Week 4 - march 22, 2024
The Fourth Show Was (And Still Is) …. Freaking GREAT!
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.
- 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.
Have fun with the list below, enjoy the artists and and PLEASE share the page out on your Socials! Thanks, and see you next week!
Episode Four- On Demand
Z-GR! Radio Episode FOUR Lineup
Dream Prescription - Star Size
This band is new to me, but I was a fan as soon as I heard them and I think that you will be too – New York City’s Dream Prescription is picking up steam, and their latest, ‘Star Size’ is this week’s opener right here on Z-GR! Radio here on NEWHD Rock Evolution.
Wretched Pinhead Puppets - Ghost Like You (For Russ)
The Wretched Pinhead Puppets are one of the most fascinating artists I’ve come across. The songs in the Puppet’s library are wildly divergent, surprisingly cohesive, and I have to say, all of them are really great. They’re out of Phoenix, and the track you just heard, ‘Ghosts Like You’ is an ode to Russ, a founding puppet lost. Tons of cool stuff on their wretchedpuppets Instagram page, so check it out.
Beautiful Machines - Control
London’s Beautiful Machines self describes as ‘Cinematic Electronic Synthwave Rock’, and I think they’re spot on. I absolutely love this track – it’s a stack of amazing synth goodness top to bottom that creates a Wall of big electric audio that is crazy great, and you’re hearing it here on NEWHD Rock Evolution.
AL1CE - For Dead
I really dig AL1CE a lot. They’re a really cool darkwave / electroprog / synthwave band out of Los Angeles – I spent some time with their entire catalog, and it was tough to pick just one track for the show – ‘For Dead’ got the nod, and now that you’ve heard it, I’m sure that you want to hear more. They’re about to hit the road and are going to cover a lot of ground in the U.S., so swing by their website, ilikealice.com for dates and locations.
LAU - Two Strangers
The first time I heard ’Two Strangers’ by LAU it struck me as a nearly perfectly crafted pop song. Great story, great melody and a STRONG Chorus vocal hook. LAU’ a singer, songwriter, drummer, producer, creative director out of Barcelona, and she’s a founder of Aztec Records, the leading label of all things Synthwave / SynthPop / Retrowave. If you’re into the scene at all, you definitely know her work and If you don’t, here’s your chance.
Zero-G Racetrack - I Think You’re Beautiful
It’s no secret that I am the lead singer for Zero-G Racetrack – this week, I’ve included our most popular song ‘I Think You’re Beautiful’. We released a 6 track EP in December of 2022 and collectively, the song has hit the 85k mark as of now. Interestingly, it’s the radio Instrumental version that got picked up by Spotify’s Autoplay, and it’s leading all versions in streams. Go figure!
Fun fact: the alto sax part was performed live and captured by Producer Bill WIlliams during a holiday gathering, and it’s pretty cool when you can get your family members involved in your SynthPop anthems. The art used for the cover was the catalyst for the cover art style we’ve used throughout the first wave of singles, and I won’t say that she’s the best of the Z-GR girls, but she just might be.
UnRoyal - Adulthood
To say that Swedish Synthpop holds prominence in the electronic dance scene might be an understatement because it’s an understatement; Sweden’s Unroyal proves the point yet again/ I took ‘Adulthood’ from their 2019 album, ‘Mainstream’, which has become a favorite of mine,. Take a spin through it when you can.
Mr Robokov - Wonderful
Stas Mishchenko goes by the moniker ‘Mr Robokov’ and that was ‘Wonderful’. Stas is in Germany by way of Ukraine; he had some surgeries go sideways that damaged his singing voice – from where I’m sitting he seems to have found a way to get a vocal tone that is both interesting and cool. Well done.
Forty Feet Tall - Crash And Burn
I really like Portland’s Forty Feet Tall – these guys have a nicely polished bar band sound which tracks since everything I’ve read indicates that if you get in a room with them, they’ll stick a guitar or two in your ear. This week’s recall track, ‘Crash and Burn’ does nothing to counter the notion…this is a banging track that should sound awesome live. If you’re in the Austin or the Dallas/Fort Worth area in May, you’ll get the chance to hear for yourself. Hit their website at fortyfeettall.com for the details.
The Stray Pursuit - Left Behind
Last played was a band out of Wales. They call themselves ‘The Strary Pursuit’, and the track you heard is called ‘Let It Be Known’. I really like their high octane ‘90’s rock vibe and rumor has it that they really like to tear stages up. They just finished a string of shows, but check thestraypursuit.com for dates as they come up.
Sandra - All You Zombies
Sandra Cretu’s take on the Hooter’s ‘All You Zombies’ (one of my favorite songs of all time), is everything a cover track should be – true to the original, and original to the artist. Cretu, who is known mononymously as Sandra, is a huge star and has been for several decades, and as a matter of fact, she is the wonderful voice heard on Enigma’s ‘Return To Innocence’. Awesome.
Omnimar - Out of My Life
Omnimar’s ‘Out of My Life’, this week’s closer, is long, catchy and has a mean hook. Out in 2016, I was waaaaay late to the party, and the song was already north of 500k streams when I first heard it. I liked it so much I put in on the playlist anyway, and at this point, the song has over 1.5 streams and counting. When you hear it, you’ll know why. Awesome.
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