This Track Is Fire!

Though not an offical theme, I have been in a synth mood the last few posts, so far be it for me to deviate from that. Today, I give Empathy Test "Doubts," which just speaks to everything I like about good synthpop: it's catchy, it's singable, and yeah, it's dark. there is no substitute for love no feeling tell me when you've had enough It's because of songs like this that I had to put a disclaimer on my Facebook page so that when I posted lyrics/music people wouldn't think I was in the middle of a deep depression. Quite the opposite, actually. Music like this makes me feel happy and alive. And that's how Monday should be. If you're celebrating Labor Day today, I hope you're having a good time! Enjoy! Monsters by Empathy Test

"Wait, didn't you just highlight Priest just five weeks ago ?" In fact, I did, and typically I would wait awhile before noting them again, but as fate would have it, Priest released the new single, "Python," for their forthcoming album Altered State Police  and holy shit, is it good! How do I know?  Because I am listening to it now, I listening to it earlier today, and according to Last.FM, I have listened to it several times since it was released on Friday. Obsess much?  Yes, I do, especially when a track is this good. So, yeah, I highlighted Priest back in July, and that song is very good as well, but they went ahead and released another fantastic song that I can't stop listening to daily. That's the very definition of fire! Happy Monday! Enjoy!

I've already selected two EDM tracks this week, and though there's the contrarian part of me that thinks that maybe I should include something more guitar-based, as I was listening to various electronic artists this week I was reminded of how absolutely incredible Gesaffelstein was and is. So, fuck it, I am keeping with the vibe this week and highlighting one of my absolute favorites from his album Aleph (which is a great album from start to finish). Besides, while this is definitely not guitar-based, it is darker and heavier than the other tracks I shared this week, and since when is launching into the weekend with aggression a bad thing?  But also, DAMN! Do you hear that? This piece is the very definition of a track being FIRE! Have a great weekend! Enjoy!

Last week my brother and I went to see Stabbing Westward in concert at a local venue (more on that here ). Unfortunately, by the time we got to the venue we had missed Acumen Nation, the first opening act, but came in just as Priest was performing. I knew nothing about them before the show other than a few song snippets I had listened to briefly earlier that week, but as they were performing my brother pulled up that the performers were previously members of the metal band Ghost. However, instead of theatrical metal, Priest are solidly a synth band. Like I said, they were pretty much new to me, but my brother and I thought they were a blast, and here, five days later, I have been listening to them consistently and admit that I may  be a touch obsessed. Their level of showmanship was unbridled, even in a small club with a capacity of only around 400 people. They could have been playing before 10 people or 10,000 and I believe they would put on a heck of a show regardless. Again, we ...

Note: In honor of one full year of This Track Is Fire I thought I would highlight the top 10 posts over the last year, but there's a tie in the seventh position, and a three-way tie in the tenth position, so instead you're getting the Top 12 Posts over the past year. Again, I am pleasantly surprised, because (again), I would not call Starfounder anything close to a mainstream act, and yet, coming in at #7 this past year is the fantastic synthwave track out of Russia, "Stay Where You Are." If synths and electronic bloops and bleeps are your happy place, you'll be right at home with this track. Check it out!

I highlighted another track by Starfounder months ago and had actually queued up a different track from the same album that has been sitting in my drafts for months now, but I purchased this track last week during Bandcamp Friday and it's just the amount of beating, electronic discordance that I so love. Damn, it's good! I get vibes of 808 State "Cubik" from this, which makes me very happy. Happy Monday! Ground Zero by Starfounder

It's funny the people you meet online. Just over a week ago I was helping my cousin clean out her mother's, my aunt's, house as she had passed in December. Among her things I found an assortement of awesome music on casette, that I shared to both Instagram (which is private) and  Threads (which is not). Several people liked/commented, and I interacted with both the people at Stereoscape Records  and one of their acts, Nightflyer . As we seem to have similar tastes in music that goes "boop boop beep" I checked out Imaginings  and was instantly enthralled by the first track on the album ,"Perpetual Motion." Sometimes friends send along new music, sometimes I find it myself, and sometimes I post a picture of tapes and I inadvertently run into an entire record label and one of their artists. Isn't music fandom great? Enjoy! Imaginings by Nightflyer

  Remember what I said about seeing some of my recent purchases showing up here ? Dark, ominous synths with a beat are my jam. Conjuring comparisons to Gesaffelstein, the fat bassline and throbbing beat is sensual and sultry in the darkest, almost-ominous, ways. Is this track trying to get me into bed? Who does this track think it is, "Blue" by LaTour? All valid questions, which I will answer in the morning after I rethink everything this track talked me into the night before. Halo (Deluxe Edition) by Starfounder