Manji 卍

when i'm drunk,sad,bored with my music and simply don't wanna listen to anything but still don't wanna be in silence
these two are my fav ones.from time to time i play both on loop
 
 
 

Don't forget you can find some of these artists of Spotify too. Just gonna drop some contributions under the spoiler.
 
 
 

ＶＡＰＯＲＷＡＶＥ
 
The Vaporwave Essentials ULTRA EDITION Guide:
 
Vaporwave Essentials NU EDITION Guide:
 
Vaporwave Essentials Mix by DJzap152:
 
Vaporwave Subgenres Guide:
    
     Vaporwave, an electronic microgenre considered the love-child of Hypnagogic Pop and Chillwave, is in a nutshell, 80s/90s pop-hit plunderphonics. While Macintosh Plus' 2011 album, "Floral Shoppe" (containing the viral sensation "リサフランク420 / 現代のコンピュー") is considered the defining album of the genre, vaporwave's history goes back just a touch.  Chuck Person's "Eccojams" released in 2010 contains chopped & screwed samples from 80s hits and Ecco the Dolphin, and is credited for truly pioneering the style. What he called "echo jams" would eventually evolve into the classic vaporwave that we know of today.
     For a brief period of time, vaporwave existed alongside Seapunk, a closely related genre that was sort of a proto-vaporwave. The genre which would spawn from a single tweet, had elements of southern trap rap, 90s house, and witch house. While seapunk music garnered some interest, its distinctive aquamarine aesthetic would have a much larger presence, with artists like Azealia Banks and Rihanna donning outfits of that particular style and implementing the iconic aesthetic in their music videos. The genre from 2014-onward would be swallowed by vaporwave which, with its much broader influences, became the more popular genre.
 
 Vox Documentary on Seapunk:
 
     Current vaporwave comprises of many subgenres including Classic Vaporwave, Future Funk, Vapor-Trap, Vektroid, Simpsonswave, Hypnagogic, Mallsoft, etc. While the classic ＡＥＳＴＨＥＴＩＣ includes bright turquoise and pink colors with images of roman busts and aging malls, each subgenre, even release, has its own "flavor" (refer to the guides above). While vaporwave was labeled a satirical take on consumer capitalism, most people would flock to it because of the nostalgia factor. Japanese City Pop, 80s/90s Western Pop Hits, R&B, Lounge Music, Dead Malls, Japanese Typography, Internet Memes, Glitch Art, and Cyberpunk are some of the many topics that this genre encapsulates. It's a gigantic clusterfuck that can barely be described without going through several layers of irony and memes... I'll just let the music speak for itself:
 
Macintosh Plus - Floral Shoppe (2011) | Vektroid Style | Iconic, but objectively one of the least innovative albums in this list. 
 
ECO VIRTUAL - ATMOSPHERES 第1 (2013) | Classic Vaporwave | Notable for its atmospheric sounds. Hazy and relaxing.
 
SAINT PEPSI - Hit Vibes (2013) | Future Funk | Booming with chopped and screwed 70s/80s disco hits. Artzie's channel grew as a hub for this type of music.
LUXURY ELITE // SAINT PEPSI - LATE NIGHT DELIGHT (2013) | Hypnagogic | Along with LUXURY ELITE, SAINT PEPSI does it again with 80s/90s television references including the iconic McDonald's Commercial on the cover. Too bad the moon turned into an alt-right symbol during the 2016 election.
 
t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 - 現実を超えて (2014) | Dreamwave | Telepath has been this purveyor of Japanese typography in the vaporwave scene. Dreamy...
 
猫 シ Corp. - Palm Mall (2014) | Mallsoft | It's all dead malls from here, baby! Strong muzak/elevator music & jazz influences. 
 
Blank Banshee -  1 (2013) | Vapor-Trap | Fusion of trap music & vaporwave. It's a good place to start if you're more acquainted w/ the larger electronic scene.
 
I'll post my current favorites in a separate post.
 
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     I've been acquainted with the scene for about 4 years now, and it's been really neat. Having the idea of this genre (particularly the 80s/90s pad sounds) in the back of my head for years come into fruition by people more creative than I, has been quite the experience. On a slightly sour note, while vaporwave has evolved greatly from slowed down Diana Ross, a glaring negative that sticks out like a sore thumb is lack of transformativeness some artists can still get away with. While the album, Yung Bae - Bae was popular upon its release, it was a bit controversial because the editing done was "minimal", yet to fans, considered "subtle".  A lot of this still exists w/ "artists" daringly passing off slowed down 80s/90s compilations as their own creative work. For the amount of individuals trying to make a quick buck on Bandcamp, there are 100x more artists that really put effort into what they create. Additionally, many of it is free!
     One unique characteristic of this genre is the collectibility of cassette tapes. Similar to the resurgence in vinyl, physical cassette tape releases run rampant in the scene. Some of the more popular artists will have limited physical runs of their material on cassette tapes, and oh boy do they sell out quickly. Personally, I'm not one to collect these things w/ the limited lifespan they have, but others love the staticky, lo-fi nature of the cassette tapes.
 
     ...otherwise, most vaporwave is accessible via Bandcamp and Youtube.
 
 Here are some major labels to get you started (Also search for the terms in Bandcamp to view a lot more artists):
https://dreamcatalogue.bandcamp.com/ https://music.businesscasual.biz/ http://illuminatedpaths.bandcamp.com/ https://ailanthusrecordings.bandcamp.com/ https://keatscollective.bandcamp.com/  
Shoutouts to FrankJaveCee's Channel and his chuckle-worthy how-to guides on many of the Vaporwave subgenres. 
More shoutouts to Dan Bell's Dead Mall Series.
Ｆｉｎａｌｌｙ，　ｓｈｏｕｔｏｕｔｓ　ｔｏ　ｆｕｌｌ－ｗｉｄｔｈ　ａｌｐｈａｎｕｍｅｒｉｃ　ｆｏｎｔ　ｆｏｒ　ｍａｋｉｎｇ　ｅｖｅｒｙ　ａｌｂｕｍ　ｔｉｔｌｅ　ｔａｋｅ　ｕｐ　ｍｏｒｅ　ｔｈａｎ　ｏｎｅ　ｌｉｎｅ．
 
Additionally going to mention one of the more obscure/dark subgenres in vaporwave called "Ocean Grunge". Idk if it's still truly around, but if we're talking about one of most bizarre music subgenres alongside stuff like Extratone, this is it. 
 

going from metal to pop is not even the problem anymore,everyone here listen to pop music sometimes
and if they're going to make pop music then at least do it with some quality.
it sounds so generic,lifeless and awkward

https://vk.com/club558881?z=video-558881_456239642%2Fvideos-558881%2Fpl_-558881_-2 - Mode of Withering to Death

They did announce a "ura final" at ikebukuro cyber for the 1st of september though, I believe. So they might announce something there!

Tour final at マイナビBLITZ was today, surprisingly they didn't annonce a new release at the live
 

 

 
 

I just read chiaki's new interview on cure, it seems like this album is his answer to this question(why doing music) he kept searching for over a year.
Basically he's in existential crisis right now.
 
Here's a brief translate(Sorry for my bad English):
 
-Why name this album [Today]
Chiaki: How to get through [Today], to me its really difficult for past year. I have insomnia for over a year, can't sleep, don't wanna go out. I know there is no answer but I'm keep searching by hang out with members and go on tour(That explained why their last tour name is"Please save/help chiaki"). Sometime I get a little realization but mostly don't. So it's really difficult for me to live through everyday.
 
Although you might think:"Even though you depressed before bed, you just close your eye and today will end, right?" . The answer is no, it doesn't. Because there are no ways you can experience tomorrow, you can only live in "Today". I wanna get an answer, otherwise  there will be no inner peace in my mind. In order to move forward from this restless state, from now on I will create songs on this premise. I'm not trying to deny our past, I will still write heavy songs when I'm angry, but right now this album is my state of mind.
 
I know a lot of people will think:"wtf are you guys doing, you changed so much", I don't expect this album will reach to everybody, it would be great if I can create something everybody like, but I cant. If there is one moment in the album that can resonate some of you, for me right now, its the happiest thing ever. I expect a lot of backlash, I will take full responsibility, that's how important this album to me. 
 

-I'll- was:
(the message clips have never been released before, btw)

Damn, this song is so good. Someone posted the Japanese lyrics on the music video on YouTube so I went ahead and wrote up the romaji and an English translation.
 
The original lyrics are quite vague and conceptual as is the case with Japanese but I did my best to lace everything together.
Any feedback/suggestions welcome! 
 
---
 
 
Kanji
 
Romaji
 
English
 

Just listened the whole album on spotify,and it wouldn't be a bad album at all if that was released by
a different band,but coming from DEZERT,you don't recognize them anymore.
they always had one or two,maybe 3  poppy tracks on their releases,however
THIS time  feels like Chiaki said in the studio "oh,i think i don't wanna scream that much on this album"
 
You can only be glad that their old stuff lasted time enough to influenciate bands like
Mamireta and DAMY,cuz like it or not, they're kinda keeping that "mad" shit alive

That screaming is exactly why Kyo fucked his shit up. I mean props for going up there every night and literally just screaming uncontrollably, but harsh vocalists learn proper techniques for a reason. Kyo learned the hard way. 

Exactly my feelings on the album. It's quite pleasant, well-executed and easy to listen to for a chill afternoon. Which is entirely what I don't look for in a DEZERT album...

Just listened the whole album on spotify,and it wouldn't be a bad album at all if that was released by
a different band,but coming from DEZERT,you don't recognize them anymore.
they always had one or two,maybe 3  poppy tracks on their releases,however
THIS time  feels like Chiaki said in the studio "oh,i think i don't wanna scream that much on this album"
 
You can only be glad that their old stuff lasted time enough to influenciate bands like
Mamireta and DAMY,cuz like it or not, they're kinda keeping that "mad" shit alive

Just listened the whole album on spotify,and it wouldn't be a bad album at all if that was released by
a different band,but coming from DEZERT,you don't recognize them anymore.
they always had one or two,maybe 3  poppy tracks on their releases,however
THIS time  feels like Chiaki said in the studio "oh,i think i don't wanna scream that much on this album"
 
You can only be glad that their old stuff lasted time enough to influenciate bands like
Mamireta and DAMY,cuz like it or not, they're kinda keeping that "mad" shit alive

Changing the topic a bit, why are their mixes always so bad? I think Gauze might be their best-sounding album in terms of production. Macabre sounds fairly good too (even though I'm not really a fan of the music per se), but then everything between Kisou and Marrow sounds so thin and weak! I actually like the messy sound of the original Uroboros album but I agree it's not everyone's cup of tea. Dum Spiro Spero sounds fairly good, even though the music doesn't have much "depth", but then all of their post-Rinkaku releases  sound so mechanical, specially the drums, which sound too triggered.
 
Also, I still think all those "From Depression to" DVDs were absolutely pointless and all that touring didn't did anything other than delay the release of the album for a long time. I know they were aiming for something big for the 20th anniversary, but I think it would be much better if they remastered their earlier albums. There's so  many great songs, it's a pity their production isn't always the best. Thankfully Vestige of Scratches corrected that issue for a couple of tracks, but a lot of my favorite songs from earlier relases weren't touched.

No complaints about this album, just the absolutely pointless SE tracks that contributes nothing for the mood of the album,is just a pause.i do like SE tracks,and they are meant to create some kind of atmosphere while gives a break between completely different tracks. KISOU and DIM by DeG and Gazette for example...the SE tracks there are pretty cool and used wisely. So that was the only negative thing on CHEDOARA. 
I give 8/10

I think a lot of people were expecting way to much from this album. I think its fantastic. For a first album it is awesome. I don’t remember a band release such a good first album. These guys are so talented, in the future they’ll deliver even better 

I've been following these guys,bcuz their music reminds me a lot when I got into vk stuff when I was 14 years old in 2010 and simply fell in love with those jazzy tracks from early R-shitei and early the gazette. nostalgic sound

That beautiful gritty distortion....it's all gone...they stripped away one of the most key defining characteristics of their sound. 
 

Got my copy today from CDJapan.
 
This album is simply amazing. All the songs are notable, the production is on point and well beyond what is generally expected for VK, and it overall lives up to the hype generated from the three songs we got in preview. I'm sure it will be worth the wait for everyone else whose copy hasn't arrived yet.
And to be honest, I didn't realize there was this much skill in Retsu and Ryuya's guitar playing. Of course, Hiroshi is a much better drummer than Issei ever was, so that probably allows them to demonstrate their skill a lot more now.
It's pretty heavy overall, but there is diversity in the stylistic choices in the songwriting. There are a couple of ballad-ish songs (Malformation, D.Hymnus), but the final track 「人」と「形」is the most like that. Otherwise Vanitas probably comes closest to that Avalon-like Ballad feel.
 
I noticed that the 3 preview songs all say the music is by Retsu, but in the lyric booklet every song composition is credited as 02. Retsu is the 2nd member credited in the band members, so... I dunno lol
 
 

The emo version of LM.C is out.
 
 
 

Feels like will be hard to get used to at the first listening,But the "rawness" is kinda cool 
 
 
 
 

Feels like will be hard to get used to at the first listening,But the "rawness" is kinda cool