Vektordrum – Hello Skypedals EP1

Recommendation: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Vektordrum is an early alias of Ramona Xavier, whose other projects include Vektroid, fuji grid tv, and Macintosh Plus. Hello Skypedals EP1 is a 2009 release that – at forty-three minutes in length – makes one curious how long LP1 would’ve been. Although it’s only a year younger than the vaporwave catalyst of the New Dreams Ltd. and […]

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James Ferraro – Far Side Virtual

Recommendation: ☀☀☁ Hyper-realism – the concept of the artificial and the real being indistinguishable – is the key to this album. Hyper-realism is often discussed in the context of role-playing games, virtual reality, and on-line identities; all things that were exceptionally topical at the end of the first decade of the new millennium, if not as much today only because […]

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骨架的 – Poor Homme

Recommendation: ☀☁☁ Poor Homme1 ended the anonymous producer 骨架的’s two-year hiatus following the release of Ancient Science in 2013. His(Her?) ninth overall full-length harkens back to the classic-style/proto-vaporwave of 2010’s Holograms and 2012’s Reflections, blending hazy vignettes of smooth jazz/easy listening with computer music. It’s also one of 骨架的’s longest albums to date: at twenty-one tracks in over fifty minutes, […]

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Casino Gardens – Casino Gardens

Recommendation: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Casino Gardens’ self-titled album probably wouldn’t be attached to the vaporwave scene but for three reasons: 1) its release on the Beer on the Rug label, which hosted many of the well-known early vaporwave releases;1 2) its retro and super low fidelity; and 3) its faux-utopian framing. It’s actually the first album in the history of Beer on […]

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骨架的 – Holograms.zip

Recommendation: ✂ (“Ancient,” “Wires”) Holograms.zip (also known as Holograms Beta Version) is a kinda-sorta unofficial version of 骨架的’s landmark proto-vaporwave release Holograms that’s been floating around the Internet and various share folders for some time. The main differences are the order of tracks and a few songs: “Computer” is not on the album,1 and there are two excised tracks via […]

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骨架的 – Holograms

Recommendation: ☀☁☁ [Originally posted to the SongSavers music blog on 31 March 2016.] Vaporwave’s association with kitschy pitched-down R&B is so intrinsic to the genre as to be memetic, and it all started with 骨架的’s Holograms back in 2010. Released around the same time as Chuck Person’s Eccojams Vol. 1 by Daniel Lopatin, Holograms ditched the “post-Internet” ethereal gloom that […]

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