User talk:Idkun

This is the user talk page for Idkun (talk) 11:58, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Vaporwave
Vaporwave is an internet subculture that originated in the early 2010s. I hesitate to describe it as a genre of music as many vaporwave artists argue that it is more of an aesthetic than just a music scene, and there are other debates and splits within its community that make it a complex subject. The music itself is traditionally (though not limited to) samples of 80s funk and pop music remixed and repeated beyond recognition. The samples are usually not credited and creators deliberately subvert notions of authorship and ownership. Vaporwave is released either anonymously or pseudonymously, and typically for free.

The music, with its sunny synths and vocals, are distorted and looped to create an uncanny and familiar sound that is disturbing and dystopian. The most well known example of this is "リサフランク420 / 現代のコンピュー", a song from the album FLORAL SHOPPE by MACINTOSH PLUS. The track samples "It's Your Move" by Diana Ross and has since become synonymous with vaporwave culture. Song titles are often translated into Japanese or other languages and the accompanying artwork recalls early 90s internet culture, video technology, neon colours, cityscapes, roman busts and consumer capitalism from the late 20th century.

These juxtaposing themes create an alien aesthetic to listeners, part of vaporwave's appeal to me is that it takes on the quality of something you might find in a pile of discarded junk, like a mysterious videotape or an unnamed record. It is radically postmodern and it revels in its anonymity in an online world where privacy is seen as scarce. In today's uncertainty, producers of vaporwave are able to create albums of escapism, with the mundane familiarity of a supermarket or living room ("슈퍼마켓Yes! We're Open" by 식료품groceries), or the solitude of an unknown city at night ("新しい日の誕生" by 2 8 1 4), or unsettling ethereal noise that can evoke feelings of an entirely different world. Vaporwave is a type of music that is as challenging as it is relaxing. Anachronistic and oxymoronic and completely pretentious but nonetheless captivating, innovative and a testament to the potential of internet-based music scenes.

--Idkun (talk) 12:19, 16 February 2016 (UTC)