bbrainz – jungle2000

Album information:


Artist: bbrainz
Album: jungle2000
Type: Extended-play (EP)
Release date: 29 May 2015
Label: Colosseum Records
Format:

  • Cassette, unknown edition (Colosseum Records, 2015)
  • Digital download (Colosseum Records, 2015)
  • Digital download (self-released, 2015)

 

Recommendation: ☹


bbrainz is Matias Leopoldo, an Argentinian vaporwave artist who made his name (or pseudonym) not so much through his full-lengths but through featured tracks on high-profile compilations such as Colosseum Records’ NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL VAPORWAVE and Fortune 500’s The Music of the Now Age III . bbrainz primarily created classic-style vaporwave akin to VitoJames with a summery vibe that contrasted with the surrealism of most anglophone vaporwave artists.

Released in mid-2015, the EP jungle2000 was a huge change compared to previous bbrainz works, being informed by jungle music with little in the way of vaporwave. For lack of better words, it was not well-received – earning a particularly caustic Reddit comment1 upon publication – with allegations of unoriginality that bordered on plagiarism. The EP primarily features percussion and melodic samples from a free sample pack, which was the primary target of criticism, in addition to the EP’s heavy usage of the amen break.2 (However, it is worth mentioning that jungle2000 also features breakbeat, as on stand-out track “2 late”.)

While it’s true that jungle2000 is not particularly original, bbrainz responded by saying he makes music that sounds enjoyable, regardless of the mechanisms or sources. That statement is in-line with the general opinion of classic-style vaporwave, where the samples might be identifiable but the points is for the listener to hear them in the new context of presentation or creation. Perhaps jungle2000‘s poor reputation stems from it being “not vaporwave”, or perhaps the album’s reliance on jungle tropes instead of plunderphonics excuses it from the justifications usually used by the vaporwave community – both producers and fans. Perhaps sadder, bbrainz only released one more album before retiring the moniker, which led to only one release under his birth name. Was the reception of jungle2000 the impetus for such?

Years after its release, jungle2000 stands as a monument to the fine philosophical line of vaporwave.

 

Tracklist


1. jungle-01 – (2:09)
2. quaddamage – (2:35)
3. 2 late – (3:35)
4. jungle テクノ – (3:58)3
5. shaolin bass – (3:42)
6. pizza sensei – (3:25)
7. dominator – (1:29)


 

1See here.
2If you don’t know what this is, then boy do I have a rabbit hole for you. Check out this Wikipedia page.
3Japanese translation: “(jungle) techno”

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