Ogre – 194

Ogre, also known as Monster! Monster! has established a reputation as an unmissable live performer, sharing the bill with bass music legends such as Caspa, Plastician and Nero. On 194, he nods to his dubstep roots, but the album is principally a retro-futuristic paean to the joys of synth pioneers like John Carpenter and Goblin.

The biggest influence on 194 is undoubtedly Vangelis' Bladerunner score – themes and melodic progressions from that soundtrack make more than one appearance on the album, lifted and re-contextualised, with Ogre's dubstep and hip-hop influenced beat-work updating them for a new generation. 

Unlike, say, Com Truise, who uses a similar palette of influences to construct an entirely new but evocative sound, Ogre's album is more of a tribute, as can be inferred from titles like 2019. An absolute must for lovers of classic synth scores, 194 ranks alongside Geoff Barrow's DROKK as one of the finest examples of cinematic synth music released this year.