Current Events by Mitch Murder

'Masters of Outrun' is back!

A new series from TimeSlave Recordings showcasing some of the Synthwave scene's classic albums.

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Enigmatic and influential synthwave pioneer Mitch Murder struck something supremely resonant on his 2011 album, Current Events.
It represented his turn from focusing on just one medium of pop culture — as he did with 1980s films on Burning Chrome — to looking at the decade as a varied and comprehensive source of inspiration.

“I wanted to move away from the ‘80s movie nostalgia and focus more on the decade as a whole — from the Cold War to the aerobics craze to video game arcades and everything in between,” he says. “I felt like television in general, the late-night news and the early 24-hour news cycle encapsulated all of that stuff, as that was where most people got their information and entertainment back then. So I made that the focal point of the album.”

To augment the music, Mitch sampled voice and news clips throughout the record and tailored them to specific tracks.

“On ‘In the News’ I tried to make it as varied as possible with everything from Ronald Reagan talking about the Strategic Defense Initiative to robot bartenders and whatever else,” Mitch says. “With ‘Palmer’s Arcade’ I tried to invoke nostalgic memories of spending late nights with friends at the arcade playing games.”

So he found an audio clip of “this chill, soft-spoken guy being interviewed about his life-altering love for video games that I thought worked really well.”

Ultimately, Current Events reflects a philosophy that has endured throughout the synthwave pioneer’s music: a more nuanced blend of nostalgia.



“The actual ‘80s and the ‘80s imagined through synthwave are two wildly different things,” Mitch says. “In my music I’ve always tried to balance the rose-colored optimism of nostalgia with the real thing in one way or another. It’s easy to go too far in either direction, which could come across as too naïve or too pessimistic.”

Perhaps that’s why Current Events endures beyond the various phases of synthwave that have followed in its wake over the past 13 years. The music is authentic and engaging, and the creative intent transcends mere pastiche. In the middle of all of that is another key truth: It’s just an excellent and fun body of work to listen to.

--Aaron Vehling, Vehlinggo

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Each release in the 'Masters of Outrun' series will come with a deluxe cassette edition, housed in a Sega Master System inspired case. With design work undertaken by the talented Glenn Jones.

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