Rise of the Synths, the acclaimed film which breaks down the emergence and evolution of the synthwave movement, gets a physical DVD and Blu-ray release on October 16th, 2020, the same day when the accompanying score by OGRE Sound also comes out through Lakeshore Records.
OGRE or OGRE Sound is the synthwave moniker of composer Robin Ogden whose work can be heard on soundtrack of indie games such as Actual Sunlight, This Is The Police I & II, and Hacknet: Labyrinths, as well as HBO's Vice Principals, Fangoria’s Hollydoom, and Josan Gonzalez’ The Future Is Now series. The artist was also an audio consultant for the BBC’s first VR experience, Easter Rising: Voice Of A Rebel, while he has produced a pretty massive body of work of standalone releases and non-existent film soundtracks.
"When I sat down to soundtrack The Rise Of The Synths, I was thinking about how to distill four decades worth of electronic music into a cohesive musical narrative," Ogden comments on his new work. "I believe that music technology has always influenced composition, and that groundbreaking innovation and genre defining (or breaking) albums can largely be traced to the advent of new equipment."
Iván Castell's Rise of the Synths documentary is narrated by the great John Carpenter, and features interviews from prominent and still on the rise acts from the genre's extensive realm, offering detailed insight on its concept and origins.
"Ivan really wanted the score to support the film’s narrative elements, and to tap into the emotional connection we feel with the past," Ogden details. "I largely let the Id of the synthesizer, each instrument’s personality, tell The Rise Of The Synths’ story. Synths really informed every musical choice and helped chart the thematic development over the course of the movie, decade by decade. Whether modern, vintage, analog or digital, each instrument has its own unique voice echoing across yester-decades, or even into the future. I think this situates it as real music of the present, music for now, and to me that is what Synthwave is all about."
The suspense-laden cinematic moodiness of the Carpenter-esque and giallo-colored new cut, Rebel Instinct, streams for the first time ever right below.
OGRE Sound photo courtesy of Silverlake Media