Vapor Vertebrae 09-2015 Part B

DEIPHIX
Mumbai Console (Vital Past)

<Modernist Deities Tape>

Somewhere between Mumbai and Kerala resides the saffron-colored gamut of Middle Eastern ouds whose slapped strings are encorporated and played back by DEIPHIX aka Noc Nista. Mumbai Console (Vital Past) is not your archetypal Vaporwave song – the first sign of a trend that continues throughout this Vapor Vertebrae edition – but intertwines many of its playful twists and craftsmanships. Take, for instance, two particularly enchanting integrations that are anything but delightfully prototypical at the end of the day: on the one hand, there's the high-pitched Banghra singsong of the temptress with its over-the-top yet heartfelt exoticism, and on the other hand a malleable, mercilessly elasticized time stretch effect that is applied to the formerly vivid strings, making them an yttrium-alloyed static noise fest. Eventually, the castanet-accompanied singer returns with her oud/sitar polysemy, respectfully rounding off the mirage of the desiccated desert. Is this Bollywave or Vaporwood… or something in-between?

Twitter:@NickXenol

Telozkope
Silica Gel

<Sumpnoia Panta LP>

Although Telozkope has hinted at a comparatively kaleidoscopic album in the making, the music of the Manitoba-based artist has to this point become increasingly sun-kissed and benignant, what with the heterodyned sentiments of summer evening lutes, willfully antediluvian/medieval sporophytes and almost gaseous lo-freq prongs. Silica Gel, the final track of the cleverly titled 'cause easily searchable Sumpnoia Panta EP only augments this perception with its sylphlike elevator erethism: while it would be harsh to dismiss the circumambience of this bosky chaparral’s glade as muzak for lifts, it shares the quality of insouciance and carefreeness, and luckily so. There’s a striking immediacy embroidered within the synthetic chords alright, but it is the jazzy piano that fully emits and ameliorates the thermal state of affairs. A circulator of helical sunbeams and aa multiplex of sound, sustain and silence, Silica Gel is not your typically enforced addendum of hastily packaged hard drive disc packages or solid state disc cardboard boxes: its braiding is eminently organic, with aureate aureoles and horticultural/hieratic hydromagnesite to cherish. It showcases Telozkope’s cathexis best, and while he has overcome Vaporwave a long time ago, whatever this means to the respective reader, I still see those archetypal diffeomorphic vestiges in his music.

Twitter: @telozkope

Boocanan
To A Better Place

<Iron Lung LP Preview>

To A Better Place the new single of Boocanan is called, and it is the harbinger of the things to come around Halloween 2015 when the full-length release Iron Lung sees the tawny fog of the night. At the moment, it is naturally hard to pinpoint her final result, but the Nova Scotia-based artist leaves the field of veiled Vaporwave and harsh Glitch with the above song in order to come up with an unexpectedly spacy open air Ambient antrum whose alcoves are illumined by glistening galactosamine synths. These elements – while a tad icy and holarctic – spawn pristine purity and are ultimately amicable. They mesh well with the mellow amethystine magnetotails whose thermal afterglow flickers through the alluvial air. Oscillating between mysticism and clarity, To A Better Place is a superb appetizer, and I for one am wondering whether there will be room for contrapuntal sawtooth remnants or ogival outings in the future album too. 

Twitter: @boocanan

2047 부드러운 아픈
인간의 눈물 ／ 안드로이드 눈물

<의 로봇 죽음 2298 LP>

Neo-Seoul’s 2047 부드러운 아픈 aka 2047 A.D. flirts with dystopian dioramas and hopeless halides, there’s no denial. Thankfully, this is all part of the plan, as the aesthetic realization of this aural imagery is flawlessly realized and vividly painted. It shouldn’t come as a surprise in this Vapor Vertebrae edition, as it is the transparent theme, but I want to utter the obvious once more: Their album 의 로봇 죽음 2298 (which translates into robot death 2298) is a clear-cut Ambient-focused omnium gatherum. The V-genre reaches into the thickly wadded atmosphere regardless, and this also applies to the single 인간의 눈물 ／ 안드로이드 눈물 which juxtaposes human tears with androids. Crestfallen, rubicund legato drones inherit the rust-covered romanticism of forlorn harbors at night, portentous and partially cacophonous sinews back up the eldritch locale. It is only near the end that the consolatory cloudlets become clearly audible. Similar to Boocanan’s track, 인간의 눈물 ／ 안드로이드 눈물 is eminently organic… and despises the – presumably – highest order of organic setups: us humans.

Twitter: @2047_sicksoft

Wizard's Treats
Commodity Fetishism

<V o i d  O v e r c a s t  LP>

Commodity Fetishism is the fifth constituent of V o i d  O v e r c a s t, a matutinal/melancholic mélange of tracks by Wizard's Treats whose music defies the notion of a genre. Yes, his sounds obviously appear in the Vapor Vertebrae writeup, but there is also a wondrously retrogressive New Age vibe engrained. Since the omnipresence of the distant city is yet again nearby, it is certainly a dualistic dob. Commodity Fetishism starts with a lilac lanthanum gas already in place, a soothing yet clandestine bokeh for the three-note coruscation of the chimes to unfold and float. These two elements are later joined by a third and final one, an acidic seesaw polymer. On paper or the pixels of your reading device, it seems as if this potentially harsh antagonistic device may protrude the caproic ambience for malevolent reasons, but it isn't even harsh to begin with; it rather absorbs the enigmatic energy that surrounds and flickers nearby. Commodity Fetishism offers a deep stasis of Detroit-y characteristics and unites Ambient with Vaporwave, two juggernauts that become harder and harder to separate.

Twitter: @wizardstreats

Iacon
Fields

<[写本] // Codex LP>

Florida is the Vaporwave headquarters when it comes to qualitative and quantitative aspects, spawning (too?) many talented artists, with Iacon at the forefront. You wouldn’t necessarily expect this – the Florida aspect, not the forefront remark – when listening to the [写本] // Codex LP due to its abstract Ambient atmosphere, making it the sixth entity of this Vapor Vertebrae edition to follow the grand daddy of all electronic genres and leave Vaporwave almost quasi-behind. I have chosen the track Fields due to its glacial cinematography that perfectly reflects the front artwork. After the anacrusis of a heavily exhaling mountaineer, a frosty-matutinal segue is climbed, one which unites the peacefulness of a birdsong-accentuated forest with rolling thunder and pentatonic pan flute synths. It is the latter that exude New Age erethism and a peacefulness that is amicably majestic, not at all threatening, despite the rumbling low frequency peritoneum. This, then, could be the prime example of proselytizing weathered Ambient fans to taste a pinch of Vaporwave. One of the best songs Iacon has ever come up with, even though I adore his synth flares and panchromatic 80’s endeavors too.

Twitter: @IaconAesthetics

Ambient Review 451: Vapor Vertebrae 09/2015 [Part B]. Originally published on Sep. 16, 2015 at AmbientExotica.com.

Vapor Vertebrae 09-2015 Part A

コンシャスTHOUGHTS
Saturday Night

<Single>

Ah, Chrissy, you hopelessly honest and straightforward diamond! His one-man project コンシャスTHOUGHTS oscillates between – no, protrudes through – the genres like Skeletor's drill machine through the pyroxite-filled caverns of Eternia. Saturday Night is an innocent-insouciant zoetrope of relaxation and only minor sequences of utter excitement, but that's perfectly alright. Based on Shakatak's Without You as the producer admits willfully as ever, the galactosamines ooze through the viscoelastic haze. Benthic handclaps strike through the amethystine titration, the singers ennoble the carefree paradise with their euphonious vocals, and Mellotron/Rhodes rivulets flow in the near distance. It's hard to describe the allure of Chrissy's cautious rework – hence the above SoundCloud option, duh – but it is all the easier to truly feel the half-nocturnal vibe of this sound-based cenobitism. Since コンシャスTHOUGHTS and Shakatak don't even try to create a cutting-edge artifact of utter coolness and party puissance, one can contemplate all the better within this lactal circumambience. Hard parties are fine and all, but this kind of Saturday Night is for the connoisseur who is still sober enough to elucidate the beauty of his or her surroundings. 

Twitter: @ChrissyCray1

OSCOB
OSCOB SELLS OUT (TONIGHT)!

<Single>

OSCOB often laments about the genre's broader community which becomes more estranged and parochial the farther away one moves from the music-related epicenter. Vaporwave is ridiculed all over the net. This is certainly a plausible observation. Then again, Future Funk faces the same skepticism… only that vaporwavers now join the effort of the common man and declare the funky side of life as the poorer musical style, one which is much more in favor of vocal-based stereotypes and the ubiquitous four-to-the-floor formula than even Vaporwave itself. I for one happen to enjoy both genres, but for better or worse, and with more than just one intended pun, OSCOB names his scintillating Glitter Funk cataract ~☆☆☆OSCOB SELLS OUT(TONIGHT)!☆☆☆~. And one thing is for sure: you wouldn't connect this sunset-colored evening polysemy with Max's abstract darkness he is primarily known for. In lieu of washed out frequencies and blurred afterglows, he willfully succumbs to the Funk at first, gets rid of the kick drum, presents the classic "as is," with more than enough room for the uplifting feel like dancing wisdoms, sure, but then slows down the magnetotail, eventually reaching elasticized alluvial and ultramafic soils of a certain V-genre. Suddenly, phantom frequencies reach into the soundscape as it becomes fuzzier and fuzzier during its ever-soothing meltdown. Agglutinating Future Funk to a slowed down Vaporwave track? That's one heck of a sell-out, and me luuvs it!

Twitter: @VirtualPlazaMax

DELTA金TOPCO
MALLBREAKER 謎のファンク

<Single>

After the vocoded beatbox p(i)anorama Mary from the summer-inducing Artzie AM Volume ONE compilation, DELTA金TOPCO is back with a genre splicer that shuttles between Future Funk – as expected – and the filtered fantasies of Mallsoft. Make no mistake though: the track isn't called MALLBREAKER 謎のファンク by accident. Italo House pianos with a glistening glissando factor are the primary introductory element and remain in the foreground until the workout-compatible BPM rate fades out when all is said and done. "Get down!" chants, micro-jitters and related arhythmic blebs boost both the liveliness and immediacy of this life-affirmative mall. MIDIfied brass layers and a classic drum kit round off the electrifying feeling. So at the end of the day, this isn't your contemplative Mallsoft piece, but vestiges of this oneiric Vaporwave subgenre are reflected here and there, most often through the treble-emanating simulation of a transistor radio before DELTA金TOPCO's business focuses on the adventure and fun surroundings in close proximity to the listener. You want hasty catchiness and quick consumerism at once? MALLBREAKER 謎のファンク is your landmark.

Twitter: @HistoryMagicXYZ

ジェリー b ø n b ø n
帰るよ!

<Aware>

"I'm going home!" the final track of ジェリー b ø n b ø n's album Aware reads, and it sounds as if 帰るよ！carries quite a bit of spite and disappointment in its linguistic verve, but rest assured that the track itself remains immensely positive and a lacustrine-fizzling joyride from the first sip to the saccharified bottom of the aluminum can. What launches with an aquatic field recording eventually sees the light of Future Funk, first envisioned through a nebulous moiré, then in a fully equipped state with all frequencies firmly floating. A tenor saxophone is in the center of it all, and granted, we have heard that instrument before; add the super-sinewed rhythm guitars, and it seems as if ジェリー b ø n b ø n aka Jelly BonBon surfs the tide of sharks, only barely jumping them. But keep on listening, and you realize the alterations and amendments the artist has entwined. Similar to the playfully apoplectic frenzy of 悲しい ANDROID - APARTMENT¶, there is a fusillade of gridlock hi-hats, stop-and-go layers of MIDI brass and arthythmic percussion rhombohedrons, breaking the flow for microseconds by spicing things up. I'm going home indeed… the party continues at my place.

Twitter: @JellyBonBonn

ArtFluids
Agalychnis Callidryas

<Single>

Alexander aka ArtFluids lets the Vaporwave community taste a different linguistic flavor as one quick look at the title reveals. The majority of the community's participants and followers are painfully aware of the kanji, katakana and whantnot that transform into a set of polka dots before their eyes, and don't get me started in how to pronounce these titles. Apps and websites help with the pronunciation, sure… but can you remember the kaleidoscope of titles and their meanings over the course of, say, a month? ArtFluids comes to the rescue, as the letters look all very familiar, but the language itself isn't so much. Agalychnis Callidryas is the scientific name of the red-eyed frog and inspired by his friend David's animation of dancing frogs, linked below. And ArtFluids creates a cheese-induced corker that is Eurodance-meets-Chiptune par excellence, comprising of recondite Roland bass rhizomes and a towering Italo piano whose glissando oozes and slides through the wisps, whistles and square lead pads. The arpeggiated ribcage in the middle meanwhile reminds of the insectoid savoir vivre, whereas the final part provides a chord-induced sugar boost of freedom and wideness. Is this aerobic aeternum a n envigorating friend, foe, or flashback? 

Twitter: @ArtFluids

JD Senuti
Apex Report

<Apex Report LP>

JD Senuti – stylized as JD SenuTi – enters the future reserve reticulation of AMDISCS and submits a 13-track album called Apex Report of which the above eponymous title is simultaneously the longwinded finale of an electrifying journey through epigenetic/abstract ventures. And what shall I say? Apex Report (the track) is a bomb of a track, enchanting with its mid-90's Eurodance organ which simmers in a Detroit-y fashion in the track's pericarp. Yes, I'm fully aware of the idiocy: Detroit and Eurodance combined? They're residing in different continents, and rightfully so. But no worries, JD Senuti has you the naysayers covered and grafts a punctilio of inhaling coquettes and similarly exhaling brutes onto an increasingly luminescent lariat/lozenge troposphere. Serene and deep on the one hand and with just the right amount of laissez-faire on the other, this endpoint works well even when it is detached from the endemics that reign within the album. This is no a Vaporwave track at the end of the day, I'll give anyone that… but neither is it an honest-to-goodness tower of any genre. It's a healthy cesspool, a chimera and superimposition of ethereality driven by a 4/4 rhythm, and that ought to be good enough for Dance aficionados.

Twitter: @jdsenuti  @AMDISCS

Ambient Review 449: Vapor Vertebrae 09/2015 [Part A]. Originally published on Sep. 2, 2015 at AmbientExotica.com.