This is part of Creative Loafing Tampa’s new issue, The Year In Music. See and listen to the rest of our top albums here.
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, Stranger Things, Volume One & Volume Two (Lakeshore) It was difficult to talk about culture in 2016, or even buy an Eggo waffle for that matter, without hearing about Netflix’s nostalgic multiversal thrill ride Stranger Things. Sure, it had an interesting premise and kept viewers in suspense, but the show’s unsung hero was its original soundtrack. Composed entirely with analog synthesizers, Dixon and Stein, both members of the Austin band Survive, created a creepier, otherworldly version of the ’80s. They sustain an atmosphere that is at once comfortably sentimental yet never far from paranormal danger, floating between the lucid-dream wonder of “Castle Byers” and the impending-doom boom of the opening theme song. The music serves the purpose of an ideal soundtrack, embodying the show’s characters, setting and plot. In fact, it is practically indistinguishable from the show itself. — Riley Huff
This article appears in Dec 22-29, 2016.
