French musician Kavinsky found dead

nicolas_ 1 hour ago |

I ran a fairly popular electronic music blog [1] in France between 2009 and 2014 and met him multiple times. I’m really sad he’s no longer with us. He was an icon of this bloghouse era with the Ed Banger crew. Rest in peace Vinco, you’ll be missed.

I can’t say I’m surprised though as most DJs during that era were known to abuse all kinds of substances and had to manage a non existent sleep schedule, long flights all around the world, and jet lag. It takes a toll on your body.

The entire industry is sharing stories about him today and The Toxic Avenger (Simon) shared a funny one about a set in Zurich https://x.com/toxavanger/status/2082434657300177372

[1] https://www.stopthenoise.fr/

jordanscales 16 minutes ago | |

Definitely linked to you many times (I ran a blog called ilictronix in high school). Small world! Great posts over the years.

teroshan 2 hours ago |

He's rightly credited as having participated in the popularization of the musical and visual "Synthwave" aesthetic:

https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Synthwave

taejavu 1 hour ago | |

There’s a while sub genre of synthwave named after his album OutRun. Which, by the way, is best experienced while driving on the highway at night.

https://www.reddit.com/r/outrun/

uncivilized 48 minutes ago | | |

Synthwave genre named after the video game Out Run.

bigfishrunning 15 minutes ago | | |

Is it possible that both the album and the genre are named after the video game? or it could be some kind of chain (genre->album->video game)

Now i just want to play outrun. I wonder if there's an arcade nearby...

toyg 1 minute ago | | |

The videogame is from the '80s; it became iconic partially because it allowed players to choose the music to listen to "in the car", all of them synths (obviously), and one of the songs you could choose was called "Splash Wave".

Folks like Kavinsky later (re)popularized synths and made explicit throwbacks to the game, like the album name. I don't know where the term "Synthwave" came from, but it does look like one of those throwbacks.

throwforfeds 34 minutes ago | |

I'm only just now realizing that Beach House [1] might also have picked up on that synth aesthetic because the lead singer's father is French and she was in Paris for school in the early 2000s before coming back to the states to go to Vassar (she went to school with some of my friends). It probably was percolating around Paris at that time.

But also 80s synths were just really cheap around then. I picked up a Juno 60 with a flight case for around $400, including shipping, in about 2002.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_House

evanelias 13 minutes ago | | |

Interesting theory, but fwiw synths were quite popular among the Baltimore music scene throughout the 00s. Besides Beach House, there was Dan Deacon, Future Islands, Celebration, among others. Lake Trout was another example, although a few years earlier / different scene. Ditto with Cex.

sha-3 33 minutes ago |

His Nightcall performance during the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony got me into Synthwave. Really sad to see him go :(

teroshan 18 minutes ago | |

Between letting Kavinsky play at the closing ceremony [0] and Gojira play at the opening ceremony [1], I really can't applaud and thank Thomas Jolly enough for directing the 2024 Olympic ceremonies.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSayp2tArqA

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Iv5kq93K4

moralestapia 11 minutes ago | | |

That Gojira opening has been the most EPIC ceremony I've seen anywhere.

I remember I got so excited that I started jumping on my couch and accidentally knocked over a stand with my collectibles and food. Five-second rule, so I still ate my nuggets afterward, hehe. My partner complained a lot, but... some of these things... only a few of us get. Gojira is definitely not for everybody. It's an acquired taste that only a select few of us get to enjoy.

Thomas is a true visionary. Everything he has done since he was born has been revolutionary. The world of artistic direction has been changed forever.

creaghpatr 2 hours ago |

Loved "Nightcall", shame to lose him. It was a was a happy surprise to see him get a feature at the 2024 closing ceremonies, RIP.

reedf1 2 hours ago |

Nightcall was kind of the anthem of my life for my early 20s. Still captures a moment. RIP.

TacticalCoder 2 hours ago | |

I'm a big fan of french electro and Kavinsky is no exception: I discovered him and his Nightcall hit through the soundtrack of the movie Drive.

IIRC he got into electronic music late in his life after a friend gave him a long-outdated Atari ST running Cubase (DAW).

RIP.

technics256 1 hour ago | | |

Same here! Any recommendations for newer french electro artists?

scns 1 hour ago | | |

Carpenter Brut

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9e7gmwejeGr7aqhn9A4h...

Maxime Dangles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsyQZip5xLI

Arnaud Rebotini

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKRfDdsPewQ

Terence Fixmer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqPzHloXppc

Mödern (6 & 7 are good too IMO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lbZzeBe_JQ&list=PLmmhQqegVx...

Lazerhawk - Redline (not french but my favourite Synthwave album)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYc-KHaHGswVjvp4UuqBY...

noir_lord 1 hour ago | | |

Wouldn’t say newer as have been around a while but French79 (start with Hometown) are brilliant.

iammjm 1 hour ago | | |

+1 for French79, especially his album “Olympic” (2016)

NikolaNovak 1 hour ago | | |

I enjoy Vitalic, not sure if he's newer but has decent body of work :)

nolok 1 hour ago | | |

Newer is not specifically it since I'm getting a bit too "old / nostalgia" now, but here is a small list (songs chosen are not specifically their biggest but ones I like to come back to)

French79

- Hometown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAv5pLO37mE

NTO

- Invisible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFIcEwCPWZ8

Worakls

- Trauma Worakls Remix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6QFfmwFT3k&list=RDf6QFfmwFT...

- Salzburg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tTber0f8qc&list=RD_tTber0f8...

Uppermost

- sooo many ... Dance is iconic to me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TeOByrJgak

- Flashback https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZAECHHJ8U4

- but his Revolution album gives a good walk around https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83zdpv_ovow

Gesaffelstein

- Hate or Glory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_NgkfRmUPk

- Viol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYtpobVmYY4

M83

- you probably already know them, but Outro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyjj8BgsBGU

Danger

- 4h30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVUo4W4XFiI (my personnal king of "you had to be there", thus a live music exemple)

Justice

- Stress (warning it and its clip are true to its name, it got awards, it got also banned from primetime) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWaWsgBbFsA

- D.A.N.C.E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy1dYFGkPUE

Or a ton more really, JM Jarre / Daft Punk / David Guetta really help breed an insane french electro scene each on their own way.

EDIT: in a Kavinsky thread I feel like I should include

Carpenter Brut

- Turbo Killer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er416Ad3R1g

- Le Perv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYtVf0wvPpc

Pertubator

- Future Club (you know it from Hotline Miami) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY66fdMt4vc

maxverse 1 hour ago | | |

Would throw Air in there, though it's more chillout/triphop than techno:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBVK7Z9AyNM&list=RDZBVK7Z9Ay...

scns 48 minutes ago | | |

My fave b N'to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPpPRFEXWwQ

awkwardleon 1 hour ago | | |

Thanks for this! I created a Spotify list for future reference: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3QbfwerjjiFUvip6Xbkbq6?si=...

nosmokewhereiam 1 hour ago | | |

Danger and justice! Great mentions!

shaoner 1 hour ago | | |

Adding Lewis Ofman, Sebastian and Paradis

johnsutor 1 hour ago | | |

Not exactly new but newer, Polo and Pan are great.

hypendev 1 hour ago | |

It really hit a specific vibe. RIP to a legend.

dgellow 2 hours ago |

Oh non :(

Sa musique est une source d’inspiration fantastique, c’est vraiment une triste nouvelle

bni 1 hour ago |

I like this interview with him from 2008 https://foolsgoldrecs.com/2008/09/17/fools-gold-qa-vol2-kavi...

Dependance 1 hour ago |

Encore un que je regrette de ne pas avoir vu. RIP Kavinsky.

xlii 1 hour ago |

https://youtu.be/MV_3Dpw-BRY

neom 42 minutes ago | |

The breakbot remix is fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRBqhU1juaM

mikedd 1 hour ago |

And here I thought today couldn't get any worse. :(

negativezone 2 hours ago |

Didn't realize he was in his 50s.

Darn shame.

slicktux 1 hour ago |

He was a whole aesthetic and genre. Love his music!

Rest in peace.

usernamed7 1 hour ago |

A true loss for synthwave music. His music was amazing and rich and exciting in a way that many artists fail to reach.

jbreckmckye 54 minutes ago | |

Starcardian also died this year - killed in a road accident whilst cycling

jimmygrapes 8 minutes ago | | |

Damn didn't know that. I might be the top listener of Interspace on the planet. RIP

xvxvx 2 hours ago |

Terrible news. His retro-synth sound was amazing. Had tickets to see him live many years ago and he cancelled the tour.

KageFX 1 hour ago |

is there any news or speculation on how ?

datakan 1 hour ago | |

"The Paris prosecutor's office said that "an investigation to establish the causes of death" had been opened, noting that no suspect was found at the scene on Tuesday evening."

Its a strange announcement.

n_e 1 hour ago | | |

It's a mistranslation, the original quote is "Une enquête en recherche des causes de la mort est ouverte afin de déterminer l’origine du décès, aucun élément suspect n’ayant été découvert sur place par les services primo-intervenants. Les investigations sont en cours", which translates to "no suspicious element was found", not "no suspect was found"

datakan 1 hour ago | | |

Thanks for clarifying

Zealotux 1 hour ago | |

Purely speculative but he's been known for his excessive drinking for a while now, sad news.