Vapor Vertebrae 10-2015 Part A

「サンセット N ｅｔｗｏｒｋ❾❶」
ハートビート

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「サンセット N ｅｔｗｏｒｋ❾❶」has recently run a condottiere service together with Replica Federation on Florida's vaporcentral, fittingly called Hired Gun [ リーパーのピストル, /vaprev097_sunsetnetwork_replicafederation/ and now it seems to be time for something similarly dark, but more soulful: ハートビート is le rhythm du jour, translating into heartbeat and presenting us the best hook from a Günther & Samantha Fox song. This is both the premise and the promise of Vaporwave: you might like the idea or lump it altogether, fair enough, but you shouldn't rule out, let alone ridicule the enchantment a formerly cheesy Synth Pop serenade can bring you when 「サンセット N ｅｔｗｏｒｋ❾❶」ennobles the fad and encapsulates it within a prolonged state of bliss. Running for only 74 seconds which is all the more at odds with the elasticized, slowed-down viscidity. Günther's wisdoms à la "touch me, touch me, I wanna feel your body, your heartbeat next to mine" haven't lost anything of their nostalgic beauty – or raucous audacity – but for once, his lowered voice works stupefyingly well with the plasticized hi-hat cocktail. Heck, 「サンセット N ｅｔｗｏｒｋ❾❶」doesn't even shy away to make the over-the-top electric guitar solo the exit device of the song. ハートビート is so great because it doesn't overstay its welcome, nor is its augmented nostalgia petrifying enough to crush one's good mood. 

Twitter: @cyberrpunk_

OSCOB
t__ c__ s___

<OSCOB X ART SINGLES SERIES 006>

There’s no brand new OSCOB track available at the time of setting up this Vapor Vertebrae edition? No problem: back to the archives! Back to a time where Max was at least gradually aware of the arty-tarty bluntness his cheeky titles and behavior caused. If you really wanna know what the above track stands for, listen closely to the attached soundscape, then take a look at the pink artwork, or hit over OSCOB’s SoundCloud account to put together the missing pieces. In the, er, meantime, ladies and gentlemen, lets head to the lascivious, libidinous lands of lucidness. After the mechanical introduction of a video tape being inserted into a VHS recorder, the fun begins: wah-wah guitars swallow shallow wordless – and equally slowed down – vocals, all the while the tape hiss continues to send out its soft pink noise. This is porn music, okay? You can hear people moan and whisper, got it? What lets this soundscape tower above related cultural deeds is the melancholic piano. It is certainly a part of the original source, but so sad and dolorous and… somewhat cheap enough to fit in. Play this to haters of Vaporwave, and they will lose their minds. To be honest, this piece is not much more than a mere finger exercise for Max, but, hehe, this only emphasizes the theme of t__ c__ s___ further. Derp.

Twitter: @VirtualPlazaMax

VANTAGE //
Can’t Get Enough

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Previously, debonair Frenchman Vantage // wasn't known for suave Ambient pieces… and the above Can't Get Enough will postpone this – not totally unlikely – endeavor until further notice. But there's something soothingly genre-like in here regardless, and that is the opening section with its cerulean-ecclesiastic diffraction and stokehold-evoking cellar atmosphere. These proselytizing organs are punchy and mellow, and they won't vanish throughout the Future Funk escapade that is about to hit home. Titular sped-up vocals, arpeggiated sun-kissed synth vesicles that feel like lightbulbs and handclap-accompanied ancillary rhythm devices augment the vernal summer vibe. Once the glacial piano hits in the latter half, the dualism is established and probably as profound and infinitesimally thought-provoking as possible in the given framework of Future Funk. While Can't Get Enough doesn't seem to target sophisticated Trap fans, let alone Breakbeat followers, the momentarily arhythmic interceptions and the bubbling main hook make Vantage's piece oscillate closer to their outer shells than before. Carefree, calorific, catchy.

Twitter: @VantageNoise

Future Girlfriend 音楽
Benson Cut 今夜

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Attention Asunción, Future Girlfriend is back with a Paraguayan peritoneum of Future Funk. A genre that shares the emotional highs in supra-saturated colors rather than the more normalized madness of its Vaporwave next of kin, it is certainly harder to persist in the funky side of life when every other artist is keen on similar 4/4 rhythms too. Plasticity and a certain in-your-face euphoria are key features to enchant, and the above Benson Cut 今夜 has it all: right from the sun-dappled piano puissance and the elasticized wonkiness of the hyperpolished synth hula hoop lariats, Future Girlfriend soon tones down the pianos, lets them enter a phase of comparative thermal immersion. The pitched vocals are a given and are naturally much more uplifting than truly meaningful, but still, the injection of doubled vocal tracks and the constant translucency of the shrapnel of aquatic clicks let this midtempo piece transmute into a surprisingly sunset-colored piece of insouciance. Sure, you can – and probably shall – dance to it, but it's more of a susurrant party than a loud spring break flurry. Future Funk as intelligent and simultaneously festival-compatible as can be.

Twitter: @futuregfmusic

コンシャスTHOUGHTS x Groovy Godzilla
Show You How To Love

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This Vapor Vertebrae edition ends with a good-natured Future Funk fusillade that is dear to my heart, generally because both artists involved have been featured time and again at AmbientExotica, but specifically so due to the stylistic advantages the above song Show You How To Love absorbs and spawns from both producers. It comes down to this: Glasgow meets Long Beach, California when Chrissy's コンシャスTHOUGHTS moniker encounters Aaron's Groovy Godzilla stature. Expect a mightily revved up tunnel vision hued in sunlight as autumn is pushed away for good. Granular Italo piano coruscants waft through classically funky female vox, scattered brass bursts fuel the orthochromatic gradient further, and let's not forget the occasional arhythmic stop-and-go staccato/punctilio notion the two fellows insert for the best of all measures. Granted, there is no hidden meaning, no polysemous portent luring in the darker alleys; everything glitters and is aglow in technicolor. You don't have to love Future Funk in order to enjoy this collaboration off コンシャスTHOUGHTS's forthcoming album, but if you do, you will easily absorb the salubrious hue de soleil.

Twitter: @aviscerall_GG  @ChrissyCray1

Vaporwave Review 130: Vapor Vertebrae 10/2015 [Part A]. Originally published on Oct. 8, 2015 at AmbientExotica.com.