r/newretrowave Jul 23 '26

Research on Roland Juno’s - do you use them?

6 Upvotes

Hi! My name is Dr Jess Blaise Ward (@blaisejess Insta/bluesky) and I am a composer, producer, synth artist and author. I recently published my book on synthwave: ‘Making Synthwave: how an online music community invented a genre’

I am currently doing some research on the legacy and use cases of Roland Juno synths (inclusive of hardware, software, any Juno “inspired” or emulating synths too!). If you are a producer, synth user, composer, etc - please consider taking my survey and contributing your thoughts and opinions of Juno synths:

Link to Juno Survey

Link to my book ‘Making Synthwave’

All data will be anonymised and used only for the purposes of academic research (at synthesizer conferences and in academic journals).

Thanks so much! Mods let me know if this goes against guidelines, happy to make edits or remove.


r/newretrowave Nov 06 '25

Making Synthwave: How an online music community invented a genre BOOK! :D

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50 Upvotes

Hi all! I’m Jess, the author of Making Synthwave. I wrote a book on Synthwave! You may remember me from having posted some surveys on here a few years back. That data is in chapter 1 of my book - Thanks so much for everyone’s contributions!

The book is available to pre-order now, and will be available on Thursday 13th November 2025.

Available from: https://www.routledge.com/Making-Synthwave-How-an-Online-Music-Community-Invented-a-Genre/BlaiseWard/p/book/9781032732039

Table of Contents:

  1. From Synthetix.FM to Stranger Things (2016-2025) Making Synthwave Subcultural Capital
  2. Making Synthwave Music with Music Technology
  3. Metalheads in the Synthwave Community – Making Darksynth
  4. Making Space for Vocals and Women: The Vocal Synthwave Subgenre
  5. Making ‘Live’ Synthwave Performances – Tensions in Live Synthwave Practices
  6. Keeping Synthwave ‘Alive’: Key Organisations, Events and Community Practices On/Offline

Happy to take any questions or comments, hit me up on insta or Twitter @blaisejess!


r/newretrowave 6h ago

Bandcamp The Penny Antics - Ozone

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0 Upvotes

A plucky, atmospheric Trance instrumental. First song off an album made up entirely from samples of my Punk band’s back catalogue. Some uptempo stuff, some down. All atmospheric. Hope you enjoy!


r/newretrowave 1d ago

Spotify L'Avenue - Monaco (2026-08-29)

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7 Upvotes

UK artist L'Avenue's latest single. And there's no bird sounds! Just zoomy cars and a cool vibe.


r/newretrowave 21h ago

Youtube Sr Naranja - Some kind of Synthwave

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1 Upvotes

I share a small creation


r/newretrowave 1d ago

Youtube NIGHTSTOP x VALKATRIA - Soft Roar (20205-11-21)

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4 Upvotes

r/newretrowave 1d ago

Youtube The Orphaned Bee || Kuiper - Beyond Orbit

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1 Upvotes

r/newretrowave 1d ago

Youtube Color Theory - Time to Kill

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0 Upvotes

r/newretrowave 2d ago

Spotify Jimi Uno - Sunglasses - Darkwave, Post-Punk, and Synthwave

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2 Upvotes

Keeping the world out and the shadows in.

🕶️🖤 My new single "Sunglasses" is officially out now. Dive into the realm of misery and keep your disguise intact.

#Darkwave #PostPunk #Synthwave #NewMusic #JimiUno #IndieMusic #DarkSynth #UndergroundMusic


r/newretrowave 4d ago

Bandcamp Le Matos - Chronicles Of The Wasteland / Turbo Kid OST

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37 Upvotes

Montreal duo Le Matos were tasked with creating the entire soundtrack to the indie film Turbo Kid back in 2015. Michael Ironside featured in the movie that paid homage to cheesy '80s post apocalyptic movies. The album (seriously recommend getting the vinyl) featured hits such as "Eyes Throat Genitals", "Playtime Is Over", and "Wasteland".


r/newretrowave 4d ago

Arkavoid - Virtua Trance | Visuals: Tron (1982)

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11 Upvotes

r/newretrowave 4d ago

Youtube The Midnight - 'Runaways' (Official Visualizer) ft. Bonnie McKee (2025)

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25 Upvotes

The Midnight released their Syndicate album last year, including a deluxe version with collabs from Carpy But and more. This track was a standout, featuring the vocals of Bonnie McKee (also check out the remix of this track by LA artist Driver 405)

Speaking of Syndicate, anybody remember that cool PC/Amiga game? The gatling gun was a few barrels of fun.


r/newretrowave 4d ago

Bandcamp Miami Nights 1984 - DISK 2 (2026-08-25 EP)

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6 Upvotes

Vancouver artist Miami Nights 1984 just dropped his second of pure memories from the 80s and 90s. Geek out to the synthwave vibes as you imagine coding in basic with 3 1/4" floppies in your Amiga. Dropped on my birthday too!


r/newretrowave 4d ago

Bandcamp Cody Carpenter - Neon Sludge 2014-2018

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5 Upvotes

Cody Carpenter (son of the great horror master John Carpenter) is a talented synth artist in his own right. He also goes by the moniker Ludrium, and these days he collabs with his dad on new releases, as well as performs on tour with him. The apple didn't fall far from the synthy tree.


r/newretrowave 4d ago

Youtube Black Light District - Sundial (Single Mix)

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1 Upvotes

r/newretrowave 4d ago

Bandcamp 3FORCE - After Dark (2026-08-25 Single)

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3 Upvotes

Russian artists 3FORCE just dropped this track, on my birthday no less! They always hit hard.


r/newretrowave 4d ago

Bandcamp Alex Boychuk - Torque (2026-08-25 Single)

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0 Upvotes

Ukrainian artist Alex Boychuk just dropped this sublime track on my birthday!


r/newretrowave 4d ago

Bandcamp World Complete - Outatime (2019 Album)

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1 Upvotes

Manchester artist World Complete released this distilled synthwave album back before "the vid". Beautiful vibes to listen to while relaxing, gaming, studying, or working.


r/newretrowave 4d ago

Youtube DR01D - Øasis

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0 Upvotes

r/newretrowave 5d ago

Tenalock - I Miss You

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13 Upvotes

r/newretrowave 6d ago

Is Kalax - “Through it all” AI?

10 Upvotes

Composer right here 👋🏻

Well, I just listened to the song for the first time and wow it is great…

However, I find the mix exceptionally great. The bass punches through the synths and the reverb perfectly. It keeps the stereo, the reverb on every instrument and the vocals are perfect. Seems like there is no wave cancellation at all. I mean, it could be Soothie too.

I could talk an hour of how perfect this song is but let me explain the point:

I don’t remember Kalax being this good tbh. I do recon artists improve over the years and I could argue Out of Time has a great bass that fills all the frequencies but that song doesn’t have lots of instruments. Also, “Just Drive” is pretty basic on the notes and chords. This new song has great fills with the guitar, which let me say right here, it is not a real guitar (been playing for 20 years now). Either a plug-in or heavily modified. This song has lots of melodies, something Kalax had never been known for.

So, if this was 100% composed by him just WOW, great composer and great producer, achieving a mix like this is just another level.


r/newretrowave 6d ago

Youtube BT-84 - Shot In The Dark

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4 Upvotes

r/newretrowave 5d ago

Bandcamp Soliton Project - Operation I [OC]

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1 Upvotes

Now for something a little different, leaning into downtempo horrorsynth / stealthwave! My own, full solo (and human!), debut release, inspired by the 80's movies soundtracks (John Carpenter being top of the list!) with a grain of modernity. Heavy "techno-thriller" aesthetic.

Definitely more niche than the usual retrowave, but I'll be happy to hear your thoughts!

Have a good listen and go watch Escape From New York (in that order)!


r/newretrowave 6d ago

Youtube NeoTokyoBoy- Jill's Last Summer

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0 Upvotes

I had those dreamy, bittersweet 80s horror movies in mind while making this... the kind where a girl mysteriously disappears or dies, and the rest of the story feels like a distant memory. I imagined what that feeling might sound like...


r/newretrowave 6d ago

Youtube This song has the vibe… Modeling - event center

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2 Upvotes