emperor tangerine – saltwater creek

Recommendation: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


emperor tangerine’s former harshness on my empire is toned down quite far here; although it’s loud, saltwater creek isn’t the pounding rapacity of noise that characterized emperor tangerine’s other efforts. It’s better described as an album that’s “disintegrating,” where the noise comes from the work crashing apart and being destroyed in the process of listening. It’s likely emperor tangerine’s most tuneful work, and features just barely audible slowed-down vocals on the seventeen-minute “a haven in sandstone.” “campground” uses a lot of low-bass rumbles that juxtaposes nicely against the glistening melodies underneath the static, like being in an ice cave during an earthquake.

emperor tangerine (and most of TKX Vault) practices “vaporwave” with the genre-destroying, fuck-all attitude that the term implies. Despite being obviously cacophonous and grim, saltwater creek demonstrates “vapor-” influences in its surprising catchiness and obvious utilization of new age-sounding music (e.g. “campground”). Therefore, it might be a good place to start for those who are interested in vaporwave’s noisier, longer experiments but might be intimidated by the full-frontal audacity of stuff like Online Records or fellow TKX Vault alumnus C A S I N O ☆★☆★☆ M A S T E R. The track “campground” deserves special mention; its pairing of rumbling bass and icy samples is pretty cool.

If you play this album, play it loud. It’s really the only way.

 

Tracklist


1. stolen memories – (12:08)
2. campground – (7:52)
3. a haven in sandstone – (17:04)


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