Cosmic by Synthetic Villains

"Whilst there are hints of classic soundtracks...it is its own beast, creating a miasma of sounds and music that take you into a world that sounds both futuristic and nostalgic."

Mark Ray, Louder Than War
https://louderthanwar.com/synthetic-villains-cosmic-album-review/


"conjures up a cosmic soundtrack of short sound-effects-like pieces, celestial suites, mysterious and thriller-type cult scores, library music incidentals, and kosmische-style hallowed universal awe ... this album evokes hints of Vangelis, Tangerine Dream, Daphne Oram, The Advisory Circle, Greg Foat, Alain Gorageur, Michael Legrand, Bitchin Bajas and the Douglas Grindstaff, Jack Finlay and Joseph Sorokin trio of Star Trek sound guys."

Monolith Cocktail, April 1, 2025

https://monolithcocktail.com/2025/04/01/the-perusal-66-jonah-brody-pidgins-manu-dibango-bernard-devlin/



An interview with NARC Magazine:
https://narcmagazine.com/focus-synthetic-villains/


Thanks to radio support from:

Trevlad Sounds
https://trevor.se/2025/03/09/galactic-memories/
https://trevor.se/2025/03/15/ancient-ember-eye/
https://trevor.se/2025/03/18/kosmische-tower/
https://trevor.se/2025/04/14/trevors-virtual-cassette-library-021/

Phantom Circuit:
www.mixcloud.com/BeachyHeadRadio/phantom-circuit-438-featuring-a-session-by-youre-alive-but-you-are-dead/

https://www.mixcloud.com/BeachyHeadRadio/phantom-circuit-439-wonder-machine/


DJ Bleek/UrbanMutant
https://www.mixcloud.com/UrbanMutant/urban-mutant-achilles-children/

https://www.mixcloud.com/UrbanMutant/urban-mutant-indecent-expose/


Gareth Jones / Dandelion Radio
https://www.mixcloud.com/DandelionRadio/gareth-jones-202504/

Space is the Place
https://www.mixcloud.com/SpaceIsThePlaceRadioShow/space-is-the-place-03-04-25/


Kate Bosworth's Dark Train
https://www.mixcloud.com/katebosworth/wcr-dark-train-figgy-hobbin-recipe-x-kate-bosworth-7-april-2025/


More Realistic Goals
https://www.reformradio.co.uk/show/more-realistic-goals-30th-march-2025/



Space Travel in the Comfort of Your Own Headphones.

I was born in 1976. When I grew up, sci-fi and space was EVERYWHERE.

Star Wars, Star Trek, the Black Hole, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Dr. Who, Lost in Space, E.T and various Gerry Anderson productions including Fireball XL5, Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds. Space was constantly referenced in kids TV, in educational settings such as "The Boy From Space" and in things set on Earth, such as "Doris and the Space Cat". Most of these programmes were accompanied by electronic sonic backdrops of some kind. Slightly later, there was the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy TV series with more electronic noises and synth-laden theme tune.

The Space Shuttle was still a thing and NASA was in full swing.

As a teenage psychedelic rock fan, the spacey travails of the Rolling Stones' "2000 Light Years From Home", Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" and the unearthly explorations of Hawkwind kept me stargazing.

Later, I got into film classics like Forbidden Planet, Dark Star, Silent Running THX1138, Blade Runner, Solaris, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Day the Earth Stood Still, George Melies' A Trip to the Moon, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and so on.

Apart from space, one thing they all had in common was the fantastic sounds - whether that be the musical scores or the sound effects. I later heard various Radiphonic Workshop sound design, and other early electronic music that was abstract and lent itself to eerie, unsettling, or futuristic atmospheres, such as Morton Subotnik's 'Silver Apples of the Moon'.

By contrast, the playful and less serious qualities of Joe Meeks' 'I Hear a New World' were no less of an influence.

The sounds made by Ben Burtt are burnt into my skull just as much as Bebe & Louis Barron's still fresh electronic tones.

So, this album aims to bring all these things together - some actual themes and melodies like Air and Vangelis, some sillyness, robo-voices, and so on, as well as more atmospheric and abstract pieces.

It's constructed like a radio play or film soundtrack with various cues and sound effects as well as musical motifs.

These days, the idea of space exploration seems like a luxury that we simply can't afford on many levels, tainted by idiot billionaires who would rather orbit the earth than feed its inhabitants.

However, this album is my tribute to a golden age of naivety.
It's (hopefully) a homage without merely being a pastiche of a time when space was the place to aspire to, and the future was something to look forward to.


Of course, we can still dream about the cosmos. Without leaving the comfort of our own headphones.

Cosmic!


For the gear geeks:

Mostly beat-less, entirely guitar-free, bass guitar on one track.

Synths/Keys: Korg Minilogue XD, Korg Monologue, Korg microkorg, Yamaha PS2, Casio VL-Tone, Casio MT45 amd MT100, Waddingtons Compute-a-Tune. Percussive vocal noises via Casio Rapman, Vermona ET3 Organ, Bontempi Electronic Computer Organ.

Drum Machines/Electronic Percussion: Stylophone Beats, MPC the Tymp, tymps from an Akai MPK Mini Play, taiko drums from a Yamaha PSR295 (yes, really!)

Bass: Fender Musicmaster.

Amps: Fender Twin, Fender Champion 600

Other: Various effects pedals, test oscillator, Stylophone Theremin, Thunder Shaker, voice, dictaphone, violin.

"dinky beats and vintage bleeps"
Electronic Sound Magazine

Instrumental, mostly electronic music.

From the "experimental, slightly off-kilter" (Bandcamp New & Notable) synth-pop of the debut album to the "pulsing Berlin School synths" (Electronic Sound Magazine) of the latest albums, SV albums explore drones, repetitions, textures and riffs.

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