colorful人生

 

The song has def. grown on me, but I can't say it's entirely up my alley. The MV that'll feature Nicki Minaj will probably be out in a couple days... Which will be interesting... I find the new material on the re-packaged album pretty status quo w/ each member having a song (except for V, but he was featured a lot on the last release) and oblig. ballad track. My favorites are Serendipity (Full) and Euphoria. That being said, this is how it usu. goes w/ re-packages anyway, and they've come out w/ a ton of material recently.

 

BOI

 

On 8/17/2018 at 7:14 PM, colorfuljinsei said:

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.

Well, I guess I've completely changed my mind. My cassette starter pack:

• George Clanton - Slide
• business casual - ANNIVERSARY VOL.5
• Roex - Dissension
• Architecture in Tokyo - s/t
• スーパーセックス永遠にSUPERSEX420 x TENDENCIES - Split EP
• Crystal Surge - VCR朋克
• and a WM-FX33 Walkman

I swore up & down that I wouldn't start b/c I missed out on the World Class cassette run, but they're too pretty to pass up. Also shelling out $9 per cassette is much cheaper than what I shell out for live-limited CDs.

 

I also have a bunch of other cassettes (non-vaporwave) from a woman who was getting rid of her ex-husband's collection sooo, I figured it was time....

@Manji 卍 I'm really enjoying that ΣPSON album!

@IGM_Oficial ローマンRoman's PARADISE is def. one of my most listened to vaporwave albums. I'll have to listen to his more recent Future Funk material.

 

Almost forgot to drop Architecture in Tokyo (and ULTRA ウルトラ) here. This a pretty iconic vaporwave track:

(I'll have to touch on more of the city pop influenced vaporwave in a later post. What's interesting is since city pop has been sampled so much, it's starting to rekindle interest in the genre itself. I don't think the sudden spikes in interest like the Plastic Love phenomenon, would've happened w/o vaporwave.)

 

Additionally, AMDISCS (which has released AiT's material) has a lot of vaporwave, synthwave, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/user/AMDISCS/

 

ESPRIT 空想 who is most famous for SUMMER NIGHT, now goes under the alias of George Clanton. He just recently put out Slide, a Madchester/Vaporwave fusion album that really puts a new spin on the genre (could just be considered "indie"). I've never really heard 00's influences and vaporwave intermixed before, and it works out really nicely!

 

 

When Chisa let Koike touch the mic, it was all over for humanity. This 40-sheet limited gem is def. one of the more bizarre things in my collection.

"Say ho! Say huuuuuuu..."

Ayy, my glasses brethren/sistren. This was from a couple months ago.

 

Had to share another BOTW pic on CEMU. It's absolutely gorgeous in 21:9. Even on my dated mini-pc, I still get a decent 30fps. I'm STILL playing this nearly every night that I can.

 

Oddly enough, I've picked up Tetris DX for GBC for the ~10th time and started playing it again. My current 40-line time is 3:14 (no hard drop in this ver.), trying to make improvements where I can. I'll bounce between that and Bust-a-Move Millennium, getting addicted for several days straight.

This is kinda common sense advice, but if the seller's photo of the item looks blown or washed out I would probably avoid said item. I ended up with a Royz PV bootleg a few years ago b/c I was being stupid about it.

 

While a rare CD/DVD can be shrouded in obscurity, a simple photo should not. Just be cognizant, and you'll be fine.

Old Favorites:

 

Current Listens:

 

ＶＡＰＯＲＷＡＶＥ

 

The Vaporwave Essentials ULTRA EDITION Guide:

• Spoiler

  • 

 

Vaporwave Essentials NU EDITION Guide:

• Spoiler

  

   

Vaporwave Essentials Mix by DJzap152:

• Spoiler

   

 

Vaporwave Subgenres Guide:

• Spoiler

  • 

    

     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.

 

---

 

     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. 

 

37 minutes ago, violetchain said:

It's funny that you mention KID FRESINO as well, since NENE, the female MC from Yurufuwa Gang, is featured on Arcades, the B-side for the video you linked. XD

 

 

She actually sounds quite nice in this! I guess I'm not too crazy about the voice modulation effects YG does then. 

While SALU's voice is a bit nasal (but pretty nice), the production on all of his tracks & collabs are top notch!

My favorite album this year (though the 🍈 didn't approve *angery face*.) I've started listening to Denzel's TA13OO, and it's pretty gooood.

 

---

 

As for "unique", my gateway to a lot of hip-hop has been jazz. Listening to more melodic tracks kinda ate away at the distance I had with traditional rap, and helped me embrace more "mainstream" artists.

 

 

 

ONE☆DRAFT (Def. a bit more on the pop side, but I really liked the rap sections)

I used to listen to these guys religiously back in the day.

 

Squash Squad

 

KID FRESINO (Pretty gud)

 

LOLLL I got suggested Yurufuwa Gang on Spotify the other day. They were featured on 88 too. Not exactly my cup of tea...

I think, generally, the Koreans do rap better, but there's def. some gems here and there in the Japanese scene.

 

 

Found this band in my sugg. the other day, and I actually found them to be pretty catchy. 

I like how they experiment w/ drastically different concepts, as each MV/song is a unique experience, haha.

Def. getting some System of a Down & SiM ~ish vibes.

 

 

Package just got here in great condition :D.

10/10 [2]

 

It's Jin bby!

This is really nice.

 

Also related... A pretty decent metalcore cover of "FAKE LOVE". I have my gripes, but it's pretty damn gud.

 

"You think Cheburashka is playin' around, huh. Screw this shit up you gonna get the stabbo."

Still not super thrilled with the album, but I do like  懐色花火, another world, and esp. Adventure Time.

(I'm trying to convince myself that 懐色花火 does a slight nod to xTRiPx - Fall to U (my favorite song, btw) , the chorus melodies are similar)

 

br̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃r̃a

pretty damn good for their first (pre-debut) song as one unit *_*

Current Collection:

 

Need some advice. I'm using my planar magnetics (Mad Dogs) with a Schiit Stack (Magni2/Modi2), but they weren't cutting it for some reason. I ended up using my Magni as a pre-amp for an 80's Optonica SM-3300 amplifier (which my speakers are hooked up to as well), and I immediately heard a difference. Everything sounds much fuller & dynamic, but the SM-3300 is huuuge.

 

TL;DR does anybody have any suggestions for (or experience with) more "modern", regular-sized amps that would give me the same vintage sound that can replace my Magni2 -> Optonica solution?  (Perhaps some sort of tube amp?)

 

 

What's funny is I thought this song sounded familiar,but turns out the chorus sounds kinda similar to Malice Mizer's "Au Revoir" which also includes  "眠りたい" in the lyrics.

Covers are deceiving, and I'm familiar with a couple of these:

• Goblin Slayer might be pretty good *comment above*
• If done right, Toaru Majutsu no Index III is going to be the anime of the season. (Yes, with both SnK and Tokyo Ghoul in there... Please, J.C Staff don't screw this up) They're apparently covering everything to the end of the "Old Testament" LNs in two cours (24 eps), and all of it is pretty action-packed.
• Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken has really excellent world-building for an isekai series. That art style threw me for a loop b/c it looks moe-fied from the original, but hopefully it stays true to the series.
• Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet is just Nisekoi w/ a different art style, if you like that sort of series.
• Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai is not bad. It has supernatural and psychological elements to it, and there is no harem in this series (that I know of.)

• 8 hours ago, platy said:

  Maybe I'll try Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-San and the yuri series. 

  The yuri series (Yagate Kimi ni Naru) is nice and has well-rounded characters. I can vouch for it.

 

 

Yesss, much hype.