source: The Rise of the Synths

There was so much potential here. It's a crime this documentary showcases just half of the culture of synthwave. There are some great personalities on screen, amazing quotes about creating art, criticism, coming of age, nostalgia, timeless creations etc. But some who defined this musical generation -like Mind.in.a.box- or continue it -like Skeler- are missing from the documentary. Celldweller/Scandroid and Perturbator (the more popular ones) have little time on screen. It's a shame cause it looked like they had a lot to say but end up hardly showing up. On the contrary, some artists who aren't really saying anything significant, use much of the documentary's running time. Also, the thousands of culture references are nowhere to be found. Just to give a few examples, they could have stated Mass Effect trilogy, Cyberpunk 2077 or any sci-fi game that uses synthwave OST, Hotline Miami, the new Blade Runner or Interstellar movies etc. I'm not saying they should have focused on the newer stuff but the message that synthwave has a way bigger influence than ever before needed backup proof -and there's ton, but not presented in this documentary. The other negative for me is the way the documentary flows. Sometimes it cuts from one location/person/song to the next, before the previous ones have even began. If you want to enjoy the song being played or get to know the bands and their characters, forget it. Is moves too fast. Nevertheless, it has great atmosphere and presentation, and really is a great homage to (mainly the '80s) older generations. For anyone thinking that's a problem because they wanted to hear more about synths and less about the culture, well tough luck. I personally thought it was justified. Overall, I get that the budget was limited due to this being crowdfunded, and I applaud the work done. Rise of the Synths got many things right, and a few things wrong, but definitely needed at least another half hour of screentime to delve a little deeper on the concept of synthwave.

I can't exactly pinpoint when but Synthwave music has been one of my favourites for a long time now. Blade Runner (1982), Drive (2011) - and to some extent - The Social Network (2010) certainly pop to mind as the prime earliest examples where I loved it before older teen and childhood memories come into play in a messy labyrinth where I usually struggle to pin-point specific memories. Pop-culture wise, the most popular usage of it in the last half-decade, from what I can gather, is Stranger Things, and one of the main reasons I loved it initially was because the series used this type of music through and through. Somewhere along the line, I came upon The Rise of the Synths, added it to my watchlist, and only now finally got around to watching it. Don't have a lot to say about it since, despite my love for the genre, I'm not well versed in it from an artist/band perspective but I'm gonna be penning (or rather keying) down my thoughts anyway. This documentary is a great rundown of the modern scene; their drive, their inspirations, their history. It also takes you back in time in decade sized chunks to give an overview of the eras and where it all began. All of it is stitched together and produced in a competent manner with two components standing out above the rest: the music, which was one of the primary reasons I gave this a try as I'd knew there will be some titillating Synthwave in the documentary for the genre; and the narration by the legendary John Carpenter who went over his early life and had some inspiring words for aspiring artists and general motivation for anyone who feels out of place, which I welcomed greatly. Synthwave always had that 80s nostalgia vibe and for reasons unbeknownst to me - I was born in the 90s - pulled me in strongly while, at the same time, gives a longing for the future and oftentimes a particular form of future that one can relate to something like cyberpunk; this two-sided pull is what I love about it most. As is evident from the artists in the documentary and from the fans in general on Youtube or any other place on the net, it is what attracts all of them too and I find that interesting and beautiful. I do wish that it was longer and had greater detail when it comes to synthesizing the music as it comes off as an overview rather than an in-depth look but, as a crowd-funded project, this is still a great achievement and props to the team and the backers. If you're a fan of this type of music, I'd highly recommend giving this a try. It's short and sweet. And if I were to rate it, I'd give it a Kavinski/Vangelis.

The Rise of the Synths is a brief but excellent glimpse into the world of underground music production. It shows how a renaissance of nostalgia for the 80s sparked the creative geniuses showcased in the documentary. I think more importantly it puts a humanizing touch to the music and musicians. The narration by John Carpenter really brought the experience full circle to me, as many of the artists credited Carpenter's works as inspiration. To really hammer home the 80s stylization, a DeLorean is featured in several scenes of the film. I'm looking forward to watching this again!

Not one to be missed if you also hanker for the neon lights of the 1980s.

Just watched this, pretty cool, quite a lot of commentary from John Carpenter in between musician interviews. Anyone who can remember the '80s, or anyone into any kind of soundtrack or electronic music should dig it too, but like i've said before, I think the music can be apreciated by anyone including rock / metal fans, and a significant proportion of the artists come from a rock background, which they mention here. I like Synthwave for this fact, and the nostalgia factor (i'm a kid of the '80s) and the film soundtrack feels, but also because lots of it is just plain good what ever music you like!

Trailer—The Rise of the Synths

The Rise of the Synths