As of February 16th, Vektroid has dropped three new releases on Bandcamp, an overwhelming amount of new material to an already intimidatingly large oeuvre. Vektroid, who has gathered enough Internet notoriety to warrant a Wikipedia page, is most famous for releasing 2011’s famed FLORAL SHOPPE under the pseudonym MACINTOSH PLUS, a (the?) defining music of vaporwave. Arguably the most famous album released on Bandcamp to date, FLORAL SHOPPE has been cultishly eulogized, retrospectively praised, and memed to oblivion.
Ramona Andra Xavier has been quietly releasing music on the Internet for the better part of a decade. The latest bandcamp albums are the first released under the Vektroid brand in two years (that we know of, at least). Despite the plurality of Vektroid’s pseudonyms, the producer has been unflinchingly consistent in commitment to the aesthetic. Perhaps the lack of authorial dominion is a nod to vaporwave’s roots — a pastiche of forgotten samples and buoyant technology, origins awash in the ambiguity of the post Internet landscape. That’s enough po-mo blathering from me, though. Onto the music:
None of the material is new to Vektroid: the latest releases are two remasters and one unreleased album from 2013. Sacred Tapestry’s Shader Complete was originally released in 2012 as Shader. New Dreams Ltd.’s Fuji Grid TV: EX was first released in 2011 as Prism Genesis by Fuji Grid TV. The third offering is an unreleased New Dreams Ltd. album called Sleepline, which was originally recorded back in fall of 2013.
If you’re familiar with Vektroid’s catalogue, the content of this material will come as no surprise: vast electronic landscapes, tangled in reimaginings of old material and unearthed samples. That is, in a way, what vaporwave is about: the coldness and detachment of the Machine, contrasted with sentient nostalgia. Each individual Vektroid release stays meticulously with each projects’ aesthetic: uncanny vocal samples (often in Japanese) that are chopped, screwed, and demented, congealing into a surreal, almost-psychedelic chasm. I’m not going to try and condense three albums into several paragraphs: you’ll just have to listen for yourself on Vektroid’s vast Bandcamp.
And, if you’re lucky enough to be a Bard student, you can attend this sick upcoming concert.
