Tag: future funk

One of my biggest faults as a music fan was accepting quantity over quality in my younger years. One such excess was purchasing the entirety of Business Casual’s catalog for, if I remember correctly, around $5 in 2016.

At the time it was *only* a few hundred releases, and of the hundred or so Vaporwave and Future Funk albums that I did actually get around to listening to, the ones that stuck with me were more than enough for a lifetime.

I’ve learned to let go, and when I have time I cull my digital music library. This is owned, not streamed. So I don’t mean ‘unliking’ songs, I mean deleting files ~ooOOoo scary!~

That’s how a decade after its release, and a decade after I purchased it, I finally listened to Tonight by Color Television.

Damn.

The kicks come fast and hit hard. All thriller no filler. 4 tracks of wormy bass synths and punchy kick + snare combos drenched in that sleazy 80s plastic commercial pop melodrama.

It splits the difference of Macintosh Plus and Daft Punk, with a few extra BPMs lying around.

Get too drunk on camp and it soon turns to kitsch. Which is why Vaporwave and its subgenres usually hit the hardest when sticking close to its experimental and transgressive roots.

Despite this record aging better than many of its contemporaries, had this EP came out right now I probably wouldn’t even click on it. But here we are now, and now I can appreciate Tonight for what it was at the time- a clever and, albeit overlooked, captivating record.

Treat yourself to 11 minutes of Future Funk fun and stream the album on Bandcamp.

For fans of: Daft Punk, Macintosh Plush, Yung Bae

Like Color Television? Give these a listen: Fracture, Nu Shooz, Acetantina

This post originally appeared on the 10th Dentist blog on Sunday, January 24th, 2021.

   Released through Australian “Post-internet” label Sunset Grid on January 24th of 2021, MegaZoneEx’s SEAPUNK’D serves as a hopeful refresher of the vaporwave genre. While weaving their way through vaporwave and sister genres, MegaZoneEx explores but never falls victim to the cliches of those genres. Track highlights include the more accessible Ladytron-esque ‘The Shuffle,’ and industrial-nod ‘On My Mind’ built of a surprisingly soothing mix of vaporwave and industrial sonic aesthetics. SEAPUNK’D should be worked into casual rotation for the more particular vaporwave and future funk connoisseurs who may find themselves overwhelmed with quantity and underwhelmed with quality.

    Unfortunately, where SEAPUNK’D ultimately suffers is in its inability to distinguish itself as a fully realized album. From smaller details such as directionless track naming to a much more jarring max volume inconsistency, this effort at times can feel more like a mix-CD. Its 16 track, 29 minute runtime can feel very bloated, but hopefully going forward MegaZoneEx can enforce a stricter self-editorial approach.

    As stated in the album closing manifesto ‘PSA,’ “…[vaporwave] is still young. Its pioneers come and go, leaving it astray with no rules or guidelines. Vaporwave keeps dying because no one is here to save it.” While vaporwave is far from saved, MegaZoneEx is keeping it alive with yet another breath.

For fans of: Ladytron, Macintosh Plus, Ventech97

Like MegaZoneEx? Give these a listen: Acetantina, vice*AIRバイス*空気自然の愛,  False Tropics