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Vaporwave

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Not to be confused with Vaporware.
Vaporwave
Stylistic originsIdeological
Cyberpunk, satire, punk,[1][2] alternate history, cyberculture, hyperreality
Musical
Chillwave, plunderphonics, city pop, lounge, ambient, chopped and screwed, elevator music, smooth jazz, 1980s dance-pop, funk, nu-disco (especially future funk), R&B and various other types of commercial music
Cultural originsEarly 2010s, Internet culture
Typical instrumentsAudacity, SoundForge, Ableton Live, FL Studio, programming, sampler
Subgenres
Eccojams, Mallsoft, Future funk, Oceangrunge, Vaportrap
Other topics

Vaporwave is a music genre and art style that emerged in the early 2010s from indie dance genres such as seapunk, witch house, and chillwave. Although there is much diversity and ambiguity in its attitude and message, vaporwave sometimes serves as both a critique and a parody of consumerist society, '80s yuppie culture,[3] and new-age music, while acoustically and aesthetically showcasing a curious nostalgic fascination with their artifacts.

Style and origins

Early Vaporwave was first characterized by its heavy use of samples from late 70's, '80s, '90s and early 2000's music, typically lounge, smooth jazz or Muzak.[4] Samples are often pitched, layered or altered in classic chopped and screwed style.[4][5]

The genre emerged in 2011 from online communities, such as Turntable.fm.[4][6] In subsequent years, it gained popularity through websites such as Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Last.fm and 4chan.[1][4] Chuck Person's 2010 release, Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol.1 and James Ferraro's Far Side Virtual are regarded as a "catalyst" for the development of the genre.[7][8]

Imagery associated with early vaporwave included glitch art, Classical sculpture, '90s web design, outmoded computer renderings and classic cyberpunk aesthetics.[9] Use of Japanese characters and other non western writing systems is also prominent. The visual components of works by John Foxx and other electronic musicians from the 1980s are considered influences of the vaporwave aesthetic,[2] as are early 1990s personal website aesthetics and contemporaneous video games such as The Labyrinth of Time, which exhibits a proto-vaporwave aesthetic in its use of colorful, uninhabited and surreal CGI environments.

Interpretations

Vaporwave has been interpreted as a dystopian[10] critique of capitalism[9] in the vein of cyberpunk. Vaporwave can also be seen as a nostalgic obituary to the positive, optimistic image of economic globalization present in the social culture of the 1990s.

Music writer Adam Harper of Dummy Mag describes the genre as "ironic and satirical or truly accelerationist;" he also notes that the name "vaporwave" itself is a nod to both vaporware, products that are announced but never actually manufactured or cancelled, and to the idea of libidinal energy being subjected to relentless sublimation under capitalism.[11]

情報デスクVIRTUAL, alias of Vektroid, describes her album 札幌コンテンポラリー as “a brief glimpse into the new possibilities of international communication” and “a parody of American hypercontextualization of e-Asia circa 1995."[12] Another artist, inspired by the Situationists, describes her work as a degrading of commercial music in an attempt to reveal the "false promises" of capitalism.[11]

One notable feature of vaporwave album art is the absence of the depiction of living humans or animals, instead favoring sterile, uninhabited aesthetic environments.

Primary artists

See also

2

References

  1. ^ a b Harper, Adam (December 5, 2013). "Pattern Recognition Vol. 8.5: The Year in Vaporwave". Electronic Beats. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Lhooq, Michelle (December 27, 2013). "Is Vaporwave The Next Seapunk?". Vice (magazine). Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  3. ^ Szatan, Gabriel (July 22, 2013). "Interview: CFCF on New Age, Japanese Music and the Almighty Panpipe". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d Galil, Leor (February 19, 2013). "Vaporwave and the observer effect". Chicago Reader. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  5. ^ Lhooq, Michelle (December 27, 2013). "Is Vaporwave The Next Seapunk?". Vice. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  6. ^ Parker, James. "Datavis + Forgotten Light Prism Projector". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  7. ^ Blanning, Lisa (April 5, 2013). "James Ferraro - Cold". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  8. ^ Bowe, Miles (October 13, 2013). "Q&A: James Ferraro On NYC's Hidden Darkness, Musical Sincerity, And Being Called "The God Of Vaporwave"". Stereogum. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  9. ^ a b Ward, Christian (January 29, 2014). "Vaporwave: Soundtrack to Austerity". Stylus.com. Retrieved February 8, 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Ham, Robert. "Exo - Gatekeeper". AllMusic. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Harper, Adam (December 7, 2012). "Comment: Vaporwave and the pop-art of the virtual plaza". Dummy. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  12. ^ "情報デスクVIRTUAL - 幌コンテンポラリー". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  13. ^ "AUX Video". Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  14. ^ a b Adam Harper (October 11, 2014). "System Focus: The Evolution of the Voice in the Digital Landscape". Fader.
  15. ^ Steven J. Horowitz (September 29, 2014). "Vaporwave 'Ambassador' Saint Pepsi Admits His Obsession With 'Degrassi' and Drake". Billboard.
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