genre / 029
Vaporwave
How anonymous producers turned corporate muzak and 1980s detritus into the Internet's first post-ironic music genre
Internet / 2009-2016
14 min read · 5 sections · 18 timeline events · 8 albums · 5 stories · connections
- Era
- 2009-2016
- Region
- Online (Turntable.fm, Bandcamp, Reddit, 4chan)
- Key Artists
- 4
- Albums
- 8
01
The Scene
June 2009: Daniel Lopatin uploaded plunderphonics loops to YouTube under the alias sunsetcorp. Clips drawn from his audio-visual album Memory Vague. The same summer, Matrix Metals released Flamingo Breeze, synthesizer loops anticipating the slowed-down nostalgia that would define a genre not yet named. Washed Out slowed Gary Low's 1983 Italian dance track "I Want You" to syrupy crawl on "Feel It All Around," crystallizing chillwave's analog nostalgia—the substrate from which something stranger would emerge.
Key Artists
Macintosh Plus (Ramona Langley)Daniel Lopatin (Chuck Person / Oneohtrix Point Never)James FerraroInternet Club (Robin Burnett)
Essential Albums
01
Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1
Chuck Person (Daniel Lopatin) · 2010
02
Far Side Virtual
James Ferraro · 2011
03
New Dreams Ltd.
Laserdisc Visions (Ramona Langley) · 2011
04
Floral Shoppe
Macintosh Plus (Ramona Langley) · 2011
05
Blank Banshee 0
Blank Banshee · 2012
06
Sailorwave series
Macross 82-99 · 2013
+2 more albums inside
Full pack includes
5 deep-dive sections8 artist profiles8 essential albums18 timeline events5 stories
Start free trial7-day free trial, then $5/month. Cancel anytime.