MV : "Lipslap" by Kero Kero Bonito

The end of year review is coming, and will include...

Let Em Riot - slashwave EP

Neo-synth pop that sounds like its come straight from an 80s dungeon, well i can't get enough of it these days and Let Em Riot produce some great digital beats. "Don't stop running" is underpinned by a ruthless electronic beat but enlivened by waves of synth noise. "Foreigners" is a great lost early 80s pop classic though made in the 2010s.

All the right ingredients are here: laid back almost dead pan vocals, electric beats, synth flourishes. Everything that made early 80s synth pop so wonderful. The sound has been recreated perfectly. Maybe it is a pastiche but who cares when it sounds so good? It may not be "now" 2016 (though 1983 might qualify) but its the now i want to live in. Now.

MV : "Livin' in a studio" by Freeweights

Great new single.

MV : "I need you" by Leitbur

Well this is our current fave.

MV : "This is all we know" by Le Cassette

This could easily be on the soundtrack to a trashy 80s straight to VHS movie, no higher praise can i give truly.

Single : Freeweights - lightweight

Oh what a lovely track, so full of the best 80s sounds all honed and engineered with cutting edge perfection. Its urgent and glows with neon light, underpinned with top notch pop melodies and hooks. Would probably sound best blasting out of the stereo of your 80s hot hatch as you burn it up across Miami, or Banbury.

MV : "Tonight" by Le Cassette

More synth goodness.

Single : Tyler Burns - Mr Regular

There is a lot of neo-synth pop around these days, much of it trying hard to recapture the sounds of the 80s... or an imagined sound of the 80s anyway... with varying degrees of success. The best way is to treat the synths as a tool to make music and not worship them for the sake of it... just like this track by Tyler Burns.

This track succeeds with an excellent pop song with a chorus to die for. It has retro sounds but also sounds contemporary and fresh and is one of the best songs out there right now.

MV : "Gigolo" by Scarlet Soho

No its not from 1982 its from 2015!

Phases - for life

More neo-synth pop glory, Phases are unashamedly pop and unashamedly good. "Betty Blue" shimmers with an electric beat, "I'm in love with my life" is so light and bouncy its like the cutest puppy dog made into a song. "Silhouette" has a deliciously slinky disco beat. Its not all shiny dance pop, though even slower songs like "Spark" and underpinned with a neon electric vibe. Its all lovely stuff that will keep you bopping to dawn and beyond.

MV : "Lightweight" by Freeweights

Tuuuuune.

MV : "Mr. Regular" by Tyler Burns

Our fave track right now.

MV : "Giving up" by Haerts

Poppy!

St. Lucia - matter

St. Lucia's brand of neo-synth pop is pretty high energy and in-your-face and to be honest that is something i find refreshing. You need a break from bleak electronica and the dark sometimes. "Dancing on glass" is a smashing track, that literally explodes into a chorus. "Physical" though is something else. Its a sonic riot, a blistering pop track with a chorus that actually sounds like a siren. Its not subtle but it is brilliant.

The only criticism maybe is that the album is a little too much at times, like being bludgeoned by a pop sledgehammer, it can be a bit exhausting and maybe is a little superficial. But pace yourself and let yourself go and this album reaches the pop parts few others can reach.

MV : "Dancing on glass" by St. Lucia

Cubes.

Man Without Country - maximum entropy

Man Without Country, when they are on song, produce superior electronica, moody synths and a atmospheric cutting edge sound. This is most evident on the wonderful "Claymation" with its deep sounds, distorted vocals and all underpinned by pop melodies. Unfortunately this album is rather patchy and not everything works. "Catfish" for example starts off with promise, the slinky synths having an undercurrent of dark moods but despite all that never really goes anywhere.

The album is still worth having for the high points though even if they can be rather low, like the downbeat "Loveless marriage" and the runaway tech skank of "Entropy".

MV : "Betty Blue" by Phases

A simple MV idea but so effective.

MV : "Chwyldro" by Gwenno

Synths Cymraeg.

Gwenno - y dydd olaf

Its synthpop but maybe not quite as you know it. This is Gwenno's, ex of the Pipettes, debut solo album and is an adventurous sonic exploration of retro-futuristic sounds... and its all sung in Welsh and Cornish too! Sonically it is from the future we never knew but should be living in now, think the likes of Stereolab perhaps though with a more sparse and organic feel.

"Patriarchaeth" for example intermixes the organic and the (retro) electronic to produce a glorious sound. "Amser" is the sound of a Century 21 space age cocktail lounge. "Chwyldro" settles into a really satisfying groove with swishing echoing effects. Its very different and its also very good.

MV : "Amser" by Gwenno

Enough of the old, its 2016 now so lets start with a synth pop song sung in Cornish.