgian positive hardcore band who brings you Oldschool Beatdown ! 4. Point of View is the greatest pop punk band alive and are from northeast pa. you like blink like them.

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Hurts

There is more than one band with the name Hurts: 1. Manchester, UK electro-pop duo Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson .
Formed in 2009, elegant and enigmatic HURTS have their sharp suits, slick hair and stark visuals. Theo and Adam present a striking contrast to the glow-in-the-dark pop stars who have run amok across the charts of late. Looking like they would rather be on the cover of Vogue Hommes than NME or Smash Hits, the pair resemble Tears for Fears as shot by Anton Corbijn.

Pseudo Echo

Pseudo Echo are an Australian new wave band. Formed in the early eighties by school friends Brian Canham (vocals, guitars, and keyboards) and Pierre Gigliotti (bass and keyboards), the band completed its lineup with Anthony Agiro (drums) and Tony Lugton (guitars and keyboards).

Their first album Autumnal Park was an Ultravox-influenced album that yielded the Australian singles "Listening" (produced by Peter Dawkins) , "Stranger in Me", "Dancing Till Midnight", and "Beat for You". It was a mature album that gave little indication of their youth.

Their climb to success in the summer of 1984 was rapid, and they quickly became the second biggest band in Australia after INXS.

"His Eyes", a track from their first album, received exposure overseas as it was used in the movie Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.

There was a lineup change before their second album with Tony Lugton being replaced by James Leigh (real surname: Dingli) after a dispute between Lugton and Canham over money, and another lineup change during the making of the second album with Agiro being replaced by James's brother Vince.

Their second album, Love an Adventure (1986), was also a success with several singles from that album topping the Australian charts including the title track, "Don't Go", "Try", and "Living in a Dream". The album was re-released the following year to include their remake of the Lipps, Inc. song "Funky Town", which brought the group their biggest international success, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA in 1987, as well as spending six weeks at #1 in Australia.

The overseas release of Love an Adventure featured a somewhat different track listing which included re-mixed versions of 3 singles from Autumnal Park: "Listening", "A Beat for You", and "Destination Unknown". These were remixed to sound more rock-oriented, to better-match the other tracks on the album. Brian Canham even re-recorded the vocals for a slicker sound to compliment these rock remixes. Once again, the overseas version of Love an Adventure was re-released to include the re-make of "Funkytown", replacing "Don't Go" in the original track list.

In 1987, the band re-released "Listening" for the movie North Shore starring Nia Peeples.

Their third album, Race (1989), went further in the direction of pop rock and metal. The album featured the Australian singles "Fooled Again", "Over Tomorrow", "Eye of the Storm", and "Don't You Forget". The album wasn't very successful, as the band's move to a more rock/metal genre had apparently alienated a good portion of their established fanbase. Pseudo Echo disbanded shortly after touring for Race in 1990.

The band reunited in 1999 to produce the EP Funkytown Y2K: RMX, which included 6 new remixes of "Funkytown". A year later, they released the double-CD Teleporter (2000), which featured 4 all-new tracks, 5 re-mixed tracks, and a live performance in Melbourne. The live performance featured all the tracks from Autumnal Park except for "From the Shore", along with a few tracks from Love an Adventure and a performance of the rare B-side "In Their Time".

Since reuniting in 1999, the band has been touring constantly in Australia, and were last seen touring with the "Idols of the 80s" in 2005.

In 2014 they released Ultraviolet, their first album in 14 years. Ultraviolet came about after Pseudo Echo gathered for shows in 2012 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their first hit song ‘Listening’.

To fund recording of the new album singer Brian Canham approached PledgeMusic to use fan-power to finance the album’s recording and manufacturing. Via pledgemusic.com, Pseudo Echo fans could nominate the level they were comfortable with in supporting the funding of ‘Ultraviolet’.

The Pseudo Echo campaign turned out to be one of the most successful take-ups for Pledgemusic generating 126% of the financial goal and guaranteeing the release of the album.

Pseudo Echo has stated they were originally influenced by Simple Minds, Ultravox, Japan and then later Duran Duran and Human League.

www.myspace.com/pseudoecho01 Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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Seppuku

The name Seppuku covers several acts, including the Australian industrial music pioneers SPK, a unique post-deathmetal band from Kalamazoo Michigan, featuring members from Harvyst and a Swedish 80's synth pop band. Seppuku (Sweden): Spring, 1984, and as the snow melts in the northern country of Sweden, Seppuku is formed by friends Rasmus, Ronny and Fredric. Out of the frustration of teenage boredom the trio starts to experiment with music, which is the result of their common interest in spy flicks, electronic music, Asian culture and space-age futurism.

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