How you see the past is, in large part, a result of not the facts or the things that occurred, but the way in which you see yourself. But what exactly do you hear when you think about the past? Is it something that makes it seem greater than what it actually was?
Recent music history has so much to offer if you just find the right angle from which to view it! Of course, in truth, the 1980s were a mash-up of music styles that reflected the turbulent times. In actual fact, many of the hits and trends of the era have not withstood the test of time.
But what about writing your own history book and re-enacting the events in the present time? In many ways, Taknado’s retro-stylised, 80s-obsessed “Side A / Side B” is a tribute to a synth-pop sound that never quite existed in this way.
Interestingly, Taknado’s has more in common with a modern aesthetic, a kind of passe futurism that is almost always soundtrack by flashy synths and cold-sounding drum machines.
The album’s opening track, “Mercedes,” aptly begins with the sound of a tape machine being lowered into a car stereo. The synth riffs may suggest they could play over an aerobics tape. But the power of the production has just as much to do with modern rock sounds.
Meanwhile, “Dance at My Funeral,” one of the album’s most memorable tracks, leads with Depeche Mode-like percussion and vocal parts that recall the gothic-rock bands of the same era.
Coincidentally, these are sounds and influences that, in a modernised form, continue to be a massive musical force, especially on the internet. It’s then fitting that songs like “Плащ” would echo the Sovietwave genre and trend, a style blending retro melancholy-driven Slavic pop with minimalist synth-pop.
If you need a name for it, if you’re looking for a moniker to define this style-first retranslation of the past, the instrumental track, “Cybernoir,” is included on some editions of the album, which might be the perfect title.
Where does this leave us? In an era that closely resembles the Cold War, and with the music of Taknado bringing back the 1980s, only better than they ever sounded in reality.
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