日本語の文字 – 何も は リアル
Recommendation: ☹
日本語の文字 is a sneaky parody of vaporwave; the name translates as “Japanese characters”. The album title 何も は リアル is related; it translates as “Nothing Is Real”, which might be a snipe at the thematic focus on emotional emptiness that permeates many vaporwave (especially classic-style) releases and message boards. Or perhaps I’m overthinking it all.1
Musically, 何も は リアル is anything but jokey, foregoing memes or similar qualities in favor of straightforward signalwave that samples from Japanese commercials. Tracks are built out of constantly repeating microsamples for a minute or less before suddenly switching over to the next piece. For the most part, 何も は リアル follows the standard set by artists such as INTERNET CLUB and Infinity Frequencies. The resultant fifteen-minute release isn’t musical in the normal sense, being more about how to deconstruct bits of sound and information so that they lose meaning or create new meaning through repetition. The fidelity of the samples is rather low, being ripped from poor quality sources that’s totally a vaporwave kind of thing but is not entirely appropriate for sheer listening appeal.
If you’re balls-deep or ovaries-deep into signalwave, then it is probably worth looking into 何も は リアル. Casual fans won’t get as much out of it.
Tracklist
1. それは私が思うのです – (0:53)2
2. 誰かになる – (1:01)3
3. 私をあなたに連れて行きましょう – (0:45)4
4. 目を閉じて – (0:40)5
5. しかし、それはすべて動作します – (0:34)6
6. あなたはそれを調整することはできません – (0:32)7
7. 大したことはありません – (0:55)8
8. 悪くない – (0:37)9
9. 私の木 – (0:39)10
10. それは違いない – (0:34)11
11. いちご畑 – (1:22)12
12. あなたを連れて行く – (0:54)13
13. 永遠に – (1:57)14
14. 私は行くよ – (0:27)15
15. 永遠に – (0:39)16
16. 誤解 – (0:52)17
17. それはそれほど悪くない – (0:43)18
18. 生活は簡単です – (0:53)19
19. 常に知っている – (0:46)20
1Welcome to music journalism, you can stop reading here.
2Japanese translation: “This is what I think”
3Japanese translation: “Become someone”
4Japanese translation: “Let me take you to you”
5Japanese translation: “Close your eyes”
6Japanese translation: “But it all works”
7Japanese translation: “You cannot adjust it”
8Japanese translation: “There is no big deal”
9Japanese translation: “Not bad”
10Japanese translation: “My tree”
11Japanese translation: “It must be”
12Japanese translation: “Strawberry field”
13Japanese translation: “Take you”
14Japanese translation: “Forever”
15Japanese translation: “I will go”
16Japanese translation: “Forever”
17Japanese translation: “Misunderstanding”
18Japanese translation: “It’s not too bad”
19Japanese translation: “Life is easy”
20Japanese translation: “Always know”