This was so damn good, I really don't even know where to begin. From the book-ending about your personal experiences with your time in Москва - the visual aesthetics you pulled off here - all the bits of beloved Synthwave tracks, which makes me realize just how savvy I actually am in this genre without ever looking too much into to - the John Carpenter part.... and the whole interpretation of the ever-so-relevant juxtaposition of idealism and pessimism. Plus, I think that was yet the best verbalization of how shockingly great it felt to play Hotline Miami when it came out. Nobody who saw mere pictures or maybe even a trailer of this game expected it to 'click' so loudly, but it turned out to be almost ludicrously engaging and addicting. Marvellous job, man!

It’s kinda ironic how Synthwave is made to reflect the electronic sounds of the 80s, yet those sounds were initially made to represent the future. That’s why many 80s movies with electronic soundtracks are often futurist or set in the future. And they were right. Here we are in the future making the same music that they predicted would define the future, even though we take inspiration from the past.

The late 2010s and early 2020s are gonna be more 80s than the 80s themselves

You played hotline miami in russia.THE IRONY.

"A future with no future" is an amazing description of the whole neo-noir and cyberpunk genres.

"The 80's gave tribute to the 50's, and now everyone's giving tribute to the 80's." -James Rolfe

I think Drive (2011) played a big part on the rise of the synthwave movement.

I was looking for something like synthwave for years till i found it.

God I love synthwave. I hope it eventually takes over a decade, and we get synthwave radio stations, and everyone just reverts back to that perfect 80’s aesthetic. What I wouldn’t give to drive an ‘84 Corvette down the interstate with Power Core blasting in my ears.

It is funny, because synthwave artists make the music to sound like 80's, but this is actualy how our era sounds like.

Until Hotline Miami I only was into heavy metal. So glad I stumbled across this genre!

Synthwave is exactly the genre of music, which made me reconsider my musical existence and made me do a decision: to make a music like that. To make the synthwave.

I think an '80s revival was inevitable: in the 80s there was a president who made his name in the entertainment industry, the laid back hippie ideal had just fallen apart (not unlike the slacker/Indie culture of the 90s/00s), and technology was taking centre stage in most people's lives. We've come full circle.

You are so right about Moscow at night being the synthwave fans dream (or nightmare). The Moscow City skyscrapers are really cyberpunk-feeling and the decay that surrounds them adds to the feeling. All you have to do is cross a street and you find yourself in some a slum of sorts.

This guy gets it. Fuck yeah man.

Yep, Hotline Miami was the turning point for me. From extreme metal to synthwave :D

What I think alot of People forget is that in 1979 Synthesizers became popular because of New Wave artists, specifically Gary Numan. The Neon Triangle and Pyramid imagery came from him and it was he who popularised Synthesizers. I think Numan's song Cars was one of the big blueprints for Synthwave. He doesn't get the recognition he deserves, he is uncredited for a lot of things.

In 2007, Kavinsky's Wayfarer was free on iTunes for a day. I was 14, and I never looked back.

"The 1980's of pop culture we all remember but never actually existed" Then lets make dam sure it exists now.

CONTENT WARNING VIOLENCE BLOOD/GORE *russia*

Damn... Since I played Hotline Miami, I'm totally changed. Now my bedroom is full of 80's poster and stuff, my phone is filled with Synthwave playlists, 90% of my clothing are merchandise from Synthwave composer, my computer look retro af, the majority of the movies I watch were made in the 80's, I learned music theory to compose Synthwave, and if I had more money to spend, my room will be filled with vintage synthesizer (But for now I only have a keytar :p ). Also I've completed HM1 & HM2 100% S rank (even in hardmode) and I plan to do the same on "Midnight Animal", a fan-made sequel of the game. At this point I might be obsessed XD

Very good description of the genre's origins. No one else whose written about synthwave has touched on all the major notes as you have.

Hope youtube's algorithm starts recommending this video to more people.

Tbh the 80s would always be the influences behind synthwave. However, it's people like Kavinsky who really started to expose the genre. And even before that artists were already reviving the sounds of analogue synths. This was all before 2010. The games and movies you mentioned only served to popularise the music, but it was coming back years before that.

With every sleepless night I spend listening to synthwave, my power only grows stronger

You story pretty much mirrors mine when I went to the university, first time away from home. I found out about Hotline Miami, Drive, Blood Dragon and fell in love with the genre and it's performers from Perturbator to Dynatron. Everytime I came back to the house I was living at at night, being from working or from a party, I always played Electric Dreams by Perturbator or Dust of the Saturn by Dynatron as I walked through the deserted streets. It is certainly a genre that is very special to me.

In my country during the 80's this style was turned to dance music style called Italo disco.

I was raised on 80s music so when I came across synthwave it was a perfect fit....

I have nothing constructive nor intelligent nor impressive to say. I'll say only these three things: 1. I like it. 2. It accurately represents our current situation. and 3. Damn.

Little disappointed you didn't mention Vangelis, who is perhaps the one of the biggest influences on synthwave aside from John Carpenter and Goblin, but otherwise a great video!

Being an 80's baby/90's kid, I have always had a soft spot for the particular synth sound of the 80's. Because of this I have always admired music from the 80's, even the more mainstream pop songs. This says a lot of my love for the 80's vibe being that my main musical interests lies within the vast genres of the underground metal scene. Anyway, I have more recently become aware of the synthwave and vaporwave scenes and have really been in love with the fact that these deeply rooted 80's sounds have been thriving again amongst these small music scenes. I am a huge gamer and have heard of this Hotline Miami game but never played it myself, so I never even knew the game sported a full synthwave OST. I now have a whole new album of synthwave to explore! P.S I am a bit confused, is this Power Glove group that did the Blood Dragon OST the same Power Glove that does the metal covers of video game tracks? If so, I would be quite impressed that they could go from doing metal styled cover tracks to recording full original synthwave music.

I discovered sythwave when I watched the movie Drive. I didn't actually dive into it until a few years ago when I ran into Trevor Something, The Midnight, Le Cassette, etc. Love the sound and aesthetics of the 80s.

Stranger Things on Netflix also features one of the best synthwave OSTs I have ever heard. Quite incredible.

From the first minutes of the video, i felt all the stuff you talk about. Its been round 14 year since i moved to Moscow from Samara, smaller city in Russia. At this winter i was going to graduate from university, and i was really, i mean really stressed, which is quite unusual for me. At that time i found out Hotline Miami, the game which soundtrack just consumed me. So much time have passed, and still i love synthwave, really hyped for Dance with the Dead coming to Moscow at the end of august. Love that vid, explains a lot about this growing culture. Luvs from Moscow, keep dreaming in neon.

What you did in this video is art! A pure one. Really enjoyed it, you are a great artist who can even analyse his art in the best way. The way you explained the necessity of existance of synthwave in the 80s was amazing. Ty again

Dude. This was probably the loudest like I've ever hitted on KZfaq. Congratulations.

Living in an actual Cyberpunk Dystopia, you give points why synth wave should be the revolutionary soundtrack of our future.

guys check out Gunship and Com Truise, two synthwave groups that im sure you'll love

This is a masterpiece!!! I learned so much about a genre I didn't even realize had become such an integral part of my music. To be honest, before this video I didn't even know synthwave was a genre, and yet I've listened to so many of the artists mentioned in this video. I wish you'd turn this into a full-blown documentary or mini-series. The juxtaposition between music and wider social issues was a stroke of genius.

Hotline Miami just really sent me in a deep trance and I love the damn game. I never have been sucked into a game like that and so invested before in every little detail. Everything about it is so perfect to me, I just hope the devs are doing well now. I know when they were making Hotline Miami 1 and Wrong Number, they both were going through it. But I hope they know that they really did leave a significant footprint to the rise of retro and synthwave. Both are such inspirational people and I’m grateful for what they created as well as the artists that contributed to the soundtrack. I love everything about this genre.

Loved it! I think you could have talked about Kraftwerk's influence a little. I mean, they were very pessimistic about technology ans industry but at the same time search for a futuristic synthetical approach to their sound; back in the 70's! [also, when the Internationale played at the beggining I was so emotional]

Ever since I played Hotline Miami, sythwave has become my favourite genre. I listen to NewRetroWave's music now

I discovered Kavinsky a few years ago and I quickly grew to love synthwave. It's the perfect music to listen to late at night when you're driving home from work and the streets are nearly empty.

God this video has aged like fine wine. I keep coming back to it every once and awhile after I first found it recently. It's so perfect.

You guys should listen to Carpenter Brut, Dance with the Dead, and Lazerhawk. Those are my personal favs especially Carpenter Brut.

As a russian person I confirm, that Hotline Miami’s ost is indeed the soundtrack for life in Russia. We live in a crumbling world that looks back into it’s former glory of the past, which has imagined the future as bright and futuristic.

This is an EXCELLENT documentary! I'd like to see a longer version possibly interviewing some of the artists and devs, too. Brilliant work!

This is such an awesome mini-doc... showing it to ALL my friends. Thanks!

"The music from the 1980s we all remember, but never existed." Dude, this. This is perfect.

Brilliant video and criminally underviewed

This video is a true masterpiece, i can't even image how mucm love and passion you've put in there, during scenario wrtiting and visual core detailing, Thank you so much!

This video is almost 2 years old now and I rarely comment on KZfaq videos, but OMG is this video good. Your story in the beginning, the music you showcase and your analysis of synthwave was absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for putting into words my love for this genre of music. I too got into this genre from Hotline Miami, so this video really hits close to home for me.

We have as special word in Russian to describe what you feel: "toska".

RoboCop didn't have a synthesizer soundtrack, though. It's an orchestral score by Basil Poledouris, by turns bombastic and mournful.

This was wonderful. Your narrative skills are rivaled only by your editing. Thank you for this fun ride!

You did a really good job with this video essay and thats just coming from what i like and to sound of synthwave that allures me

You had me at Ocean Drive.

Your description of today's electronic music and how synthwave is different is totally spot on and why I love the genre so much.

An amazing video that came to me just as I was becoming more and more addicted to the soundtracks listed in this very video. Excellent work man!

What's your view on the heavier sound of Carpenter Brut? I think it's like Synthwave but crossed with the late 90's dark bass sound of rave with The Prodigy. I would say that overnight through Hotline Miami's 2 soundtrack Carpenter Brut became the lead sound for modern synthwave.

*A E S T H E T I C*

I've had this video sitting in my watch later for years now since I'm a huge Hotline Miami and synthwave fan. Only now have I decided to watch it, and I have to say you perfectly described synthwave as a genre and that's not easy to pull off. Excellent video.

FANTASTIC video essay, man. Seriously. Bravo.

Get back to us when you play through all of GTA Vice City.and fall in love with Vaporwave for a good while.

Coff cof home renosance cof coff coff

Amazing video. I like how you included your history with the genre and also gave the history of the genre as well.

@Micheal Saba thanks for this essay. This is a great summarization of the sociological aspects of our musical development.

Thanks for making such a great video. Maybe in the next one you could talk more about Dark Synthwave.

This is so good, Mike!! - The woman you love

I loved this so much! So much information about an era I have such a fascination for yet was never born or lived in and how much a genre and it's themes reflect our own world even today. Simply amazing, man!

Loved this. Thank you for creating this. So much yes

Is him saying "Cocaine Cowboys" a reference or a coincidence, the Russian on the title screen of Hotline Miami literally reads "Cocaine Cowboys

What s the pixelated animtion with the purple car?Or is it a game?

Such an awesome video, thank you, made my day

Your work here is incredibly nuanced. Gonna watch some more!

было интересно послушать про Москву от иностранца заезжай как нибудь в Новосибирск, он куда более индустриальный

You sound like thirty year old Terry McGuiness from batman beyond

Superb. Enjoyed every moment of your art piece :)

This is the first video of yours ive ever watched so i can't say about the rest, but you are one of the few youtubers that actually have an extremely well written and coherent script, well done.

"I leaved russia, and never looked back.. 'Cause after HM I hate those mobsters :D" Kinda funny that you find a game about killing russians in russia don't?

What is the song at 9:10? Also, great video!

Excellent work on this documentary 👏

What a wonderful video. Very well written!

Synthwave is like porn, I can't define it but I know what it is when I hear it.

My problem with synthwave is that the genre's rules make it so that most songs sound the same. There's the same chord progression that's used in A LOT of songs and it's just a env filtered saw bass on an arpeggiator, gated snare and a minor key for most.

Great video, and only now as I scrolled down to the comments did I realize it's two years old almost to the day. I've really gotten into synthwave in the past few years, so this was really interesting to me. Thanks for a great video essay.

This video is great and deserve an award. It was really interesting, thank you for your work 2 years later! Have a nice day.

Amazing documentary! I believe that also Stranger Things aesthetic and soundtrack, helped Synthwave to enter the pop culture.

This game is aesthetic porn

Brilliant insight into synthwave not only a music genre, but a lifestyle. Major kudos to you 💙

this is the video that started my love for synthwave in late 2020, i never looked back

Daddy Lenin and comrade Stalin 😤😣

That's a very skewed view of Moscow you have.

Amazing video. Words cannot be typed the way I want them to be type to describe how much I felt this video. Thank you so much.

Really enjoyed this. Thanks.

Я так понимаю что я единственный русский в комментах? Ну ок...

Nice doc. Just relax with the pedestrian economics. Doing more with less manhours does actually make us richer. It works for individuals, it works for factories, it works for nations, and it works for the global economy. Provided we let the prices adjust. And the government actively fighting that, trough moneyprinting, in the hopes of destroying the value of it's debt, is the real culprit in promoting poverty. That in turn enabling it to take more debt.

Awesome from beginning to end!!

Amazing work with this video

Anything but Russia