Hi, I’m Daniel Thurman

Daniel reviews cyberpunk books, games, and more.

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  • State Azure Releases Cover of The Terminator Theme

    UK music producer and synth wizard State Azure has released a striking cover of the main theme from The Terminator. This is the latest cover of a classic electronic music track by the artist, who is known for crafting modern electronic ambient music that calls back to the classic Berlin school music of the 70’s and 80’s.

    The Terminator by State Azure

    State Azure’s cover of the iconic theme from The Terminator is an accurate callback to the original song, which was created by composer Brad Fiedel for the first Terminator film. Listening to this track had me seeing scenes from the movie in my head immediately. Which was delightful!

    The song can be purchased from State Azure’s Bandcamp page for the single. If you’re a synth nerd and want to get a glimpse of a live composition of the song, you’re in luck. He has uploaded that to his YouTube channel as well:

    Prior to the theme from The Terminator, State Azure also created covers of various songs from beloved media franchises, including Blade Runner with 2022’s release of Rachel’s Memoir on which he covered the songs “Rachel’s Song” and “Memories of Green.”

    He’s also released several covers of songs by Berlin school heroes Tangerine Dream, whose work has been heavily influential on so many who have gone on to create some of the best electronic cyberpunk music.

    It’s not all covers however. The majority of State Azure’s music is original compositions, and all of it really fantastic. You can check him out via his Bandcamp page. There is a lot of music on offer there for people who are into cyberpunk, future-dystopian, and tech-noir media.

  • Upcoming Software Synth by Cherry Audio Seems Very Blade Runner-Inspired

    Cherry Audio is a music instrument maker known for their soft-synths (software-based synthesizers). Their diverse range of synthesizer plugins are widely used by musicians around the world. The company just announced its new upcoming synthesizer via an ad that has some familiar tropes. Take a look:

    The ad is clearly very inspired by Blade Runner. And so is the synthesizer itself by the sounds of it. If you listen to the music as it comes into focus at the end of the ad, you will hear what sounds like lost tracks from the Blade Runner score composed by Vangelis himself. Only it’s not, of course. And I freaking love it.

    Over a year in the making, Cherry Audio’s flagship synthesizer arrives from off-world on *Tuesday, November 22nd, 2022*, at 10 am Pacific Standard Time.

    YouTube

    Cherry Audio is calling this upcoming synth their flagship product. And according to the above ad, it is going to “replicate the greatest synthesizer of all time.” I find this very interesting. I am not a musican (though I have dabbled over the years) so I don’t know what synthesizer this is referring to. But it sounds like this upcoming synth is going to emulate it. And this makes me tempted to buy it and play around with it myself.

    The genius minds at Cherry Audio clearly know what they’re doing with software synthesizers but we have to give huge props to their marketing department as well. I have to give credit where credit’s due. The “flagship” synth is set to be released on November 22nd if you are interested in getting it.

    [Source: matrixsynth]

  • Mitch Murder’s Soundtrack for City Wars: Tokyo Reign Released

    City Wars: Tokyo Reign is an upcoming cyberpunk card battle game by developer/publisher Mojo Bones. The game was released in Steam Early Access yesterday. While City Wars: Tokyo Reign is still in development and only has a couple of reviews on Steam, they’re mostly positive so far.

    But in addition to the game being released in early access, the City Wars: Tokyo Reign soundtrack was also released yesterday. And it is a delightfully light-hearted, albeit short, album full of 80’s-style cheesy synth pads and pulsating electronic rhythms.

    City Wars: Tokyo Reign was composed by none other than longtime synthwave guru Mitch Murder, who was tapped to work on the game’s score by Mojo Bones. Not a bad choice if you ask me. Mitch Murder’s whole schtick is 80’s cheese (in the best way possible). And what you have here is much of his typical style but with a nice cyberpunk aesthetic.

    The tracks go back and forth between relaxing, atmospheric pieces to pulsating heavy synth loops and dance beats. There are a few loungey pieces in here too, giving the whole thing an all around eclectic hybrid of various 80’s electronic styles of music.

    The City Wars: Tokyo Reign soundtrack is a fun listen if you want some nice cyberpunk background music while you hack your way through some mega-corporation’s network mainframe. Or whatever else you happen to be doing.

    The album is short with eleven tracks clocking in on an average of two minutes each. The album can be purchased from Mitch Murder’s Bandcamp page for whatever you want (you can name your price). Mitch Murder has also put the entire album up on YouTube:

    Meanwhile, City Wars: Tokyo Reign the game can be purchased on Steam Early Access. Currently the game is at a 25% discount so you can get it for $18.74. Since it’s in Early Access, the game is obviously still being developed but Mojo Bones has a pretty good track record so it’s not a huge risk if you want to get in early.

  • SIRUS Releases New Single and Video “Save and Suffocate”

    Self-described Melbourne cyberpunk electronica trio SIRUS have released a new single, “Save and Suffocate” with an accompanying music video this week. The music video was premiered exclusively by Side-Line Magazine. It will be the band’s first single release since 2020 and it’s packed with emotional intensity.

    The “Save and Suffocate” video starts by showing what appears to be a brushfire causing devastation. The video then cuts to singer Josh Rombout dressed as a firefighter standing amidst the flames as he begins his emotional vocal delivery. This is perhaps a reference to the recent Australian wildfires which burned for nearly 240 days and have been declared one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history.

    Bridging the divide between bass music and progressive metal in the way that only SIRUS know how, “Save And Suffocate” is another slab of heavy electronics fused with furious guitar riffs somehow amplifying even more the rich vein of previous hits like “Full Scale Revolt” and “Singularity”. Stand by to be slapped in the face even harder than Chris Rock.

    Save and Suffocate’s Bandcamp Page

    The song itself is juxtaposes melodic synthpop with heavy industrial metal and glitch giving “Save and Suffocate” an emotional hybrid of melancholy, frustration, and anger. If the song is in fact referencing the wildfires, either literally or symbolically, the mood the song creates fits.

    “Save and Suffocate” marks the first single release by the band since 2020’s “The Book of Gates.” The band’s Bandcamp Page for the single calls it “a foretaste of the upcoming new SIRUS album,” which will be its first full-length release since 2018’s Apocrypha.The single can be preordered on the band’s Bandcamp page now and is due out on April 15th.

    [Source: Side-Line Magazine]