Monday Music: t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 – あなたの愛
We’re getting a little bit weirder this week, and leaving the hood behind. This week we’re going to explore the odd genre called Vaporwave.
You’ve probably have heard that one trippy song by Macintosh Plus. A pitch shifted, multi sampled, remixed version of Diana Ross’s Your Move. It has been blowing up recently, and has kind of become a “meme” in the YouTube Haiku community. But you may be asking yourself, “What the hell is Vaporwave?”.
When I first discovered Vaporwave, I was skeptical. It’s a genre, that I thought initially, was a parody genre. People ironically throwing in Japanese characters into their song titles, and the constant talk of “AESTHETIC”. But the more and more I explored the genre, and it’s countless subgenres, I began to fall in love with it.
The vibe, or A E S T H E T I C, the genre is trying to exude is an interesting one. A lot of the sounds you will hear are very pitch shifted down, and will be kind of droning. You will immediately get a kind of, nostalgic feeling, which is what a lot of the songs are trying for. The artists are trying to teleport you to a retro future, where the pinks and teals of the late 80’s and early 90’s are the only colors you will see as your walk an abandoned mall. There is a huge cross over with the trend of using outdated technology, as VHS and cassette tapes are the norm. Labels like Dream Catalogue have gone one step further, and instead of releasing albums on Vinyl have gone for the magnetic glory of cassette tapes. Granted it’s an inherently BAD medium for sound, as the frequencies on it favor the high side. Getting the latest vaporwave release on a little cassette just drive home the whole retro future vibe.
This week’s Monday Music focuses on t e l e p a t h’s newest release. Him/her/they are one of the juggernauts in the Vaporwave community, and have released some of the quintessential songs that define the genre. This latest release is nothing new, but really shows you what you can expect from this quirky genre. Take a listen below to the full album, and be sure to check out t e l e p a t h on Band Camp.
