VAPOR95 LIVE 4.0 REPLAY

IN CASE ANYONE MISSED THE FOURTH VAPOR95 LIVE STREAM...

We've uploaded September's full show for you here:

It was a privilege to bring thirteen artists together for a visual and auditory spectacle and to share that with our fans and friends was an honor. Thank you to everyone who joined us to talk and vibe with the artists, fellow fans, and supporters!

Special thanks to ΛDRIΛNWΛVE, CVLTVRE, Neon Vectors, Limousine, Pad Chennington, Future Girlfriend Music, Vaperror, Macross 82-99, Flamingosis, Android Apartment, Lola Disco, kissmenerdygirl, and Tupperwave and the Vapor95 friends and family! Follow, explore, and support these musicians if you had a good time at Vapor95 Live 4.0!

We're excited to do more of these shows so stay tuned for upcoming digital concerts by following the DARKNET Recordings Instagram, the Vapor95 Instagram, or our Facebook. You can also sign up for our mailing list on the bottom of our store's homepage.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
DAVANSH ATRY

We're so happy to feature you and your incredible art on our blog DARKNET! Tell us a little bit about your background, share your story with us!

My name is Davansh Atry, 3D artist from India. I was an Electronics major at college and graduated in 2016. I was never much interested in a job in that field, majorly because I sucked at it. Haha. Art wasn't my thing from the very beginning. I stumbled upon it by mistake and it just stuck with me. And, i'm glad it did.

How long have you been creating art? And what was the deciding factor for you to pursue it professionally?

I have been creating art for almost three years now, started out sometime in 2017. Like i said, it wasn't my thing from the beginning, initially it was like a hobby that acted as an escape from what I was doing at that point in my life. And as time passed, people started approaching me with opportunities and it was then, when I decided to roll the dice and see where it goes.

Tell us about your process - how do you manage to make your ideas come to life and how close are they to your initial inspirations?

It usually starts with an emotion/thought and then I decide a scene set up for it, a concept, if I may. I then work on it until I'm able to somewhat bring out that emotion through it or basically until I'm satisfied with it.

The real treat is when the audience is able to feel the emotion/thought I felt while creating the artwork.

Do you listen to music while working? If so, what do you usually listen to? How do you see it affecting your final product?

Yes, I do listen to music while working. Here's my Spotify playlist that I usually have on loop while working.

Music is definitely one of the major sources of inspiration for me.

Where do you see yourself at the pinnacle of your career? What would be your ultimate dream come true involving your artwork?

I'd say working with some of my favorite artists would be both a dream come true and where I'd be at the pinnacle.

What would you tell passionate up and coming artists who want to pursue their art?

The only thing I'd say is "never give up". Consistency is the key, as they say, "Rome wasn't built in a day", so the more time you spend on it the better. Plus, share your work with the community as much as you can.

✨ DAVANSH ATRY ✨

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VAPOR95 LIVE STREAM 3.0 REPLAY

(Enter Full Screen mode for full e x p e r i e n c e)

In case anyone missed the third Vapor95 Live Stream...

We've uploaded the full show for you all!

The show was another incredible moment for us, featuring a roster of some of Vapor95's favorite musical acts. It was such a pleasure talking and vibing with fellow fans and supporters!

Special thanks to Android Apartment, Telenights, Lola Disco, kissmenerdygirl, 식료품groceries, Skule Toyama, Tupperwave, SUPERSEX420, 猫 シ Corp. and the Vapor95 friends and family! Be sure to follow and support these artists if you enjoyed their sets!

We're planning to do more of these shows so stay tuned for upcoming digital concerts by following the DARKNET Recordings Instagram, the Vapor95 Instagram, or our Facebook. You can also sign up for our mailing list on the bottom of our store's homepage.

VAPOR95 LIVE STREAM 2.0 REPLAY

In case anyone missed the star studded second Vapor95 Live Stream...

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Mishko.co

We're so happy to feature you on our Darknet blog! Tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you've been doing art. 

I've been creating as long as I can remember, but really got into digital art about 8 years ago. I started learning photoshop and got really into editing my photography to create new worlds. Pretty soon I was creating near daily as I started sharing my work on Instagram. I grew up in a small logging town, so social media was a huge way to feel connected with things that felt much bigger and exciting than my daily life. 

What inspired you to dive into the graphic design world? What was that spark for you?  

Your style is super unique, interesting, and really beautiful. Please tell us about your artistic journey.

It is so interesting to see how you achieve your final look for your art! Please tell us about your creative process. What software do you use? Do you have text in mind before you start creating?

Do you listen to music while working on your art? If so, please share your favorite artists or albums with us! 

If you werenʼt an artist, what would you do for a living?

What is your ultimate dream to accomplish with your art? How do you see yourself at the highest point of your career?

Letʼs say you get full artistic freedom on a billboard on the busiest road in a huge city where millions will see your message. What would your message be? Any combo of words and images is fine.

Finally, what would you say to up-and-coming artists who want to pursue their passion?

Sophomore Year Slideshow

Vapor95 and Darknet Recordings present Sophomore Year Slideshow! 🎞📺📼 An 11 track compilation encompassing the sensations of finding yourself and your place in the world. ✨Featuring some of the most talented producers on the planet and specifically curated for maximum emotional impact, this new compilation by Vapor95 and Darknet Recordings is a hallmark in the realm of nostalgic aesthetics. Come with us on our journey to Sophomore Year Slideshow. 📽

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Who would be on the Vaporwave Mount Rushmore?

Which four artists would make up, if one were to ever exist in the future far, far away, a Vaporwave Mount Rushmore? A mountain commemorating the 4 most important people from the Vaporwave scene, 4 legendary heroes chiseled into the finest marble by Helios himself? 

Today, I want to showcase who I would choose as the 4 faces of the scene, and why. I think we can all agree there are a couple of obvious, you know, incredibly important figures who have really had such an impact on the scene, so many of you will have some of my picks as well… However, I think you will be pretty surprised at who I have for the final spot on this construction of the Mountain of Vaporgods.

First up, I am just going to drop the hammer and say who I think is the most important figure in the history of this entire scene, and I’m sure many of you will agree with me on this. Yes, the one, the only, good ol georgy boi, Mr. George Clanton.

I really do not need to explain much here, but just to refresh your noggin, George is easily one of the hardest working, undeniably trendsetting, and most consistent people to ever come out of the Vaporwave scene. With arguably the most successful and beloved record label in 100% Electronica, creating and being involved in a number of diverse musical projects, or, being the first person to truly bring the URL to IRL by throwing the first ever Vaporwave festival to massive success, George has done so much for us over the years and at this point, it always feels like tomorrow he is just gonna drop another insane announcement for us.

Whether it’s his vocals in the “Mirror Kisses” pop project, heavy aesthetics and vaporwave essentials as ESPRIT 空想, or just being George Clanton himself and creating Anthony Fantano-worthy music pieces or working with Nick Hexum of 311, George is one of the most successful people coming out of this community and is still so heavily invested in his Vaporwave roots, he really has something for everyone and is always the perfect artist to introduce any newcomer to the Vaporwave scene. I remember a couple years ago I brought my best friend to a George Clanton concert, and this friend had no idea who George Clanton was or what Vaporwave for that matter, and it is safe to say that he has become a pretty vivid 100% electronica fan ever since that day.

George’s consistency as someone who is always willing to try new things while making even his most diehard, OG fans happy is something I truly look up to and I know he will be making some magic for us for many, many years to come.

Next up is another one I think many of you would also put up here: the golden boy, SAINT PEPSI.

SAINT PEPSI, Skylar Spence, or as I like to call him, Big Ryan from Brooklyn, has to have the most classics to ever come out of one single artist in the Vaporwave scene alone. Seriously, really think about it for a second, this dude has so many albums and tracks that people find to be sacred in the scene; Nobody really comes close to the impact he has had. I mean, just off the top of my head, Hit Vibes, Late Night Delight, Empire Building, World Tour and do not even get me started on how many individual songs I think many of us can agree are all-time favorites.

Like George, Ryan has made some pretty dynamic moves in his musical career, especially given the fact that by 2014 he was already a legend and a universal fan favorite in the scene. Many people would keep milking that vibe and success, but in 2015, SAINT PEPSI totally changed things up by releasing “Prom King” under the name Skylar Spence. What many would be scared to do as an artist ended up being an incredibly fun escape from the Vaporwave norms we got used to with SAINT PEPSI, Prom King was vibrant, confident, and full of color with another handful of memorable tracks coming out of this nostalgic, yet refreshing, dance pop joy ride.

We did see an absence of Ryan in the years following Prom King, However, in recent times he has been back in absolute full force headlining Electronicon, releasing arguably his best produced SAINT PEPSI album yet in “Mannequin Challenge”, and even doing a bunch of live shows and touring.

I am able to say that Ryan is a good friend of mine, being able to work on music with him on my album dewdropper was absolutely incredible, watching this man get into the zone and chopping up a sample I thought couldn’t be chopped up any more. One of the nicest people in the scene, a true teddy bear, I do not know where we would all be without the silky, yet dusty, tunes of SAINT PEPSI.

Third up, now this was a true tough one. I wish I could pick 5 people for this list, but in Mount Rushmore fashion, I gotta stay true to the game. I will be completely honest with you, I was split between 2 people for this list, 2 people who have had such an impact on the scene and it is so hard to leave one out but I gotta do it.

So I was split between t e l e p a t h and 猫 シ Corp., and although Jornt (猫 シ Corp.), if you are reading this, you know I love you buddy and, just like everyone else can agree upon, there are so many reasons why you could be on this dang mountain... but, look... there is just this undeniable mystique and fascination we all have with t e l e p a t h, I have to give the spot to him.

Just watch the videos of him performing at Electronicon, I know I can say as someone who went to ECON 1 in New York City, absolutely everyone and their mother made sure they were on that damn roof to watch t e l e p a t h perform as the sun set behind the 猫 シ Corp. skyline-- Oh, and I can not forget to mention the stretch of albums from 2013-2015 that many would like die for, t e l e p a t h fans are straight up die hard fans. No one does it like t e l e.

With an unbelievable amount of classic releases and having a hand in many of collaborations with other big time Vaporwave artists (猫 シ Corp. for example!), the legacy of t e l e p a t h is without question such a focal point of discussion in the community. It is so much fun to just get lost in his hours and hours of slushy, ambient cosmic goodness, his music has so much replay value due to how lost you get into each album that you sometimes forget what that album sounds like when you return to it for another listen. Everyone has a different favorite of his, there is no set “this is the best album”, and because of that alone with a massive discography, it is so hard to not give the spot to him.

Alright, last but not least, the fourth and final spot on the Vaporwave Mount Rushmore… Some of my honorable mentions would be Vektroid, Vito from DMT Tapes FL, death’s dynamic shroud, James Ferraro and Daniel Lopatin.

But folks, my fourth and final pick for this list goes to the Vapor goddess herself, Luxury Elite.

Why? Why Luxury Elite? An artist who has pretty much been vacant from the scene for years now, her last two albums coming out in 2016 and 2018? Well, there are 2 main reasons I give for this and why I find her to have the most charming touch this scene has ever seen.

First and foremost, Luxury Elite is, in my opinion, the artist I will always listen to when I really wanna go back to that return of the old days of Vaporwave. While her production may be super simple, especially compared to what we have seen today, she just gets how powerful the simplicity of reverb and a charming sample flip alone can be, the fun in the laid back mood her tracks set and the themes she presents with her music creates such a virtually romantic setting... I just absolutely love it. World Class, Fantasy, and New Classics are some of my many favorites from her. And, can not forget to mention that she was one half of one of the most beloved and important albums in the scenes history, Late Night Delight, with SAINT PEPSI.

And although her music is pretty solid for what it is, what really makes me give her this spot is that she curated and managed what I believe to be is the most beautiful archive of Vaporwave releases in existence. A now-defunct label that, even though I was not into the Vaporwave scene in 2013ish, holds some of the most legendary artists and albums to ever see the light of day in our scene and I still travel on over to the abandoned Bandcamp page from time to time to explore the classics that lay there waiting for me. Yes, the legendary Fortune 500 label was run by Luxury Elite herself.

What makes Fortune 500 so great? Let’s look at some of the players on the roster here, ESPRIT 空想, SAINT PEPSI, Luxury Elite (obviously), 猫 シ Corp., MACROSS 82-99, 18 Carat Affair, Golden Living Room, the list goes on and on. This is such a beautiful collection of releases, releases that are the pillars of the Vaporwave universe, releases that still stand the test of time and find a home in the hearts of many fans around the world.

But, who knows, maybe by 2098 or something t e l e p a t h’s great-grandkids will have released some insane Vaporwave music that we can’t even fathom yet, so maybe by the time this thing gets built there will be a whole new cast of people way more important than the ones I selected for this list. But, I think, for now, I am pretty confident that I would give the 4 spots to the artists I mentioned today, and hopefully one day we can all go on a trip to Mount Vaporwave.

Much Love, ur boi, Pad Chennington.

Alchemik EP

By Tribe Down South

After Tribe Down South landed his "Dreams Aren't Real" on our latest compilation, we were curious to hear what else he's been working on. Now, here we are with the wonderfully curated "Alchemik" EP where he expands his musicality and style to its limits and beyond. 

"Much like the mystical study of alchemy that has now become the stapled forerunner for chemistry, my constant experiments and practices have lifted that supernatural veal of incomprehension. That enticing, energetic feeling of possibility and making a discovery within your own realm of creation is what it’s all about. Pure alchemy." - Tribe Down South

Alchemik EP starts off with "91 Cressida". As you can tell from the name, for Tribe Down South, it represents the nostalgic car ride vibes. A unique drum swing gives a very strong groove to the whole track. This beat is completely resampled from a tape, which glues all the ingredients together and makes the artist's vision come to life.

The second track on the EP is called Thankful. A sample behind the heavily side-chained drums adds that extra swing and groove that compels you to bump your head to this track. "I have even seen some local artists quit when it came to starting putting in work or when the first problem arises in putting yourself out there. I called this beat Thankful as a reminder, that what I have in my life so far is a product of the work I have put in." - Tribe Down South

Time slows down as we move onto the next half-time recording, TickTok. Heavy feelings on this one. This song has a constant  sound throughout the track, that is very similar to a clock ticking rhythmically to the beat. The name and song feel bittersweet because time itself is bittersweet. "For most, we love and appreciate our fond memories but grow uneasy at the thought that our time isn’t limitless. We all gotta go someday, but that clock will stay ticking." - Tribe Down South

Next one up is Breathtaking - 2nd cassette driven beat. The compressed but sentimental feeling found when listening to magnetic tape is, well, breathtaking. "So, I remembered the Keanu meme, added it to the beat and she was ready!" - Tribe Down South

The 5th track on the EP is called PK [Brainshock]. The track hits us with a bit-crushed piano sample with its very familiar and unique textures within the first few seconds. A spaced out drum kit instils within us an airy feeling, urging us to explore the textures and elements of the song on our own. "It’s not a Tribe Down South mix without at least 1-2 references to my favorite SNES game of all time, Earthbound. I feel like hearing the tracks from this game growing up, is one of the many reasons that lead me down the path to low fidelity" - Tribe Down South

Freckles - Funky drum grooves won't let you go in this one. The sample work is very unexpected, but also makes sense with the song as a whole, and take you on an adventure - new edits every couple of bars. "Girls with freckles have always been my weak spot, so hearing the flow from the female vocals in the beat with that sensual sax sound, gets me daydreaming." - Tribe Down South

As we're getting close to the end on the EP, we hear Impulse - Tribe Down South represents the roots of the true classic Boom Bap era. "I can go for dusty lo-fi sound any day, but something about those classics from RZA, DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee can always draw me back down to earth. Nothing but respect for the OGs." - Tribe Down South

BlueBlueBlue - Definitely a closing track. Chords and beat merge together to create the theme of an ending story. Completely composed from scratch, the artist shows his musical expression capabilities on a very high level. "To know something can make me feel dejected at the moment means that something equally amazing came from it and I’m alive from experiencing this sensation, a beautiful sadness." - Tribe Down South

Interview

We started our year strong with the release of Alchemik EP by Tribe Down South. It is a fresh, new style lo-fi Hip-Hop experience with the right amount of musical ingredients. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your musical background! How long have you been making music? 

I’ve been playing guitar off and on since 2008. I picked up lessons for about a year for a jazz band in high school and after two years, I had a band with some friends, where we played 2 shows and then stopped. I have always been dabbling, singing and playing until about 2 years ago when I picked up beat-making in GarageBand after hearing some old Nujabes and Adult Swim bump playlists I had burned to CD. I bought an SP404sx six months later and it was a game-changer for me. 

Who are your musical idols? Tell us where you draw your musical inspirations from!

When I was guitar-driven, I was studying and learning licks from anywhere from John Mayer, Underoath to Closure in Moscow and Dance Gavin Dance. But in terms of beats, Nujabes, Prefuse 73, Fat Jon and Mr. Scruff had caught my ears in my highschool days. It was great artists like bsd.u, Joji (as Chloe Burbank) and Mac Demarco that had turned me onto the Roland Samplers and dusty, fluttery based sounds. Shout-out to the local label and friends at Soulejukebox! I believe all these great artists are what have driven me to do what I do.

What software or instruments do you use for your music? How often do you collaborate with other artists? Who would you want to work with the most?

I started with GarageBand and worked up to Ableton. Most of my work, in the beginning, was strictly hardware. The Sp404sx and Kaossilator are still my go-to when I feel screen exhaustion. I play guitar and sing some and am working to be more comfortable with drumming, bass, and keys. I would say I collaborate at least 2-3 times a year so far (something special is in the works right now and should be done this year), but I am trying to always work with artists on Community Mixtapes that are open for anyone to submit. It’s a great way to meet new musicians and hear fresh sounds. The latest is a Valentine’s Mix that dropped on the 14th. So probably, Mayaewk, Stxn.x, or Marcus D, but I would be extra happy making a beat for Freddie Dredd too.

How do you see yourself at the highest point of your career? What would be your ultimate dream to accomplish with your work and when do you see that happening?

I would love to support my livelihood and myself. Whether it is selling beats, giving music lessons, streams, playing sets, making cassettes or a mixture of both. I see this as my passion and goal. I have no idea when it will happen but I am determined to see the bigger picture and plan for the future.

How often do you perform and where could we see you live? Can you tell us a little about your upcoming shows?

3-4 times a year, but it should be more often starting this summer (working on a live stream setup as we speak too). Eyes are set on controllers as well.
The next set will be with Soulejukebox and their latest event happening at the end of February.

Finally, we would love to ask - What would you say to up and coming artists who want to pursue their passion?

Make little plans leading to the big goal and follow through; The only one stopping you is yourself. Show patience but never be afraid to experiment (especially in the beginning!) and to think creatively in your approach in everything you do. 

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FALSE MEMORY // LOST TIME

On November 12, Darknet Recordings together with Vapor95 released FALSE MEMORY // LOST TIME. An 11 track compilation album showcasing the best in underground Vaporwave inspired production. FALSE MEMORY // LOST TIME featured purist Vaporwave, driving Synthwave and moody Lo-Fi tracks. Lose time and create some false fantasy memories with this latest beautifully curated album.

A E S T H E T I C M E E T ダリウススプルイエル- 美的出会い by Darius Spruiell is the unofficial shopping mall anthem of this album for h e l i o s. The saxophone sounds like it's coming from just beyond my sight. But, hold on to your preconceptions. This track morphs right when you're about to max out your bliss.

V A P O R W A F F L E by Masikus makes us feel like we're watching a chill commercial for a 1995 condo complex. It's got all the vibes you ever wanted in an upbeat, vaporwave track. Play this track when you're giving a tour of your apartment to someone you like.

Biteki by Death is ambient and tender. It reminds me of a song you listen to when exploring a zen garden in a city somewhere. It's very dynamic and the arrangement is top notch. It takes you on an exciting journey into a newly fused genre.

ThornGirl by Cruzie is brooding and funky. It's so different from the rest of the album which makes it such a joy to hear in the album's last few breaths. Prepare yourself for a sultry shift around the two-minute mark when something Sade would sing overcomes bursting through out of nowhere.

Lost Forests by MidiEvil tickles your curiosities and makes you question your idea of what a genre is. There's a heavy bass. There are delicate synths. There's a dope movie quote. It's the kinda song you play when you're lost in the concrete forest of a city.

One Day I'll Forget About This by Hollywood Real Thoughts is the delicate, introspective, and emotional track of the album. The name of the song really does capture where it takes you. We all go through stuff that hurts. It always passes. This song reminds us of that.


53XGODESS by Nick Neutronz is a haunting bassy track with killer vocals and the percussion you love in this trap era. It's dark. It's deep. It's sexy. Your speakers will come alive.

Space Drive by Velocity Zero is an epic synth ride into darkness. It drives and pumps like all good synthwave does. It's chase music. It's come-with-me-if-you-wanna-live music. It's running-from-your-nightmare music. Are you scared now?

Hunter by Driver405 And Coleurs is a synthwave anthem that balances epic with tender. It's halfway between a ballad and a chase song. The song evolves into a pretty hard-driving track. What are you hunting?

Final Message by Re Dux fades in ominously. A distorted pluck, pad, and vocal lull you into a dark retrospection. The song's disjointed vibe relents to a more peaceful moment and then its back to the driving sound. It's rough-around-the-edges vaporwave goodness.

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The Nostalgic Sensation of "Vaportrap"

Do you feel a little warm and fuzzy inside when hearing old video game console and retro operating system start-up sounds? Love playing catch up with the hypnotic, yet chaotic, hi-hat patterns, 808 bass samples and poppy snares of traditional, hard-hitting trap beats? Well, do I got a genre for you, my friend.

Say hello to “Vaportrap”, a genre that is… exactly what the name is: a blend of Vaporwave and Trap music. Ever since its birth in 2012 with Blank Banshee’s “Blank Banshee 0”, a commonly agreed upon release that many label as the first of the Vaportrap genre, producers of the scene have been walking on a creative tightrope, a mighty fine balancing act between the two styles to constantly find new and exciting ways to blend the two very different genres together. 

On one end, we have the notoriously nostalgic undertones of Vaporwave; you’ll find your selection of old hardware sounds (take a shot every time you hear the Sega Dreamcast booting up sound effect), spacey, ambient chords and just generally textured filters on top of everything, baking every melody to have that retro charm all recycled from long ago.

In the other corner of the ring, we have the fiery attitude of Trap to cover you with the drums. Like two armies clashing with one another, Vaportrap sends in thunderous layered kick drums, sharp, rapid hi-hats, and orchestral synthesizers to combat the generally laidback and woozy vaporwave style. And while these two may seem to be polar opposites on the surface level, these opposites really do attract here as the ferociousness of trap instrumentals brilliantly fills that missing trait in the chillness of Vaporwave, and vice versa. Like peanut butter and jelly, these two genres were seriously made to be and we have seen some extremely memorable and fun releases ever since its conception.

Today, I want to give you 5 releases from the Vaportrap scene that I feel do a great job at showcasing what there is to offer, and more so, go past the stereotypical tropes of the genre. I really find Vaportrap to be an umbrella term more than anything so you may find some releases on here to be more Electronic than Vaporwave, classic Hip Hop than Trap, etc. I’m also not going to talk about super mega gigantic classics like Manapool and the Blank Banshee releases, those of you reading this article have probably heard those albums multiple times through already so instead, we are going to explore some other essential Vaportrap albums that you may have not heard about. Welcome my friend to the nostalgic sensation of “Vaportrap”.

More so a mixtape than an album, let us start off the list at #5 with CONTACT LENS’ 2012 release of “ICE IN THA VEINS”. Less hectic and more tamed than most Vaportrap selections out there, “ICE IN THA VEINS” is a 27 track long display of chilly, ice-cold sample selections and synthesizers poured over brash hip hop drum loops that take their time with you… a dream haven for fans of downtempo instrumentals. This release feels really long, like some truck driver hauling their 18-wheeler around a snowy mountainside knowing they have hours and hours ahead of them of just seeing nothing but the blanketing nature of winter. CONTACT LENS brings home a very relaxing listen attracting you in with it’s smooth, icicle-inspired sounds at the forefront.

For those who are fans of 100% Electronica artist Satin Sheets, “ICE IN THA VEINS” has a very similar feel to albums like “St. Francis” but replaces the pumpy kicks with more distorted ones and other little additions to make this more of a hip hop Vaporwave experience than a funkier inspired one. While most Vaportrap releases I would definitely not consider to be “background” music, this album is most certainly in its prime state when it is treated as a piece to merely zone out to rather than dissect and have your ears chase every individual sound like other Vaportrap releases. Many may not even consider this to be a Vaportrap release because of that tranquility and lo-fi downtempo structure, but because of it’s extremely early release in the scene and definitely having a heavy influence from Hip-Hop, I know many of you will find comfort in the slow-motion blizzard of “ICE IN THA VEINS”

As the legendary Vito James of DMT Tapes FL stated back in 2017, “I, naturally, made this (ICE IN THE VEINS) my ‘christen 2017 with an album you’ve never heard before’ an entire near half-decade later, and… my god. The quality has held up like you just cut open an air-tight Bubba Kush OG from Sacramento.

“In these modern times, our trials are not those of the flesh, but of the soul. In the long treks between safe and understandable concepts lie a murky uncertainty. Plastic bottles of milk are stacked on shelves in such a way as to make the surplus appear infinite. Like the bottles of milk, our days seem without end, only to suddenly dwindle down to nothing - but the idea that there is no end is still very real in our minds. Shelves stacked with hopes and dreams. Moments crystallized into colorful, morphing cubes that seem to detach and attach themselves to each other with unknown sentience. Like savoring a glass of milk, could one not also savor time? 

Imagine you could buy another day…”

Hello shoppers, welcome to “B u y M i l k” by producer 音LIGHTシステム (translated on Google as Sound LIGHT System). This album is a pure gem and is one of the first albums I actually ever heard when discovering the world of Vaporwave. A pretty short listen to 9 tracks averaging at 3 minutes a song, “B u y M i l k” consists of a hearty blend of characteristics to please any appetite. You’ll find your go-to Signalwave weather reporter sample as early as track #2 “家族 ｗａｋｅ-ｕｐ” and then shoot right over to a more future funk-inspired piece in the next track “夢 - ｌｉｎｅ”.

Every track has its own personality which can range from polished mixdowns to fuzzy, VHS inspired journeys into your television-watching past. Heavy reverb on hi-hats provides an expansive listen, playing homage to the open and virtually endless ocean behind the island we see in the album art. Tropical shakers and whistling birds in tracks like 夜のコーヒー (which translates to Coffee at Night), emphasizes this feeling of being alone on this cubey, 3D rendered pacific island… But being alone may be the best way to soak in everything we have going on here. For something that is only about 26 minutes long, the artist really came to play and truly deserves to have your full attention for each song we have found here washed upon the shoreline.

Next up on our travels, let's soar high into the sky with the wispy and luxuriously aerodynamic “Purgatory” by Cobalt Road. Vaportrap rendered out to have 20/20 vision, the beats kept at a constant 20,000 feet altitude has “Purgatory” feeling like some of the cleanest and freshest produced Vaportrap in the game. This, in a genre that boasts aggressive instrumentals with sounds flying all over the place, is indeed a breath of fresh air as tracks like “Mirrors” towards the beginning of the album would be nothing but a relaxing simple little tune that may accompany an airport terminal elevator if it wasn’t for the pristine drum production giving it weight and parachuting it back down to earth. The just short of a two-minute track titled “Solitude” is as tranquil as they come, distant synthesizers paired with its liking of humble bongos and the go-to reverb-heavy treatment on hats to really give you this respectful and submissive state of Vaportrap. Everything ends with a bang (especially compared to this albums standards) as the final track “Bliss” explodes into a warped, wanderlust inspired horn riff.

Cobalt Road’s release here is a very calm album that lays in between exhaustingly relaxing background music and traditional, yet super fine-tuned, trap-influenced percussion— “Purgatory” is really the perfect name for this album, in this case, an intermediate state between trap extremities and angelic soft tones.

“Suspended between two points; Light and dark, past and future, joy and sadness, life and death.“

Overall, this is a crispy clean release in the Vaportrap hemisphere; quaint yet sophisticated. “Purgatory” has the ability to be your background music while cleaning the house or writing an essay persay, all while having the ability to also be used as a piece to sit around with friends and bump your heads to its heavy trap underbelly. Which side will you take?

This is what a Metroid game would sound like with a Vaportrap soundtrack.

More so influenced by electronic and cyberpunk flair than anything Vaporwave or aesthetics of that nature, “Urania” by Ganz Feld is a great, great release to check out if you are a Vaportrap fan as its layers upon layers of diverse sounds are nothing short of captivating and inspiring for the hyper-active percussion lying below it.

Released on Dream Catalogue back in 2018, “Urania” has it all. Acid-Techno harps and synths accompanied by this marching style directness on track number #10 “Reprogrammed” is powerful and orchestral, especially those little breaks during the track where we get nothing but this buzzing and zapping drone treatment eventually giving room for the drums to creep back in. Track #2 “Hyperware” provides us a playground of techno and trap all getting along with one another... that ambient interlude towards the end of the track providing a small window of air before you dive back down into the fun.

“Urania” feels like you’ve stumbled upon an alien planet but you have yet to discover the lifeforms that inhabit it, unsure if they are going to be hostile or friendly. The album sways between calm and caffeinated constantly and really paints settings of what this alien world would look like from alien factories leaking with sludge to miles and miles of purple-grass covered hills. Almost every track, from change-ups and interludes within them, feels like it’s 3 different songs all crammed into one. Surprisingly, nothing feels abrupt though and that is why I think this release deserves some serious praise. Track #9 “Massive Chain” is a perfect example of this as layers of instrumentals are literally growing and morphing into their final form with one another, not just merely existing to differentiate from one another and making you think “wait, is this a new track?”

Also, we gotta talk about that album art, for fans of that Y2K aesthetic feast your eyes on this thing of beauty. Not sure if this is an actual 3D-rendered creation for the project specifically or if this alien-like vehicle was taken from a video game or something, but damn this thing just straight up sounds like the music coming off the album. Also, nothing screams “early 2000’s” like the color emerald, jewels, and microfiber. And the hyper-reflective water in the background? What a juicy lookin’ piece!

Last but not least, what I consider to be pretty much my favorite Vaportrap release of all time. NxxxxxS’s 2017 release of “Remember Last Summer”. Inspired by 90’s and 2000’s horror movies, “Remember Last Summer” is smoky in its production and comedically spooky in its sound choices, pitched-down vocal chops and flute melodies on tracks like “1000 Ways To Get Paid” have so much personality in them you can’t help but fall in love with its eclectic flair. This track is then followed up with “Come Home 2nite” that quickly places us on a dark path at twilight with it’s warped synths and slower percussion progression throughout the song. Right after this, “Evil Thoughts Be on My Mind” featuring Soudiere brings us right back in the trap with Halloween inspired sound effects and hard-hitting kicks, snares, and hi-hats.

I really love every single song on here and can go on about them all, my favorite I think would be “1000 Blunts”, that Goodfellas sample in the beginning before the pitch dips and that calm and cool flute beat comes in... it is so rewarding and sounds so damn good (trust me, there is no other way to describe it. So. Damn. Good.)

This album, as well as everything else NxxxxxS has in his discography, has grown on me so much overtime. I remember discovering “Remember Last Summer” right around the time I was obsessing over VAPERROR’s entire catalog and the rest of the Plus100 label in general, and I overlooked it as I was mesmerized by the more upfront, aggressive and harsh Vaportrap that you definitely can find in the bubbly world of VAPERROR and his works. There were 3 vinyl records left of “Remember Last Summer” when I discovered the album (don’t ask me how I remember that, I have a weird memory for things lol) and I regret not picking one up!

Most of you may recognize NxxxxxS by his most popular album, “Fujita Scale” (which is also incredible, to say the least), but for me, “Remember Last Summer” takes the cake with its memorable personality and narrative dedicated to cheesy fun horror movies. If there is one album I couldn’t recommend enough from the Vaportrap scene it is definitely this spooky boi right here, this thing goes ridiculously hard in the paint.

G-funk and 90’s hip hop fed through a Halloween sound effects noise bank and cooked up in the kitchen by NxxxxxS himself, a bag of candy better than any haul you have ever gotten while trick-or-treating... Stay spooky my friends.

Much love, ur boi, Pad Chennington.

The 84 Stories of Vaporwave: What is DERELICTメガタワー?

JOIN THE INTERNATIONAL TEAM AS THEY ATTEMPT TO CATALOGUE A MEGATOWER OF UNTOLD HEIGHTS. WILL YOU MAKE IT TO THE TOP??? 

Today, you and I are going to be dissecting death’s dynamic shroud’s 84 track behemoth known as DERELICTメガタワー.

“So my first impression of Vaporwave was a very sort of negative and it made me take this Puritan stance against sampling… The idea with DERELICTメガタワーwas that, you know, the totality of music history was this “megatower” and every generation adds to their own floor or layer of this megatower… but as we take ideas from the past and recontextualize them or sample them or whatever, like a Jenga tower we are taking pieces from the bottom and putting them on the top…” - James Webster of death’s dynamic shroud.wmv

Ask any Vaporwave fan out there, and they will tell you that nothing ever really comes close to the experience of listening to death’s dynamic shroud. Consisting of Tech Honors, James Webster, and Keith Rankin (whom many of you may recognize for running Orange Milk records as well as the incredible artwork he has done for a handful of artists), the talented trio of death’s dynamic shroud provides a diverse opportunity for production due to the fact that they can mix and match their members to create the exact mood, atmosphere, and tone they are looking to nail for a project with pinpoint accuracy. Like some trio jumping in and out of the playing field in a Marvel vs. Capcom game, death’s dynamic shroud is able to pass their projects to their partners, when one of them knows the track they are currently working on, may benefit better from the talents of another member, or maybe they just simply can't figure out what to do next and inspiration has run dry... It’s a practice that provides a great example of power in numbers, and while Heavy Black Heart is the only actual known album all 3 of the members worked on, there is without a doubt that these members use one another for advice, criticism, or even just a way to look at a track in a new light.

Did you know that Tech made 世界大戦OLYMPICS completely on his own? Or that Keith Rankin never made a solo album under the death’s dynamic shroud monicker? Or how about when James works with Tech, death’s dynamic shroud spits out something more emotionally gripping and haunting like REGRET, or on the other hand, when he works with Keith, we get something way more jarring and obnoxious, the screeching yet melodic siren of I’ll Try Living Like This.

Because of this opportunity to mix and match, death’s dynamic shroud will always provide something wonderful for anyone, and it's always fun discussing their discography with other death’s dynamic shroud fans and seeing which album is their favorite.

“My first experience with death’s dynamic shroud was seeing the album art for I’ll Try Living Like This… I fell in love with the sound that is so unique to them… I love how it seems like if they think an idea is good, they find a way to make it work… they have a way of taking a round object and putting it flawlessly through a square hole, and that’s crazy to me. ” - S h e e p (Fiction Lead and Content Creator for Private Suite Magazine)

For me, I have always been split between 4 of their albums as “my favorite”: Regret, 世界大戦OLYMPICS, I’ll Try Living Like This and DERELICTメガタワー. Obviously, all 4 are completely different from one another and that is why I do not believe I will ever truly be able to pick one. But today, we are going to be specifically focusing on DERELICTメガタワー.

“... but suddenly, Vaporwave was making video game music cool again, and so we were making these mixtapes  for each other passing them back and forth and just  enjoying, so my stance really changed on sampling and recontextualizing music” - James Webster of death’s dynamic shroud.wmv

Despite its massive size of 84 tracks and over 4 hours of music, death’s dynamic shroud’s 2014 release DERELICTメガタワー was created solely by one member of the trio: James Webster. Starting as a concept album for HCMJ (another one of James names to produce music under), the works were eventually transferred into the DERELICTメガタワー album for death’s dynamic shroud.

His 84 track experiment, consisting mostly of old video game samples giving themselves to James for him to control and bend at his will, represents everything Vaporwave is all about to the fullest degree. For most of these tracks, James would focus heavily on the process of recording with tape. Music was recorded onto the 4-track, and then played back into the computer at a lower reel speed. This created a warm, natural slowing and pitching of the samples as opposed to a digital simulation in a DAW.

“... So some of that snarkiness and sort of punk rock energy from that original HCMJ concept still exists in DERELICTメガタワー”  - James Webster of death’s dynamic shroud.wmv

DERELICTメガタワー is simple at its core and represents the idea that you can really do anything in the scene, no matter how serious you take it or not. This is why this album is such a hub world for vapor fans out their, new and old. Just an experiment.

“84 tracks, just like the quests that I’ve never completed in most RPGs, you kind of get lost listening to this album, but luckily unlike our SNES, you can listen to this album on shuffle and still get a great experience.”  - KITE0080 (Vaporwave YouTuber)

The tracks themselves would be nothing without the overpowering aesthetic behind it. I envision the tower in the artwork, some floors being more convoluted while others are mere lobbies... a resting point between two hectic spots. In a way, I also like to think of the album as having to save points. I have never listened to the album straight through and whenever I revisit it, I usually listen to it in chunks eventually pausing at a more calm or simple track among its journey. There is an amazing amount of variety between every song, rainy days and sunny days, really pushing this grand journey as you progress to the top of the megatower.

“... Dream Catalogue, which is where I really wanted to be at the time… I loved what they were doing and I was a huge fan… I felt like, well if I make a 4 hour long album and just send it to them, they won’t be able to say no! ”  - James Webster of death’s dynamic shroud.wmv

And when actually glancing at the tracklist on its Bandcamp listing, that first time you stumble upon that web page and scroll down, witnessing the sheer length of songs PERFECTLY replicates the entire idea of the album in the first place... Looking up at the ever so gigantic, intimidating, dark tower in the middle of a city. You know at first glance, putting aside whether or not you will actually like the music or not, no matter what-- listening to derelict is going to be a challenge for you.

“... and, death’s dynamic shroud really lives up to their name because, if there is one way I can describe this album, it is dynamic. ”  - Magdalen Rose (YouTuber)

So whether one perceives James's reasoning for the massive length of the album as unnecessary filler to stretch a narrative or actual concrete beauty building those floors (or a mix of both), the connection between the albums enormous tracklist and villainous-looking artwork undoubtedly makes you curious about the project altogether.

“... Because death’s dynamic shroud was really just a joke in the beginning about Vaporwave, not necessarily making fun of it, but Tech and I had spent almost a decade making original music and original compositions, playing in bands… so, originally, death’s dynamic shroud was a fun space for us to play around with other people’s music… taking it to its maximum extreme was something that really appealed to me at the time.”  - James Webster of death’s dynamic shroud.wmv

An album this big and/or intriguing easily creates a buzz and, in my opinion, encouraging discussion is one of the most rewarding benefits an artist can achieve when making music; the idea that you can bring people together to discuss it and just have a fun time breaking it down.

If you haven’t geared up for the trek yet, I highly recommend finding the time to listen to this thing. This is not an album you have to listen to in one sitting, I actually recommend you treat it like a book and I think you’ll get the best experience that way, revisiting it whenever you’re ready to take on the long, arduous task ahead.

“... I say it doesn’t really matter… because I think everybody has a unique experience waiting for them inside the megatower”  - Porter Vong (The Richest Man in Vaporwave)

Much love, ur boi, Pad Chennington.

"Also known as "Youtube's Vaporwave Valedictorian", Pad Chennington is a content creator who has created a substantial following on YouTube for his videos discussing all things Vaporwave. Starting in the Fall of 2017, Pad's videos range from reviews to breakdowns, interviews to unboxings, and much more, always revolving around odd and interesting music genres found throughout the internet. Pad has also recently released an album in February titled "CONTRAST" that is available as a free download via the My Pet Flamingo label."

Check out the album below 

Vapor95 & Darknet Mixes

ａｒｃｈｉｖｅｓ

ａｒｃｈｉｖｅｓ is a Hip-Hop mix, where you can drift serenely into the inner spaces of the memory archive, or concentrate with precision on the task at hand...🌃📼🎧

Ｌｏｇｉｃ　Ｇａｔｅ

The next one up is Ｌｏｇｉｃ　Ｇａｔｅ. Rip thought the circuits of the simulation board. Any decision, any turn could be your last. Will you endure the Logic Gate?  🎛👾💿

ＰＵＲＥ ＤＥＣＡＹ 

Welcome to a place where your reality and fantasy blends for the ultimate shopping experience. Let your memory run wild with dreams of the pre-internet mall age. Gone now but never forgotten. Step into the PURE DECAY. ✨🛒🛍

ｃｈａｎｇｅｓ

With Fall comesｃｈａｎｇｅｓ. A Lo-Fi Hip-Hop mix that will transcend you smoothly into the most beautiful and coziest season of the year! ☕️🧡🍂 

Ｓｅｎｓｕａｌ Ｅｓｓｅｎｃｅ

Finally, we present our most recent Vaporwave mix. Slip into something a little more comfortable with Ｓｅｎｓｕａｌ Ｅｓｓｅｎｃｅ . 🔮🌊✨

Follow DARKNET Recordings on Soundcloud or Instagram to stay updated with upcoming releases, artist spotlights, and new articles!

The Abandoned Genre of

"Ocean Grunge"

Thalassophobia: a persistent and intense fear of deep bodies of water. While many quickly resort to feelings of fear when envisioning the dark void of the deep sea, there once existed a small selection of artists who, around 2014, tried to bottle that eerie, boundless energy of the ocean into a musical form. Today, we are going to explore that genre, a now-abandoned genre once known as “Ocean Grunge”, what it was and some of the notable releases from this aquatically angsty genre found within the depths of the internet. I invite you to take my hand and make sure you bring some solid scuba equipment as we embark through dark granite colored water and never-ending cloudy skies above us, all while reflecting a hopeless attitude on contemporary western society because you know, all internet genres are deep. No pun intended.

Welcome my friends to the abandoned genre known as “Ocean Grunge”

Ocean Grunge is an interesting topic to make a video on because, well, there really isn’t that much to talk about nor a dense history to go off of. On the surface, Ocean Grunge pretty much practiced a lot of the same tendencies other quirky electronic genres emerging from the internet around that time did as well, but did it with such a specific narrative in mind that it created this interesting little bubble of a vibe, which also caused its inevitable downfall due to its narrow flexibility. To save you time and to get us to actual examples of Ocean Grunge, I highly recommend checking out FrankJavCee’s famous video on how to make Ocean Grunge whenever you get the chance. While his videos were mostly parody-based, frank is a smart fella and is really good at wording things in a comedic, yet informative way. He does a great job explaining the construction of the sound for what it is, but to knock out what Ocean Grunge literally was for this article and to get us to the good stuff, it was an electronic music genre heavily influenced by early Vaporwave, drone, and grunge with an aesthetic of dark, cloudy, endless waters. You will also find a lot of sources saying its influenced by Nu metal, but I really do not see that at all

There were not really too many ocean grunge releases, the genre pretty much came and went because the narrative was so specific. How many songs could have possibly be made about the same thing? How many times can we take pictures of a gloomy ocean and say to ourselves “what would this sound like in musical form?” To be honest, I have never really listened to this little nook of a genre before exploring it for this topic, so I searched up the “Ocean Grunge Essentials” list and picked 5 of these that I thought the album cover was cool on and give them a chance. One of these albums I actually enjoyed very much, was pretty surprised actually so make sure you stick around for all of these picks I'm about to present to you today. Get cozy my friend because you and I are going to be exploring what Ocean Grunge has for us beneath the surface.

5) gorgeous☵gorgias - oceanographer #15

At #5 to start off the list, we are going to take a look at “oceanographer #15” by gorgeous☵gorgias. This was the first album art that popped to me from the list so I said let’s give it a shot.

Taking a look at the album art, it seems some helicopter expedition group just made a discovery that pretty much makes no sense, because it seems like they're in the middle of the ocean and there is no way that that thing floats so either this statue extends hundreds and hundreds of feet below what we’re seeing or the density of this water is so thick that this statue is just plopped at the top. I mean, now to think of it, it also kinda looks like snow so maybe this is Snow Grunge :^)

“oceanographer #15”, after listening to it, is pretty simple and vacant of any intensity. The Bandcamp description has it as “The story of a woman who ran away from Life to find Death in a submarine.” … very chilling 

The album contains 6 tracks with some classic Ocean Grunge treatment, slowing down them samples with a multitude of textures to make this thing sound crunchy, yet underwater. It seems the album’s main weapon to ”woo” you is its constant panning, but I just think that method gets kinda annoying and overdone throughout the entirety of the album. Certain sections of songs will be situated completely on one side of your headphones, or it'll just be constantly waving back and forth between your ears… I mean hey, waving, waves, like the ocean,...right?

Nonetheless, some pretty chill background music and definitely sounds like you have signed your life away to live in a submarine, constantly descending deeper and deeper with each track.

4) Pacific Despair - ~~~Devour~~~

Oooh, this one looks a little spooky baby I don't think I wanna be treading at #4 here with “~~~Devour~~~” by Pacific Despair. A dark, brooding album cover of what seems to be a world with an ocean below us and an ocean above, or maybe this is the perspective of swimming deep within the depths of an underwater trench, getting closer and more claustrophobic with every push towards the bottom of the sea. “~~~Devour~~~” comes at us with 6 tracks, a very similar format and track length list almost completely identical to “oceanographer #15”. If you check out a couple of this Ocean Grunge releases you can easily see why this genre kinda went under. A lot of it just seemed to be the same thing release to release, just some gloomy Mallsoft if anything, so I think it's just more of the name of the genre that dispersed or labeling this sound as “Ocean Grunge” than the actual sound itself disappearing. Ocean Grunge is just another case of the always-sprouting niche genres the internet belches up for us that find its eventual doom due to the limitations conjured up by its own narrative.

Nothing too dynamic or ear-catching on “~~~Devour~~~” as well, just some more faint background noise to accompany you if you’re studying, cleaning the house, or whatever you like to do. The is pumped with reverb, echoing samples, droned out and constantly retexturized metallic sound effects… you know the deal. I mean, it definitely does sound a bit distant, like you’re under the sea while there is a ton of activity going on above the surface but being so deep underneath, the sound just can't quite get past the ocean water into your ears. “~~~Devour~~~” a good example of what ocean grunge wants to be, another product off the ocean grunge conveyor belt and we can leave it at that. Every track pretty much sounds the same, all leading up to the final track “no signal” which just sounds like one 10 second sound stretched out by like 2000%, it does the notion of an “aquatic void” justice I guess.

3) POSEIDON IN CHAINS - Beneath the burning hands of God

Next up, I decided to choose an Ocean Grunge album from the Ocean Grunge Essentials list that did not actually have an ocean in the picture… crazy right?

Let us take a look at “Beneath the burning hands of God” by POSEIDON IN CHAINS, 5 tracks all with a decent amount of length to them ranging between 6 and 8 minutes long each. The album describes itself on Bandcamp as “From the last remnants of the planet, around the year 2500”, and it definitely does give you an abandoned, apocalyptic feeling. The constant sound of ocean waves crashing upon the shore are remnants of a once flourishing coastal town, flocks of seagulls searching for a bite to eat, bellowing vocal samples poking out between the more quaint parts of the track where a lot of the sounds seem to mellow out... You’ll hear some stretched wind chimes, or what seems to be some glass or metallic noise-making objects. Very vast, enormous feeling, and an album that really scopes how big and empty the world would be if nothing existed but oceans and remnants of what used to be a society. Beneath the burning hands of God is very spa-like, yet definitely ominous; it is like the Tripods from War of the Worlds about to come out the damn ocean and vaporize you at any possible second.

I think this album is definitely better than the first two we took a look at, there actually is some effort in regards to creating a layered, structured song. POSEIDON IN CHAINS does a solid job with synths, sounds, and sights to really give each little instrument or hum it’s respected space, definitely sticks out as one of the more prominent, talented artists from such a specific corner of music. “Beneath the burning hands of God” paints a picture of this hopeless wasteland we find ourselves in quite well, a cinematic experience for something that can only be heard through 5 tracks. Good job with this one.

2) metsu - as the earth drinks

Next up we got “as the earth drinks” by metsu, another 5 track release coming out all the way back in June of 2011. Recorded in December of 2010, “as the earth drinks” is an ambient and textural five-song album with bit crushed and compressed drums, fingered guitar strumming and some moments of breakdowns believe it or not (track 2 titled “imber” goes hard at the end, out of nowhere). This album is definitely not Vaporwave, some of these Ocean Grunge albums really flow towards the “grunge” side, and this album is definitely one of them. As I was mentioning earlier, I think a lot of Ocean Grunge is basically just some gloomy mallsoft with a narrative based on the ocean, I guess the other half is just ambient sounding grunge.

“as the earth drinks” is a cool listen, very raw and seems super unpolished which, we all know, can sound really great if it is done right. The album really feels like it was recorded in one go by some friends in a garage on a rainy afternoon, tracks like “rust/gasping for air” sound like a chillaxed jam session with your best buds and a 12-pack. Some tracks just sound like your standard “grunge” song, I do not really see the relationship to the ocean in track #4 titled “to keep from drowning (your feet must touch the ground)”, but hey, not everything needs to be a e s t h e t i c.
This album has a physical release, which is also surprisingly still available for being out since 2011. The CD comes in a shrink-wrapped, high-quality printed board case with a really nice 5-panel pop-out accordion artbook. I really adore the packaging here, Ocean Grunge definitely has some strong and mesmerizing colors in its palette and the CD packaging here takes advantage of that quite well. Only 100 of these exist, and hey, why not support these fellas and grab something that somehow still exists for sale that is almost 10 years old. Pretty cool indeed.

1. --§E▲ ▓F D▓G§ - THROUGH THE FOG AND THE DRIFTWOOD
   

Alrighty, last but definitely not least, I want to share with you an album that I actually find to be quite amazing and I am really happy to have discovered it by checking out this Ocean Grunge Essentials list. For the final pick of this countdown, we are going with one of the OG players of the Ocean Grunge sound --§E▲ ▓F D▓G§ and their release of “THROUGH THE FOG AND THE DRIFTWOOD”.

Coming in at 10 tracks, August of 2014’s “THROUGH THE FOG AND THE DRIFTWOOD” by --§E▲ ▓F D▓G§ is everything an Ocean Grunge album should, and can, be. The album is way more dynamic in sound range compared to everything else I pretty much took a listen to here, you got a ton of instruments and sampling techniques going at it with one another and a whole bunch of energy to really replicate an ocean of waves at war with one another, constantly crashing and colliding in a world where no land exists at all. The opening track “Slain” does a fascinating job at welcoming you to this world, a wrecking ball of an atmosphere as the song hits you with every component the Ocean Grunge toolbox can possibly throw at you.

What really does it for me with this album in its a range, every track has a personality of its own. While track #1 “Slain” is an orchestra of Ocean Grunge attributes, track #3 “It’s Over” is sampled and produced to sound almost sound like a George Clanton track if it were to be dropped down in pitch. Track #6 “Blu like the Ocean” has some classic eccojams vibes to it while the final track “Once Again, Left With Tears” sounds like what a Death Grips instrumental would be in the Ocean Grunge genre.

I also love the album artwork on here, those light grays to dark granite colors are so pretty to me and the artwork here helps you visualize an endless, hopeless sea quite well. I was picturing that ocean world from “Interstellar” while listening to this thing, all of it is very grand, overwhelming, and aggressive. The album has also dropped on cassette twice, unsurprisingly both sold out, the limited edition cassette and limited edition black tape anniversary cassette both looking really nice and for any of you who were able to pick this up over at Bedlam Tapes, be proud as this is a very solid piece to own. Hey, maybe this will gain some new attention for the album from people who have never heard it and we can somehow get a physical release of this again one day. Imagine this on a super dark forest green / light black swirl vinyl pressing? Absolutely gorgeous.

Ocean Grunge, for what it was, provided a unique aesthetic for an ambient, grungy sound. It’s downfall and short-run history is unsurprising though because, as I said, the narrative is so specific it creates a ceiling for how high the artists can go in regards go creativity, inspiration, and community. And, if they did want to experiment beyond what Ocean Grunge could be, it just places their sound in another genre. But, as always, who cares because at the end of the day, placing a genre on a sound is just a way to put faith into labeling something. I find some of these releases to be pretty good, definitely the last one we talked about, while others just seem like regurgitated background noise we hear time and time again from the internet. I don’t see the genre ever making a true comeback, but it is definitely fun to return to the idea of it nonetheless… setting sail in cold, cloudy waters where you are one wave away from being swept into the dark black void of the ocean. 

Safe travels my friend.

Much love, ur boi,

Pad Chennington.

"Also known as "Youtube's Vaporwave Valedictorian", Pad Chennington is a content creator who has created a substantial following on YouTube for his videos discussing all things Vaporwave. Starting in the Fall of 2017, Pad's videos range from reviews to breakdowns, interviews to unboxings, and much more, always revolving around odd and interesting music genres found throughout the internet. Pad has also recently released an album in February titled "CONTRAST" that is available as a free download via the My Pet Flamingo label."

VAPOR95 SYMPOSIUM 2019

On the weekend of July 5th, 6th and 7th Vapor95 hosted its second pop up shop experience: The Vapor95 Symposium 2019. Held in Los Angeles, the 2019 Symposium featured a three day Vaporwave shopping mall experience, a runway fashion show, and dance party, all in the surrealist Creatington Studios.

The Symposium featured Vaporwave design and art installations by eminent Los Angeles art gallery Chewing Foil as well as artists Internet Paradise, Tara Noir and Lordess Foudre.

Day One kicked off with a one-of-a-kind aesthetic shopping experience fulfilling all of the shopping desires you came to expect from Vapor95, with racks of clothes, pins, shoes, blankets and nostalgia inducing times.

We wrapped up the first day of shopping with Cherdleys' fashion show while Alain de Saracho provided the retro auditory bliss for the catwalk. Journalists and press abounded while our models showed off their aesthetic fits.

It was amazing meeting so many fans, customers of Vapor95 and supporters of our brand and cause! We are so thankful for everyone that came. 

Day Two. Racks and racks of your favorite Vapor95 fashion. A statue of h e l i o s pierced into the souls of those who entered. The iconic V everywhere.

After day two's all day pop up shop we had the official Symposium after-party with a plethora of DJs. This was made more epic by a spectacular light display on the dance floor and TV wall curated by Paul Plastic and Chewing Foil. Cyna started off the night with some spectacular synthwave, Baja Ajax played us his pure all original set of Vaporwave, Frank Javcee got the dance floor moving with his late 90's, early 2000's pop hits playlist. Corbo dazzled with his surrealist Vaporwave set played on a modular synthesizer, and Spook Daddy ended the night with some throbbing Caribbean booty music and breaks.

Day Three was a sad day, but all good things must come to an end. Experiences end but feelings are everlasting.

What a splendid way to spend three days. Fashion, art, music, design, nostalgia, and bliss.

Make sure you check out this killer video to get a taste of the fun we had.

Go ahead and subscribe to our official YouTube channel so you don't miss out on fun stuff in the future.

Don't feel bad if you missed this pop-up, like we always say, 'the aesthetic revolution is only getting started'.

Stay tuned for news about our next pop-up experience.

猫 シ Corp. & t e l e p a t h - Building a Better World

Album Preview by Pad Chennington

What’s cookin’, what’s poppin’ it is ur boi Pad Chennington, and let me tell you… I am so, SO excited to say that one of the most highly awaited albums in modern Vaporwave history has finally been dropped upon us. On July 27th, Vaporwave legends 猫 シ Corp. & t e l e p a t h released Building a Better World on the Hiraeth Records label, making this album the first official release for 猫 シ Corp.’s fresh new label. Expectations have never been higher for a Vaporwave release—will the dynamic duo deliver?

Carrying the catalog number ‘HR001’, Building a Better World was revealed to us on the Hiraeth Records Facebook page back in early June and ever since that initial announcement, the hype train has inevitably left the station with vapor-passengers from all over the globe. But no, this ain’t no choo choo train baby, this train is a sleek, pearlescent high-speed monorail and it is our first glance at the technology this world has to offer. Now that the album is live, it is finally time to step off that train after being on board for weeks and get our first glance at this new, promising world Corpy baby and t e l e cooked up for us.

I want to explore this album with you, paint a picture of this enhanced world by taking a look at the songs on here, the sounds and instruments used, the brilliantly charming 8-bit, yet 4K, album artwork, the crazy range of physicals made available for sale and, last but not least, give you words from the man 猫 シ Corp. himself on the creation of this album. The future of Vaporwave is here, it is time for Building a Better World.

“Our dreams, our thoughts, our love for music that evokes a story. Personally, I wanted to create something dark and light - a city in decay and an off-world colony where life is better. Or, is it moving away from a dying world into new dreams..?” - 猫 シ Corp.

Who doesn’t love the hype from a good collab? Building a Better World had the potential of being one for the books, and many of us wondered what would really happen if we fused together the retro, yet futuristic pristineness of 猫 シ Corp’s touch on production with the slushy, never-ending dreamscapes of t e l e p a t h in 2019. After years of mastering their craft, we are working with some primetime Vaporwave assassins here my friend.

Oh, and don’t forget my friend, we have seen both of these artists collaborate not only with each other in the past but also with other big-time artists in the Vaporwave scene (猫 シ Corp. and waterfront dining on ...With Love 愛を込めて and t e l e p a t h and VAPERROR on 超越愛). With this swing of the bat, we are really working with two seasoned veterans on Building a Better World, two producers who both have consistently solid resumes whenever working with other artists different than their own styles. How high could they set the bar this time around?

Clocking in at just about a 40-minute run time, Building a Better World contains a 9 song tracklist full of airy pads, angelic synths and echoing sound recordings that all wonderfully bring to life this feeling of suddenly stepping into, what seems to be, utopia. The blending of Mallsoft from 猫 シ Corp. with ambient Slushwave from t e l e p a t h provides a 2-for-1 deal  to make the value of this album quite worthwhile to any Vaporwave fan, but, will that be enough to make this album truly unique and evolved from their partnered releases in the past?

Building a Better World is an album you can almost feel with your fingertips, textures have never been more alive as songs like “目覚め” and “Sector 131” cause you to spiritually brush your palms against the carbon fiber buildings full of beneficial technology we can’t even comprehend yet. The album is never endingly suspenseful with components like ambient synth build-ups/swooshes, ghostly expansiveness from the delicate panning of instruments, and wonderfully placed trinkets of sound like echoing voices or crystal clear rain falling in the background to really put the cherry on top. This constant build-up of suspense, a grandly unknown escapade befallen upon our eyes from stepping foot into this world for the first time, is what gets the point across of this album entirely. Entering a world of this quality or magnitude would leave us in awe for hours, days, or even years, so I love how the sounds on Building a Better World aim to replicate that feeling in audio form.

“T e l e p a t h, for example, delivered such otherworldly sounds at a point that we really felt like we were creating something from a different world, something out of a dream or from the future.” -猫 シ Corp.

As we constantly flow between both artists known and established musical personalities, Building a Better World ventures beyond the stereotypical reverb-intoxicated mall or the idea of sluggishly moving through the starry cosmos at the speed of a snail (I’m sorry, but sometimes listening to t e l e p a t h makes me feel that type of way!). The two artists really took the time to mesh together what they know and bring the best possible concoction to the table with a new and futuristic flair. The album was worked on for about 2 years, and hey, it really goes to show.

“We both delivered parts for the album, one track has a bit more Corp, while the other has more t e l e p a t h. Some tracks do not even sound anything like the first demo anymore... Plus, tele did those amazing synth sweeps.” -猫 シ Corp.

猫 シ Corp. has stated in the past that Hiraeth Records will primarily focus on non-sampled Vaporwave, so the praiseworthy self-produced technique displayed on Building a Better World is a great addition to 猫 シ Corp.’s already incredible artillery of releases (and rendering up something this delicious is quite impressive for an artist who has focused his career so heavily on samples). A lot of that woozy, ambient and atmospheric Vaporwave that we have seen time and time again leaves us feeling nostalgic, however with Building a Better World, we really experience a sound extremely refreshing and hydrating compared to releases from the past. Track 6 titled “Building a Better World” sounds like you are slowly regenerating your health back to normal, a spa-like adventure adjusting your body to the new type of air this world contains. The final track on the album, “A New Life Awaits You”, really ties the whole trip together and is your final introduction to this new world created from the two producers, what you choose to do in this new world of abundance is up to you.

Building a Better World stands apart from the ambient alleyways full of other projects that repeatedly try to induce the same nostalgic aroma, 猫 シ Corp. and t e l e p a t h have truly built us a brand new world. Instead of sounds that provoke memories specific to you of a setting once visited, Building a Better World excites your imagination with a sandbox-style world full of towering buildings waited to be populated and established. Instead of smoky, blurry and unclear paths ahead of you, The expert production and placement of sounds on  Building a Better World provides you with contact lenses so powerful that you start to notice every pixel of color in the hovercraft highways above you.

Talking about pixels, let us take a look at this gorgeous artwork created by Mokmok and 猫 シ Corp.. On the cover we have two people staring at each other, and despite having any sort of facial emotion, I like to believe they are looking at each other with a sense of accomplishment and excitement. This new world, which perhaps they created themselves, is now ready to be explored and grazed upon as the sun sets on it’s first day of operation; a beautiful gradient of magentas and blues painting a creamy coat over the intricate buildings and infrastructure in this new land. This is some crazy cool pixel art.

Now, let’s take a look at the physicals made for purchase for the album, and oh baby do we got quite a selection here. You knew Hiraeth Records had to go big or go home for their first release, and to do that they gave us a variety of different physicals and variants to choose from.

For cassette collectors, Hiraeth Records baked up 3 different color pro made and dubbed cassettes to choose from (Indigo, Blue, and Purple). If you fancy a vinyl, we also have 3 different options to choose from on their Bandcamp page with all tracks specially mastered by t e l e p a t h himself. The first one, a magenta translucent vinyl record, really captures the color and mood of the album artwork and was limited to 300 copies. A “strictly limited”, hand-numbered marble vinyl record was also sold at a run of 150 which was limited to one per customer. And lastly, a standard black vinyl record limited at 300 copies.

Oh, and one last thing (see, I told ya they went big here!), 猫 シ Corp. and t e l e p a t h have also included a “Special 1988 CD” of the album that contains a CD-only bonus track with an alternate ending. The CD also has a purple back to match the artwork, everything here designed with dedication to replicate the other worldly sense of Building a Better World. The specific master made for the CD gives a crisp yet hazy and retro-inspired sound with a punchy low end, perfect for them long car rides. As expected much of these physicals sold out incredibly quickly, however, the CD and black vinyl record are still available for purchase if you are interested!

Vaporwave has gone through a bit of a renaissance in recent years, so an album like Building a Better World and what we have come to expect of it prior to release was our perfect opportunity to test the waters of what “can be” for future releases within the community. While we can all still adore and visit the virtual abyss the earlier Vaporwave community provided, we are in a time now where human interaction and collaboration are key to the ongoing excitement of the current state of Vaporwave, and there is no better way to showcase the beauty of human connection with an album like this. Building a Better World, in a sense, represents the community we are constantly building for Vaporwave, a new and better world with more potential from artists, labels, and fans like you and I than ever before. 

Much love, ur boi, Pad Chennington.

"What is Future Funk?"

By Pad Chennington

The cosmic grooves of the internet’s funkiest little sub-genre, Future Funk, has come a long way… A long, long way.

It seems like just yesterday, I was typing in “Future Funk” on Youtube and a large selection of tracks would pop up, almost all the time with the same ol’ sorta stuff:

• a solid, catchy measure of an old 80’s city-pop song on loop for 2 minutes straight

• some fun simple drums

• a nice fuzzy retro-anime gif to accompany the whole thing, most times not even synced to the kick of the song.

Very aesthetic indeed, and with a formula so repetitive, yet contagious, the emitted grooves brought out by this Vaporwave sub-genre became beloved by many around it’s birth in 2013… We saw titans spawn in this time period, future funk legends like MACROSS 82-99, YUNG BAE and Night Tempo just to name a few. Vaporwave existed for almost 2 years up until this point and most people welcomed in this higher-tempo, generally more optimistic sound pretty quickly as it was a nice breath of fresh air from the crooning, droning sound styles found often in your stereotypical Vapor track at the time. It got down to the point, producers stripped away all the excess fat of an old 12” disco sample, take the catchiest part and inject into the listener’s ears for a minute or two. Quick hits and long lasting highs, it really was like a drug.

However, time has passed and when time passes, people’s tastes change. Many began to grow tired of the overdone, and pretty lazily constructed, future funk formula that was going for a couple years strong. Artist as well began to crave newness, and luckily for us they went to work. We’ve seen a solid handful of producers who have stuck around with that fire burning passion for disco, latin drums, french house - pretty much anything that can contain a groove you can possibly manipulate with a modern touch. That burning flame inside has made artists craft tracks in a much more deliberate, dense, and creatively thought out way more than ever before, making 2019 and the future such an expansive time for the sub-genre and the talent coming out of it.

So yes, we have seen some crazy growth in the scene and I absolutely love how exciting it has all gotten, but with all of the releases coming out, you may ask “where do I begin?”. So today, I want to give you 5 releases we have seen in the recent days of the scene that I believe do an excellent job at showcasing just how wild the production and groovy sensations can get for a Future Funk experience. So put on some swim shorts, make sure you catch a Lapras and teach it surf, and bring a lot of sunscreen, because you and I going to sizzle on this hot summer day at the beach… You’ve just entered the “Future Funk” zone.

Unibe@t - Origins

Unibe@t opened up 2019 with a colossal bang.

For those who haven’t heard of Unibe@t, this artist is super low key and likes to make his mark on the scene strictly with the final result of his music... Let the product speak for itself.

Bandcamp describes the artist best: “an artist's artist beloved by some of the biggest and most respected names in Vaporwave and Future Funk”. So yeah player, do not mistake Uni’s quiet ways to sneak into his musical output, because ”Origins” is anything but shy. This “wall of sound” that you will have absolutely no way around or ability to scale, “Origins” is massively colorful with jolting sample chops (I love that snazzy piano reconstruction on “Internationale”) knowing when to peak in and out of instrumental subtleness with filters and mixing. It is an absolutely bouncy Future Funk release, depth woven into each measure on an almost hour long tracklist. “Origins” came out in January with 12 tracks, averaging between 4 and 6 minutes each so you are in for not only a lengthy listen, but a superb one to say the least. Tracks like “Konnichiwa” and “Multi-Lover” are so musically hefty, so listen up you better come hungry.

BarbWalters - Pleasure

Barby baby let me tell you player the step up here from “Reconnect”, BROTHER, you can feel the attention to detail that went into this project! And I really liked “Reconnect” too, an album I recommend you listen to before jumping into “Pleasure” so you can see the growth of his musical artistry. But for real, “Pleasure” just blows that thing out of the water! “Pleasure” can easily be one of the best Future Funk releases of the year, measures are sautéed in their own unique way. Every single moment separating itself from the previous one and making sure no two sections on the album sound the same. Whether it is some empty spaces that are nothing short of ticklish between the sample chops or an added layer of a secondary sample to create an extra melody for ya, Barb delivers every beat on here with a cherry on top.

You can definitely see the Ed Banger influence on here. Tracks like “So You Wanna” have this clunky, chop-job execution, that reminds me of the classic track “Arabest” by French House legend SebastiAn (and I know how much you love that French House Barb). I love this meaty, clustered sound; a straight up cosmic electro-funk salad, that sounds like a bunch of robots working on some assembly line. Also the track “Go Easy”... THAT BASSLINE! AHHHH

HATENA - PARADER

Next, let’s take a look at my boy HATENA and his May 2019 release of PARADER - An extremely charming future funk release with some quality chopping on a superb selection of samples to undeniably keep you listening from start to finish (listen to ya boi, this is an album that is hard to put down once you rev up the first track). Fans of the Future Funk scene, who are looking for a return to a sample-heavy emphasis production wise, HATENA is your go to pick for that simple summer lovin’. Each track blends smoothly with one another, and at a tasty pace to say, the least! (Hatena really loves them good ol’ white noise risers!)

The sample chopping is really HATENA’s bread and butter on “PARADER”. Your attention is always spent on awaiting what little quirky variation the vocals will chop up into. I had a blast in visiting the musical carnival he’s operating up in here. My personal favorite track on this album is “Cheap Thrills”, some great workout music! Also “Loser”, I see you with that homage to The Phantom’s Revenge! You can tell the french house legendary DJ is a huge inspiration to the young Future Funk artist for “PARADER”.

Most of the tracks contain the same formula, but when it’s done with such humble, yet, quality execution, you just can’t help but fall in love. HATENA is a great dude, who is super active in the scene and community. With “PARADER”, we really see his passion for the sound of classic French House and Filter House come to life! I can not wait to see what the Australian producer cooks up next. keep grindin’ my man.

Montaime [Label]

Next up, I want to talk not necessarily about a specific release, but an entire label: Montaime

Featuring releases from fan-favorite producers like FIBRE, Discoholic, Cobalt Road, and many more, Montaime is your go to platform if you are someone who can never get enough of that modern disco heat. I also really want to applaud the label for their frequent, yet quality, releases. A couple weeks ago, we got the single “Still Down to Get Down” by Discoholic ft. bruce take nap & PHAUN. With some proper jingles, a crunchy bassline, a laid back drum track, and some added killer vocals, the track blooms with sophistication and dedication - kinda sounds like some Breakbot, and trust me, that is a huge compliment. It truly is wonderful to see artists so passionate about disco and wanting to create their own music from start to finish. Personally, I recommend just jumping straight into their “Montaime - Volume 1”, a collection featuring 11 great artists all looking to shine.

A diverse palette of artists inspired by Disco, does it really get any better than this?

Vantage - Aloha Island

The homie Vantage, damn it has been almost 4 years since Metro City was released? Time flies! Even in 2015, Vantage’s classic album “Metro City” was pretty intricate for a time surrounded by a lot of Future Funk flooded with lazy looping and over-simplistic formulas (Listen to the opening track 50//50 on here...still love all those changeups!)

“Aloha Island”, released in 2017, is easily Vantage’s best work yet (opinions!). Here, we have another case of a producer who, after coming into the scene, has gradually began to put more and more of his own organic touch on his releases. “Aloha Island” is spacious, roomy, and grand. Many tracks have this floaty feel due to there not being this jumble and mish-mash of overcrowding instruments trying to climb over one another. It is a humble ride. Tracks like "Street Chorus" have that fun filtered vocal chop laying over some minimal synths, drums, and more hand-selected instruments that keep the track clear and aerodynamic. Same vibe on the track “With Me”, a very Toro Y Moi-meets-Future Funk (as if Toro isn’t groovy enough already!)

Vantage is the perfect music to accompany you on a flight or long train ride, so make sure you get a window seat. Surprisingly, the vinyl for this album is still available despite there only being 300 copies pressed, so record collectors jump on that because this is a damn good release that definitely goes under the radar for many.

At the end of the day, Future Funk will always be what you make of it. I mean, calling it all “Future Funk” is just a label for it all, just a word to easily umbrella everything we’ve seen these past couple of years, at least that’s how I sum it all up. It’s subjective; is Future Funk limited to that repetitive looping formula combined with a 1980’s anime gif? If we place more instruments, vocals, secondary samples, heavy drum mixing, etc., are we just entering territory claimed by other genres like Nu-Disco, French House, etc? Whatever you think of it, just always remember to groove, have a good time, and lose yourself. Dance like nobody's watching!

Much love, ur boi, Pad Chennington

"Also known as "Youtube's Vaporwave Valedictorian", Pad Chennington is a content creator who has created a substantial following on YouTube for his videos discussing all things Vaporwave. Starting in the Fall of 2017, Pad's videos range from reviews to breakdowns, interviews to unboxings, and much more, always revolving around odd and interesting music genres found throughout the internet. Pad has also recently released an album in February titled "CONTRAST" that is available as a free download via the My Pet Flamingo label."

Sampling vs. Non Sampling in Vaporwave

By Pad Chennington

Who doesn’t love a good sample? I know I do.

When it comes to making Vaporwave, implementing and exploring the internet for samples to chop up has become a practice sacred to the very sport of aesthetics itself. Hunting down obscurity within the depths of the YouTube related section, converting a song you like to an mp3 or wav file and then goin’ in on it to make it your own only further pronounced the very mystique attitude of the Vaporwave way of life—A forgotten, mysterious, lost glamour that you happened to stumble upon within’ the crevices of the cyber world.

However, the ways of musical production did not stay solidified in a state purely dependent on sample engineering for very long. Even by late 2012, producers began introducing their own instrumentals to create a palette less sample dense, all while still trying to still ooze this feeling of false technological hope, forgotten media, and nostalgic undertones. An immediate example that comes to mind is Blank Banshee’s beloved “Blank Banshee 0”, the classic pound-for-pound champion of the Vaportrap division that played off of trending vibes existing in that current meta of Vaporwave, all while at the same time, adding in something odd, intricate, and organic to the movement with cleverly placed 808’s and synths sounding like they were sprouted from the soil of one’s strangest dreams.

Nowadays, it is pretty safe to say we have seen it all; a prism stretched far and wide blessed with all sorts of production methods. Sample chopping, field recordings, live instruments, vocals—you name it, we have heard it!

A big discussion seems to come up time and time again in the community: the battle between sampling vs. non-sampling… Which one is “better”, especially in this day and age and the growth of the scene? Is it impossible to abandon the tried and true ways of the sample bender or should we really move on for the sake of newness and fresh creativity?

Well, with this article I want to not necessarily search for an answer on which one is “better”, but more so on how each one contributes to the scene in it’s own, unique way.

Boring answer? Lame answer? I know, but to be honest with you, I believe the discussion should be based less on competitive assets and more so on how each one enhances the Vaporwave genre, all while not going overboard in it’s own way.

Let’s start off with sampling, good ol’ sampling… I mean cmon’ like I said who doesn’t LOVE a nicely chopped, creatively filtered, and perfectly placed sample to coat your soul with something fun and catchy? Who doesn’t enjoy that little rewarding surprise after hearing a Vektroid track and then hearing the original sample used to make that song pop up on your radio only a couple days later?

 *Sample used in MACINTOSH PLUS - ライブラリ

Sampling from existing songs is always ironically convenient in a narrative sense of the whole Vaporwave idea, the fact that it can replicate this “bootleg” acquisition within the flow of your track. Using samples to create musical stories, artists can pump out projects and albums at a consistently convenient rate, a good amount of work is already done for you especially when you found that super delicious little loop in a track ripe with instruments and vocals you do not need to put in yourself. All of this further contributes to this melting pot surplus of Vaporwave tracks that already exist on the internet and will always allow for more music to be pumped out at a rapid rate. Who doesn’t love getting lost in the back catalogue of 猫 シ Corp.’s earlier works? Or taking a mini-vacation through the skyscrapers of Luxury Elite?

A lot of us love Vaporwave for that, and always have. This engraved notion of availability, getting lost within the hundreds of bandcamp pages tagged “Vaporwave” always knowing we’ll never be able to listen to it all; and most of those uploads will contain samples. Simply put, it is obvious how important the act of using samples are to the genre’s core.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

DAVID GOGOKHIA

We're very proud to have you on our DARKNET blog. "Multiform Simulacrum" directed by Nitepunk for Vapor95, has some of the most creative and complex editing we've come across. Please tell us more about your creative vision and what attracts you the most in this style!

Thank you for having me. Every project is different and needs a specific approach. On Multiform Simulacrum, director (Nitepunk) untied my hands and gave me total freedom in terms of VFX. I was listening to music and just playing with a different effects like VHS, pixel sorting, RGB distortions and my favorite - Datamosh, and then I’ve had an idea to combine all these effects and layer them on the timeline so I could control each separately. The most difficult part was to make them work together, to make them look “organic.” Just remember, when you are editing, you are the very first audience for the project. If you really are into it, like whatever you see, that’s when you get an actual results. just follow the flow, enjoy the process.

How long have you been editing? Can you tell us what inspired you first to pursue this passion and how have you grown during years in this field?

I’ve been editing almost ten years now. During those years, I grew up both personally and professionally. It’s important to challenge yourself, step out of your comfort zone, that’s when you grow and learn the most, get maximum. I draw the most inspiration from music, nature and architecture.

Can you tell us about your creative process? How do you go from idea to a finished piece? What softwares have you found most useful for you to express your ideas? 

There’s a few important elements to post-production that needs to fit together in order to make your video work: Ideation, research, sketching and executing the final look.
Sometimes, vision and ideas flow together but other times... not really and its painful haha. Try different ways to express your ideas, cross boundaries, don't be afraid to experiment a little bit, try new things.
Personally, my editor of choice is Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects. Especially last one, gives you so many ways to convey your most craziest ideas to life.

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Do you listen to music while you create? If so what kind and how do you see it affecting your final product?

I listen to music all the time! Mostly experimental, ambient, breakbeat, trip hop, IDM genre basically. Music triggers the release of feel-good neurotransmitters such as dopamine, which helps me feel relaxed and happy. Therefore, be more creative and focus better on tasks.

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How often do you collaborate with other artists? anything upcoming?

Definitely would be working on music videos for various dope artists!

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Finally we would love to ask - What would you say to up and coming artists who want to pursue their passion?

Your personal values, passion and interests are part of what makes you unique! Be hungry, never stop, follow your dreams and BE AWESOME! :)

Check out David Gogokhia's Website

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