Vinyl LP, , Cassette, Compact Disc (CD)
Back in 2016, Chicago-based producer Equip released I Dreamed Of A Palace in the Sky, an epic amalgam of JRPG soundtracks and vaporwave sensibilities that was one of the year’s best in its genre. Now, Equip returns with an even more impressive follow-up, Synthetic Core 88.
As before, Synthetic Core is a loving tribute to the soundtracks of ’90s RPGs like Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, and Chrono Trigger. However, in contrast to the laptop-based simulations of Palace in the Sky, the sophomore effort has been composed using a Roland Sound Canvas 88. First released in 1994, this is the same General MIDI unit that JRPG composers such as Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy) and Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger) used to compose their masterpieces. Its 18-bit output and 654 preset tones may be sonically limited compared to today’s available hardware, but ironically its use makes the album even more resonant and affecting.
Tracks like “Bygone Dreams” and “Flora Awakens” employ compressed, harp-like arpeggios and airy orchestration to create stirring, meditative songs. Together with more rousing, dynamic numbers like “Pontiff’s Pass” and “Synthetic Core 88 Awakens,” they invite a strong sense of narrative and thematic progression, a quality bolstered by Drew Wise’s excellent mecha-inspired visual art.
Equip describes their sounds as “period-accurate.” This is true, but what’s remarkable about the piano-driven “New GAIA” or the tautly atmospheric “Scarred Streets, Oppressed Town” is not only do they sound exactly like an old JPRG, they also dupe the listener into thinking that they’ve played the game it scores before, even though no such game exists. It’s this false remembrance that gives Synthetic Core 88 extra emotional power; the feeling of nostalgia for something that never existed only heightens the album’s rich poignancy.
