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Unsung Forum » Whither Vaporwave...? |
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Lugia 970 posts |
Edited Sep 24, 2018, 01:47
Sep 24, 2018, 01:47
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As of late, I've been rather interested/preoccupied with this genre (or microgenre, although I think that's a rather twee term). Some of it doesn't strike my fancy 100%, especially in its 'Future Funk' range. However, there's a large chunk of this that seems as if it fits squarely into the 'Unsung' realm. For those untutored in this genre, 'Vaporwave' is actually a rather broad category of music that encompasses everything from artificially-constructed J-pop to weird, dub-as-filtered-thru-a-shopping-mall-PA, to sludgy, audio-damaged reworkings/manglings of existing pop, to pure digital glitchiness akin to Oval et al. It seems to have an emergence in the early 2010s, but despite many people claiming the genre is 'dead', it persists...and continues to fascinate. Overall, it relies on 'plunderphonic' methods: wholesale thievery of existing audio sources, which then tend to get reconstructed into strange, familiar-yet-not works that often have the feel of somnambulistic, narcotically-drugged Muzak with something not-quite-right about it. Often calming AND unsettling, all at once. Sort of like, say, "Zeit" or "Cyborg"...if they were being experienced as music-on-hold or on the background music at the dentist's. It is VERY underground. As far as I know, only a few projects have ever surfaced in physical media in short runs, snapped up PDQ by an eager listener base. Much of it exists on sites such as Bandcamp and Soundcloud, and given the sketchy copyright issues involved, it's often available for free (although paying if you feel like it is an option). And given all that, it's also quite obscure. Some have claimed that Vaporwave is the first 'post-music' genre, seeing as how it's purely DIY, with no industry involvement save for the occasional copyright takedown, since the main industry is the normal source of the snips and bits being de/reconstructed, and that it requires no studio, no instruments, no musicians...a litany which starts to sound a bit like the liner notes of "Metal Machine Music". Even when the genre vectors over toward dancey zones, there's still some underlying strangeness present...as if one was listening to an android version of Chic that's quite incapable of passing the 'uncanny valley' test. Worth exploring? I think so. True, there's duds in amongst the finer points, but overall I think Vaporwave is an emergent sonic underground, with a lot to be recommended to the HH set. Go forth, then, and experience! And if anything interesting pops up on your radar, make mention, of course.
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phallus dei 583 posts |
Edited Sep 24, 2018, 13:07
Sep 24, 2018, 12:59
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Great write-up on vaporwave! I've also been exploring this genre as of late, though so far, my appreciation is mostly limited to the conceptual / visual level. As an "idea," vaporwave really excites me. I read the whole "vaporwave is dead" meme as a commentary on the genre's plunderphonic, deconstructionist take on late capitalism, where the only "reality" is the augmented reality of the internet, and the only way to escape the nausea of the present is through nostalgia for an imagined past. The covers of vaporwave albums are often very striking too, with their globalized mash-up of different 80s and 90s motifs, offering a snapshot of the world right before social media rendered everything Here, Now, and Obsolete. I'm not too keen on the music, yet, though... Often my interest is piqued for the first few tracks of an album, but then quickly fades. One problem is there's so much of it, and it can be released by anyone, so there's not much quality-control. About the only one I've liked enough to give repeated listens was Surfing's Deep Fantasy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPRa6IDMxD8 But I guess that album is not "pure" vaporwave as it doesn't consist of slowed-down, chopped-up samples but is instead musicians playing in a similar style. Any albums you'd recommend?
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Lugia 970 posts |
Oct 16, 2018, 06:32
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Well, Deep Fantasy definitely hits the spot. Another artist in vaporwave working purely with instruments is Golden Living Room, so this is by no means an isolated incident. Probably one of the finest vaporwave albums...and for that matter, one of the better albums in general I've heard in recent years...has to be 2814's "Birth of a New Day". It tends in the ambient direction, but it has this kaleidoscopic feel to it, like some sort of DMT vision of Tokyo in the rain sometime in the 25th century. It's best experienced like "Zeit"...just kill the lights, let the sounds wash in. Another fave artist is ? ? Corp ...post-data soundscaping tends to be their forte. They also did a very elegiac album in memory of the 9/11 attacks: "NEWS AT 11", but their trippier moments are what works for me, such as on "Palm Mall Mars" or "OASYS ? ???". And then there's t e l e p a t h ????????...a _16 year old_ prodigy of sound manipulation; check "???" as a good example. Granted, yes, some of it is nonsensical post-commercial meandering. But when there are gems amongst the dross, they gleam with a very strange and compelling radiation, indeed!
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phallus dei 583 posts |
Oct 19, 2018, 18:31
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I've been enjoying "Birth of a New Day," thanks for the recommendation. Unlike a lot of vaporwave I've heard, that one really works as an album, with a variety of styles and a clear sense of emotional progression. I also gave a passing listen to Golden Living Room's Welcome Home ep, which was quality ambient. As for ? ? Corp, I think mallsoft is a great idea, and I'm glad it exists, but I've yet to get much out of it...
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