Throughout the course of this site’s close to 14 year history, I’ve managed to spill copious amounts of virtual ink covering the ridiculously prolific, New York-based producer, DJ, remixer and JOVM mainstay Rhythm Scholar. And during that same period, the New York-based JOVM mainstay has built a profile both nationally and internationally for crafting slickly produced, crowd-pleasing mashups and remixes.
Earlier this week, I wrote about Rhythm Scholar’s woozy remix of one of my favorite Tears for Fears tunes “Change.” Continuing upon his reputation for being remarkably prolific, the JOVM mainstay artist gave Duran Duran‘s 1984 track “Wild Boys” a sleek remix that features chopped up vocals for the hook, several Duran Duran samples peppered throughout, some blazing guitar work form Andy Sexton and a club friendly thump while retaining Simon Le Bon‘s vocal, the memorable hook and the synth melody among others.
Throughout the course of this site’s close to 14 year history, I’ve managed to spill copious amounts of virtual ink covering the ridiculously prolific, New York-based producer, DJ, remixer and JOVM mainstay Rhythm Scholar. And during that same period, the New York-based JOVM mainstay has built a profile both nationally and internationally for crafting slickly produced, crowd-pleasing mashups and remixes.
Earlier this year, Rhythm Scholar released a woozy remix of one of my favorite Tears for Fears tunes “Change” that retains familiar and beloved elements of the song, including the vocal melody, the chiming and percussive synth line, the squiggling New Wave guitar figure and the acclaimed duo’s uncanny knack for anthemic hooks paired with a spacious and dreamy, club friendly production.
Formed last year, the Italian synth pop/coldwave duo Freddi Rituali — Diego Ballani (vocals) and Marco Tosetti (guitar, synths, programming) — features two, grizzled Italian scene veterans: After spending 20 years in Italian power pop outfit Made, Ballani and Tosetti decided to start a music project largely inspired by 80s British synth pop, Italian New Wave groups like Diaframma and Germany’s CCCP, as well as contemporaries like JOVM mainstays The Vacant Lots and acclaimed Belarusians Molchat Doma.
The duo’s self-titled debut EP was released earlier this year, and the EP features material that pairs angular guitar and icy synths with introspective lyrics sung with an earnest, emotive delivery. The EP’s latest single, the remarkably Flock of Seagulls-like “Per ridere di te,” sees the duo pairing glistening and icy synth arpeggios, mathematically precise, skittering beats with angular bursts of shimmering, reverb-soaked guitar, catchy hooks and Ballani’s earnest, emotive delivery.
For Americans, “Per ridere de ti,” may open up an alternate pop universe that sounds intimately familiar yet alien — but as infectious and as danceable as ever.
Featuring members split between Berlin and Yberg, D1V4 is a German New Wave duo — Luis (vocals) and Cosy Mo (production) — that officially formed not too long ago, and can trace its origins back to when the duo met while collaborating in film: Luis worked as a filmmaker and director and Cosy Mo as a sound designer. In an attempt to enhance their work, the duo experimented with their own beats, gradually developing a common musical language – which resulted in their debut single “WINTERSPORT.”
“WINTERSPORT” is a minimalist bit of synth pop built around skittering beats and twinkling synth arpeggios and chanted mantra-like vocals that sounds a bit like Kraftwerk and John Carpenter soundtracks with a mischievously anachronistic quality.
The accompanying video features slickly edited footage of what appears to be Olympic Ski Ballet shot during the 1984 Winter Olympics. Each of the competitors manages to move almost in time to the accompanying song’s beats.
The inaugural Totally Tubular Festival will tour across 17 markets across North America starting June 28, 2024 in Santa Barbara, CA and closing out July 27, 2024 in Cincinnati. The tour includes a July 18, 2024 stop at Pier 17.
The festival’s first lineup features a collection of artists that exploded into the pop culture zeitgeist in the early to mid 1980s as a result of regular rotation of their music videos on MTV. Because of nostalgia — and the songs were great — the sounds of the 80s and the artists, who created that song have seen a resurgence in popularity over the last handful of years.
“This is a dream lineup for those who love the music of the early 1980’s, and for those who want to relive the days when life was…plain and simply–a total party,” says Jon Pleeter, CPO (Chief Party Officer) of Totally Tubular Festival. “You wore dayglow, you wore parachute pants, you had big hair, perms and more perms, mullets, leg warmers, along with tons of buttons and lots of rubber bracelets. You wore sunglasses at night. The choruses were big, and the hooks were bigger—the party didn’t end.”
A portion of proceeds from ticket sales will go towards food banks locally in each market.
TOTALLY TUBULAR FESTIVAL tour dates include:
6/28 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
6/29 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theatre
6/30 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre
7/3 – Phoenix – Arizona Financial Theatre
7/6 – Englewood, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
7/9 – Irving, TX – Pavilion @ Toyota Music Factory
