断片化された友人 – Fragmented Memories

Recommendation: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Fragmented Memories is six hours long. That’s ridiculous.

断片化された友人1 is marketed as a supergroup of seven high-profile vaporwave artists, but it’s not. Only twenty-one of the sixty-nine tracks are collaborative, and almost none of them feature every member. The tracks are rarely any different from what any artist puts on their solo albums, giving this album the impression that it’s little more than a glorified compilation of respective tracks than it is a brain trust of preeminent producers coming together for a cohesive project. Among the ones that are collaborative, only a few sound as such: “Modern Reliquary,” “Tropical Club,” “地球外の,” and “paradise;” on the rest, one producer’s talents drowns out the others’ contributions.

Dream Catalogue’s press release states that Fragmented Memories was curated to facilitate listening, but there’s little (if any) evidence of this. As stated previously, the tracks sound so similar to each individual artist’s material that it’s plainly obvious whenever a new track begins, and the complete absence of any thru-line (be it thematic or compositional) casts doubt that it was as carefully mixed as its creators intended. No tracks feature leads into one another. Most of the songs are ambient-esque, but the production can change from the hypnagogic pop of t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 to the future funk of CVLTVRΣ within adjacent racks. It’s sloppy presentation.

There are some decent moments in this album (e.g. the aforementioned ” Modern Reliquary,” in addition to “女性罪,” “Parthenospect,” and “フルサークル”), but Fragmented Memories is so damn bloated and similar to everything these artists have put out separately that there’s no need for this album to become an essential part of any vaporwave fan’s library. It’s not only annoying how long it is and how same-sounding it is, it actually feels a bit insulting because of the lack of any blatant collaborative elements and the expectation that the listener will want six hours from the same group of artists instead of taking the time to whittle it down into a manageable release of only the best-of-the-best songs.

The main benefit to this release is that there’s so much music here that the listener will never have to purchase or to listen to anything else by these seven artists ever again, as it pretty much touches all aspects of their discography. Fragmented Memories is just that: too fragmented to be consistent, and not self-aware enough to make its discursiveness a commentary on itself or the scene. Each of these artists are at the top of the vaporwave scene – or at least they were in 2014 when this album came out – but this album is far too self-indulgent to be excusable.

 

Tracklist2


1. 地球外の – (2:52)3 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 and 猫 シ Corp.
2. マントラ – (3:47)4 – 猫 シ Corp.
3. The Telepath – (6:56) – Hong Kong Express
4. Ark – (3:40) – General Translator
5. 水 TEMPLE ユニバーサル – (5:33)5 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
6. Artisan Water – (3:02) – CVLTVRΣ
7. Blaze – (2:26) – bodyline
8. Love Letter – (5:30) – Phoenix #2772
9. 限られたメモリ – (4:22)6 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
10. 目を覚ますCORPORATE SLUSH KITTY – (5:12)7 – 猫 シ Corp.
11. I NEED YOU あなたと私は永遠 – (8:48)8 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
12. paradise – (4:37) – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 and b o d y l i n e
13. キャッ党忍伝てやんでえ – (7:52)9 – 猫 シ Corp.
14. Here I Am – (1:51) – Phoenix #2772
15. 另一种时间的梦想 – (7:12)10 – Hong Kong Express
16. Parthenospect – (3:42) – General Translator
17. 遠い将来で失 – (15:48)11 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 and Hong Kong Express
18. So Low 單飛 – (8:14)12 – Hong Kong Express
19. LOVE 私を忘れないでください – (1:52)13 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 and Phoenix #2772
20. CGI テレビ番組 Host – (4:32)14 – 猫 シ Corp.
21. DEEP IN THE SLUSH – (9:58) – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
22. Streets of Kwun Tong – (3:40) – 猫 シ Corp. and Hong Kong Express
23. フルサークル – (5:49)15 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 and General Translator
24. Eden Express – (3:28) – 猫 シ Corp. and Hong Kong Express
25. 時折 – (5:02)16 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 and CVLTVRE
26. 私に戻ってくる – (2:28)17 – 猫 シ Corp.
27. デフラグ – (3:34)18 – CVLTVRΣ
28. 前 – (6:35)19 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
29. A.M. Stream – (4:39) – b o d y l i n e
30. Window Watching – (4:13) – Hong Kong Express and CVLTVRΣ
31. 奇妙なライト – (9:24)20 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
32. 街FRIDAY NIGHT DRIVE日産 – (4:26)21 – 猫 シ Corp.
33. After Hours – (3:36) – Phoenix #2772
34. Channeling – (2:16) – CVLTVRΣ
35. 凧ステーキ DELUXE 420 – (5:10)22 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 and 猫 シ Corp.
36. Polygon Passion – (4:37) – CVLTVRΣ
37. Pompeii – (3:07) – 猫 シ Corp. and Phoenix #2772
38. Fragmented – (1:54) – Phoenix #2772
39. 宇宙空間ラウンジ – (4:00)23 – 猫 シ Corp.
40. Liquid Souls – (4:00) – Hong Kong Express and CVLTVRΣ
41. 白黒 – (7:04)24 – 猫 シ Corp.
42. Passion – (1:58) – Hong Kong Express and Phoenix #2772
43. ドリトス Fiji – (3:13)25 – 猫 シ Corp.
44. ソニー·クロケット – (4:39)26 – 猫 シ Corp. and General Translator
45. あなたと – (11:25)27 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
46. 青白い肌 愛 – (5:25)28 – 猫 シ Corp.
47. 紫の五十色合い – (3:37)29 – 猫 シ Corp.
48. FEELING ブルー – (3:10)30 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
49. Tropical Club – (3:39) – 猫 シ Corp. and b o d y l i n e
50. Lovers and Sake – (3:17) – General Translator
51. 星界的梦想 – (9:27)31 – Hong Kong Express
52. fair weather fairwell – (4:58) – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 and b o d y l i n e
53. My Heart – (1:29) – Phoenix #2772
54. TEMPTATION 私はあなたが欲しいんだよ – (4:31)32 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
55. うとうとと – (5:19)33 – Telephoenix Corp.
56. 女性罪 – (1:40)34 – General Translator
57. Years Ago – (2:12) – Hong Kong Express
58. 真の姿 – (9:18)35 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
59. Shopping – (5:14) – Hong Kong Express and b o d y l i n e
60. TeleCorp 仮想企業 – (6:11)36 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
61. 재 탄생 안에 별 – (2:36)37 – 猫 シ Corp.
62. In Silence – (1:26) – Phoenix #2772
63. Modern Reliquary – (9:36) – Hong Kong Express and General Translator
64. Hypnagogia – (15:00) – Hong Kong Express
65. Operation Eternal Ecstasy – (7:47) – General Translator
66. 愛そんなに – (13:34)38 – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者
67. 2814年頃の情事 – (3:49)39 – 断片化された友人
68. Dreams – (8:19) – Telephoenix Express
69. Fragmented Memories – (7:41) – t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 and 猫 シ Corp.


 

1Japanese translation: “Fragmented friend”
2Oh boy, here we go.
3Japanese translation: “Extraterrestrial”
4Japanese translation: “Mantra”
5Japanese translation: “Water temple universal”
6Japanese translation: “Limited memory”
7Japanese translation: “Eyes wake up (Corporate Slush Kitty)”
8Japanese translation: “I need you (You and I are forever)”
9Japanese translation: “Party on Shinobu Den on Yandee” (?)
10Chinese translation: “Another dream time”
11Japanese translation: “Lost in the distant future”
12Chinese translation: “So low (solo)”
13Japanese translation: “Love (Please do not forget me)”
14Japanese translation: “CGI TV show host”
15Japanese translation: “Full circle”
16Japanese translation: “Occasionally”
17Japanese translation: “Come back to me”
18Japanese translation: “Defragmentation”
19Japanese translation: “Before”
20Japanese translation: “Strange Light”
21Japanese translation: “Friday night drive (Street Nissan)”
22Japanese translation: “(Kite steak) Deluxe 420”
23Japanese translation: “Space lounge”
24Japanese translation: “Black and white”
25Japanese translation: “Doritos Fiji”
26Japanese translation: “Sony Crockett”
27Japanese translation: “And you”
28Japanese translation: “Pale skin love”
29Japanese translation: “Fifty shades of purple”
30Japanese translation: “Feeling blue”
31Chinese translation: “Astral dream of”
32Japanese translation: “Temptation (I want you)”
33Japanese translation: “Drowsily”
34Japanese translation: “Women sin”
35Japanese translation: “True form”
36Japanese translation: “TeleCorp Virtual Enterprise”
37Korean translation: “The re-birth of stars”
38Japanese translation: “Love so much”
39Japanese translation: “Love affair of 2814”

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