Week 20 - JuLY 19, 2024
EPISODE 20 of Z-GR! Radio
Z-GR! Radio overview right from your Host:
- My name is Scot Apathy – I’m the lead singer for Zero-G Racetrack, and I curate the ‘Floating Around the Racetrack’ Spotify/YouTube playlist. It’s not a pay for play list; I personally choose what’s on it based on what I hear. True story.
- For Z-GR! Radio, I pull from tracks/artists on the playlist (current and archived) and include newer finds that might not be on the list yet (but likely will be).
- The artists included come from myriad genres, geographical locations and stage of growth. I stay away from mainstream established artists, but I will play artists that I’ve followed as they grow. I love it when emerging artists gain traction, and I like to celebrate it.
- I include a cover song each week, and highly recommend checking out MetroVeteran’s (Ruel Smith) ‘Synthwave Covers’ Spotify playlist. There are 900+ great tracks on that list.
- I post a page like this each week to help you find out more about the artists you heard on this week’s show and to make it easy to do so.
- I’m working with NEWHD on a Featured Artist program, and I’ll note those artists as they appear.
Have fun with the list below, enjoy the artists/music and…
PLEASE share the page out on your Socials!
Episode Twenty - On Demand
Z-GR! Radio Episode Twenty Lineup
Driver 86 / Bunny X - If You Say Goodbye (Diamond Field Remix)
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of New York City’s Bunny X around these parts, but what’s really cool is that they’ve done joints with some of the best synthwave artists and producers in the space, and ‘If You Say Goodbye’ brings them together with show first-timer Driver 86. The track has fantastic vocals as supplied by the Bunnies and Driver 86 brings the FM bells that capture the modern 80’s vibe perfectly.
Driver 86
Spotify | Bandcamp | Instagram | TwitterX | Facebook
Bunny X
Spotify | Linktree | Bandcamp | Instagram | TwitterX | Facebook
Zero-G Racetrack - I Think You're Beautiful - Radio Edit
Black Cab - Hanna
Denver’s Starfarer has been blowing up, and for good reason – I was late to the Starfarer party, so I missed the Crystal Method show he opened here in San Jose back in 2019, but he was an early playlist resident and has had no less than 5 different tracks on the list – ‘Perfect Girl’, a joint with Seattle’s Us3r is a bit of departure from his usual Sci-Fi Industrial sound bringing some serious pop sensibilities to the bed for Us3r’s vocal hook – it’s a really great match-up resulting in a really great track.
Starfarer
Spotify | Web | Linktree | Bandcamp | Instagram | TwitterX | Facebook
Us3r
Spotify | Linktree | Bandcamp | Instagram | TwitterX | Facebook
Stephen Flores - We Move
Episode Eight’s Bay Area club scene rapper Stephen Flores is back on the show with ‘We Move’ which has one of the best vocal hooks I’ve come across, and that’s saying something. The fantastic production values are supplied by Producer Bill Williams, the other and perhaps better half of Zero-G Racetrack.
Telekon - Lost For the First Time
The more I hear of Spain’s Telekon, the more I like them – it really was a challenge deciding which track to put on the show – I went with 2017’s ‘Lost for the First Time’ because I really like the vocal tone and chorus hook, but there’s a ton of great tracks in their library so make sure you take a few minutes to check them out.
Danz CM / Cody Crump - I Don't Need A Hero - Cody Crump Remix
I was listening through Episode 3 over the weekend, and it reminded me how much I like Danz CM and especially this Cody Crump remix of ‘I Don’t Need A Hero’. I absolutely love Danz CM’s stuff, and Cody’s no slouch himself – I spent some time in his library, so expect to hear more from him on upcoming episodes.
Danz CM:
Spotify | Web | Bandcamp | Instagram | TwitterX | Facebook
Cody Crump:
Strange Tales - Strangeville
Sweden’s Strange Tales is back on the show, this time with ‘Strangeville’. The track has a groovy loping bass line and some really catchy keyboard tracks. It’s a really great track, no lie. Strange Tales has a long history that’s too extensive to go into detail about here, but I will say that it is awesome to see a band who came together in their youth carry it forward over the decades. Check the links to learn more.
Sweet Tempest - Modern Justice
I’ll admit that it’s been way too long since I’ve had Berlin’s Synth-Pop duo Sweet Tempest on the show – 2022’s ‘Going Down Dancing’ album alone has a ton of great tracks, and ‘Modern Justice’ is one of them. I really love Luna Kira’s voice on the song – it’s a great chorus – and opening with an acoustic guitar is a nice touch.
Spotify | Linktree | Bandcamp | Instagram | TwitterX | Facebook
Cavedoll - Round and Around
I’m surprised that I’ve not heard of Cavedoll before, seeing as they’ve been around since 2001 and have released no fewer than 21 albums. Consider me informed – Their awesome ‘Round and Around’ was featured on Season 4 of the ‘Lucifer’ soundtrack, and for good reason.
Liz Lawrence - No Worries if Not
Liz Lawrence dropped a new album full of goodness called ‘Peanuts’ in early June, and smack in the middle of the album I found ‘No Worries If Not’ – I knew immediately that it needed to be on the show, and though it took me a few weeks, here it is.
BAUM - Manhattan
Tiergarten - Lulu
Oslo’s Tiergarten released ‘Lulu’ as a single late last year, and included it on their third album, ‘Science Fiction’ which dropped in May. This track is something really great – it moves from a very intimate vibe to an epic sound and back again, with wonderful sonic textures layered throughout. The entire album is very unique and very cool, so check it out.
The Quilz - Girl You Want
I really do love hunting down covers for the show, and in my search I came across the MidWest synthpop duo Quilz on MetroVeteran’s outstanding ‘Synthwave Covers’ playlist and I’m glad I did. We’re big Devo fans at Z-GR! Radio, and the Quilz’ take on ‘Girl You Want’ is fantastic and fun – they’ve got an entire album dedicated to covers, and it’s worth checking out for sure.
Emily Hopkins - Flatlight
Emily Hopkins is a harpist who has an obsession with effect pedals, and has one of the most unique and fun YouTube channels I’ve seen – it turns out that her harp has multiple outputs, so she can feed signals to dual input or separate effects designed by the best boutique signal processor developers out there and the results range from amazing to absurd. She’s been throwing snippets of her sound designs on Spotify, and ‘Flatlight’ uses Earthquaker Devices Pyramids Stereo Flanger for the fun. Check out her YouTube channel for some really cool videos.
Spotify | Web | Bandcamp | Instagram | TwitterX | Facebook | YouTube Channel
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