chris††† - No Lives Matter
The fact people are making “post-vaporwave” merely only a few years past the inception of vaporwave, demonstrates how lacking in substance vaporwave really is. A dead genre for a good reason, post-vaporwave easily surpasses it. This is because in its “post” state, the genre no longer relies on the boring, drawn-out aesthetics of vaporwave. It blends them into a beautiful cacophony of bliss and anger and smears it across the floor for its listeners to skid on. No Lives Matter, released on March 10th, 2016, could have been a staple in the genre if it weren’t for its inconsistent track-listing.
The sound design of No Lives Matter is exceptional; its problem lies in the songwriting. It’s repetitive, and noticeably rushed. More thoughtful song progressions and varied bridges could have gone a long way. A song like Trudging On Emotionless, for example, is one idea expanded out to almost 180 seconds. Even worse is the closer, no end, which repeats itself for 10 minutes straight. These songs are more “vapourwave” than “post-vapourwave,” and alone kill the album. Such a shame, as the first third of the album is quite good, and quite consistent towards its peak, I Can't Remember His Voice. The song is a beautifully constructed piece; free-flowing and gorgeously layered. It’s paired with the manic ytp death; a less impressive take on the Avalanches’ Frontier Psychiatrist. The song almost feels like its aimlessly flipping throughout tv channels without thought, even lamely sampling Pet Sounds at some point. These sections are enjoyable (and well produced) but lacking substance. The song marks the decline of the album, followed by the dance-dud Lying To Ourselves and plain-vapourwave dud esc.
The album is impressively varied, though, and consistently enjoyable. I’d go as far to say it’s more enjoyable than anything made in the vaporwave field. It marks a promising future for the aesthetics of the genre. The artist ought to spend more time cultivating songs with emotion, though; songs that aren’t trying to be edgy and evoke feelings are spectacular. The album tries too hard to be cool; that, and there’s too much filler.
Average
Listen to it here:
chris††† - No Lives Matter
