Starlight Dreams

Hey guys! Before I introduce this concept mashup album that combines popular retro synthwave artists with various pop culture singers, I'd like to make something that I feel is important clear for everyone, so that there is no confusion or a need to feel like you have to give me anything for this produced tribute concept album of synthwave mashups.

I am gladly providing all of these mashup tracks free of charge as promotion for synthwave music and its various artists. but you will notice that there is a 'name your own price' option. I'd like everyone to be clear that if you do choose to give me some sort of payment here, it is not at all intended to be payment for these music tracks. It is instead a completely separate and optional donation given to me because you appreciate the way I produced these mashups and/or this concept album, and/or appreciate what I do in mashup production in general.

Any donation optionally given will go only to my mashup production work (equipment, programs, servers, etc.).

By giving me any form of donation payment, you are agreeing that you understand this, thank you. I am really wishing that the various synth artists whose tracks I used as instruments in this mashup compilation see it as I do, as promotion of their music, and not trying to steal their awesome work, but if any disagree, please let me know!

I invite everyone who downloads this free album to check out all of the synthwave artists used in this album, their names listed in the album credits. Also, if you like what you hear, be sure to check out http:// www.newretrowave.com to find more music like this!

***All songs on this mashup album follow the format of 1 established synthwave artist/group + at least 1 non-synthwave singer/group. Combining 2 or more songs that are normally separate is called a mashup! That's what I have gotten pretty decent at doing, and what this album is comprised of! Think of it as a compilation of great synthwave artist/groups, but with a fun twist! ***

Starlight Dreams

It is an early January night in the year 1985.

You sit in your backyard, looking up at the stars, wondering where your life went so wrong.

Late last year, you found out your wife of 3 years was cheating on you.
You confronted her, and you two fought for hours. Soon after, she stormed out, vowing never to see you again.

The divorce was finalized late December.

As you lay your head against the chair and stare unfocused up at the sky, the heavy weight of loneliness and the pain of regret scar your mind's eye.

As your eyes focus into the night sky above, the stars filling the darkness come into view. The silent beauty of this sight reminds you why you chose what you do for a living, far before you became an adult.

You always felt a joy and sense of childlike wonder watching the stars, and now you get paid to.

Continuing to silently view your astral surroundings above, you feel a sadness when realizing that your only love left in life is for these stars.

Hoping dearly for this sad reality to not be true, you remember what you were told when you were a child, about wishing to a star.

At first feeling insecure and foolish, you then give it a second thought and gain a sudden glimmer of hope, and that childlike wonder returns.

Knowing there are so many stars that exist outside of the few you see, you make a wish and direct it out to all of the stars, in a credulous hope that maybe one.. just one.. would hear your plea.

You wish to find love.

Someone for you to love so much, who loves you back just the same.

You wait a few seconds, holding your breath, and eventually let out a heavy sigh, sadness returning.

You head inside and rest on the couch, shutting your eyes.

You wake up to the phone ringing.

It's work.

A tinge of excitement brings goosebumps over your skin, as you realize a late night call from your NASA coworkers is a very unordinary event, and potentially very exciting.

You've dreamed of getting a call just like this.

It's one of the engineers you work with.

He excitedly tells you that the multi-billion dollar outer space wave recording device that you help run has seemed to catch a frequency.

He tells you they are recording it right now, and you need to come down right away.

You drive down to NASA headquarters as fast as you can, and eventually make it into the lab, where you find your co-engineer and 6 top officials huddled around the computer.

Though all remain calm and professional, a heavy sense of nervous excitement fills the room.

No one ever expected to receive vibration wave data from beyond our solar system to this device.

But it happened.

As you and your impromptu team look at the data, you realize patterns in the seemingly illegible readout.

You continue to look through it, softly humming a simple tune to yourself.

Suddenly realizing that you had been humming,and looking again at the data before you, you come to an epiphany..

The printed graph data appears to be translating audio.

Popping the floppy disk out of the PC, and running into the lab next door, you insert the diskette into a NASA computer hooked up to a
large tape recording device, and transfer the data.

Your mind races to the endless possibilities of what sounds could possibly play from that data, from far out in the reaches of the universe.

Once finished, you also duplicate the recording onto a cassette tape
for your own personal analysis later.

Soon after, a team of NASA officials head in and let you know that they are requesting your leave from the facilities while they listen to the data.

This is unfortunately commonplace protocol for information deemed sensitive at your place of employment, so you calmly abide by the request, knowing well that you have the cassette copy in your pocket.

Before you leave, the head in charge lets you know that they have pinpointed the origin to the transmission.

It is from one of the smallest stars in the M31 Nebula (more commonly known as the Andromeda galaxy), a star named 'mp3-2016'.

He thanks you for your help as you are escorted out.

Just as you reach home, you hear your phone ring, and rush to answer.

It's NASA again.

It is the head of your department, and he again thanks you for your help.

He lets you know that they have listened to the tape and heard a light jumbling of low volume sounds that they weren't able to make any tangible sense out of.

You feel a bit discouraged, but knowing the layman ears of the scientifically uneducated government officials, you don't lose hope
for finding something interesting in the audio data.

After finishing conversation with the official, you hang up the phone
and run to the nearest audio playing device, which is the walkman in your room.

You pull out the cassette tape and scribble 'mp3-2016' on it with a black marker, before putting it into the tape player. Sitting at your bed,
you lay back and put the headphones on your ears.

Chills cover your entire body as you shut your eyes..

..and hit Play.
credits
released January 8, 2016

Synthwave artist/groups (in order of appearance):

Mental Minority
Lover's Revenge
VHS Glitch
Masato Nakamura
Kavinsky
Power Glove
Tokyo Rose
Zombie Hyperdrive
CHVRCHES
Yuzo Koshiro
Futurecop!
New Arcades
Timecop1983

Various popular (and other) music artist/group/sources used (in order of appearance):

Waking Life (movie dialogue)
Sarah C LaBrie (guided hypnosis)
T4y10r S.w1f.t
R.E.M.
Imagine Dragons
Demi Lovato
Paramore
Skillet
Chris Isaak
Rocco Pezzin (Kung Fury's 'True Survivor' vocal cover)
Don Diablo & Matt Nash
Muse
Buzz Aldrin and other NASA astronauts (interview dialogue)
Silversun Pickups
Selena Gomez
Ellie Goulding
John Williams
Aidan Turner ('The Hobbit: Unexpected Journey' movie dialogue)

Special thanks to all of the synthwave artists who made my musical dream come true.