Add this to the list of things I'll just never understand. Subreddits with n*100k subs. For what? Something that sounds like tracker music from the 90s?
And the music that you listen to is what, objectively better?
Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
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Re: Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
#12Add this to the list of things I'll just never understand. Subreddits with n*100k subs. For what? Something that sounds like tracker music from the 90s?
The article gives a pretty comprehensive overview of why people might enjoy vaporwave and it's offshoots.
Politics, humor, the aesthetic itself.
Some releases even have a definite musical quality: Blank Banshee has put out very interesting music, and some production values in Vaporwave-esque music clearly made it into the mainstream.
Re: Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
#13Vaporwave’s not dead
Re: Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
#14I think overzealous copyright quietly killed Vaporwave. It focused on being anti-capitalist & satirical, where Vaporwave as a genre spawned out of this retrofuturistic desire to return to the 80's and 90's era of rosy nostalgia to chill electronic music like the K-Mart store tapes[0] fused with graphics from the era's games like Ecco the Dolphin[1]. The genre stood out because it was a new artform that encouraged stylistic experimentation, where listeners appreciated the nicheness and relative unpopularity.
One of the albums, Floral Shoppe[2], that helped create the movement was taken down on YouTube after receiving tens of millions of views because it directly used modulated (slowed down, reversed, autotuned, etc) samples from songs owned by Sony that fell outside the scope of fair use to the point the artist couldn't claim the album as an original work. This may have doomed it from the start to be a victim of its own relatively small success- as soon as more listeners discovered Vaporwave, it would be co-opted by the mainstream in the form of 'A E S T H E T I C S' and would cease to be the creative & original subgenre it set out to be.
[0] https://www.npr.org/2015/10/12/448059164/putting-the-k-in-mu...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Person%27s_Eccojams_Vol....
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floral_Shoppe#Lisa_Frank_420/M...
Re: Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
#15I've heard this genre called vaporwave, synthwave, and retrowave. Which meme is going to win? Also for anyone interested, a pretty good resource for retrowave related music, art, and games: https://newretrowave.com/
Vaporwave is a different genre from synthwave. Synthwave is based off synth-heavy 80s music, especially action and thriller/noir movie soundtracks. If you watched Stranger Things that has a very synthwave sound track.
Vaporwave is more sample based and is traditionally about looping distorted samples of 80s/90s songs, though it branched out a lot. Personally I'm a fan of naturewave, which is looped and edited "nature" or "new wave" sounds. But, key difference, it normally doesn't use a lot of classic synth sounds.
Retrowave I think refers to the over all aesthetic genre; so vaporwave and synthwave both fall under retrowave.
Re: Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
#16My bf loves vaporwave and is sharing new artists in this genre with me all the time. 3D BLAST, Mélonade, Death's Dynamic Shroud and Runners Club 95 are a few of the producers / bands I like the most. I don't understand the fuss about labels; it's all electronic dance music to me.
Re: Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
#17I’ll start out by saying I’m an avid fan of vapor/synth/whatever wave. I’ve heard this argument before and I can’t be the only one to think it’s silly, right? A cursory search of Spotify, Bandcamp, or YouTube will show that ALL the “wave” genres are alive and well some 5 years after this article was written. Some artists have moved on to other aesthetics, some artists have continued to produce the same sound they alw…
Corporate businesswave is so perfectly my aesthetic, thank you so much for the recommendation.
Re: Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
#18As I’ve gotten older I just don’t have time for discovery. The proliferation of sub genres has added enough friction for me that I largely don’t try anymore. That said I play music pretty much every day and I have made music for 24 years. I have always liked downtempo music that wasn’t overly bright and was generally lofi. When describing what I like, sometimes it is golden age hip hop sounding. Sometimes it’s Boards of Canada sounding. Sometimes it sounds like Air. I occasionally bump into new music I like but the fragmentation of genres makes it difficult to discover new things. I wish that music was defined more by mood/mix/tempo and overall production aesthetic. I think there is a need for a Shazam like app that can listen to a song you like and find others for you that are similar.
Re: Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
#19As I’ve gotten older I just don’t have time for discovery. The proliferation of sub genres has added enough friction for me that I largely don’t try anymore. That said I play music pretty much every day and I have made music for 24 years. I have always liked downtempo music that wasn’t overly bright and was generally lofi. When describing what I like, sometimes it is golden age hip hop sounding. Sometimes it’s Boards…
Last.fm used to be popular and still does an alright job at that. Usage numbers are down so there might be less variety, but I especially liked the "neighbours" to find people with similar music taste and then I lurked at what they played and I hadn't heard myself before.
Re: Vaporwave was created then destroyed by the internet (2016)
#20As I’ve gotten older I just don’t have time for discovery. The proliferation of sub genres has added enough friction for me that I largely don’t try anymore. That said I play music pretty much every day and I have made music for 24 years. I have always liked downtempo music that wasn’t overly bright and was generally lofi. When describing what I like, sometimes it is golden age hip hop sounding. Sometimes it’s Boards…
I feel you. My strategy of late has been to listen to a playlist of a genre I like but composed of artists I haven’t heard of on Spotify. I do this in the background while I am working. I heart the ones I like and add them to a special playlist and over time I’ve built up a few different playlists and expanded my inventory of tunes. Before being a programmer I was a studio musician and engineer and I swear I listen to more music now than ever.
Edit: incidentally, I totally agree with you about wishing there was a service that focused on mood/tempo more than anything. I’ve found that Spotify has been doing some of this type of aggregating and it’s not too bad. I’ve gotten a ton of good music from the Late Night Vibes playlist.