Vaporwave - The Internet’s Muzak

Show Notes

# Description In 2013, two short years after it first appeared on the internet, Vaporwave was declared "dead". And yet, it still lives and has spawned a brood of micro-genres (Simpsonwave, Zeldawave, Glo-Fi, Mallsoft) in 2019. And what about the fans? Somehow, we try to tackle what this music is and figure out the people behind it. ## Episode Outline **Topics:** What is Vaporwave?, Is it a joke?, An internet micro-genre that seems to be constantly changing, Earnestness versus irony, pretentious art ideals versus memes ### First Impressions #### Z: When I first stumbled across Vaporwave, I was shocked by how evocative of some sort of nostalgia it was. Which is strange because I never was much of a mall rat, or spent a lot of time in places that played heavy muzak. And yet, there's a strange atmospheric quality to the music that reminds me of listening to a warbly radio from the bottom of a swimming pool -- which is still weird because I have never done that before in my life. #### T: I know next to nothing on this. I assumed that Vaporwave was some obscure genre of music that was facet of a facet of some genre I still couldn't pin down. #### G: I thought it was a fun meme thing where everything looks bad intentionally. ### Observations We really got caught up on the question of whether any of this stuff was earnest or just an enormous joke. Z especially took up the former position, saying (perhaps a little tongue in cheek) that Vaporwave is all about being a postmodern look at postmodern irony. G and T, on the other hand, kept pretty firmly in the "nah, in 2019 this is more of a meme" camp. ### Conclusions In the end, all three of us admitted to enjoying Vaporwave of some form or other (future funk, the first few albums, Hong Kong Express). T and Z in particular noted how they found the genre much more immediately emotionally evocative than a lot of other music, while G admitted to really getting into the philosophy, narrative and symbolism that can be found in the genre. But, none of us became hardcore Vaporwave fans after our limited exposure to the genre -- so go ahead and give the Macintosh Plus (aka Vektroid) album "Floral Shoppe" a listen! ## Where can you find us? Pretty much everything we do is `something/thenickscast`, but specifically... * If you're looking for this podcast (Fanthropological), you can find it at [Fanthropological.com](https://fanthropological.com) or on different podcatchers including [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVp8MBIUyCqlKyZn79iHn), [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210?mt=2), [Google Podcasts](https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLnBvZGlhbnQuY28vZmFudGhyb3BvbG9naWNhbC9yc3MueG1s) and many others! * Keep up-to-date with our latest goings-on on [Facebook](https://facebook.com/thenickscast), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thenickscast), or [Instagram](https://instagram.com/thenickscast), all `@thenickscast` * We also occasionally create extra content about fandom including convention coverage and interviews on [YouTube.com/thenickscast](https://youtube.com/thenickscast) * We have some fine merchandise available at [shop.thenickscast.com](https://shop.thenickscast.com) (and we'd love your support!) * If all else fails, you can email us: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) ## What is "Fanthropological"? Every week, Fanthropological delivers about an hour of fandom-related "fanalysis" covering a different fandom every week and giving you hard data, history, special guests, and, of course, speculation! We cover topics spanning the gamut of anime, manga, comics, video games, comics, movies, books, television, and, in general, geek culture. ## What is Livestream for the Cure? Since 2017, Nick and Justin of the [Epic Film Guys](http://www.epicfilmguys.com/) have dedicated a block of time each year to livestream their podcast and other content in order to raise funds for the Cancer Research Institute. This organization researches immunotherapy with the goal of curing all forms of cancer. They are among some of the most reputable charities out there with a rating of 92% on [CharityNavigator.org](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417). Last year's Livestream for the Cure 2.0 (**check it out [here](https://fundraise.cancerresearch.org/fundraiser/1583313)**) was a resounding success. In 30 hours live on the air, the Epic Film Guys raised over $5,000 for cancer research and an additional $780 for Perry Johnson, a fellow podcaster who guested on the event and was diagnosed with stage IV esophageal cancer shortly before it began. Because they smashed their goal and because of their amazing community of peers and fellow podcasters, they decided this year's event should be even bigger and better. The 3rd Annual Livestream for the Cure will be held from May 17th through the 19th, and the Epic Film Guys will be live for FORTY hours as they try to hit their biggest goal yet and raise $7,500. The event will be held live at[ https://twitch.tv/epicfilmguys](https://twitch.tv/epicfilmguys) and will include dozens of fellow content creators and podcasters who are joining them to reach this common goal. They will be live for 40 hours from the following times (all are EST): **May 17th: 10:00 AM to 2:00 AM ** **May 18th: 10:00 AM to 2:00 AM** **May 19th: 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM** Follow the event on[ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/events/1303610656446934/) or follow[ @livestream4cure](https://www.twitter.com/livestream4cure) on Twitter for updates and guest information. Links for merchandise (all proceeds go toward the total) and other information will be coming in the near future. To make a donation before and during the event, visit [LivestreamfortheCure.com](https://fundraise.cancerresearch.org/fundraiser/1947095). Let's make this the biggest year for the Livestream for the Cure yet! Together, we can make a difference! ## Credits * [ReMix: EarthBound "Battle Against a Malignant & Repugnant Opponent"](https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03436) by [nelward](https://ocremix.org/artist/15315/nelward) from [http://ocremix.org](http://ocremix.org) used under [ocremix.org content policy](http://ocremix.org/info/Content_Policy#If_you.27re_using_our_content_elsewhere_.28.22Terms_of_Use.22.29%E2%80%A6) * All other music and sound for this week's episode were provided by Nick Green!

Show Notes

Episode Transcript

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