3D BLAST 爆風 – Pioneer
Recommendation: ✂ (see article for recommendations)
Take note, future funk producers: Pioneer may have some problems, but it’s also a great example of the subgenre done right. Way too many artists simply equalize old funk songs, slather on some house beats, and call it their own;1 but 3D BLAST 爆風2 throws in some killer effects and phasing to make tracks their own. Listen to “BULLET TRAIN PLANET 交通の銀河,” a ridiculously goofy mono/stereo-screw; and “Automatic Systematic 体系的な自動,” which remixes the titular Saint Pepsi track into something that’s almost Daft Punk-esque (and better than the original).
Pioneer may be split up into three vague sections, denoted by three intro songs between one and two minutes in length. If there’s a concept to be explored in each, then it’s not really out there: the thirds share too much of the same classic-style vaporwave/future funk, and the intros don’t really lead into the following songs in a meaningful way. 3D BLAST 爆風 has an enormous discography that falls into the same trap as do many artists whose output is so large: the filler gets in the way of appreciating the good.3 Pioneer desperately needed an editor to cut down the tracks into something more cohesive.4 There are quite a few songs that simply weren’t fleshed out to an extent that separates them from the glut of similar-sounding ones, especially the hypnagogic pop tracks (e.g. “「XXXG-01W」 バスター ・ ライフル” and “w.a.y.k. 愛は強いです”).
Although Pioneer goes on way, way too long, its fun isn’t sterile. 3D BLAST 爆風 wants people to dance, but they also throw in a wink and a nudge at some random points that keep the audience going “huh, what was that?” Check out “l i f e g Au r d 黄金の鍵,” which stops and starts almost entirely halfway through the song. Yeah, it’s gimmicky, but it works in being memorable. “IRON CHILD LAUNCH_.exe” goes straight-up EDM, which could’ve been a kiss-of-death but actually totally works out in its own bizarre way. “every -T I M E そう感情的な” throws in some random vaportrap that (although kind of out of place) keeps the final third fresh. And what’s up with the hypnagogic pop in “BIRDS 夢の中でフライング,” which utilizes the same lyrical sample from Toto’s “Africa” that Daniel Lopatin used on the first track of the seminal Chuck Person’s ECCOJAMS Vol. 1? There’s no way that wasn’t intentional – but it’s not unwelcome in the slightest!
For most listeners, check out the tracks that are positively mentioned in this review. They’re worthwhile. Pioneer is a slog at times, but it’s got several excellent ideas that are worth hearing.
Tracklist
1. HOLLYWOOD SUPERSTAR (INTRO) ハリウッドのスーパースター – (2:00)5
2. Twenty15 父の年 – (3:14)6
3. BIRDS 夢の中でフライング – (3:35)7
4. SPOTLIGHT SUITE 有名人の地位 – (3:56)8
5. VideoLOVE コンパニオンのテレビ – (2:50)9
6. NY3D ニューヨーク警察の緩和 – (4:32)10
7. BULLET TRAIN PLANET 交通の銀河 – (2:45)11
8. BIG-002 (Intro) パラダイム・シティ – (1:14)12
9. UMBRELLA_WEATHER 思考の嵐 – (5:25)13
10. 「XXXG-01W」 バスター ・ ライフル (feat. 「Nｅｗｔｙｐｅ」) – (4:29)14
11. PRIME TIME PROM 私と来て – (2:56)15
12. Diamond7 宝石泥棒 – (2:51)16
13. Ｓｅｔ Ｙｏｕ Ｆｒｅｅ (feat. 「サンセット Ｎｅｔｗｏｒｋ❾❶」) – (4:50)
14. Saint Pepsi – Automatic Systematic 体系的な自動 (3D BLAST 爆風 Remix) – (3:23)17
15. Dynamic, Maximum, and Tension (Intro) その良い家にします – (1:03)18
16. LOSINGFRIENDS 別れる – (3:37)19
17. every -T I M E そう感情的な – (3:25)20
18. l i f e g Au r d 黄金の鍵 – (4:11)21
19. w.a.y.k. 愛は強いです – (4:06)22
20. YOU CAN’T PUT IT INTO WORDS – (4:32)
21. Twenty16 私の父は、現実を超越しています – (4:34)23
22. Dymaxion 未来へ – (2:09)24
23. Strawberry Daiquiri, 1902 (feat. Bonus Fruit) – (2:04)
24. IRON CHILD LAUNCH_.exe (feat. Sam Quick) – (2:32)
25. UnderCoverS (feat. 「サンセット N ｅｔｗｏｒｋ❾❶」) – (2:18)
26. Visceral — MIND OVER MATTER (feat. Replica Federation) – (3:15)
1e.g. マクロスMACROSS 82-99.
2Japanese translation: “3D Blast (Blast)”
3Non-vaporwave example: Ty Segall.
4This should’ve been ten or twelve tracks long, not left at the twenty-six track and eighty-five minute behemoth that it is.
5Japanese translation: “Hollywood superstar (INTRO: Hollywood superstar)”
6Japanese translation: “Father of the year, 2015”
7Japanese translation: “Birds (Flying in a dream)”
8Japanese translation: “Spotlight suite (Celebrity status)”
9Japanese translation: “VideoLOVE (TV companion)”
10Japanese translation: “NY3D (New York relaxation police)”
11Japanese translation: “Bullet train planet (Transportation of galaxy”
12Japanese translation: “BIG-002 (INTRO: Paradigm city)”
13Japanese translation: “UMBRELLA_WEATHER (Thinking of the storm)”
14Japanese translation: “XXXG-017 buster rifle (feat. Newtype)”
15Japanese translation: “Primetime prom (Me and come)”
16Japanese translation: “Diamond7 (Jewel thief)”
17Japanese translation: “Saint Pepsi – Automatic system (System automatic)”
18Japanese translation: “Dynamic, maximum, and tension (Intro: and then it’s a good home)”
19Japanese translation: “Losing friends (Break-up)”
20Japanese translation: “every-TIME (So emotional)”
21Japanese translation: “Lifeguard (Golden key)”
22Japanese translation: “w.a.y.k. (Love is strong)”
23Japanese translation: “2016: My father, you have to transcend reality”
24Japanese translation: “Dymaxion (To the future)”