Chinese Hackers – ( wiretap )

Recommendation: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


( wiretap ) is the debut full-length album by Chinese Hackers, who developed the “vaporgoth” style upon the release of the ░▒▓死▓▒░ extended-play only three months prior to this. Vaporgoth is a highly specific1 subgenre of vaporwave that utilizes industrial music and vaporwave in the creation of dark soundscapes. Source material is all over the place – from the plaza square of Half-Life 2 to your fucked-to-the-max slow jam.

Whereas ░▒▓死▓▒░ primarily stressed beatless, highly warped drone music reminiscent of 骨架的’s debut, ( wiretap ) has some rhythm, as ghoulish as it may be. “Leader” – one of the best tracks on the album – is a sewer-like trip through plodding beats and the faintest of audible cuts where the sample repeats itself. Most of the songs are identifiable as slowed-down samples, which may break the wall too much to be genuinely creepy, but there are some genuinely haunting tracks such as “Smokestack” and “Projects.” “雾” features an appearance by the HKE project チェスマスター, and “Fade  Out” features Chungking Mansions – both are pleasant surprises.

( wiretap ) doesn’t do too much different from ░▒▓死▓▒░, and some listeners may find the dark ambiance too repetitive by the end, but those who enjoy the darker, more serious blends of vaporwave should check this out.

 

Tracklist


1. Town  Square – (0:56)
2. Projects – (1:41)
3. Forward – (2:04)
4. Underground – (3:06)
5. Source  Code – (1:28)
6. Leader – (2:11)
7. Smokestack – (1:46)
8. 雾 ( ft. チェスマスター ) – (2:12)2
9. Village – (2:56)
10. Tibet – (3:14)
11. Opium – (3:48)
12. ( wiretap ) – (5:50)
13. Fade  Out ( ft. Chungking  Mansions ) – (3:16)


 

1Other than Chinese Hackers, there isn’t an artist who comes to mind who utilizes this style of production. There are plenty of artists who have flavors of vaporgoth in their work, but this is the only dude who notably makes it his primary aesthetic – at least, according to my knowledge at this specific point in time.
2Chinese translation: “Fog”

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