Friday, January 30, 2015

The Ultimate New Wave Experience (vol. 1)

(Through the Decades)


Having become a New Wave music enthusiast since I heard some of the very first New Wave songs as early as 1981, I never stopped listening to the genre and looking for bands and artists whose music may be classified under it based on musicality. While I have easily embraced and welcomed whatever genre became the focus of commercial media in every passing era or decade, I did not renounce nor lose my love for New Wave. This became my favorite kind of music. Because of this, I was able to keep track of its development and of the new releases of artists associated with the genre; as well as of new and younger groups whose music has the essential characteristics of the so-called New Wave sound—angular guitars and repetitive adlibs, usual but not necessarily-always-present keyboards and synthesizers, melodic bass lines, regularly patterned drum beats, catchy choruses, and either low-register or high-pitched vocals.  



Many people associate music with culture, movements or cliques, decade, or even places. The reason they usually tend to confine music genres within certain periods. I assert to differ. While I acknowledge the validity of such standards, I want to be able to classify music based on the characteristics of the sounds alone—the musicality. After all, stripped of all these nonmusical associations, music is but a combination of sounds that result in something subjectively beautiful and moving.



Therefore, to further assert my point that New Wave music, or any genre for that matter, should not be limited to certain eras or decades, I decided to make a series of compilation of songs that I regard as classifiable as New Wave based on the sonic characteristics alone—without regard for the appearance of the artists, movement they belong to, years or decades the songs were released, nor the country where they originated. The primary basis is just the sonic characteristics of the songs themselves.


So, now, here’s volume one of a compilation of songs that will sonically illustrate that New Wave music is being produced constantly since the decade it has been established as a genre.

All a music enthusiast needs is a keen sense for details and the initiative to look way beyond commercial media.

Ultimate New Wave Experience
(Through the Decades)
Volume 1

01 Television – "Marquee Moon" (1977)
02 Gang of Four – "Damaged Goods" (1978)
03 Siouxsie & the Banshees – "Mirage" (1979)
04 The Vapors – "Turning Japanese" (1980)
05 Eyeless in Gaza – "Welcome Now" (1986)
06 The Smiths – "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (1986)
07 James – "What For" (1988)
08 Flesh for Lulu – "Time and Space" (1989)
09 The Psychedelic Furs – "House" (1989)
10 Pulp – "Babies" (1994)
11 Electronic – "For You" (1996)
12 Modern English - "I Don't Know Anything" (1996)
13 Seafruit – "Hello World" (2000)
14 British Sea Power – "Childhood Memories" (2003)
15 Gin Blossoms – "Learning the Hard Way" (2008)
16 Craft Spells – "The Fog Rose High" (2011)
17 The Wild Swans – "When Time Stood Still" (2011)
18 The Fixx – "Anyone Else" (2012)

If you liked what you heard, then look for copies of the entire albums where the songs came from. Support music. Support the artists. Spread their music to foster awareness.

Click Here!

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