Tracks:
- Red Clouds
- Lost Parade
- Images
- Captain, My Captain
- Aerial Dreams
- Paralyzed
- Hiding
- Glides On
- Another World
- Mad Connection
- Avalanche
syn•the•sist
one who combines diverse conceptions into a coherent whole
It quickly becomes evident upon experiencing the songs of I, Synthesist (a.k.a. composer/producer Chris Ianuzzi) that what you're hearing is indeed a coherent whole, formed from years of musical experience and influence in an artist whose talent and creativity enable him to blend the best of the past and shape the sound of the future.
And what of the influences? You'll hear traces of the pioneers here: Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, Fad Gadget, Ultravox. But the most exciting compound in this joyous chemistry may be the hint of bowie-esque rock sound, even reaching into territory covered by innovative musicians like Bjork.
There's a hit song here, and you'll know it when you hear it. There are remix-ready tracks poised to explode on international dance floors. There are words; Ianuzzi's command of the medium gives life and sound to the twitchy introspection that hovers behind post-millennial shoulders. And there's a lot more where that came from; proof that Chris Ianuzzi knows what he's doing–he knows he's going to keep Synthesizing–which, really, is what music and culture are all about.
A review by Jez Porat, Music editor of Regen Magazine
Chris Ianuzzi, aka “I, Synthesist,” is a phenomenon of the digital age. He is the perfect example of the D.I.Y generation. Not only is his music a flash into the realms of analog synths and romantic landscapes of sound, he has gone to an unbelievable global success by doing it by himself, without anyone backing him up. Sent without even a booklet in plastic wrap, his debut CD Avalanche has crossed the oceans, boundaries and territories, went into distant lands, and made it big for DJs, digital media journalists, Web zines, clubbers and fans of pure retro electronic synthpop music from all over the world. He is so popular, he himself doesn't know how this happened. Well, I say welcome to the D.I.Y of the digital age. Like a slowly building front of snow on a mountainside, this album has rolled and rolled all over the globe, sweeping people one by one, ganining an unbelievable success for this talented new indie artist. No major label, no industry of professional PR, marketing and promotion, nothing. He represents with all its glory the power of music—good music, excellent music. In the digital age there is no need for a brilliant talented artists to be manipulated by the industry; Chris Ianuzzi has proved that. He has been giving an example to everyone and we wish that many will follow in his footsteps.
A Review by MATTIAS HUSS of Release Magazine
I, Synthesist can be counted among the righteous, the torchbearers of artistically ambitious synthpop of this age like French Mortem Vlade Art and the sadly discontinued American band Cosmicity. I grew up listening to Swedish synthpop like Elegant Machinery and Mobile Homes in the nineties, at which time the aforementioned countries weren’t even on the map as far as I was concerned. Today the situation is completely reversed, and the Swedish bands have a lot to learn from these recent releases. Dynamic, heartfelt and inventive, this is music that stands, or at least should be able to stand, on its own even outside its little cozy subculture. ”Avalanche” is simple in style, and very funky in a happier Gary Numan kind of way. New Yorker Chris Ianuzzi hides behind the nom de plume, and if his voice is sometimes strained to hit the notes in the higher and lower register (what record labels like to call a ”personal voice”), the great melodic hooks and bubbly space sounds more than help to compensate for it. Ianuzzi is an experienced electronic musician with some instrumental soundtrack work under his belt, but pop is clearly closest to his heart and he does not let the machines steal even an ounce of pop sensibility away from the album. Lyrics are trippy science fiction stuff about absolutely nothing, conjuring the futuristic atmosphere of the genre. This is, if you will, the audio equivalent of the good natured retro futurism of recent movies like "Steamboy" and ”Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”. Enjoy the ride!