AOTW | 19 June – 25 June: fuji grid tv – prism genesis

prism genesis comprises one of the earliest releases in broken transmission music, whereby albums (typically EP format) are constructed out of media clips, advertisements, and similar sources with a short, discursive editing style. The results typically evoke the feeling of falling asleep in front of a TV and hearing the transmission float in and out of one’s subconscious, or of tuning an old radio and getting multiple networks that aren’t related to each other. This album in particular is one of several genre-defining projects released by Vektroid through the New Dreams Ltd. umbrella, which also featured similarly important releases uch as FLORAL SHOPPE by Macintosh Plus and Shader by Sacred Tapestry.

prism genesis uses multiple clips from Japanese media, with the odd English phrase thrown in (and usually with reference to Western products, such as Panasonic) with a heavy amount of degradation and corruption. The album was one of the first users of the jump cut production style that now typifies both broken transmission and related genres such as signalwave. Its non-musical (in the conservative sense) tropes also make it a progenitor to vapornoise, and prism genesis is often labeled one of the earliest vapornoise releases among fans and producers, such as on 4chan vaporwave guides, rateyourmusic lists, and reddit fan compilations.

In February 2016, Vektroid reissued prism genesis as Fuji Grid TV EX, along with a reissue of Shader as Shader Complete. The new version extended the overall runtime by over sixty percent (from twenty minutes to thirty-two), included new tracks, and toned down the original’s noisy lo-fi production in favor of more dynamic range.

Read the Sunbleach article on the original release of prism genesis here and on Fuji Grid TV EX here. Check out the music below:

 


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