Moments of Brilliance in 2014

2014 has been an unusual year for music. It seems as if even mainstream music culture has started to shift towards a synth-ier and more nu-disco sound. Daft Punk's last album, Random Access Memories, seemed to have started this recent shift in sound. Many artists, from Bruno Mars to Robin Thicke, have very recently started incorporating 70s era guitar snippets and late 80s synths into some of their most popular work as well. "Treasure" by the first artist, and "Give it to U" by the former, are starkly obvious  examples of this new shift in sound. 

Having said that, Disco Unchained came accross more nu-disco and synth artists in 2014, that it has ever encountered before. Below is a list of some of the most beautiful, empowering, and brilliantly composed indie disco gems we found so far. We also believe this will more than make up for the lack of recent posts. 

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GoldRoom's latest mix is definitely something. Think Cher and the soundtrack to some early 80s high school love flick. Smooth synths and melodic oh-so-familiar indie chants set this track apart from some of GoldRoon's earlier works. Definitely good for star gazing (Any song worth star-gazing to is a song worth listening to).

Cassette Club is back. Ben Macklin hasn't quite been able to do it for us since his last track- a remix of "No Light No Love' by Florence and The Machine. Here is "Collide", which unlike many other indie synth pop tracks we've heard lately, manages to truly convey a message with both lyrics, and sound. Music itself has the power to express emotion, but the wow-factor for us isn't quite there until and unless a song's verses and lyrics are truly moving. "Stars in your eyes", the major refrain of the song, is eerily beautiful, think "Antics" by Jubilants.

One of Disco Unchained's soon to be co-editors, Mekayl, brought us this 24k diamond. Dear Fredric, a massively under-appreciated nu-disco genius, has truly outdone himself with this track. Vocals 5/5. Synth quality 5/5. Bass factor 4/5. How cool will my friends think this song is factor 5/5. Based on our calculations, playing this song will make you 12% cooler to practically any crowd you play it in front of (Age 13-68). On a serious note though, "Outlast" has an absolutely golden chorus and verse scheme, and absolutely perfect dark synths. Dear Fredric's sound is unique, encompassing sounds from Twin Shadow, Say Hi to Your Mom, and Conquistador.

Mekayl, yes the same Mekayl that gave us "Outlast" aforementioned above, has also brought us this brick of treasury-department gold. Vice Point's EP's greatest song, in our opinion, has to be "Tramfrau". The track features a mystically melodic synth line almost reminiscent of Maethelvin and Anoraak. The late 80s English vocal sound give the song a truly genuine, and earnest feel (think Flock of Seagulls), which is something rather hard to come by these days. Its rare we bump into tracks as hauntingly catchy as this.

Flava's new remix of DGTO is out of this world (as the cosmic cat on the track's title cover implies). Honestly, the sound and jist of this track is very similar to that of many Valerie Collective era producers. The song mildly reminds us of Michael Jackson's vocals in "Somebody's Watching".