Propaganda nostalgia memes12/1/2023 ![]() Although it had a unique aesthetic and anti-establishment sentiment, it still borrowed most of its production style from earlier sample-based genres Sound Collage, Plunderphonics, and Chopped n Screwed. The first musical offerings from Vaporwave were almost anti-capitalist, Marxist interpretations of music that defied traditional expectations of what a music genre could be. With Vaporwave, it’s often that exact opposite idea that draws in its fervent believers an unchanging petrified version of the past that never transcends so it never needs to die and is only ever in danger of being forgotten. For anything to ever truly last it must have a broad enough scope that it allows for constant evolution and growth unrestrained by boundaries that define it in rigid ways. Accessibility to affordable consumer electronics allowed millennials to produce a kind of music that once seemed rebellious and almost punk in its aesthetic and attitude, but like all things lost its edge over time. The effects of New Wave are still felt today, having influenced many genres that came in the decades to come such as Electro-Clash, Nu-Rave, Chillwave, and most recently Vaporwave.Įxperimenting with synthesizers and audio production is not a new phenomenon, but to Gen Z who are often barely familiar with the origins of experimental electronica, vaporwave truly is something new. The experimental sounds of bands like Gary Numan, The Cars, and other synth-laden musical acts harkening back to the doomed nihilistic party that was Disco before it. The result of this renaissance of music production gave birth to a style of music that is the root of almost all new music today New Wave. Today’s Vaporwave scene is in a constant flux of contentious debate on authenticity, originality, and a tug-of-war between small and big labels.īack in the early years of the 2010s, there was a spirit of innovation and experimentation that mirrored the start of the 1980s, when synthesizers and audio equipment once too expensive for smaller studios became more accessible, giving independent musicians and artists a way to contribute to music and culture. It’s been over a decade since it sprang into existence and now it seems to be struggling to find what made it special in the first place all while battling the disarray and despair of an increasingly toxic fanbase that is no longer excited but rather obligated to cheer it on. Having become more focused on personality as opposed to anonymity, Vaporwave has become a parody of a parody, creating an infinite loop of irony that leaves behind the awe it once generated replacing it instead with endless memes of pastel gradients, Roman busts, and 3D coke cans. Plagued by stereotypes, endlessly recycled imagery, and sonic characteristics being over-used to the point of exhaustion, many seem to have become disenchanted with the state of the fading art movement which in a way fulfills the bleak mentality it once heralded. Countless articles will flood your search pages all theorizing on either the intense faux-philosophical undertones of the music or some pseudo-intellectual analysis of the artwork that permeates the genre like a parasitic neon haze that suffocates your eyes. ![]() Almost everything that can be said about it has already been written or blogged about somewhere online since its early inception around 2010. Imagine, if you will, being a child right now, and going online to look for news about your favorite Disney princess, and seeing adults writing unhinged manifestos about how melanin can’t develop underwater.Vaporwave in 2021 is a bit of a quagmire. ![]() ![]() The company is making billions doing so, but it’s also being pulled into the orbit of some really intense culture wars, with seriously weighty topics being debated in the same breath as singing mermaids and wishing stars. Never mind the fact that these films lack the vibrant energy, color and expressiveness of their animated originals - people will happily take their kids to see them in theatres, hoping to feel a fraction of that childhood magic.ĭisney is milking its fattest cows again, just like when it pumped out all of those direct-to-video sequels in the 90’s. There is much to criticize about nostalgia culture, but from Disney’s perspective, it makes a lot of sense to relive their glory years - ignoring a few duds, many of their live-action remakes have made a gargantuan amount of money at the box office. While toxic fandom has been an issue for several years now, one has to wonder, how on earth did we get here? How did we get to the point where thousands of grown men are furious about a movie made for 8 year-old girls? Of all the cultural battlegrounds to fight this war, why choose Disney’s damp, lifeless remakes?
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