P A T H S パス – \_P U T Z_’N_G L O_P A L A C E_/

Recommendation: ✂ (“\_m i d n i g h t_w a r r i o r s_//-\\_a l l e y w a y_/”, \_c o n v e r t i b l e_c r u i s e_/”, “\_a r e n a_r o c k_ c o n c e r t_/”)


P A T H S パス1 is a relatively new artist on the vaporwave scene; \_P U T Z_’N_G L O_P A L A C E_/ is only their third album, following C L E A N S I N G P O O L released just one month prior in October 2016 on Lost Angles and the L A T E – N I G H T – C U T S extended-play in August of the same year. \_P U T Z_’N_G L O_P A L A C E_/ utilizes a variety of old and new vaporwave tropes often within the same song, such as the hypnagogic drift and vaporhop approach of “\_c o n v e r t i b l e_c r u i s e_/,” which somehow manages to sound like a SNES video game soundtrack and a hip-hop track at the same time. Immediate follow-up “\_a r e n a_r o c k_ c o n c e r t_/” mixes classic-style vaporwave with the late night lo-fi/VHS pop of artists such as telepath. It’s not even two minutes long, a quality shared with half of the album’s tracks, and it’s on those that P A T H S パス is most effective: a mark of a good producer is knowing to extend an idea only as far it can carry itself, and P A T H S パス’s shorter tracks do not overplay themselves. Yet that isn’t a knock on the longer ones; the nigh-six minute “\_m i d n i g h t_w a r r i o r s_//-\\_a l l e y w a y_/” keeps itself interesting through utilization of a sudden break from beat-heavy vaporwave to a misty drone.

There are three bonus tracks, each of which is much closer to classic-style vaporwave and late night lo-fi than the other songs, and they all have a muffled sound akin to ULTRACOMPUTER’s SUPERCARTRIDGE. The final bonus track, “\_c h i q i t a_b a n a n a_/,” is straight-up ECCOJAMS. These tracks, while decent, somewhat detract from the rest of the album on virtue of simply being so different. Other than “\_b a s e m e n t_j a m_s e s s i o n_/,” the other tracks are fairly uptempo with a much louder (so-to-speak) production base. It makes the ending to the album somewhat incoherent, but “\_f e e l s_g o o d_/” makes a funky-enough ending to the main tracklist in its utilization of VHS pop sounds.

Overall, P A T H S パス is at their best at two points: the short snippets of tracks that have just enough movement without overstaying their welcome, and the more experimental tracks such as “\_m i d n i g h t_w a r r i o r s_//-\\_a l l e y w a y_/” and “\_c o n v e r t i b l e_c r u i s e_/.” Either direction would be a good one for future releases; but in particular, that drone ending to “\_m i d n i g h t_w a r r i o r s_//-\\_a l l e y w a y_/” is stellar, and a nice subversion of the standard VHS pop track. Check that one out for sure.

 

Tracklist


1. \_n o s t a l g i a_w a v e_/ – (0:44)
2. \_m i d n i g h t_w a r r i o r s_//-\\_a l l e y w a y_/ – (5:44)
3. \_c o n v e r t i b l e_c r u i s e_/ – (4:07)
4. \_a r e n a_r o c k_ c o n c e r t_/ – (1:52)
5. \_b l a c k l i g h t_w o m a n_/ – (2:41)
6. \_s l u s h i e_m a c h i n e_/ – (2:21)
7. \_s p o r t s_u p d a t e_/ – (1:52)
8. \_l a t e_n i g h t_l a k e_s w i m_/ – (1:24)
9. \_c a r w a s h_/ – (1:18)
10. \_b a s e m e n t_j a m_s e s s i o n_/ – (1:40)
11. \_f e e l s_g o o d_/ – (3:48)
12. \_c r a n e_g a m e_/ [Bonus track] – (2:09)
13. \_h i g h w a y_p a t r o l_/ [Bonus track] – (2:08)
14. \_c h i q i t a_b a n a n a_/ [Bonus track] – (1:04)


 

1Japanese translation: “Path”

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