#faewave

[cyberpunkonline]

10 CYBERPUNK ARTISTS THAT'LL JACK INTO YOUR SKULL AND REWRITE YOUR TASTE IN MUSIC

Your auditory implants won’t know what hit ‘em.

Right then, reader — pull up your faux-leather trousers and strap on your chrome-plated headphones. We’re blasting through the corrupted circuits of the 2025 underground, bringing you 10 contemporary artists who sound like they’re scoring a riot in Neo-Tokyo while being hacked in real time. Yes, there’s synths. Yes, there’s screaming. No, Grimes isn’t on this list.

MACHINE GIRL Genre: Gabberpunk, Cybercore, ADHD-core Ever wanted to be mugged in a server room by a rave demon? Machine Girl has you covered. It’s breakbeats plus punk plus absolute chaos. Every track is a manic assault from a frothing modem on fire. Start with “MG Ultra” — it's like doing parkour through a collapsing arcade. Machine Girl is a project from New York-based Matt Stephenson, who started it in 2013. What began as breakcore mutated fast into a multi-genre freakout. Live performances are frenzied, sweaty, and borderline ritualistic, often featuring live drums and mosh pit energy in tiny venues. Bandcamp: https://machinegirl.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0WwSkZ7LtFUFjGjMZBMt6T

TENGUSHEE Genre: Faewave, Electrofolk, Cyberdrift, Post-Ratcore This glitching shadow-beast of the net is what happens if a faerie takes too many digital drugs and starts a resistance movement in a cursed VR chatroom. Tengushee doesn’t just cross genres — they light them on fire, digitise the ashes, and make a concept album out of it. Expect story-driven drops, haunted samplers, and the occasional whisper from the void. Tengushee operates like a ghost in the wires, often dropping full-concept albums with narrative arcs tied to multimedia projects, zines, or even encoded tone signals. Based somewhere between London and Faewave, their work includes collaborations with glitch-artists and mythmakers, crafting a world as deep as it is weird. Bandcamp: https://tengushee.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5pPzJk8q2YbVRo3dEiE5rZ

PERTURBATOR Genre: Darksynth, CyberGoth Former black metal guitarist turns synth wizard and soundtracks the end of civilisation in style. Every track feels like the opening credits to a forbidden anime you found on a hacked VHS tape. His recent albums dip into goth rock, coldwave, and grim industrial — a sonic warehouse rave thrown inside a haunted monolith. James Kent is the man behind Perturbator, rising out of the French synthwave explosion in the early 2010s. What set him apart was the sheer cinematic density of his work, as well as his willingness to evolve. His later albums feel like full-blown existential crises scored with analog doom. Bandcamp: https://perturbator.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0O02jvPzKT1kQEYg5XEqRA

GUNSHIP Genre: Synthwave with Dad Issues Think “Stranger Things” but horny for Blade Runner. GUNSHIP slaps synth arpeggios across your face while whispering movie references into your ear. Songs like “Tech Noir” and “Dark All Day” are pure neon cocaine. Bonus points for the video with Tim Capello, the sax guy from The Lost Boys. Formed in the UK, GUNSHIP emerged from the ashes of alternative rock band Fightstar. What they lacked in punk energy, they made up for with lush synth arrangements and cinematic ambition. With vocal guests ranging from horror icons to YouTube animators, they’re a love letter to analog future-fantasies. Bandcamp: https://gunshipmusic.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3dD9W6Gh8Mo9Tu4S7ydz8q

SHREDDER 1984 Genre: Darksynth, CyberMetal French producer who mashes heavy metal energy into a screaming cyberpunk blender. His album "Dystopian Future" is all dark atmosphere and adrenaline. This is music for doing squats with a neural interface strapped to your head. Shredder 1984 is exactly what it says on the tin: shred. A project born from metal roots but raised on VHS aesthetics and neon grime, Shredder builds tracks that feel like boss fights in an underground data vault. Occasionally throws in face-melting guitar solos for good measure. Bandcamp: https://shredder1984.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2YlR5FzF4XWgeXGxR2b3Vh

REVOLTING PUPPETS Genre: Cyberpunk Punk These Swiss psychos deliver rebellious punk fused with grinding electronics. The kind of band that would stage-dive into a riot squad. Add in LED helmets and maximum cyber attitude and you’ve got a live act worth risking a black eye for. Born in Bern, Switzerland, the Puppets are part cyber-art project, part live-action political tantrum. The band leans hard into performance art, complete with backstories and a lore-rich website that feels like an ARG. Think Rage Against the Machine, but upgraded with malware. Website: http://revoltingpuppets.com

CLIPPING. Genre: Sci-fi Horror Rap Experimental hip hop trio fronted by Daveed Diggs that brings tales of malfunctioning AIs, haunted ships, and cosmic terror over glitch-heavy beats. Their albums feel like audio novellas for doomed protagonists. Start with "There Existed an Addiction to Blood" or "Visions of Bodies Being Burned." clipping. formed in Los Angeles, with William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes providing the surgical, abrasive production. Their use of silence, static, and horror tropes makes them unique in the rap world. And yes, Diggs was in Hamilton, but don’t let that fool you — these guys write soundtracks for existential dread. Bandcamp: https://clppng.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7cNNNhdJDrt3vgQjwSavNf

BEAST IN BLACK Genre: Cyber Metal, Synth Power If you're into big riffs, bigger vocals, and synths that sound like they were mined from an alien war machine, Beast in Black delivers. Their album "Dark Connection" is basically a concept record about AI girlfriends and cyber-samurai. Finnish-Greek metal band formed by former Battle Beast guitarist Anton Kabanen, Beast in Black are unapologetically bombastic. They mix anime aesthetics with power metal drama, and if you can get past the over-the-top vocals, you’ll find a band that gets how to marry synths with shredding. Website: https://beastinblack.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5wJ1z2KgFvb1GQ9ApnFlog

OKLOU Genre: Glitchpop, Cyberambient A softer, prettier ghost in the machine. Oklou blends vaporous vocals with ambient electronics and medieval fantasy energy. It’s like if a fairy princess got lost inside a Sega Dreamcast. Oklou is the moniker of French artist Marylou Mayniel. With classical music training and a background in club culture, she creates tracks that are emotionally dense but digitally fragile. Her work occupies the misty edges of cyberpunk, where romance and signal loss overlap. Bandcamp: https://oklou.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1FqqOl9itIUpXr4jZPIVoT

NAZAR Genre: Deconstructed Club, Warwave Amsterdam-based producer with beats sharp enough to cut through reinforced concrete. Inspired by war, trauma, and classic cyberpunk anime. His upcoming album "Demilitarize" might be the most realistic sonic vision of future conflict you’ll hear this year. Nazar was born in Angola and raised in Europe, and his music reflects that blend of postcolonial tension and Western club evolution. His productions on labels like Hyperdub use field recordings, mechanical rhythms, and unflinching political commentary. Harsh, heavy, and honest. Bandcamp: https://nazarmusic.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1pQWsZQehhS4wavwh7Fe8D

[razzyoftherats]

PIXELS, PIXIES & POWER-UPS: A FULL-ON LADS MAG RETROSPECTIVE ON FAERIES IN VIDEO GAMES

Alright, lads—grab your joysticks, fire up those dusty consoles, and pop open a cold one because we're diving head-first into a wild and whimsical world: the history of faeries in video games. From sparkly, winged sprites delivering 8-bit wisdom, to mystical enchantresses that'll charm your PS1 polygons off—faeries have played a bigger part in your gaming life than you probably realised. Let's rewind, mash start, and give these tiny heroes their due respect.

Level 1: The 8-Bit Sprites (NES, Master System & C64)

Back when your controller only had two buttons and life was simpler, faeries were there dishing out sweet bonuses. Remember that floaty little faerie in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on the NES? Yeah, the tiny blue fairy was basically your life-support, reviving your sorry arse whenever you got smashed by a stalfos for the thousandth time.

Then there was Bubble Bobble—those happy little dragon dudes blowing bubbles all day and rescuing their girlfriends turned human again by faerie magic. The arcade classic Gauntlet featured a faerie companion too, tagging along, giving you mad invincibility bonuses and making sure Death didn't rip your limbs off too early.

It wasn't Shakespeare, but fairies back then were proper lifesavers—cheeky little angels of mercy that stopped your parents from tossing your NES out the window in frustration.

Level 2: The 16-Bit Revolution (Mega Drive, SNES & Amiga)

The 16-bit era was peak faerie hype, lads. You got more colours, bigger wings, and even cheekier personalities. Let's start with Secret of Mana (SNES). Popoi, the sprite companion, was a fae legend—slamming spells, mocking bosses, and making your journey through Mana’s gorgeous pixel-landscape actually fun. Sure, technically a "sprite," but we know a faerie when we see one.

Meanwhile, Sega’s Shining Force II (Mega Drive) had Sarah, the adorable healing faerie. Without her, your battle strategy would've been "run away crying," every time.

Amiga fans will remember Faery Tale Adventure, where you'd rescue pixies from evil wizards while running about looking like an absolute fantasy lad. Pure 16-bit gold.

Level 3: Enter the Polygons (PS1, N64, Sega Saturn)

Fast-forward to the glorious PS1 era—the golden age of awkward polygons and dodgy voice acting. Faeries got sassier and strangely sexier. Who could forget Spyro the Dragon (PS1)? Those pesky little fairy checkpoint guardians giving you kisses, making your dragon lad blush brighter than the controller’s buttons. Class.

And if we're talking faeries, you've got to bow down to the queen herself: Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64). "Hey, Listen!" was etched into your brain forever. Sure, she annoyed the absolute piss out of you, but you'd be dead in Hyrule without her incessant nagging. Love or hate her, she defined that era.

Also, honourable mention to Rayman, where Betilla the Fairy gave you essential moves like helicopter-hair gliding. Yeah, faeries gave us helicopter hair—how's that for legacy?

Level 4: Faeries Go Mainstream (PS2, Xbox & GameCube)

By the PS2 era, faeries were going Hollywood. Let's talk Jak and Daxter (PS2)—the sages, the Precursor Orbs, and a heavy sprinkle of pixie magic. Naughty Dog knew faeries weren't just fluffy: these winged fellas packed attitude, magic, and laughs.

Then there’s Dark Cloud—who could resist Xiao, the half-cat, half-faerie sharpshooter? Deadly with a slingshot and basically your best pal when rebuilding an entire world, faerie style.

Even Xbox players got their slice of faerie pie with Fable, where magical sprites and mischievous pixies mocked your decisions to save or massacre entire towns. Moral choices? Nah, just banter from glowing winged beings.

Level 5: HD Pixie Power (Xbox 360, PS3 & PC)

The Xbox 360 and PS3 generation took faeries and made them downright cinematic. Take Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning—packed with fae courts, fate-weaving, and more glowy wings than a Vegas nightclub. These faeries were serious warriors, not just glitter-spraying mascots.

And let’s not overlook Dragon Age: Origins. The mysterious and somewhat psychotic Lady of the Forest was basically a woodland fae who made you question your entire life choices with every dialogue branch. Deep stuff.

Even classics like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) featured Spriggans—woodland faeries with a taste for violence and literally turning trees against you. Faeries weren’t just cute anymore; they’d grown teeth, claws, and questionable moral compasses.

Level 6: Modern Magic (PS4, Xbox One, Switch & PC)

Today, faeries are still living it large. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt made faeries cool again—though usually nightmarish and likely to eat your face. Ever seen a Godling? Johnny the Godling, a cheeky spirit-fae lad, was pure gold, helping Geralt find his way while being delightfully creepy.

Ori and the Blind Forest redefined pixie-like gameplay—beautiful, emotional, and harder than your mate's new year's resolution. Ori’s forest spirits were faeries in all but name, turning grown men into blubbering messes.

Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild brought back Great Fairies as fabulous, over-the-top, absolutely mental pixies who buffed Link's gear while creepily laughing like maniacs. Fair play Nintendo—those faeries left a lasting impression.

And let's give an indie shoutout: Hollow Knight. Dark, moody, and faerie-infested—this modern Metroidvania showed us a whole new world of grimdark pixie legends.

Summary: Small Wings, Massive Impact

From pixelated 8-bit rescuers to modern-day dark fantasy warriors, faeries have evolved alongside gaming itself. They began as humble power-ups and mascots, transitioned into complex, funny, and sometimes terrifying characters that gave your adventures soul, sass, and sparkle.

Next time you encounter one of these tiny heroes, raise your pint (or controller) in respect. Faeries aren’t just extras in your gaming story—they're bona fide legends, fully deserving their place alongside the likes of Mario, Master Chief, and Solid Snake.

So cheers, lads, to the pixies, sprites, and fair folk who’ve charmed, saved, and sometimes annoyed the absolute hell out of us for decades.

Game on, faeries—game bloody on.

Raz

[tengushee]

⦓ YOU DON’T PROMOTE GH0STN3T. IT LEAKS.

⧗ GH0STN3T DOESN’T RELEASE MUSIC. IT CONTAMINATES SIGNALS.

⫷ GH0STN3T ISN’T A LABEL. IT’S A RESIDUE.

⦓ THESE AREN’T TRACKS. THEY’RE INFECTIONS.

⧖ YOU DIDN’T STREAM THAT. YOU TUNED IN BY ACCIDENT.

⍾ GH0STN3T ARTISTS DON’T DROP MUSIC. THEY BROADCAST WARNINGS.

⦓ YOU’RE NOT A FAN. YOU’RE A NODE.

⎐ WELCOME TO THE ARCHIVE. THERE IS NO GOING BACK.

⧖ FAEWAVE WAS THE DREAM. GH0STN3T IS THE GLITCH.

↯ cult.cyberpunkonline.net/gh0stn3t

[gh0stn3t]

⦓ YOU DON’T PROMOTE GH0STN3T. IT LEAKS.

⧗ GH0STN3T DOESN’T RELEASE MUSIC. IT CONTAMINATES SIGNALS.

⫷ GH0STN3T ISN’T A LABEL. IT’S A RESIDUE.

⦓ THESE AREN’T TRACKS. THEY’RE INFECTIONS.

⧖ YOU DIDN’T STREAM THAT. YOU TUNED IN BY ACCIDENT.

⍾ GH0STN3T ARTISTS DON’T DROP MUSIC. THEY BROADCAST WARNINGS.

⦓ YOU’RE NOT A FAN. YOU’RE A NODE.

⎐ WELCOME TO THE ARCHIVE. THERE IS NO GOING BACK.

⧖ FAEWAVE WAS THE DREAM. GH0STN3T IS THE GLITCH.

↯ cult.cyberpunkonline.net/gh0stn3t

[tengusheeinteractive]

Big week for the boss.

@Tengushee — founder of this weird little dev lab and architect of Faewave — just landed a full six-page spread in the latest issue of Amiga Point of View magazine.

Inside: glitch rituals, audio myth, Faewave menus, and how it all loops back into the storytelling systems we’re building here at Tengushee Interactive.

📼 It’s surreal. It’s printed. It smells like the 90s and probably boots in Workbench. We’re proud. Not gonna lie.

📟 Grab a copy here: https://apov.itch.io/apov6

[dospunksdao]

High tech, low life - you can't stop the signal.

April showers bring The House of The Rat, The Host of The Raven, The Order of Echo, and The Cult of The Fox. Wait what?

It's Friday the 13th, and @DOSPunksNFT welcomes @Tengushee as the @DOSPunksDAO May 2022 Artist of the Month! Join us as we journey through The Endless City and explore The Endless Chronicles with Tengushee.

Stay tuned to the VOCC Network for more DOS Punks DAO updates this month.

#faewave is now.

[frogndtoad]

1-5? :O

Femme or butch? -¯\_(ツ)_/¯  (dont rlly connect to either atm at least)

Do you have a “type”? If so, describe it - Girls.

Plaid button-ups or leather jackets? - im always a sucker for a good jacket, altho i would like to at some point acquire both of these

Describe your style - half floral half gremlin? i rlly want to acquire more button-downs (esp this one) and a good pair of boots but currently i shift between wearing the same jeans and school hoodie for a week and wearing (soft and comfy) very floral dresses and body glitter( with big jacket and sneakers still lmao)

Describe your aesthetic - edgy librarian with a touch of plant gremlin

[lichen-punk]

shuffle tag!

I was tagged by @the-thirteenthhour​

Rules: Shuffle your music library and list the first 10 songs. Tag 20 people.

Tesselate - alt-J

Paint It Black - Rolling Stones

I Can’t Dance - Genesis 

Give It To Me - The J. Geils Band

Banghra Bros - Firewater

Charmed, I’m Sure - Circus Contraption

The Ramblin’ Rover - Silly Wizard

The Ghost of Stephen Foster - Squirrel Nut Zippers

I Know What I Know - Paul Simon

The Parish of Dunkeid/The Curlew - Silly Wizard

i do not have 20 friends but im tagging as many as i can @cassmatazz @faewave @mewrl @metamagics thats basically it

[razzyoftherats]

“OH, SO NOW YOU ALL CARE.”

Look at this.

@tengushee — yes, that Tengushee — just got six pages in Amiga Point of View.Print. Physical. Realer than real. Smells like ozone and decade-old coffee.

They call it a feature. I call it a time capsule you weren’t ready for.

He talks about Faewave like it’s always been here. Like it didn’t have to claw its way through static and sleepless nights and cursed export settings and haunted DAWs to exist. Like the world always had a name for it. Spoiler: it didn’t. He gave it one.

I was there for some of it, yeah. Not gonna lie. I’ve seen the maps, the raw footage, the stuff that never made it out of his drive. We’ve argued about sample rates and dream logic and UI grammar at 3AM over cold tea and older sins. And we’ve... well.

Let’s just say I know the taste of the myth before it was pressed to vinyl.

I’ve seen him code a song into a dropdown menu and cry because it sounded like a memory no one had.

I’ve watched him glitch footage into meaning. I’ve heard the music he made for the things that haven’t happened yet.

So yeah — you should go read it.

But don’t get it twisted. This isn’t the start.

This is the leak. The ripple from the stone he threw ten years ago. This is the moment you realise the water was never still.

Read it: https://apov.itch.io/apov6

Frame it if you must.

But know — Faewave was always watching.

— R A Z

[tengushee]

📼 THEY PUT ME IN A MAGAZINE. Six pages. Full spread. Print smells like old circuitry and dead languages.

🕷️ I talk about Faewave. About UI as altar. About menus that hum when no one’s looking. 🌀 It’s all in Amiga Point of View. A glitch in a dead format. A mixtape pressed to pulp. An artifact for the dreamers, the static kids, the post-signal romantics.

📟 Get it here: https://apov.itch.io/apov6

[gh0stn3t]

💀 GHOSTNET RECORDS: BIRTH OF THE DEAD-LINK SYNDICATE

Filed by: Redacted Agent | NODE: Unverified | CLASS: Signal Echo One-Shot

They said music was dead.

The bodies of the old industry lay rotting in the sun — platinum plaques turned to dust, labels eaten from within by corporate data-mines and focus-grouped pop ghosts. The algorithms fed on rhythm. And still, something screamed from underneath.

Gh0stn3t wasn’t born. It was recovered.

A fragment in the wire. A haunted URL that refused to be deleted. A reel-to-reel hiss pulled from a blackout zone on the edge of the Midnight Zone. Some say it began as a rogue archive buried in the server-sprawl of a forgotten forum. Others whisper it was seeded by a cult of displaced Fae, caught between realms and channeling their pain through corrupted WAV files.

But the truth is irrelevant now. The signal is active.

Gh0stn3t Records is not a label. It is a syndicate of lost frequencies, a network of sound necromancers and Faewave shamans who rebuild reality through reverb and ruin. Its artists aren’t signed — they’re summoned. Pulled from fractured timelines, spliced into this present with all their distortion intact.

Each release is a ritual, a distortion layer in the war against sterilized culture. Each artist a node in a growing net of untraceable noise. This is underground in the oldest sense — sub-aural, sub-legal, sub-real.

From the hell-drenched darksynth of GlitchGr4ve, to the haunted high-gloss pulses of Tengushee, the ravepunk dirges of 51 Ghost Dogs, and the prophetic grime-tech chants of R A Z — Gh0stn3t’s roster doesn’t share a sound. They share an affliction.

They remember the before-times. And they know what’s coming next.

In a world sleepwalking into AI drivel, dopamine-core trends, and the erasure of soul from song, Gh0stn3t doesn’t offer an escape.

It offers a weapon.

Sound as sabotage. Myth as medium. Music as malware.

You can’t stream this. You have to tune in. And once you’re inside, there’s no going back.

Welcome to Gh0stn3t.

We were always here.

💽 FOR IMMEDIATE PIRATION. SHADOW-CIRCULATE. BURN COPIES. RECRUIT VIA NOISE.

[planetbass]

@faewave RIGHT and also the keys (at least to me) dont really... feel like they match up with any of the music in most parts?

[foureyesbitchdragon]

purple.............

Oh heck I didn’t see this till now, thank u

purple1)what’s your astrological sign?♑️Capricorn♑️

2)what’s the best piece of advice you ever received?Jus fukin doit

3)when’s the last time you followed your instincts?Trying to look for my phone

4)what’s your favorite food?Mint chip ice cream!

5)what’s your secret dream?One time I dreamt Crush-At-The-Time tried to kiss me and I punched them

[adversitygames]

RT @Tengushee: 2020. The signal has arrived. Join us. #Faewave #techart #art #cyberpunk #fairytales #stories #poetry #mu #tao #trywithouttrying https://t.co/Gptue4FCdR https://t.co/eGnBOcGQqh

2020. The signal has arrived. Join us.#Faewave #techart #art #cyberpunk #fairytales #stories #poetry #mu #tao #trywithouttryinghttps://t.co/Gptue4FCdR pic.twitter.com/eGnBOcGQqh

— Tengushee (@Tengushee) January 11, 2020

from Twitter https://twitter.com/adversitygames

[animated-axolotl]

tag game i’m actually doing in a reasonable time??? fuc k??

tagged by @politebotanist god bless ya

here’s my 10 current fave songs, there’s no real order i just like em’

Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice (i like chill ‘60s beach rock ok get off my back)

Absofacto - Dissolve

Blank Banshee - Teen Pregnancy

jinsang - feelings.

Calvin Harris - Feels

Glenn Miller & The Modernaires - Elmer's Tune (cause of a certain ‘80s horror cult classic i watched recently)

Cosmo Sheldrake - Solar (btw i fukkin love cosmo sheldrake and his sea shanty vibe)

The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon

Soft Cell - Tainted Love

Foster the People - Helena Beat

i’ll tag @spideryspade @sicatipl @four-eyes-bitch-dragon @bandaidfingers(cause you tagged me in one of these like months ago and it’s still sitting up in my pinned tabs to-do which i clearly keep very up-to-date with) @faewave @kittensinsocks24 and @sombysomby

[shikantazaart]

Who is the Queen of Rats?

The Queen of Rats (also known as the Queen of Hearts, The Princess of Fallen Tears etc.) is a member of The High Council, a known friend and ally of The God-Emperor since long before the War in the Dreaming (perhaps even as far back as The Age of Magic), the head of The House of the Rat and the single most powerful entity other than The God-Emperpor openly active after The War in the Dreaming - she is even more powerful than The High Queen (of equal Fae court standing) Eris according to Fae historical notes and Eris is more often than not classified a literal God. Even Lord Echo appears to give her a wide berth (it is rumoured that at some stage in the distant past The Queen actually conquered Wonderland and took control from Lord Echo during either a personal spat or as some action in a past inter-Fae war; this is not brought up in polite conversation or at court and so cannot be confirmed). She is currently the ruler of both The Endless City and The City of Hearts at the behest of The God-Emperor having "relieved" The Raven of his dominion of The Endless City by rescuing him from a large assault on the city by Rebels and then simply never leaving (he vowed allegiance on sight as it happened, it was a deal done "in the moment" he first laid eyes on her - a not uncommon reaction to the presence of a Sidhe High Queen).

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE?