Visaプリペイド – スムーズOCEANS

Recommendation: ✂ (“Intro,” “7:30 p.m. (feat. Drip-133),” “Shopping Centre”)


スムーズOCEANS1 should be recognized by its complete avoidance of the annoying hi-hat abuse that’s everywhere in hip-hop/trap-influenced vaporwave. Seriously. This album – the first from Visaプリペイド2 – is one of the better downtempo albums out there in the scene, and one that’s been unfairly overlooked since its 2013 release. There’s an aquatic theme that isn’t over-the-top, and the beats never upstage the actual music at hand; especially in the criminally-named “Intro” track that’s way more than just an intro. “Shopping Centre” has the incredible vibe of a seaside shack club, despite its cliché name.

As to be expected with a seventeen-track debut album, there is some filler. “Hands Up (Intermission),” “Work,” and “Packing Up” are unnecessary, and there doesn’t seem to be too much of a point of having both versions of “Ogasawara” on the album since the two are so similar (especially since they lean a bit too much toward the hi-hat). The mix volume varies,3 likely due to the sampled source material (e.g. the transition between “AirSpa” and “Bermuda”). These mistakes occasionally kill the flow of full-listens, but it’s nothing that a custom playlist can’t handle. スムーズOCEANS is a great album for the background while still rewarding active, engaged listening.

 

Tracklist


1. Intro – (3:59)
2. Mizushima – (2:51)
3. AirSpa – (3:18)
4. Bermuda – (4:39)
5. Club Caicos – (2:03)
6. Hands Up (Intermissions) – (0:15)
7. Work – (1:05)
8. Venice – (2:35)
9. Deep Relaxation – (2:50)
10. 7:30 p.m. (feat. Drip-133) – (2:32)
11. Packing Up – (2:38)
12. Air Americana – (2:55)
13. Shopping Centre – (2:02)
14. Be Back Soon – (2:40)
15. Ogasawara (Album Version) – (2:44)
16. The Groove – (2:08)
17. Ogasawara (Soundcloud Version) – (2:51)


 

1Japanese translation: “Smooth Oceans”
2Japanese translation: “Visa Prepaid”
3A personal peeve of mine. I don’t understand why tracks aren’t equalized a little more…

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