Ganz Feld – Unwise 2.0

Recommendation: ✂ (“Brain”, “Fatal Shadows”, “藕断丝连”, “Disconnected”)


Released at the start of fall 2016 on the Canadian label Lost Angles,1 Unwise 2.0 is a half-hour of vaportrap by Ganz Feld that utilizes hypnagogic and ambient melodies. It expands on the artist’s 2015 six-track EP Unwise, which was released by Aloe City Records.2 Unwise 2.0 came out approximately ten months after the EP’s original run, and it was accompanied by a cassette release in an edition of fifty.

Unwise 2.0 prominently utilizes progressive electronica and new age (nu age?) melodies, similar to Dream Catalogue alumnus 「fluence」 on 2014’s elemental. It has a clean and crisp production that’s similar to (and will appeal to fans of) releases on chris†††’s Business Casual label. The first six tracks (corresponding to those from the 2015 EP) are far more trap-based, with lots of hi-hats and hip-hop textures that run at single-length. “玉Cruelty” receives the remix treatment by pseudonymous artist Vandelay Industries – which is a reference to a fictional entity on Seinfeld. These six tracks have the all-too-common pitfall of vaportrap music whereby the hi-hats are simply abused; they distract more than they facilitate the music of the experience, although they are not mixed loudly in comparison to the progressions.

The stand-outs of Unwise 2.0 are in the four new tracks. “Brain” features production work by fellow vaportrap artist STΛQQ ƟVERFLƟ, who’s released on labels such as Business Casual, Midnight Moon Tapes, and Ailanthus Recordings. “Fatal Shadows” is a downtempo vaportrap artist with some serious cyberpunk/dreampunk ambiance popping up at its last minute. “藕断丝连” is a ten-minute ambient jam with trap and hip-hop elements; it’s by far the best song on Unwise 2.0 and is deserving of addition to anyone’s vaporwave playlists. Final track “Disconnected” opens with a keyboard arpeggio slightly similar to the Halloween theme that dives into ambient IDM. These four tracks highlight Ganz Feld’s future focus on dreampunk and eventually ghost tech, which culminated in the release of Prophecies on Pyramids in August 2017. Grab them.

 

Tracklist


1. CTV – (3:35)
2. Night Palms – (2:37)
3. 玉Cruelty [Vandelay Industries Remix] – (2:32)3
4. Trans Oneiron – (3:06)
5. 变态 [VIP] – (2:38)4
6. 2Shy – (3:48)
7. Brain (feat. STΛQQ ƟVERFLƟ) – (2:30)
8. Fatal Shadows – (3:39)
9. 藕断丝连 – (10:35)5
10. Disconnected – (3:32)


 

1*Not* “Lost Angeles” – or maybe it’s just me who makes that mistake.
2Aloe City Records might or might not be defunct. As of this writing, they haven’t released anything in almost a year.
3Japanese translation: “Beautiful (Cruelty”
4Japanese translation: “Metamorphosis [VIP]”
5Japanese translation: “Lingering wire”

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2 comments

  • Tom

    Man, I disagree with your rating but your review actually seems fairly positive other than your seemingly innate dislike of trap beats (or am I wrong). To me Ganz has the polish of a professional and writes tight, hypnotic songs. The only lack I can see is he isn’t very groundbreaking. He’s low-key good (sort of next wave Eco Virtual) and would give this album 2 suns.

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    • Sunbleach

      I think all too often vaportrap is just trap beats over hypnagogic melodies without much else. It’s gotten me a bit tired of the genre, as I feel like a lot of trap artists just don’t do anything more than that (there are definitely some notable exceptions though). But I was extremely into the additional four tracks post-release. This album bubbled at around one sun for me as I was writing, but in the end I figured the ending four tracks are the ones to really grab from this. When Ganz Feld is good, he’s really damn good, and I hope it came across that way. I’d personally like to see more -hop instead of -trap, because his deep beats are a lot of fun.

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