Lane Visitor

lol that sounds awesome! surely it probably scared the shit outta you as a kid haha damn, look at those LUSH 90s utilitarian-style merchandise racks!

Dude, this is awesome! Makes me feel like Im a little kid waiting at the mall outside of Robinsons May or Bloomingdales for my mom to come back while I space out sitting on one of those courtyard chairs in the middle of the walkway with all of the echoey muzak and chatter converging into one hazy ball of background noise as my 10-12 year old self fixates on the NIN CD i just discovered and bought at Circles CDs and Tapes. Those moments (:

Those styles and images are part of a larger movement of ironic web 2.0 art that has been ping ponging across the web since 2009 or so. Greek Columns, glitchy MS paint drawings, Miami pink sunset cursive writing, but many styles lay claim to these visual elements, such as italo disco, electro, and many other popular styles whose respective consumers have never listened to Internet Club. The visual element is much more prevalent, across multiple genres, mainstream and not. But visual aesthetics are typically much more shallow than aural ones, and experience much easier transfluence via meme B2B connections (brain to brain), whereas audio aesthetics take maybe a 100x more time to assimilate to one's archetypal index. There is a rush to say that vaporwave is dead, or that seapunk is dead, (both have similar visual language), but fashion/ visual aesthetics are by far the easiest to mimic and thus trickle through alt culture. Miley Cyrus has no clue about anything, but her PR team probably spend hours every day reading Hipster Runoff, trying to make her image ironic enough. People have been posting triangles and upside down crosses and pentagrams and circles and Pink-Orange gradients for a solid 4 years. It seemed really cool to me in 2010, and I was cutting diamonds out of pictures in photoshop. I picked up on it pretty early, I think. I had a good conversation about this with a highly disposive art female who is always trying to be ahead of the curve. We reminisced about the prevalence of triangles in tumblr culture, or should I say cvltvre. But anyone can watch Miami Vice and say, hey, I want my album of sick beats and eletro synths to have a cover just like that. Anyone can draw a triangle in photoshop and use the paint bucket tool. Fear not, for as I have been saying, the deeper concepts will endure and go largely unnoticed by the mainstream. That's by far one of the most thought out, well articulated posts I've seen on watmm. lol.. Couldn't agree more sir. "Miley Cyrus has no clue about anything, but her PR team probably spend hours every day reading Hipster Runoff, trying to make her image ironic enough." lolol 100% truth.. i miss reading that site btw. carls made me laugh for sure!

lol, pair it with your daw's stock reverb and you're set

^.... but those aesthetics and that reaktor software shouldnt stop people from wanting to make cool vaporwave and related stuff... it's pretty lame ive already heard the whole "vaporwave is dead" call to actions from the uber hipsters.. yeah, just cuz cool styles are emerging and gaining more traction within a larger music community doesnt mean all creativity has been exhausted. but these styles have been around forever, before the term of the micro-niche genre was created.. kinda like with punk rock. punk may have "died" in 1977, but real punk rockers keep making punk rock lol- (it just may not be as "cool" as it used to be), but from an art standpoint, who cares? some of the best punk rock shows were in 2001, in high school for me- my defining feeling and understanding of what punk rock meant .. only the trendy assholes and talentless hacks abandon a sound just cuz it starts to get bigger. with that said, i still don't think the sounds of Point Never or PrismCorp is going to be the next pop thing as theyre not quite accessible enough to a wide audience, and ppl may not get it... Saint Pepsi or Macintosh Plus on the other hand, i could def hear Rihanna in 2015 singing over those types of dreamy surreal beats lol.

hmmm... well, it seems the image side of vw is already mainstream anyway lol: new miley new arcade fire new gaga remember yeaysayer's album art from a while back?

From the Donovan Hikaru Facebook page I set up a while back: ---- "Donovan Hikaru is a renowned professional who organizes many high-caliber and ultra-exclusive events in the world of underground conceptual thought. Through the use of exclusive third-party concepts, Hikaru remains at the forefront of the cutting edge. Whether it's a Fortune 500 charity event, a lavish swinger party, or a charming corporate Christmas party, Donovan is there, unscathed and brooding with unabided charisma. Mr. Donovan Hikaru is a five-time winner of the Platinum Serenity Awards, Event Coordinator for the United Nations Prose and Poise Committee, and Chairman of the Board for FACT (Foundation for Abstract Conceptual Thought), as well as Personal Consultant for movers-and-shakers like Christopher Johnson, Roland Oneal, and Yusef-Amhed Amir. After spending great lengths of time in the rainforests of the Huragi region, near the outskirts of southeast Asia, the world is now ready for Hikaru to exert his rare excellence. Hikaru, with a steadfast and stealth sweep, grabs life by the horns and artistically breathes fresh unconcentrated air into the life of the party...the party that is to be experienced. No frills, themes, or concepts in this one...Just you, your guests, and a white-hot fire of passion- Passion for life. This is your party...This is Donovan. Donovan Hikaru Presents..." https://www.facebook.com/donovanhikaru

Check this scene out from the movie Disclosure starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore:

lololol that's incredible!

that's a pretty awesome idea. first we gotta come up with a swanky cool name of the comp.. "Washington Mutual?" or WaMu... "We Are The Movers and Shakers" (lol)... "Polygon Shopping Mall"?... "Joyrex Holdings?" "Joyrex Industries Incorporated?" im sorta half way joking btw, but it could be fun to come with some kind of cover art or something just for kicks I can dub 25-50 cassettes to sell if we setup a bandcamp page. No joke, I have a plethora of cases and C90 tapes and I'm planning to order C60s anyway soon. I have never participated in EKT comp, just listened to them, but this one is very appealing to me. Nice! I'm down if ya'll are.

that's a pretty awesome idea. first we gotta come up with a swanky cool name of the comp.. "Washington Mutual?" or WaMu... "We Are The Movers and Shakers" (lol)... "Polygon Shopping Mall"?... "Joyrex Holdings?" "Joyrex Industries Incorporated?" im sorta half way joking btw, but it could be fun to come with some kind of cover art or something just for kicks

This is amazing, that slideshow is perfection. This has the same vibe as Ferraro's Far Side Virtual which was also MIDI and not sample/pluderphonics based. Thanks man, glad you dig (: It was fun to make. Been working on some more ideas too.. possibly a whole EP with a corporate stock music theme once i have time haha.. started working on something last night called "Business Plaza Rock", it's kinda new jack swingy lol.. that Far Side Virtual album was awesome. ill post more vids once I make more stuff.. i wasn't sure if i should post in the EKT or in here, but i figured it called for being in this thread. excited to hear anyone else experiment with some vwave type stuff too.

i think this genre and its associated styles are super fun and imaginative (: hopefully people keep making more and more of it. the world is full of absurdism, capturing it in art form is what it's all about.

lol sweet- at least i was able to make and upload a vw track to yt before the trainwreck happens! score!

haha! Glad you got the feel that i was going for (: Thanks man, I appreciate it... Yeah, I write and produce an eclectic array of music- mostly synthpop/hip hop/indie disco stuff, but i like to mess around with different styles. so anyway, yeah, i was just meddling around on my midi controller, reaching around for chords and melodies that would fit that theme of workplace success, team building, moving forward, etc etc that you'd hear in some lame corporate training video from 1989 or something. I'm definitely planning on making some more Donovan Hikaru material... I already have an idea for the next track/vid.. I think I'll stick to the similar tired theme of the corporate workplace.

my first vaporwave track as my moniker, "Donovan Hikaru Presents..." Donovan Hikaru: Moving Forward In The Company

okey dokey i just made my first vw track... it's short and hokey and simple.. somewhere between late 80s sitcom music and inspirational corporate muzak... all original. just made a fitting youtube video/slideshow for it. Any interest in me posting it onto this thread? (:

oh MY. That is gorgeous!!! Yes! Love it!!!

I dunno. I can easily support myself working 15h a week at minimum wage. At that rate you don't have much lying around for partying or fancy food or whatever, but if you're balls deep in making tracks it doesn't matter so much. Or, looking at the flipside, a person can work 40 hours a week & then spend another 40 hours making tracks & sleep 6h a night & live off canned beans, if they're mad dedicated But honestly, I think it has nothing to do with time spent. I see guys out there, beatmakers usually, who brag about how they're in the studio most of the time, & their stuff's just kinda boring to me...I don't mean "meh, not my taste" boring, but "jeez there just isn't much to this" boring What it really comes down to is putting as much of yourself into the music as possible. Full-assing it, so to speak. Like, I don't know much about playing piano but the only time I feel like I'm doing it right is when I convince myself, "okay, you're about to die, & this is the only tool you've got to express all that stuff you think about but never say". That's the mindset, I think. But you've gotta work it a lot, like a muscle, so it goes from 'youngin with stars in his eyes' to 'damn dis man be spittin fire' Yeah, I hear you. That's what it's all about. It's simple. Hard work. Good old fashioned. The other sad, but true fact: A. Music B. Job C. Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Family Pick 1 and with hard work and dedication, you can be outstanding at it. Pick 2 and with hard work and dedication, you can do pretty good at both of them, or really good at just one, or really good at the other. Pick all 3 and with hard work and dedication, you'll either be mediocre at all of them, bad at one and average at 2, or really good at one, average at the other and really bad at the other. lol Now that I completely derailed this 16 page thread, sorry everyone, im notoriously fantastic at derailing watmm threads. Anyway, back to vaporwave... ~~~~~~

I feel you. I always have to remind myself that us artists are our own worst enemies when it comes to self-validation, being proud of our work, getting noticed etc. I would imagine even top selling artists have issues where things just aren't how they envision them, or theyre not appreciated in the ideal way they want to be. As far as the constant gold rush of music to be discovered on the web/youtube/soundcloud, I couldn't agree more, and here's what I can't process: How there are these what seems like endless amounts of innovative artists with reeeally good melodies, really groovy beats, and really great production, sound design, AND mixing... AND it's all mastered at really competitive levels while still retaining dynamics. But that's not the part that I can't process- It's the fact these songs are put out by what seems to be bedroom producer kids with NO label, NO funding (that Im aware of), probably not tons of experience considering their younger ages and rookie-ness to the music scene, AND no time (unless they're trust fund babies or lottery winnners), to properly execute an immaculate production. I just don't get it. Do these guys not have to work? Albums and singles don't sell anymore, so unless they're getting money from licensing or touring, I don't understand how they're supporting themselves fully on just making amazing music. Are they working from home part time on their own schedule and making enough to get by? Even with that, I can't imagine having the resources and time to make a commercial-grade (in terms of production/mixing/mastering) package in such small amounts of time, out of nowhere. And then these videos, don't even get started. Oh and then on top of all this PROMOTING it all and reaching wide range of indie music circles?!?!? I'm baffled. Unless there's some kind of hidden formula here that I'm not aware of-- (presets, patches, loops, and sound design that they just open up folders of and click and then done, a certain video director who charges like 100 dollars for a pro-grade highly creative video, and some kind of special VIP pass of access to every influential indie music blog... but I don't buy that.)

POST-POST-POST-META-AMBIGUOUSLY IRONIC-VAPORWAVE... (By brain hurts from the never-ending exponentially meta-ness of this concept)

Brilliant. All it takes is 1 second of getting lost in the moment and that second can feel like a blissful eternity.

First rule of vaporwave. You don't talk about vaporwave. That said, I think the whole reason people are so into it is because it represents this feeling, when you are staying up late watching informercials or whatever, I guess people actually do that, but you get in that zone where you keep thinking that you are missing out on something. What I'm saying is there is this implied social element somehow, so ubiquitous is the theme of lounge/plaza/waitingroom, but the people actually in those places aren't thinking of things that way. If you go to a lounge it will be nothing like this idealized version. The idea has been bugging me for years. I have this idea of actually having fun hanging out in a lounge, but the reality is that they would probably be playing lady gaga and everyone would be drunk and/or have their hearts aimed out----> and not in <-----. The idea of living happily in a moment, with someone else too, in this self contained lounge world, but the simultaneous nostalgia/depression that it is a bygone era, or it never has and never will actually exist, that the extent of it is that production room and it is only perceived through a screen, or in a purer way--through a speaker. Wow, well said. I think it's these idealized versions of the images and concepts that keep our imagination afloat, and our minds wandering into all kinds of possibilities, dreams, etc. I've had the same idea about having fun hanging out in a lounge, the same idea I have about going to a shopping mall to get pizza and window shop, and even the experience of going to a movie at a theater, or renting a dvd from a rental store (the ones that still exist)... All the idealized/nostalgic/symbolic versions of those experiences pop out at me when I think about doing those things, and usually when i do them, it's not as satisfying, for one million reasons or another- I would say the main culprit being the constant internal dialogue in my head as I'm experiencing them, whether they be limitations, self-imposed judgments of myself and others around me, timing (am i wasting time? should i be busy being productive right now?, why is everyone "these days" staring down at their phones? what's up with our generation? am i ever going to have the career i dream of? is this pizza im eating right now going to give me a heart attack in 10 years... or on the flip side, is this salad i just ordered have enough leafy greens to actually be of nutritional value, or am i just eating water-comprised and wilted lettuce and celery strands submerged in balsamic? etc etc etc etc etc. of course it doesn't help that we're all attached to our nostalgic pasts, and that it seems that the current generation is very detached from improvisation and physical engagement, but i think at the core, it's all these judgments and limitations, it seems, that keeps us from submerging into the moment. enter Internet Club, Saint Pepsi, Ultra... a meditation on those environments and feelings of being submerged into a particular atmosphere and the comfort of that familiarity, with a dash of mysteriousness and adventure.

Official Vaportwave Rules: 1. The song that's sampled has to have been heard in the past by no more than 200 million people, but no less than 50,000 people. 2. It cannot by any means include music from the following artists: Michael Jackson and Rick Astly -- as they are too often referenced in pop culture and/or have too many Youtube memes about them already. 3. In addition to pitching the sample down, there must be reverb applied to the sample with no less than 50% wetness, and no more than 71% wetness. 4. There can be no political lyrics. 5. You must be laying down on your side with your head resting on your hand while your laptop/ipad/pc mouse is in the other while creating the track. 6. You may NOT tag it as vaporwave on YT, or else the true VW labels will scorn at you and you will be shunned by the entire community. Note: You may use "post-pre-vaporwave", "bear-core", or "aggro-chill-wave with hints of vapor" or other similar tags as a safe alternative. and most importantly, 7. You may not, under any circumstance, be thinking about the genre while you attempt to make it. In fact, the more you seek out to create a "vaporwave" track, the less it becomes official Vaporwave, and your potential vapor wonders will vaporize into digital nothingness.