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Whither Vaporwave...?
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phallus dei
583 posts

Edited Sep 24, 2018, 13:07
Re: Whither Vaporwave...?
Sep 24, 2018, 12:59
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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