French musician Kavinsky found dead

(euronews.com)

278 points | by bristleworm 4 hours ago

22 comments

  • nicolas_ 2 hours 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 1 hour ago
      Definitely linked to you many times (I ran a blog called ilictronix in high school). Small world! Great posts over the years.
      • nicolas_ 1 hour ago
        Thank you! Small world indeed! I’m glad the blog resonated with people as much as it did. I shared mp3 with friends back then and firmly believed that more people in France and around the world would love the same music as much as we did. Kudos for still posting on yours after all the years. That’s an insane feat! I really wished I kept going but starting my career in Paris in 2014 killed the momentum. I worked on the blog from 6pm to midnight pretty much every day after school and couldn’t do the same once I started working. I’ll bring it back one day! In the meantime, I’ll definitely check ilictronix. Thanks for sharing with the world. Love the MySpace like personal website with flat Eric!
      • JodieBenitez 37 minutes ago
        Ah ! So it was you... I have like 300 mp3s from your blog. Also, Fluokids.
    • w23n 1 hour ago
      Mais non ! J'ai toujours été attristé par la fin de Stop The Noise. Aucune intention de rallumer le flambeau ? :)
      • nicolas_ 1 hour ago
        Haha le crossover HN improbable ! C’était une fin sans vraiment l’être. Je n’ai jamais vraiment fermé le chapitre. L’intention a toujours été la, plein de fois pour être franc. Encore plus récemment. J’ai envie de faire ça bien donc ça prendra un peu de temps mais l’envie est clairement là :)
  • teroshan 3 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 2 hours 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 2 hours ago
        Synthwave genre named after the video game Out Run.
        • bigfishrunning 1 hour 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 hour 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.

            • where-group-by 28 minutes ago
              Synthwave name is more likely to be related various "wave" genres, like Darkwave or Coldwave.
    • throwforfeds 2 hours 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 1 hour 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.
        • throwforfeds 17 minutes ago
          Oh yeah, absolutely. There were tons here in Brooklyn as well, probably because you could pick up a DX7 or a Juno for a few hundred dollars. No one wanted them. I remember one guy gave me a Wurlitzer 200 for free when I went to pickup a Rhodes from him because he just didn't want it.

          But yeah, I still wonder if she was aware of that scene when she was in Paris or not.

  • sha-3 2 hours ago
    His Nightcall performance during the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony got me into Synthwave. Really sad to see him go :(
    • teroshan 1 hour 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 1 hour 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.

  • creaghpatr 3 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 3 hours ago
    Nightcall was kind of the anthem of my life for my early 20s. Still captures a moment. RIP.
  • mrtksn 1 hour ago
    According to the BBC article, he was complaining of headaches since the last few days and authorities believe that he might have had a stroke

    [0] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c204n74xyv3o

  • dgellow 3 hours ago
    Oh non :(

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

  • NDlurker 19 minutes ago
    Oh man, I just started listening to him a few months ago after a recommendation from a colleague.
  • bni 2 hours ago
  • Dependance 2 hours ago
    Encore un que je regrette de ne pas avoir vu. RIP Kavinsky.
  • lenerdenator 21 minutes ago
    A huge loss for synthwave. Thank you for all of the trips back to a more hopeful time in technology.
  • nahimn 1 hour ago
    RIP. Loved this mans music
  • xlii 3 hours ago
  • LightBug1 6 minutes ago
    RIP ... loved his work.

    Glen Hansard gone too.

    Shit day for music. But they'll always live on from their incredible contributions.

  • negativezone 4 hours ago
    Didn't realize he was in his 50s.

    Darn shame.

    • ttoinou 1 hour ago
      Aktchually 50s start at age 51
      • SoftTalker 54 minutes ago
        I'd say they start at 49, as that is the beginning of your 50th year.
        • ratelimitsteve 36 minutes ago
          get enough software people in a room and everything becomes the fencepost problem.
  • mikedd 2 hours ago
    And here I thought today couldn't get any worse. :(
    • achenet 18 minutes ago
      look on the bright side, at least you still have internet!

      (and here would be a great time for Murphy's Law to kick in and your router to decide to stop working all of a sudden)

  • slicktux 3 hours ago
    He was a whole aesthetic and genre. Love his music!

    Rest in peace.

  • usernamed7 3 hours 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 2 hours ago
      Starcardian also died this year - killed in a road accident whilst cycling
      • jimmygrapes 1 hour ago
        Damn didn't know that. I might be the top listener of Interspace on the planet. RIP
  • xvxvx 3 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 3 hours ago
    is there any news or speculation on how ?
    • datakan 2 hours 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 2 hours 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 2 hours ago
          Thanks for clarifying
    • Zealotux 2 hours ago
      Purely speculative but he's been known for his excessive drinking for a while now, sad news.
    • wonderwonder 35 minutes ago
      Authorities believe it was a stroke, he had been complaining of headaches for several days prior.
  • HHalvi 33 minutes ago
    [dead]
  • gizajob 1 hour ago
    [flagged]
    • runjake 54 minutes ago
      > How is this hacker news?

      If it wasn't, it would've been flagged or not voted up, and you wouldn't be here complaining about it. :-P

      > Hundreds of musicians died today.

      Whom? With the status of Kavinsky?

    • dc3k 1 hour ago
      > Hundreds of musicians died today.

      source?