Discoteca Imaginaria: In Synth We Trust
01.06.26
Discoteca Imaginaria is an audio docu-series covering the people, places and sounds that have shaped popular music. Each episode transports listeners through history to the greatest club on earth – the disco of our imagination.
Distinguished by its use of synthesizers, drum machines and futuristic sounds, Synth Pop came to prominence in the late 1970s, drawing inspiration from the DIY ethos of punk and the reverberations of avant-garde prog rockers and electronic pioneers. By the 1980s, Synth Pop would emerge as a dominant global phenomenon.
On this episode of Discoteca Imaginara, guest hosts Yutaro Okamiya and Sapi Chhabra “take a ride with their best friend” Mona Dehghan through early Synth Pop – from its experimental roots to its commercial takeover – from Delia Derbyshire to New Order.
Mona Dehghan, Brooklyn based, is the VP of Marketing at Mute and DJs on WFMU Fridays 3-6pm EST.
Sapi Chhabra is an LA-based Film and TV director, writer, and producer, whose credits include the feature film Cypher about rapper Tierra Whack and the long-standing TV series Ancient Aliens. She is also a DJ and former music journalist.
Yutaro Okamiya is an LA-based DJ who grew up on a steady diet of freestyle, r&b, funk, punk, synth pop, goth and Brit pop. He dedicates his sets to finding the places where those worlds musically converge.
Tracklist:
Joe Meek – I Hear A New World Delia Derbyshire – Dr. Who Theme Thomas Leer & Robert Rental – Day Breaks, Night Heals Doris Norton – Personal Computer Kraftwerk – Computer World Chris & Cosey – Tantalize John Foxx – This City Visage – Tar Sparks – Number One Song in Heaven Space – Magic Fly Giorgio Moroder – Chase Depeche Mode – Ice Machine Soft Cell – Torch BREAK John Howard – Tune Into You Mi-Sex – Computer Games Styloo – Pretty Face New Order – Thieves Like Us Blancmange – Game Above My Head Pet Shop Boys – One More Chance (Bobby Orlando Mix) Liaisons Dangereuses – Los Niños del Parque Cabaret Voltaire – Sensoria (7” Version) Human League – Being Boiled (Fast Version) Charlie – Spacer Woman Dead or Alive – Misty Circles (Demo) Boytronic – You (Extended Version) Dominatrix – Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight
