Drifting Sounds from the Far Off Place ~ A review of Miles Matrix's "Buena Vista"

Find it Here!

Note: I was given free access to this album for review. As always, it will not affect my final opinion.

This post is a bit late because I wanted to share this with you at the right time, and that is now. For this one we go back to the world of Retrowave. I hope you're ready!

Today I'm going to look at the just released album, Buena Vista by Miles Matrix.

I've made a few posts on Retrowave music, but this is the first time I've managed to review an entire album. This is mostly because reviewing music is not easy as most of it hedges on opinion over soundscapes others might hear somewhat differently than you do. Objective criteria is hard to come by which is proven by how many terrible music critics there are and how few respect them.

But this was a chance to give my opinion on a new work by an independent artist in the best music genre going today. So when I was approached to review this album I jumped at the opportunity. This is new ground for all of us.

At the same time I haven't been all that impressed with the genre this year which has had some artists "modernizing" their sound and becoming more like the junk that plays on the radio in what sound like a bid for mainstream acceptance. It's been a bi of a downer. I'm happy to report that Buena Vista is not that at all.

This is good old fashioned Retrowave of the sort anyone can get into. So please sit back and enjoy, and listen to the fresh sounds for yourself. We're going to look into it together.

First some info on the album:

"Buena Vista" is the first album by Vienna based producer Miles Matrix. It features 8 tracks spanning the whole spectrum of the Synthwave genre. Born from a love for movie soundtracks, nostalgia and synthesizers, "Buena Vista" is 80s infused Retrowave inspired as much by Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze and Vangelis – music Miles Matrix had on a cassette as a kid – as by contemporary synthwave icons like Perturbator, Dance with the Dead or Lazerhawk."\ 

"The album title "Buena Vista" has a couple of meanings for Matrix. For one, Buena Vista translates to Schöne Aussicht in german, the plural of which can be a metaphor for bleak prospects. Having grown up in the 80s, Matrix still remembers the feelings of anxiety due to Tchernobyl and the cold war mixed with a hopeful outlook based on technology and science. Miles Matrix translates this emotional melange to eight songs full of darkness and light alike, accompanied by an album artwork showing a view of Saturn from a beach. At the same time, Buena Vista International was a title card he saw on many movies he has fond memories of. "When I see the words 'Buena Vista', it always spawns a film in my head."

As for the artist:

"Miles Matrix, who is an autodidact and has no background in music theory, produced and recorded the album in his livingroom. He initially entered the scene with vocal synthwave, but transitioned to instrumental soon. He had already finished the production on his album when he was struck by the insight that he was not at all happy with the results. "The majority of the tracks neither reflected my progress nor what I wanted to convey with my music", explains Miles Matrix. He scrapped most of the recordedings and started over."

This highlights one of the strengths of this synth movement and that is how it allows an artist to be direct with their audience with both their sounds and their intent. It's very direct and sharp. No pretension, no filler, and an immediate connection with the audience, are three things the genre has going for it.

But how does this album stack up? Let us see for ourselves.

Buena Vista is 8 tracks and 38 minutes long. It's a very sharp record. This one gets to the point with the first track and hooks to the end just as some of my favorite artists in the genre such as Miami Nights 1984 do. Because of the relative brevity of the album I'm going to go track by track through all eight and contrast what Matrix intended against what I hear, and make my general impressions known.

So let us dive in to some good old fashioned Retrowave! It's been a spell.

1. Night Striker [Album Version] (4:10)

"A Youtube commenter on Luigi Donatello's channel described this song as "i turn this on in my headphones when i'm hunting poison dart frogs in the rain forest", and while I thought more of car chases through neon-lit Los Angeles, I think his description is picture perfect."

Being that I'm a writer of action adventure stories, the first thing I thought of with this one was a vigilante stalking the streets of some post-apocalyptic city. The creeping synth and the desolate soundscape reminds me of a lone hero fighting for what little there is left that he can fight for. For four minutes the build up ends with the hero walking away to the next fight.

It's a very direct and punchy number, perfect for starting an album or inclusion on a compilation.

This one highlights the reasons I enjoy the genre. It is how these soundscapes can so inspire the listener in different ways and remain accessible to a newcomer to plug into.

2. Starpilot (4:26)

"I like to imagine many of my songs as short stories with the music as their soundtrack. "Starpilot" for me is a campy sci-fi opera, think Pirates of the Carribean, but somewhere in space."

It reminds me a lot of both a Wolf & Raven track and old NES games such as Blaster Master. The percussion sounds like the rattling of tank treads and the spiking swirling synth definitely drives like a heroic charge into the unknown. I could hear this playing in an old Sega Genesis games such as Granada. Get out of the way, or get blasted and crushed!

I really do enjoy the space synth stuff, but so rarely are the songs ever driving and action packed. There is usually more build up and stalling than payoff by the end. It was good to hear one nail that feel in a compact nugget such as this.

3. Super Getaway Driver: Miami (4:42)

"The song title speaks for itself – it's the soundtrack for a heist involving muscle cars. I am a massive fan of motorsports and one of my hopes is that maybe one day, Formula One pilots like Esteban Ocon or Mick Schumacher will listen to my music."

There is no doubt that this is speed music. This sounds exactly like a race against time versus some creeping enemy right on your tail which is ready to do you in. The build raises tension throughout with tightened percussion and layers of competing synth-lines to produce that great effect of time running out.

The track ends almost abruptly, making the listener wonder if the race was won or not. It's not a loud piece overall, but it nails the sense of urgency perfectly. This is the Outrun style through and through.

4. Adventure Club (5:37)

"Probably the most personal song on the album and maybe my favorite as well: When I was a kid, my dad used to take us for adventures and explorations in the woods behind our house. He even printed explorers certificates when we returned home. In the forest there were craters from World War II bombs, but in our imagination we had discovered dinosaur graves."

I suppose the standard comparison to a track like this these days would be to Stranger Things, but the overall feel reminds me more of a Goonies sequel if it took place in an ancient abandoned city instead of under a small town. The swirling synth and the thumping bass emphasize exploration while the song itself digs deep to reveal to new sounds under the surface with every moment. It's adventure, after all!

This is probably the best written song on the album, and it earns every second of its length. Songs about adventure are uncommon enough, never mind ones that simulate well it with sounds. That makes this one a gem.

5. You Did Good, Kid (6:33)

"This song features samples from an old science fiction movie called "Assignment: Outerspace" and the samples set the tone for this atmospheric and slow piece. It is a very melancholic song and I can easily imagine it being the score for a tragic twist in a story."

The feeling I get from this track, paired with the title, is the end of a long journey where the protagonist of the piece has suffered a fatal wound and the song replays how he ended up in this state. It's a slow burn, but engaging. The bluesy sound of the background synths add to this feeling tremendously.

As it builds to a crescendo the fallen makes his last move and uses his last breath of life to deliver the final blow and save his allies from a fate worse than his. He succeeds and the track ends as he drifts off to meet his maker. It's a very dark piece, but very powerful.

This is my favorite track on the album.

6. Stay A While, Stay Forever! (4:17)

"One of two vocal synthwave songs on the album, this track is dedicated to one of my best mates, M. He died a couple of years back in a bike accident, but when I was a kid, we spent nights on end playing video games together. One of my fondest memories is completing Secret of Mana on the Super Nintendo as a team."

Even knowing the background of this track doesn't make it feel any less like a song you would hear on alternative radio back when that meant something. It's a very weird piece, and eerie, but it has a very Gothic feel at the same time.

Imagining a team storming Dracula's castle and you might have a perfect encapsulation of what listening to this one is like. Being one of two tracks with vocals helps this mood, too.

7. Main Force Patrol (3:15)

"While producing the album I rewatched all Mad Max movies. The Road Warrior is still my favorite, but I was blown away by the raw energy of the first film, and a title taken from it fitted perfectly to the by far most punk rock track on the album."

The first thing I thought of was DOOM. An invasion takes place and a force equal in intensity, if not number, must fight to repel it. Being the shortest and punchiest track on the album it lends itself well to the interpretation.

Clashing and harsh synth with plenty of speed lends in quite a bit of power and muscle. Of all the songs on the album, this is the one I could most easily hear during a shootout scene in a Chuck Norris movie. It is more than intense enough.

8. Enemy Mine (4:40)

"The lyrics of course can be applied to any relationship. But I wrote this song last year during a phase in which it wasn't clear whether we would be able to keep our beloved dog, a rescued street dog with severe trauma and behavioral disorders. It was a tough period which sent both my girlfriend and myself spiralling from sadness, but ultimately we were able to keep the dog and carry on together. It was only in hindsight that I realized the song is basically about our dog. The title is borrowed from an 80s science fiction film I liked a lot."

The final track actually feels like an ending credit song to a movie where only the main character made it out alive. The vocals hiding in the back of the mix are eerie but the sound of the lonely high pitched synths and driving backing track specifies loneliness above all. It definitely matches the tone of the album and the title.

Its a good piece to end the album on, but it's not quite up there with my personal favorite ending pieces in the genre such as The End of Summer by Megahammer, Take Me Home by Mega Drive, or Hopeless Romantic by FM Attack. The atmosphere matches as does the structure for a closer. It just needed a bit more power to hit that level to reach home, but it still remains a solid end to a very good album.

As a whole Buena Vista is exactly what I look for in the genre. It has varied moods, sounds, and tones, that all coalesce into a unified sound of synth, style, and emotion. 8 tracks of no filler and plenty of hooks to take you to a land of escapism and distant alien sights is exactly what you get here. There isn't much else you could want.

Most of my problem with modern music comes from how empty it has become. Endlessly sappy songs about one night stands and sexual obsession gets old. Repeating sounds that were tired when they were first cranked out back in 1998 doubly so. One of the reasons movements such as these have scratched an itch so well is how much genuine passion and excitement the artists and listeners have for this style that has taken an abandoned torch and forged ahead into new territory with it, burning the cobwebs and overgrowth away in the process.

I was a little worried for the genre at year's start with some appeals to the mainstream that reeked of scrap begging. But with summer on the way I am reminded that the heart of the genre beats loudest when it is brightest and hottest, and this album is a good example as to why. There is still plenty of gas left in the tank.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the sounds of summer. They're not going anywhere anytime soon, and I am grateful for that.

You can find Buena Vista on Soundcloud here and on Bandcamp here.