Tag: Longform

Album Review: VHS LOUNGE – vcr-classique

Posted on by Stu
vcr-classique 1

Album Review

VHS LOUNGE
By: vcr-classique

Written By: Stuad^Dib

As exhausting as living in the 21st century often is, it’s little wonder that vaporwave in general – and late-night lofi in particular – is so preoccupied with escapist themes of luxury and relaxation. Filtering and refining smooth jazz and funk through gauzy layers of time, the subgenre creates a safe place to forget one’s troubles and while away the hours in opulence. VHS LOUNGE aims to be that place and it mostly succeeds, though the effect is diminished as many of the samples are too sedate and uniform to linger in memory. Still, the experience is a short but enjoyable respite from life’s ever-present stresses.

vcr-classique 1
Album Art By: vcr-classique

We begin already immersed in the lounge’s comforts, quietly taking in the night’s beauty. We wonder for a moment how long we’ve been here, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Before long, the smooth, jazzy saxophone and flute in “SYMPATHY” cause us to relax even further, sinking into our cozy seat and drifting into sleep. Punctuating our descent with its driving rhythm, “RESONANCE” lends a more active tone with an edge of mystery. Perhaps we’re on an adventure, serenely plumbing the depths of our imagination?

Eventually, our inner journey fades into obscurity as we ease back into wakefulness, and we notice that it’s still dark out. Have we slept only a few hours or for an entire day? Either way, we feel well-rested. Cued by the relaxed, muted trumpet of “JOURNAL,” we luxuriate in the lounge’s pleasures a while longer before slowly deciding to go “STEPPIN’ OUT” into the city, ready to party all night long.

Strutting through the crowd, the funky melody and horns reflect our confidence before giving way to the seductive sounds of “BLUSH.” The crooning saxophone and wah-heavy guitar suggest our display has caught the eye of another lounger who wishes to spend the night with us. More than a physical affair, though, “INTERLUDE” blossoms into a gentler, more romantic tune. Basking in their warm embrace, we briefly think to ourselves, “Is this the one we’ve been searching for?”

 

 

Abruptly as it began, however, the entanglement ends and we’re left alone with the somewhat bittersweet, but ultimately carefree “BLUE BREEZE”. Musing to ourselves, we decide things are better this way. It’s just the lounge after all, and we had fun. As if triggered by this admission, the gray clouds above gently release themselves and we find shelter to lazily enjoy the “RAINY PARADISE” before us.

Finally, the contemplative trumpet of “SENTIMENTAL” signals that our time in the lounge is coming to an end. Gathering our things, we raise one final glass in commemoration of our stay. Staring pensively out the window of our transport, we watch the “DISTANT LIGHTS” grow dim and disappear. As our memories of this place already begin to fade, we promise to return one day.

On reflection, VHS LOUNGE is quite a soothing experience. Although the samples could be a bit more distinctive from one another and the tape warble could be just a bit heavier, it doesn’t fail to generate a sense of indulgence for the listener to briefly vanish into. For those needing some time away, they could do much worse than to spend a few minutes in the lounge.

 

 

 

vcr-classique

 

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Favorite Track: INTERLUDE

Score: 3/5

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Album Review: Into Dreams – EPSON

Posted on by Zack
EPSON 1

 

Album Review

 Into Dreams
By: EPSON

Written by: Zack

Into Dreams is the latest album by Epson, an artist who has released hit after hit in the late-night lo-fi scene. With vaporwave like this, you want the entire album to be an experience, one track blending seamlessly into another. The smooth jazz and R&B beats create the feeling of walking downtown after a long party. You’re tired from the night’s festivities, but you have a spring in your step. 

EPSON 1

Album Art By: EPSON

Right off the bat, we have what is easily the strongest track in the album, “VCR Melt”. As the title suggests, this song is a melty, ooey-gooey slope of slow R&B beats that open up to a ballad of beautiful synths, all while sampled vocals phase in and out. They are recognizable, but just before you can fully recall the song it fades away like a long-forgotten memory. VCR Melt effortlessly guides the listener into the rest of this album. 

This is not to say that this opening track does all the heavy lifting. The sampling and consistent production throughout gives the listener a great transition into songs like “Space Jeep” and “Epson 93-95”. What this album is, above all, is an experience reminiscent of classic vaporwave — capital “V” vaporwave if you will. 

At the end of the night, that’s where Into Dreams is trying to take you. Tracks like “Captain Midnight” are reminiscent of classic artists like Infinity Frequencies and Mindspring Memories while tracks like “ⓡⓔⓛⓐⓧ ⓡⓔⓜⓘⓧ” feel almost like Lux Elite B-Sides. With Into Dreams, the listener is transported into this world of hazy, smooth synths and distant drums. What Into Dreams is trying to sell you on is the holistic experience of late-night delights. Pun absolutely intended. 

However, some might find the thematic cohesion of this album a negative. People love singles, and aside from VRC Melt and the album’s closing track “Deja Vu”, the album can’t really be picked apart. With most of the tracks being under two minutes, listeners might find it hard to tell the difference between tracks like “Which Way” and “Memphis Socks”.  

To that point though; why would you want to pick apart individual tracks? I mean, this album is clearly meant to be consumed as a whole, and leaving tracks out is ultimately cheapening the experience. Like leaving the pickles out of the burger you ordered from the hole-in-the-wall diner downtown. Just like this record, it gives you savory satisfaction. Just eat the damn pickles. 

Into Dreams offers a reliable late-night lo-fi experience that harkens back to classic vaporwave aesthetics. While some listeners might see this as a relatively safe release with few extraordinary qualities that might help it stand out from the sea of classic vaporwave sounds, this Epson album is still a solid choice if you’re aiming to recreate that nostalgic feel.

 

EPSON

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Favorite Track: VCR Melt

Score: 3/5

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Album Review: Male Tears – Male Tears

Posted on by Indy Advant

 

Album Review

 Male Tears
By: Male Tears

Written by: Gbanas92 & IndyAdvant 

While this new self-titled release may technically be the third album under Male Tears’ belt, it does in many ways represent a debut. What originally began as a solo act — under which the albums Endless Tears and Artism reside — is now a duo as Mister Mellow joins up, and the sound of the group has shifted and changed to reflect this new formula. While Male Tears remains at its core a synthpop outfit, there is now a greater representation of sounds, of styles, and most importantly, of personality.

Album Art By GRYFF

Right out of the gate, the opening track, “Chained Up” is able to evoke the greatest acts of the new wave. If that’s a genre or sound you’ve grown up on or just grown fond of, the influence is immediately apparent. But this is no mere copy. The music doesn’t exist merely to pay homage to that which came before. The tandem has something of its own to say. Between the many music videos that have been released for tracks off this album, as well as the artwork itself, there is a cohesive vision at play. While sonically things scream New Order, visually we are met with something a bit more malleable. Think more along the lines of the chameleonic nature that helped define the career of David Bowie and you’re in the ballpark. The album elicits a fiercely androgynous sex appeal that permeates every layer of the release. The masks of these two personae –lipstick, eye shadow, hairstyling- are no better represented than on the album cover, with a version for each member of the group. Even the instruments contribute to this, as the tones and choices made culminate to help you peer at the world through the lens of Male Tears.

Album Art By GRYFF

After the opener, things get even more energetic, with the intriguing “Let’s Pretend,” an uncannily catchy tune that revels in hypotheticals. In a world still reeling from the ongoing pandemic, the idea of viewing love or romance as an idea to be solely indulged in hypothetically is an especially intriguing concept. After the opener, it’s the first real moment where the album “locks eyes” with the listener as well. While the gaze may grow ever intense as the release wears on, here it’s teasing, playful.

But as we dive deeper into the release, the darker side of things starts to show up. While the tunes maintain their airiness thanks in large part to tinkling synths, the subject matter gets more concerning. Even the track titles themselves start to paint this picture. Playing pretend was fun and all, but “Good in the Dark” starts to take these fleeting fantasies further. While on the surface, this is the best Pat Benatar track in decades, the manifestations of those casual glances are getting more intense. Things are heating up, but what happens when the dark gives way to light?



“Creep Distance” is the answer to that question, which carries a far less peppy melody. The drums cut that extra bit harder, the vocals croon more, and the fantasy seems to be over. The most frequently uttered line in the track is “don’t stand so close to me.” A divide in the earlier dreams has formed. This is further reaffirmed by the lyrics explicity, saying “now that we’ve grown far apart.” If that doesn’t spell things out enough, the next track, “Human Errorz,” unbelievably gets more sinister. While the lyrical content is more pensive and less dramatic, the synths in this one are downright sinister. And that’s to say nothing of the punctuating, downright propulsive percussion.

But things can’t all be grim, can they? Surely you’ve got to be able to turn a corner eventually, right? Well what if we just fast-forwarded right to that? That’s what “Future X” decides to do, jumping forward past the dour ruminations of the last couple emotional tracks. We have a more peppy beat again, the synthesized strings are back, and the lyrics talk about not wanting to “think about any time but the future,” before repeating “take me to the future” in the chorus. A future where things are looking up perhaps?



But not so fast. “Adult Film” hasn’t had its say just yet. Opening with a solo bass line that sounds handmade for a keytar, this track probably has the most dramatic vocals of the release. The rigors of singing are more evident than ever, with the emotional strain of the subject matter being most evident. Really, the whole track feels off the rails. The dizzying arpeggiated xylophones represent the nucleus of the tune running through basically the whole song. But this manic pace was never going to last.



“She Lives in the Pipes” tones things back down a bit, bringing the tempo to a calmer, more controlled level. While the subject matter on the surface might sound, well, strange, sonically, this is one of the standouts on the album. While it’s a little trickier to find a place for this in the “story” we’ve crafted here, it’s got maybe the best chorus on the whole album. So let’s think of it as a narrative interlude or the infectiously catchy commercial that interrupted your regularly scheduled programming.

The respite doesn’t last long though, as the penultimate track brings an incredibly important revelation both in the context of the album, and more broadly, in everyday life. “I Should Feel How I Feel” may attempt to tackle the ability — or inability — to accept oneself for who they are. The song appears to deal with some pretty troubling subject matter, almost as if not being accepted is deserved for someone being the way that they are, and trying to come to grips with that revelation. After all of the events that had come before, this track may represent some kind of resigned acceptance to one’s role or purpose in the world. But understanding and acknowledging that is an important step in being able to move beyond it. It’s pretty bleak stuff, so what comes next is rather surprising. 



Whatever you were expecting next, it’s probably not a brilliant Rick Astley-esque tune, is it? Well with “Take My Picture”, that’s what we get. The drums carry the expected crisp gated reverb that defined much of ‘80s drumming — and don’t get us started on the synth tones! Given how bleak some of the past few minutes have felt, it’s perhaps encouraging that the album ends so optimistically. It affords us some hope for the future. And it’s a wonderful closer on an album that has us as optimistic as ever for the future of Male Tears. 

If you’re anxious to get your hands on the album you won’t need to wait long, as it will be dropping on Pacific Plaza Records Sunday, February 14th –yes, that’s Valentine’s Day- at 12PM PST.

Male Tears

    

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gbanas92 Score: 4/5

Favorite Track: Good in the Dark

Indy Advant Score: 4/5

Favorite Track: Chained Up

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Album Review: Nyx – Zer0 れい

Posted on by Utopia District

Album Review

Nyx
by: Zer0 れい

Written by: listencorp

Album Art By: Zer0 れい

A low level buzz heralds the start of NYX. A little glimpse of the general hue of warm feedback that follows pretty much throughout the release. There’s a sound like some unfathomably large freight train peeling out of a gnarled, gothic station; but as the atmosphere settles a similar sound emerges at a different pitch, clarifying that what we hear is a melodic sequence rather than a sound effect. The hybridization of fizzling static and muffled angelic pads was the cause of such a shocking and intense beginning, but the two aspects separate fairly swiftly. What proceeds from this point sounds something like footage from the rapture spewing from an old television set. Instead of sounding grand and palpable, the pad strings leak out of an unstable and non-grandiose set of speakers. It is almost like awakening from a dream, there was a fleeting moment that felt as though we were experiencing this strange celestial event first-hand. However as we come to understand what is being presented, we realize it claws over toward us from a tired old screen.

As if the old hardware has been on too long and found a way to connect with the spiritual plane. Needle-like euphoria pierces through the unpredictable waves of fuzz, at points the melodies even seem to push through like a hand of pure light desperately trying to permeate its shoddy, fizzling encasement. Throughout this, Zer0れい remains unafraid of leaving the listener in moments of silence. For some artists, music of this style would cause a nerve-racking pressure, where it might feel as thought the artist must always be presenting the atmosphere explicitly. This would cause an overexposure to the fascinating atmosphere. But with Zer0れい there are gaps peppered about, moments without the guiding light of the euphoric ambience, and also where the feedback ceases to spit out static as well. In these brief periods of silence, it almost feels as though your soul is recuperating after being set upon by a strange and entrancing experience.

These fleeting respites end with a reiteration of the desolate and decrepit aura that controls NYX. There is also something incredibly unique about the melodies Zer0れい utilizes. They are unrelenting tendrils that sneak past the grainy fugue; long drawling laments. When it feels as though a melodic episode has concluded, the artist finds another combination of notes to keep the sorrowful performance going. In this way the track limps at points, with breaks in feedback and melodic narrative. This serves to amplify the fragmented and heady nature of the music as a whole. At certain stages, it almost sounds like there are voices meshed into the slow-attack notes. Noises like bells can also be heard throughout, before the onslaught of melody is enveloped in waves of heavy distortion. Toward the end, a swirling pool of the euphoric ambience begins to build. The lashes of harsh feedback continue, but every time they hit they disappear, more swiftly than before, into the burgeoning sea of beautiful noise. The opening side to Zer0れい‘s NYX is truly haunting. The atmosphere submerges everything from the very start, everything happens through this heady, violent sludge. But even in such torrid audio conditions, Zer0れい sneaks in moments of pure beauty.

The narrative takes a darker turn still as we enter the second half. The same large sweeps of metallic viscera appear, but this time do not often relent in any meaningful way. Instead, gargantuan shrouds of noise crash into slowly descending whistles. The falling tones are unsettling, as if the music has buckled from the pressure and now hurtles downward like a faltering aeroplane. The feeling is one of overarching disorientation. At least the first half of NYX had a safe space in its sheepish melancholy. In this second part, the listener is completely on their own amidst screaming tunes and violent walls of muddy, metallic nothingness. Even when the melody gains a little bit more of a footing and certain notes are sent across the listener’s bow, they are completely bested and beaten down by the constant monotony of the void. Low notes begin to coo patiently against the tide, almost choral in their delivery.

At a certain point, a deep bass sound begins to enmesh itself in with the dissonance, allowing for melody to inch its way into focus without being hindered by the relentless din. Here we find a little ballast upon which to try and weather the storm; we hear muffled ghosts of notes pulse through a thick fog. After throbbing feedback, all sounds begin to falter. Only certain crackles and flickers have a volatile feel to them, the rest of what we were hearing seems to have hurtled far away from us now. This is one of the only times it seems we are able to hide away from the atmosphere Zer0れい has created. But it is in no way comforting, it feels as if we are mere yards away from this strange ghostly tower in which the noisy struggle rages on. A heavenly chorus emerges through the grayscale rage of sound, its tune bending and screeching. The conclusion to NYX is not the rapturous recalibration of light and dark that we may have hoped for. Rather the two sounds slowly simmer down and stop, the pause is so sudden that it almost feels as if it could just be another swift intermission before the roaring shrieks back in. It fills the listener with dark wonderings about the sounds, which harbored so much power and rage that they could easily burn on forever past the project’s runtime.

Zer0れい assembles defunct sounds and feedback, pitting them against each other and occasionally fusing them together. This is a fairly basic methodology. But, in NYX the artist instills an incredibly harrowing atmosphere, an incapacitating journey through a volatile and alien landscape viewed through rusted old machinery. In the first part, one might imagine a lone TV set, spewing sick light into a living room and entrancing an unaware subject with visions of angelic beauty. The second part sounds like what would be playing when the police break down the subject’s door a few weeks later, finding the apartment’s contents vaporized and the owner driven to madness by the indescribable dark energy enshrined within what was playing.

 

 

Check out the album on Aquablanca 音楽レーベル Feb. 13th

  Zer0 れい 

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Album Review: Serenade Season – 死夢VANITY

Posted on by Gbanas92
serenade season 死夢VANITY

Album Review

Serenade Season
by: 死夢 Vanity

Written By: Gbanas92

For any other big fans of 死夢 Vanity out there: upon seeing that they had a new album out, your first thought was probably “no way, really?” It’s been a rather lengthy period of time since we’ve seen new music out of them; their last release was 2018’s Lovely Reveries. Sure, there were occasional singles here and there but even those were substantially spread out. So to see Serenade Season— a new full-length album drop seemingly out of nowhere with no fanfare— is quite a shock. It also happens to be quite a blessing. After all, when has “new 死夢 Vanity music” ever been a bad thing?

serenade season by 死夢VANITY
Album Art By: 死夢VANITY

Right out of the gate, the release offers a wonderful, familiar sound. Despite the long period of time between releases, it feels as though nothing has changed. While suggesting a musical artist hasn’t changed over the years could be seen as a bit of an insult, we don’t mean it as such. Serenade Season feels like 死夢 Vanity has simply decided to pick up where they left off. The sonic palette of the release evokes a similar feeling to their prior works, with an instantly recognizable texture to it. It does, however, reach out and expand into some new areas as the release goes along. 死夢 Vanity has always had this rather specific “clean” sound to their releases, something that many other vaporwave artists may forego. The music evokes nostalgia through its melodies, rather than the layers of dust that some releases achieve with reverb and all manner of gadgets.

 

 

Ultimately the biggest issue with the release ends up being how safe it feels. This album very much feels like 死夢 Vanity playing within the core sound that they’ve established for themselves. Light piano and synth melodies interplay with one another in a way that sounds both totally unique to them, but also like many of the other releases of theirs that you’ve heard before. The first track that feels like a departure doesn’t arrive until startlingly late in the album. Track 8 (of 12) in fact. “With You”. Up until that point, we were perfectly relaxed and enjoying everything we had been hearing, but the tracks were mostly a blur. If we were to play them back, we wouldn’t be able to identify them with any specificity beyond “that sounds like a 死夢 Vanity song,” but such was not the case when “With You” entered the picture. Using strings—guitar rather than piano here— the melody felt a little different right out of the gate. On display here is an interesting aquatic vibe that isn’t really present anywhere else on the album, and ultimately winds up feeling unlike anything we’ve heard from 死夢 Vanity previously.

It turned out this was just the first step in offering a transformative sound, as the final third of the album practically feels like an entirely different release from that of the first two-thirds. It still has that 死夢 Vanity veneer that one would expect, but the sounds feel more decidedly seasonal. This final leg of the album evokes a more distinct time of year too, stemming from its increased emphasis on guitar. The final act has a cozier sound to it, straying past that of calming lounge music and heading more in the direction of listening to the demo station at the Discovery Channel store during a holiday rush. (Is that a weirdly specific example? Sure, but that’s one of the strengths of vaporwave.) The closing track–the title track no less— evokes this feeling even more strongly than any other point on Serenade Season.

Ultimately if we were reviewing just the final act of the album as its own EP, it’d probably be one of our favorite 死夢 Vanity releases to date, but alas such is not the case. There aren’t any bad tracks to be seen on the album, but the first portions of the release feel like an artist reconciling with their own sound before moving past it into something wonderful and exciting. We hope the closing tracks influence their sound moving forward, and above all, we hope we don’t have to wait two years to get our ears on another full-length.

 

 

 

50 Cassettes Available from  Gorgeous Lights Feb. 12th @ 12:00AM PDT

死夢VANITY

  

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Favorite Track: Beautiful

Score: 3/5

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Album Review: What Happens After We Die? – Neon95

Posted on by icelevel
What Happens After We Die Neon95

 Album Review

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER WE DIE?
By: nEON95

Written by: icelevel

In genres like vaporwave, it’s not every day you see risks taken. Though innovation and pushing the boundaries of the genre are oft-discussed topics, producers can be a little too comfortable with simply pitching down an ‘80s jam and calling it a day. Neon95’s latest release, What Happens After We Die? is a fresh take on the genre that proves to be much more than the norm — a little less “abandoned shopping mall”, a little more “watching ‘80s sci-fi on VHS”.

What Happens After We Die Neon95

Album Art by William R. Detwiler

The EP opens with “Welcome to the Afterlife,” an upbeat, cheerful song compared to the usual moody vaporwave fare. A catchy, synthy melody is laid over chunky hip-hop drums with sounds reminiscent of the 16-bit video game era; think SNES’ Earthbound on steroids. The album completely changes direction with “Dream Catcher”, beginning with an ominous synth line before becoming a full-fledged jungle/drum and bass track. Crispy, slappy snares shuffle around a simplistic but practical bassline, while the synth continues over top. This would work great in a DJ set, though it does lack a mixable intro/outro, so you’d have to get creative. 

“RE: Incarnate” conjures up major goth nightclub vibes. Buzzing bee-hive synth, ‘90s house drums, and sci-fi synthesizers create a sinister feeling of looming. You know the scene in Blade where they’re in the vampire nightclub? This is that moment in the form of a song. For the purists, “Far Far Away”, “Stars Shine Brightest in the Dark”, and “Pass Through the Fog…” return to a more familiar vaporwave sound. The slow, detached nostalgia is there, but it doesn’t rely as heavily on samples as some of the genre’s heavy hitters. The album finishes with “…into the Great Unknown”, another synth-laden track with big, resonant vaporwave drums, strong hip-hop influence, and a less-obvious repetitive synth riff.

In a genre that can sometimes feel like a giant meme, it’s refreshing to hear songs that don’t conform to the sometimes rigid boundaries and aesthetic of vaporwave. What Happens After We Die? combines elements of hip-hop, synthwave, jungle, house, and more while still maintaining a cohesive theme and highlighting Neon95’s diverse musical skill set. It’s admirable to see such a wide and unexpected set of influences make it into the EP. If you’re looking for an interesting fever dream with which to end the year, the risks taken on this little EP provide many sonic rewards for the listener.

 

 

Neon95

 

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Favorite Track: Dream Catcher

Score: 3/5

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Album Review: The Beholder – Nameless Warning

Posted on by Stu

Album Review

The Beholder
By: Nameless Warning

Written By: Stuad^Dib

In The Beholder, Nameless Warning has skillfully wielded a production style often echoing early-to-mid-aughts electronica. In this style, they’ve crafted a cohesive album with a consistent — but never monotonous — sound tied together by clearly heartfelt vocals. Throughout the album, the lyrics set an introspective tone and suggest a difficult but ultimately hopeful personal struggle that I find resonates with my own. This album is a high quality aural experience.

“The Origin” begins slowly, as if waking with the dawn, setting the stage with an eerie, portentous atmosphere enhanced by non-verbal vocals before transitioning into the soft drum beat and dreamy synths of “The Answers.” This evokes the same quiet excitement one feels at the cusp of a new beginning, reinforced by the lyrics “Everything is new, but I’m not scared, just unprepared.”

Following this, we reach the highest emotional point of the album with the bright sound and cheery hi-hat of “The Light.” This brings forth an exuberance that mellows into the more subdued cautious positivity of “The Stranded.” Both songs assert an optimistic outlook in the face of unpleasant circumstances.

 

 

Despite that optimism, the mood is brought crashing down in “The Future” by a rainstorm of doubt. The unknown is no longer exciting, but frightening and dangerous, as underscored by the morose atmosphere and lyrics: “I’m not taking any chances under these circumstances, the rain never stops and I finally drown.” In the final minute, the tone shifts with a defiant guitar solo seeming to signal the parting of the metaphorical clouds, but a lingering dread remains as the track closes.

At the halfway point, title track “The Beholder” takes a moment to recuperate from this setback and build the listener back up, restoring hope with the soft assurance that “it’s only up from here.” Thus rejuvenated, “The Memory” quickly accelerates with a powerful, confidence-inspiring beat and affirmations like “one day you will find out everything you fear’s all in your head,” before fading with an ominous breakbeat outro.

Though the debilitating sense of fear has abated, there still remains a tinge of apprehension in “The Real.” Moody synths and a downtempo beat accompanied by lyrics with a defensive edge reflect a guarded presentation to the outside world until, in the final third, the pitch suddenly shifts up and takes on a more relaxed, vulnerable tone. This vulnerability gives way in “The Night” to a kind of ghostly longing, a wistful pleading for some unknown other to lean on and to help carry us “through the night” as we near the end of our journey.

 


In “The Resurgence,” we are presented with quite a dramatic sonic arc. Beginning quietly, the music slowly layers itself into an almost frenzied dance beat. Then, smoothly transforming into a swelling crescendo, we are inexorably propelled to a stirring climax before tapering off into an ethereal, far-away rendition of the refrain from “The Beholder,” and we are finally allowed to rest. The lyrics, too, lend a particular grandiose quality, vague and mysterious enough to map any desired significance onto.

In fact, it’s that very sense of universality pervading The Beholder that allows it to transcend beyond a mere collection of enjoyable tracks into something remarkable. Whatever literal events in Nameless Warning’s life inspired each song, they’ve gently winnowed away the chaff and left a core emotional grain that should stir something familiar in anyone who hears it.

 

 

 

Nameless Warning

    

 

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Favorite Track: The Answers

Score: 4/5

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Album Review: GAIA – Blank Banshee

Posted on by C A S I N O
Blank Banshee Gaia

Album Review

Gaia
By: Blank Banshee

Written By: C A S I N O 

When we think of vaportrap, we all know the first artist that comes to mind. Ever since he emerged on the scene back in 2012, Blank Banshee has reigned over the microgenre with three damn fine albums and is hoping to keep the vaportrap train going with his newest album, Gaia. 

Blank Banshee Gaia
Album Art By: Blank Banshee

The album begins with “Primordial” which gives you a taste of things to come. You are going to hear a lot of familiar sounds on this track if you have listened to Banshee’s previous albums, but among these beats lay new, acoustic-styled instrumentation, which hints at the artist taking a step outside of his comfort zone.

The appropriately named “Mind Trap” comes at you next with a fast and thumping rave-like beat, along with some interesting punkish vocals. This one is light on the vapor and heavy on the trap with some heavy pounding, hard thumping beats that are just a tad on the aggressive side for a vaporwave album.

The plucking string acoustics return in “Tetralix” and while it is still undeniably a vaportrap song, they take center stage in this track creating an upbeat and less electronic sounding treat that is rather enjoyable.

The fourth track on the album, “Blue Marble” was a bit all over the place, but in a good way. At one point you are listening to a rather standard trap beat, the next you are hearing some guy go to town on a pair of bongos. All of it though has that Banshee touch to it which acts as a glue to ensure that it sounds like one whole and complete piece of music rather than various parts of different songs haphazardly taped together.

“Green Ray” follows it which was a rather average Blank Banshee track. The track had a great beat, cool electronic sounds, spot on percussion, but all in all was rather plain for the king of vaportrap. What follows is “Teknofossil” and “Mythril”, two tracks that are slightly slower in pace, but the instruments on “Teknofossil” did not seem like they ever came together in any way and “Mythril” sounds like it is preparing for a drop that never comes, which leaves the listener wanting.

Things improve with “Chlorine”, though — a percussion heavy song, but one that should make fans of his previous albums feel more at home. The fast rhythm of the song goes great with the dubstep-like electronics that are stacked on it, and makes for a fun listen that can still reasonably be called vaporwave. 

 

        

 

The album stumbles again with “Aquaduct” which was a strange song, if only for the typewriter sound effect that plays throughout. Usually Blank Banshee is a master of turning mundane sounds into musical genius, but this one simply does not pan out because of how non-musical the inclusion of the typewriter sounds in the song.

Things slow down a bit with “Enso”, a relaxing track that borrows sounds from Blank Banshee 1 and is the return of the motivational tape woman from “Visualisation” off Blank Banshee 0, seemingly a favorite sample of the artist.

“Neo Geo” follows, and while it is not a bad track by any means, it may sound somewhat plain for the first one or two listens. I admit though that as I listened to it on repeat, it has a bit of an earworm to it. It has an infectious hook in what, at first glance, appears to be an unassuming song. Great melodies can do that to you.

 

While “Sentinel” may sound like another relatively simple tune, I grew to admire it for the hang drum sound that Blank Banshee is known for using. The beat, while slow, is varied and keeps things entertaining.

 

“Fund my Death” is a strange one. It is another track on the album that includes vocals, but this time both sung and spoken. While it is interesting, it feels like two separate songs. Soft vocals sing over the gentler slower parts of the track— then out of the blue, a man aggressively tells you to “fund his death” while dubstep sounds blare and “wub wub”.

“Uncanny Valley” is in the same zone as “Neo Geo”, interesting simplicity. There is only a small variety of instruments used in the track with not a lot of variety in how they are used, but it is nonetheless skillfully created and makes for an enjoyable song.

Blank Banshee meets cyberpunk in this banging track with the fitting title of “Escape.” It is a song like no other on the album so it feels a bit out of place, but I would love to hear more experimentation with sounds like this. The intensity is not too overwhelming and makes for a heart-racing thrill ride that leads up to the mildest track on the album, “Batteries,” a series of very slow and calming tones, wrapping up the album on a gentler note.

I am gonna come clean and say that I had some bias for this review. Blank Banshee is one of the artists that got me into vaporwave and his first album Blank Banshee 0 has got to be up there as far as some of my favorite albums go. After listening to this album though, I had to have a looooooong think about what I was going to rate it and decided that it would not be right to rate this album solely based on Banshee’s previous releases. My conclusion is this: Gaia is a solid vaportrap album. There are some stumbles, but if you take the album as it is, it is more than worthy of being enjoyed and listened to as a good addition to the Blank Banshee discography. 

 

 

 

Blank Banshee

    

 

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Favorite Track: Chlorine

Score: 4/5

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Album Review: Invidia tropicae – endless cliffs ltd.

Posted on by Gbanas92
endless cliffs ltd. Invidia tropicae

Album Review

Invidia tropicae
by: endless cliffs ltd.

Written By: Gbanas92

 

Climatewave has a pretty well-defined sound to it. Swelling synths. Feathery, synthesized woodwinds. But what if there was a different way? A new approach? Help us give a warm welcome to endless cliffs ltd., a new side project of the ever-amazing Soul▲Craft. As if birthing some of the best albums in vaporwave wasn’t sufficient–we’re looking at you,  Beach House—this new project sees Soul▲Craft dabbling in some hitherto unexplored regions of the scene. And the results, while maybe a bit uneven in places, justify this whole experiment rather brilliantly.

endless cliffs ltd. Invidia tropicae

Album Art By Soul▲Craft

Right out of the gate, it’s clear that things aren’t as they appear. While there may be an element of those “weather channel vibes” buried within, the notes hit harder, they hit faster, and there are simply just more of them.

Indeed, we briefly picked Soul▲Craft’s brain about this very aspect, with their goals for the project outlining this overwhelming volume of notes.

“My particular approach with this one, I wanted a clearly defined theme as well as a specific and evocative sound palette. I also wanted a minimalism in the number of instruments used. So you know, no like 50 instruments or layers existing in a song. And finally, an attempt at a sort of virtuosity (for lack of a better word). Playing parts that were challenging and that were a little more difficult than I might approach in a different context.”

While the opener, “earth song”, unfolds to the calming swell of a coming breeze, this quickly gives way to a rapid beat, offering up a quirky melody that almost sounds like something out of a Canadian children’s broadcast. It also makes it very clear that the tracks on the album are keen on having core identifying melodies for themselves. While the album has a tonal throughline, each track comes off as a microcosm of the whole, but with something unique to say on it’s own.

 

 


Which is why the next track, “altocumulus maximatus”, is such a curious follow-up. The tempo feels almost identical to the opener on the surface, but the synths layered over it offer such a toned-down melody that the track’s overall speed feels much more calm and relaxed. It almost feels more in line with a traditional climatewave sound, especially if you were to mute the drum track.

And then “gradient cumulonimbus” takes what appears to be the melody from the previous track and speeds that up while slowing the driving tempo of the track down. The inversion of elements between track two and three are a completely unexpected move. And it rather brilliantly allows them to have individual identities, but perhaps more interestingly, cohesion through unification. The first portion of the album concludes with “tilling shadow crops,” which feels like a further reshuffling of the elements that have been played with to this point.

However, a new storm swoops in, shoving the sounds we’ve been hearing for the past 15 minutes aside. Instead, “snowed all night” brings in the barren, bassy rumble of a lone synth. A melody starts to build out of these darker elements, but the storm seems to have been able to hold the original sounds at bay for only so long. The back half of the track sees additional synth layers and a percussive rhythm start to slowly creep their way back in, which is carried through to “arcticus cirrostratus.” Some of the dark sounds linger for a time, but a drum track comes to the forefront as well as what seems to be a plucked instrument of some sort, carrying the most optimistic tune on the whole album. The melody has such a distinctly hopeful quality, it’s hard not to smile.

Maybe that joy isn’t meant to last, though— “column of smoke” brings not just a foreboding title, but such heavily distorted synths that the track dabbles in darkwave at points before clawing its way back out of the muck, trying to regain that hopefulness. The sun never manages to shine through quite as much as it once did, but some optimism is able to creep back into the music just in time for “nox atra” to offer a pallet cleanse of sorts. The rain pattering at the start gives way to yet more optimistic music, though in a more forlorn and somber fashion. It feels like we’ve reached the end of the storm and things are starting to improve.

If “nox atra” provided what could be considered after the storm, the title track feels like an entirely different place altogether. There’s a particular melody, absolutely striking and wholly alien from what we’ve heard before. It’s hard to truly describe, but it conjures a mental image of soundwaves in the shape of a boomerang, notes moving back and forth across that shape. The sting has an almost visceral hook to it.

And then the title track gives way to “Earth’s spiral closing (new earth version)”, the lead single that has easily the most front-and-center percussion on the album. All the disparate elements of the release coalesce into one high-energy sequence absolutely hellbent on putting a spring in your step. The energy on this penultimate tune is downright infectious, which is perhaps why it’s for the best the release doesn’t jarringly jump straight to a somber farewell to close out the album. The drums remain a central focus on “vapor terrae,” but the energy slowly ebbs from the track as the album winds down. The synths bray one final time, the lights come up, the curtains fall, and all that remains is a faint whistling of wind.

The album is an absolute treat from start to finish, and while some of the tracks may provide emotional whiplash, the tonal consistency of the project is admirable and leaves a lasting impact on the listener— and ideally will continue to do so through all subsequent listens.

If Invidia tropicae sounds right up your alley, we are pleased to say that the album drops December 19th at Pacific Plaza Records, so you don’t have long to wait!

 

 

 

 endless cliffs ltd.

  

 

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Favorite Track: Snowed all night

Score: 4/5

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Album Review: Karma Salon – b l u e s c r e e n & The Secret Provider

Posted on by C A S I N O
Blue Screen Secret Provider Karma Salon

Album Review

Karma Salon

By: b l u e s c r e e n & The Secret Provider

Written By: C A S I N O

Chill. What is chill? Chill is a state of mind, man. It is the level of relaxation that comes when one takes a step past the realm of something simply being calming. You need to go beyond calming. Then you’ve entered the chill zone, and make no mistake about it: Karma Salon by b l u e s c r e e n and The Secret Provider lives in that zone.

Album Art By: The Secret Provider

The album’s tracks alternate artists beginning with b l u e s c r e e n’s “5AM Opening”, a track that paints a picture of a man riding the train to work at an ungodly early hour. An ambient atmospheric track that does a good job serving as the album’s opener. 

From there the album slides into The Secret Provider’s first track on the album, “Beach Club Cafe.” It’s a smooth lounge song complete with background ambiance. Nothing super special about it, but I never say no to songs like these.

These first two songs do a good job of setting the tone of the work while still highlighting the differences between these two artists. Each of them seem to have a different idea of just what their idea of “chill” vaporwave is.

Here is where things get tricky though. I hesitate to go over the rest of the songs one by one in fear that I will be using the word “chill” far too often. In fact, I can already sense the head shaking my editor will be doing just from the first paragraph. So instead, I will be going over the stand out songs.

I thoroughly enjoyed b l u e s c r e e n’s track “Tips Included” because I think the saxophone is a very underrated instrument in vaporwave. I love the almost dark jazz feel of this track. It gives off the feel of a man trying his very hardest to entertain people in a shopping mall with his sax only to discover that not a soul is listening. However, the track ends with a channel flip sound effect which is followed by some tropical sounding music and a woman speaking Japanese. While that is very vaporwave, it just felt like a gimmick on what was otherwise an interesting song. Maybe there was a theme and a reason for it being there, but if there was, it was lost on me.

Track ten on the album, “Everything’s Alright” by The Secret Provider, gives you that classic vapor sound with the slow and crooning voice that emerges when one slows down a sample by just the right amount. The words sung are completely indecipherable of course, but as the title of the song suggests the voice is almost comforting and calming, assuring you that that world isn’t ending—at least not tonight.

“Membership” by b l u e s c r e e n is dripping with Luxury Elite’s influence. It has that 80’s Tom Cruise movie feel, but with a bit more lo-fi added to it. Plus, more saxophone! Much less dark this time around, though, and a lot more sexy. In fact, it seems like a lot of songs in the latter half of the album have the muffled lo-fi sound to them. This is not really a bad or a good thing. More of an observation really.

After giving this album a few listens, I think what I like most about it is its variety. While the songs on their own do not do anything that has not already been done before, you have to respect the variety that comes with the album. Each track reaches that “chill zone” I mentioned before in its own way. For example, b l u e s c r e e n’s “10PM Ramen” gets us there through a gloomy and doomy jazz track, while The Secret Provider’s“Jewelry Store” gets there with some good, old-fashioned mallsoft. Two different styles, but the same destination.

All in all, I rather liked this album. While it does not do anything extraordinary, I feel it certainly sets out and does what the artists intended for it to do and it has a wide enough variety of songs(nine from each artist) to keep things interesting— making it a solid vaporwave duo album when you are in the mood for something… (are you paying attention editor?) chill.

 

 

 

 

b l u e s c r e e n

    
 

The Secret Provider

  

 

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Score: 3/5

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