Tag: slushwave

Review: Berry Aesthetic- Berry Good Records

Posted on by Zack

Review

Berry Nice!: A Review of 
“Berry Aesthetic” by Berry good records 

Written By: Zack

Published On: August 5th, 2023

 

 

 

In of summer 2022, UK-based future funk artist Strawberry Station released a bombastic collaboration to celebrate his new label, Berry Good Records. This record, Choose Your Character, comprises a mix of vaporwave, future-funk, and synthwave artists. It not only showcases a fantastic array of talent and sounds but tells a bigger narrative that helps set Berry Good Records apart from other artist-backed labels; the collective stands stronger than the individual. 

This first album featured a variety of star players in the Future Funk scene from Daydream Deluxe to Ducat, yet the way they were arranged made each track stronger. You couldn’t just listen to one or two tracks without wanting to listen to the next. It was a wild hit and an excellent way to kick off a new label in the vapor/future funk scene. Now, one year later the mad lad is about to do it again. This is Berry Aesthetic. 

 

 

Berry Aesthetic has 16 tracks featuring the same kind of variety we saw with Choose Your Character, however, this time the emphasis is on vaporwave. We have Tupperwave, Luxury Elite, Desert Sand, and more to look at later on in this review. 

Now if you’re a veteran in this scene you might notice a difference between Berry Aesthetic and Choose Your Character: Where’s the Future Funk? While CYC had known future funk artists like Ducat and Groovy Kaiju, BA’s lineup is planted squarely in the vaporwave scene. We’ll discuss this later on in the review, but Strawberry Station doesn’t show up to the party with his signature style, but is that by design? If the lineup didn’t tip you off, then the title and artwork should. The Berry Good logo is nestled squarely in a landscape of classic vapor iconography: checkerboard floors, pink coloring, dolphins, and marble columns. It would seem this time around, Strawberry wants to get more in touch with classic vaporwave.  We’ll take a dive into the tracks and see if this return to the classics pans out.  

The front half of this album presents us with a warm front of late-night lo-fi vibes with the starting track “Cloud” by Fortune Lounge. This track is the perfect setup with driving bass and very prominent horn samples that put us at the heart of downtown. The sun is about to rise after a long night and we’re ready to take on the big city. This track along with the subsequent track, “Palm Trees” by Luxury Elite, delivers a one-two punch of high life and endless possibilities but also keeps up the promise that this collaboration is all vibes, no filler.

We deviate from the late-night path a bit and take a detour down a back alley of classic chopped and screwed vapor with Calcium Demo’s track “heartvapour” which harkens back to some early 2010s plunderphonics. However, we veer back onto the city streets with Tupperwave’s track “Passive Obsessive”. While Tupper brings out his usual sound fonts of smooth and melodic jazz samples, “Passive Obsessive” takes a dark turn into the city’s seedy underbelly. The haunting laugh of a shady villain introduces us to a thumping kick and bass with a slowed-down, leaner audio journey. 

Just as we start getting cozy, we’re left in a void via alrightBABES “coral,”  a droning ambient track that would fit better on the back half of this album. Right off the bat, we are launched onto the dancefloor with Seabaud’s track “It’s Just Me,” which loops a groovy sample (that I believe to be Janet Jackson but I’m not sure). This track is an earworm for the first couple of minutes, but this is a five-minute track. I see this as being the perfect dance track to play at a show or club, but for easy personal listening, it can drag on a bit. However, the same cannot be said for the next track which is Patibito’s “onetwo”. A dreamy synth soundscape that features not just one, but two tempo changes, the track is like a three-in-one. Rounding up the frontside of this album is “Vaccinium” by Late Arcane which acts as an upbeat, highly sampled banger to an otherwise psychedelic and high-energy album.  

The back half of this album is where things really get interesting. While up until now, we’ve gotten a slew of eccojams, late-night lofi, chopped and screwed dance beats, the back side to Berry Aesthetic explores the more ambient side of vapor. We see a descent into that with “Into the Machine Core” by Kenmore Classic. The tuned-down synths and drones paired with the consistent beat evoke both synthwave and Sovietwave sounds that will send the listener to a hellish industrial complex. You can’t leave. Only go deeper into the core. What awaits us on the other side? The king of slushwave, desert sand, provides. h their track “影と形のように” which translates to “Like Shadows and Shapes”. Desert brings their classic blend of sample-free slushwave with this track that effortlessly whisks the listener to a higher state of being. 

Grab a copy of the Cassette while supplies last!

 

Following that, the energy of the first half of the album makes a return with Polyglot’s “Good for Nothing Groove”. I say this because this track fits much better with the first eight tracks. Perhaps this track and alrightBabes should switch places. 

Returning us back to the ambient world is Hi-Plundered’s track “出願します” which translates to “I will apply”.   By this point in the listener’s journey, the city is quiet again. Instead of bright lights and sounds you’re treated to a muted and chill walk of the town. Perhaps you’ll stop into the local bodega for a quick bite? 

 The most surprising track on this album is the one the man himself makes. Strawberry Station’s “Will You Remember” is a far departure from his usual sound. While this isn’t Strawberry’s first classic vaporwave track, he is known for Future Funk. What “Will You Remember” offers the listener is a chill eccojam that harkens back to the earliesty days of vapor. Think early Cat Corp. This, in my opinion, is what makes Berry Aesthetic such a standout release in this era of Vaprowave. Everyone is concerned with keeping things fresh and looking for the next microgenre, but when you really stop and think about it, Vaporwave as a genre is just over 10 years old. Experimentation is always welcome in this scene, but there’s no reason to forget or look down upon a classic sound. 

Speaking of something new, Berry Aesthetic gives a nod to some of the prevailing trends currently going on in the scene. AV0’s “autumn winter” is a smooth barber beats track, a sound that seems to be on everyone’s mind at the moment.  After that, we have “Whispers in a Soundless Void”, a hauntingly dark ambient track that reminds me a lot of Hallmark ‘87’s albums such as The Atrium or Academy. Finally, we have Midnight Corresponder with “man of the world,”  a signalwave track that ends this album, nay, this experience with a big personality and a lot of energy. 

While this may be a departure from what listeners are expecting from Berry Good Records, this collaboration offers a veritable party platter of major movements within vaporwave. Across 16 tracks we have late-night lo-fi, signalwave, eccojams, ambient, slushwave and so much more. I couldn’t ask for a better representation of what this scene has to offer in terms of sound variety. 

 

Check out the album now on Berry Good Records !

 

 

 

 

Written By:

Zack

Copy Editing By: Gbanas92

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Album Review: Blissful Days by days of blue

Posted on by Soft Replica

Album Review

Blissful Days

by: Days of Blue

Written By: Soft Replica

Published: July 8, 2022

 

Imagine you’re in a record store, aimlessly flipping through the crates. Through the sea of album covers, one in particular catches your eye: a nondescript, purple-tinged picture of a faceless figure in a hazy landscape. It seems like a real photo, but you’re not quite sure. You turn the record over to find that it’s named Blissful Days, and sports utopic track titles like “Morning Dew” and “Sun Kissed Skies.” Could the music possibly be as idyllic and tranquil as the presentation suggests?

days of blue – Days of Blue (2021)

The answer is a resounding yes, and it comes to us by way of California producer days of blue. Slushwave to its core, Blissful Days is the follow-up to their 2021 LP (titled Days of Blue, conveniently), an album which adopted a more cinematic ambient approach, and which, by the artist’s description, “began its conceptualization […] amidst the wildfires that ravaged my home-state.” Blissful Days also marks their first sampled work since the 2020 full-length 虚  (Imaginary). This time around, days of blue paints a decidedly more optimistic and comforting soundscape – a natural move when following such a somber release and electing to reintroduce samples to their toolkit. This brings me to the first major strength of the album: the sample choices themselves.

As is common for slushwave, days of blue pulls snippets from a handful of sources, stretching, rearranging, and looping them repeatedly until they produce a world that could only be their own. While the origins may vary, they’re tied together by a few common threads: rich, emotionally-potent chord progressions and transcendent vocal melodies. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the second track, the 16-minute tour de slush that is “Morning Dew.”

Following the sprawling ambient opener “Dawn,” “Morning Dew” begins similarly sparse and nebulous. The introductory drone grows gradually, lulling you into a sense of ease until suddenly evaporating into harmonic bliss sprinkled with percussion. The transition is especially bold and unexpected after the free-form ambiance that comprises the record up to this point. As the song evolves and weaves between different movements, the 16-minute runtime begins to seem minuscule; the piece is so hypnotic that it could be extended into an album of its own. Thankfully however, there’s five tracks to go, and what comes next is another definite highlight.

“Blue Hue” starts as one may now expect: a slow, filtered fade-in, but the drop at 3 minutes yields yet another surprise – not only does this album have bass, but it’s groovy as hell. It’s here that days of blue solidifies their keen sense of pace, progressing from the amorphous opener, to the understated sway of “Morning Dew,” now arriving at a track you could slow dance to. It’s also during this piece that the vocal samples creep to the forefront, gliding atop the dense clouds beneath as if to serve as a guide in this surreal journey.

t e l e p a t h – 星間性交 (2015)

I could continue describing in detail the remaining four tracks in order, but in truth, the atmosphere this album conjures is somewhat beyond description and is best experienced firsthand. Instead, I would ask vaporwave fans  to recall the first time they listened to a slushwave album and truly resonated with it. The intrigue of feeling alien and yet uncannily familiar. The contradiction of yearning for days long gone while also alluding to a distant future. The hazy loops pulling you under until you lose track of time. For me, it was t e l e p a t h’s cosmic lullaby, the 2015 monolith 星間性交 (Interstellar Intercourse), an album which days of blue cites as an inspiration.

Blissful Days takes me back to the wonder and mystique of experiencing 星間性交 for the first time, while still feeling like a logical step forward for the style; the mix sounds vivid and full despite an ocean of reverb and phasers, the theme is self-evident, and the visual personality oozes from every corner; from the album art, to the Bandcamp page, to the artist’s entire social media identity. Blissful Days by days of blue looks and sounds exactly like you would expect given the name: an escape into a lush, serene daydream.

Above all else, one of my favorite features of this album is just how patient it is, clocking in at 55 minutes with a mere 7 songs. The buildups are long, but never without payoff. Complementary samples relay back and forth at length to trance-like effect, never overstaying their welcome. Despite the album’s subdued nature, it boasts a quiet confidence under the surface, asking the listener to commit their time and trust, and in return offers a gorgeous aural experience that begs for another listen after completion.

The only factor that prevents Blissful Days from being utterly flawless is the closing track, “Sunset Gradient.” While an ear-worm in its own right, the song carries an easygoing mid-album groove in place of an opportunity to drive the release toward a thematic conclusion, a role which may have been better suited for the aforementioned “Morning Dew” or the flight-inducing “Sun Kissed Skies.”

In a time increasingly focused on disjointed streams of bite-sized content, the best slushwave often forces us to instead slow down and stay put for a little. Blissful Days is a cathartic respite that delivers exactly what it promises in this regard, and is sure to capture the hearts of fans of the style. The artist describes the work as “a journey of a day, from morning to sunset,” and yet it manages to feel infinite during its best moments. Fitting, given the album’s Bandcamp description, a mere 6 words:

“Soar the skies, enter neverending bliss…”

 

days of blue

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Favorite Track: Morning Dew

Score: 5/5

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Written By:

Soft Replica

Copy Editing By: Gbanas92

 

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Quick Look: Not all birds fly – Happiness

Posted on by Matsu
Happiness not all birds fly

Quick Look

すべての鳥が飛ぶわけではありません (not all birds fly) BY: Happiness

Written by: Matsu 

Published: November 16th, 2021

 

 

Happiness not all birds fly
Album Art By Happiness

Drowned out beneath a thick, delicately placed layer of fog, すべての鳥が飛ぶわけではありません evokes a sound that pulls at a deep sense of longing, evoking a sense of hollowness using both tracks that edge between the more mournful side of classic vapor and ones that come closer to the ambient side of things. What stays consistent throughout, however, is a set of effects that make it sound as if the whole album is being played through a dense wall, making the space that it conjures feel all the smaller as everything passes by.

As the album comes to a close, the tracks exert a higher sense of dread to fill the void it created previously, the empty sound that comes from each sample bringing out a forced sort of relaxation. Paired with the darker early tracks, it almost feels like a direct attempt to sedate, as one final act to draw out what it can before the time it has to share is up.

Favorite Track: 雨

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Written by:

Matsu 

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Feature: Halloween Vaporwave Musts

Posted on by Omegakiller

Feature

Halloween Vaporwave Musts

We Recommend some of the best spooky vaporwave albums for your Halloween listening pleasure

Written by: ≋ＡＢＹＳＳＹＡＬＬ ≋◯≋ ＳＥＡ≋

Published: October 27th, 2021

 

Sourced from MovieFone

 

It’s that special time of year again when the floorboards creak, black bats screech and witches cackle in the night. We’ve only a few more days before Halloween, so we’d like to share with you some notable vaporwave albums perfect for the spooky season. All of these albums are specifically vaporwave so no synthwave albums will be appearing in this list. We will also be excluding more prominent works like Skeleton or the b e g o t t e n 自杀 collection to show some love for other creators. 

 

青い夜
By: b l u e s c r e e n 

Starting off we have 青い夜 by b l u e s c r e e n, an ominous album featuring samples from Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday The 13th on the first track that are cleverly mixed into a hip-hop beat. The fearful expression on the cover art is exemplified by heavy toms and thick bass that embody your heart pounding. 

 

 

 

 

 

▻▻is anyone even ｒｅａｌ⁇
By: never ａｎｓｗｅｒ the phone 

This album from earlier this year may not be Halloween music specifically, but its suspenseful atmosphere definitely fits the season. Heavily filtered drums and samples reverberate to create a claustrophobic experience as you listen through this ceiling album.

 

 

Hallowave
By: EPX90 

If you want an album that hits all the Halloween tropes then this is a must-listen. Dark organs, distorted synths, wailing screams and cheesy 80s trick-or-treating PSAs make for a perfect 12 track listen on Halloween night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ominous Music​]​: A Vaporgrave Compilation 
By: Various Artists

If you like having a variety of music then this album will make the perfect treat. A compilation album featuring 30 different vaporwave artists, each bringing their own style and creativity to each track.

 

 

Fall Festivals and the Satanic Panic
By: Vacation Bible School 

This album is the first of a four part collection that we’ll be covering on the site in the coming days. The first album is a great introduction to this anthology with its dark mallsoft feel. Imagine walking through a giant megachurch amidst the pinnacle of the Satanic Panic of the late 80s. Samples that echo with interviews of devil worship create a dreamstate of demonic fears. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Omens
By: ⁂V‡▲D‡M∇R⁂ 

Released just before Halloween last year, Omens presents an album full of anxious and terrifying ambient music. Heavy dissonance paired with crunchy synths will have you on edge as you listen through this album. 

 

Even with these great releases there’s still more spooky albums out there to check out. If you feel that we’ve missed an important album or one you like please let us know on our socials! Have a happy and safe Halloween.

 

 

 

 

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≋ＡＢＹＳＳＹＡＬＬ ≋◯≋ ＳＥＡ≋ 

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Album Review: SimCity​.​wave – ako

Posted on by C A S I N O

Album Review

SimCity​.​wave
by: ako 

Written By: C A S I N O

Published: October 20th, 2021

Anyone that frequents the Utopia District Discord server will know that I am the video game boy. I am the one who plays video games. Me. So it is with some embarrassment that I confess that I never played SimCity 2000. This is primarily because it seems really really boring. With that said, I cannot deny that from a vaporwave perspective, the game is on point. The graphics are a prime example of that 90’s management game aesthetic and some of the music in the game would easily pass as vaporwave here in the far-off year of 2021. Combined with the fact that the game is responsible for creating the city building/management game genre, it is no wonder that someone went and made an album in tribute to it.

SimCity.wave is a product of ako — real name Simeon Soden of Newcastle — and it was picked up by Halcyon Tapes, Wizard of Loneliness’ label. In ako’s own words, the album is “a celebration of world building and the iconic game SimCity 2000, as well as a homage to FM synthesis.” The album reimagines the music of the 1995 city builder — and while I am rather skeptical of the word “reimagines,” ako does a great job of producing tracks that pay homage to the original sound track while still making something that is completely his own.

As the artist seems so fond of it, I feel I owe it to the readers to explain in very simple terms what FM synthesis is. FM — which stands for frequency modulation — refers to the art of modulating soundwaves with other soundwaves. In doing so, the original sound is minutely sped up and slowed down according to the frequency of the modulating wave. Going further, you can actually modulate the modulating wave with yet another sound, and so on and so on. The result is often a retro laser beam sound effect. In the hands of a master, though, it can create some really unique sounds. The actual sound is hard to explain, but you would know it if you heard it, as it played a big part in creating the sound tracks to some of our favorite childhood computer games. I encourage you to watch a youtube video about FM synthesis as someone else (anyone else) could probably explain it a lot better than I just did.

The album kicks off with SimCity.wave I (Skyscrapers) (the tracks are listed as SimCity.wave I through IV, but they have subtitle names. From here, I will only be using the subtitle names for simplicity) and it starts things right. While the other tracks conjure up images of managing your city, “Skyscrapers” instead focuses on actually building it. One can imagine towers being constructed in a sped-up time lapse by men in yellow hard hats, thanks to the upbeat tone and faster tempo. The harmony of the song is on point thanks to heavy synth use that really utilizes that FM synthesis sound mentioned above. It makes for some really cool beats and is expertly produced.

 

Album Art By ako

With your city now built, it is time to start the day! It is up and running now with cars moving like ants through the streets, and only through your careful management will this metropolis thrive. That is the scene that “Tax and Money/Dawn of the City” sets. The rhythm of the song is a tad boring, however the track is saved by the synth as it busts in with a groovy solo. 

Time to micromanage! This thing more or less runs itself now, but damn it, you are still the mayor and it is your duty to make this city run as efficiently as possible! The album takes a groovier tone with “Melancholic Mayor” coming in as the third track. This track is a display of amazing harmonic work, as no one sound takes center stage. The percussion, the bass, and the synth all come together to form one complete piece that is wonderfully produced. Furthermore, the song mixes itself up just enough to keep things interesting without losing that harmony that makes it special.

As the sun sets, you gaze out upon your virtual creation. It is perfect. All that’s left to do is to save and start a new game. Or summon a giant monster to destroy it. This song assumes you pick the first option. “Buildings” is a much slower-paced song than the others. It has an end-of-day feel to it, with long and hopeful sounding synth notes. There is also the cute addition of music box notes which adds to that aura of hope and fulfillment that this last track summons. The song ends rather suddenly however, which seems odd for a tune like this. One would expect such a song to have a gentle fading away of the music rather than such an abrupt end, but I suppose that one could interpret it as representing you quitting the game.

If the album’s goal was to pay homage to a classic computer game and show off what a synth can do in the hands of someone that knows how to use it, then it definitely succeeds. Each track paints a picture in the listener’s mind and brings us back to a more innocent time. I would not say that the sounds that SimCity.wave plays with are groundbreaking or astounding as much as they are cool and neat, but with that in mind, the album is absolutely worth a listen.

 

     

You can grab a copy of this cassette / VHS here from Halcyon Tapes Now!

 

 

 

ako

 

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Favorite Track: SimCity.wave I (Skyscrapers)

Score: 4/5

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Written By:

C A S I N O

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Quick Look: I think, therefore I am – desert sand feels warm at night

Posted on by Matsu
desert sand therefore i am 1

Quick Look

我思う、ゆえに我あり(I think, therefore I am)
by: desert sand feels warm at night

Written By: Matsu

desert sand therefore i am 1

Album art By: l u n i t a s

Anyone who has listened to a desert sand album in recent years will go in knowing what to expect from this one. His style of longform, phaser-heavy, high reverb tracks made with chop work stands near superior to pretty much any other artist in the business of slush style vapor. Over the last few years especially, there’s been a resurgence of new artists attempting to recreate this heavily enjoyed style and finding moderate success, though very few of them manage to pull it off to this level.

The only complaint that can be given is that the first track catches the listener somewhat off guard, the ambience-heavy track almost seeming to suggest a more minimal, relaxed album similar to the Seikomart duology or his split with M y s t e r yミステリー (Mystery). However, the album itself is much more upbeat and driving in its usage of samples, something that might surprise someone coming to his work for the first time after hearing the intro.

Favorite Track: 夜の街をさまよう／シミュレーション仮説 (Wander the night city / simulation hypothesis)

 

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Written by:

 Matsu 

Copy Editing By:  Cerulea_d.lux

 

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