Datavision Ltd. – NIGHTWAVES
Recommendation: ✂ (“[untitled]”, “Get Lifted”)
NIGHTWAVES is a mixtape by Datavision Ltd., an old-school vaporwave duo that consisted of Robin Burnett of INTERNET CLUB and Leonce Nelson. This mixtape consists of “booty-poppin malljams” of existing songs, sort of like ECCOJAMS but using the whole song rather than an earworm sample (with a couple exceptions). Each track consists of one song from a particular artist that has been remastered/remixed in the mallsoft style, as if the song were reverberating throughout the hallways of one of many nameless suburban malls. The samples generally come from R&B sources, but electronic music makes a few cameos by way of Daft Punk and Oneohtrix Point Never.1
The concept has potential that’s more suitable for an EP’s worth, not twenty-eight tracks clocking in at over an hour and a half. At the end of it all, NIGHTWAVES is just the songs with which it started out but with more echo and a slight bit of crackle. A couple tracks have some classic-style vaporwave sensibilities (e.g. “Say Yes”, “Get Lifted”), but they represent a small fraction of NIGHTWAVES. If you’re a hardcore mallsoft fan, then that might appeal to you, but for the rest of y’all out there: if you want the mallsoft experience with your music library, just pull your headphones slightly out of the jack. It creates the same faux-fi effect.
Tracklist
1. Soul For Real: “Candy Rain” – (5:05)
2. Brian McKnight: “Backseat (Gettin’ Down)” – (5:02)
3. Boney James: “Heaven (feat. Trina Broussard)” – (5:05)
4. Ronny Jordan: “After Hours (The Antidote)” (1:48)
5. Aphex Twin: “[untitled]” (1:50)
6. Floetry: “Say Yes” – (2:28)
7. Erykah Badu: “On & On” – (4:56)
8. Radiohead: “Climbing Up the Walls [Zero 7 Mix]” – (5:20)
9. Isamu Ohira: “From The East” – (1:45)
10. INTERNET CLUB: “WEB FANTASY [OS X PARADISE MIX] – (2:34)
11. Beaumont: “Aventurescence” – (4:04)
12. Whitney Houston: “You Give Good Love” – (4:34)
13. Oattes Van Schaik: “Love Attaxx” – (4:10)
14. The System: “Don’t Disturb This Groove” – (3:51)
15. Mariah Carey: “Say Somethin'” – (3:51)
16. Daft Punk: “Revolution 909” – (2:22)
17. MJ Cole: “Sincere” – (3:50)
18. West Norwood Cassette Library: “Get Lifted” – (4:10)
19. 杏里: “Oasis” – (3:58)
20. Datavision Ltd.: “Nites of Funk” – (2:08)
21. The Notorious B.I.G.: “One More Chance” – (1:03)
22. Tamia: “Officially Missing You” – (4:01)
23. Oneohtrix Point Never: Betrayed in the Octagon – (3:04)
24. Ginuwine: “So Anxious” – (4:00)
25. Washed Out: “Olivia” – (1:46)
26. John Abercrombie: “Timeless” – (3:42)
27. Jan Hammer: “Voyage Home” – (1:01)
28. Roy Ayers: “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” – (4:00)
1Meta!