Wildest Patterns of 2017: Best Chillwave/Vaporwave/Synthwave/Synth Pop Releases
1. Shoji正治 - See You When I Do
See You When I Do by Shoji正治
Overflowing with balladic vaporwave atmosphere right from the start, Shoji正治’s See You When I Do is a nostalgic, underwater home-video honeymoon of an album, perfect for those misty, days-gone-by feels. It’s a surprisingly cohesive for a vaporwave album - while it still veers into a handful of different production styles and introduces some avant drone loops for good measure, See You When I Do stays close to its hissing fog of sleepy, half-remembered visions across its entirety.
2. Curb Cobain - Driven
Curb Cobain’s Driven hits that vaporwave sweet spot of lo-fi slow and misty jams, my personal favorite kind. There’s plenty of that on the album, but the listening experience is kept fresh by meandering into ambient soundscapes, too. Often times dark and minimal, these refrains give Driven a nice contrast overall, moving between luminous, nostalgic bounce into total electronic oblivion.
3. Windows 96 - Gradient Horizont
Gradient Horizont by Windows彡96
Windows 96 has a knack for taking what are typically thought of as cheesy synth patches and applying them just right to a palette of ethereal jams - and it just makes sense. Their latest release, Gradient Horizont, is no exception, sprinkling the playful decorum of vaporwave and marrying it to the emotional heft of chillwave. Whether it’s a bendy midi pan-flute or a majorly fake-sounding saxophone synth patch, Windows 96 deftly infuses these conspicuous lead tones over lush chords and crisp rhythms, like putting those Bugle snacks on top of a wedding cake.
4. John Maus - Screen Memories
Screen Memories by John Maus
Though John Maus doesn’t fit neatly in the synthwave sphere, his lean towards 70s synths and horror musical disco make him an adjacent fixture. Supplying ample amounts of post-punk bass funk to underpin all the electronics (and sometimes totally overshadow them), Maus works his fabulous black magic all across Screen Memories. The album is essentially a series of weird but playful disco mantras that become total earworms upon repeated listens. And again, that bass. Screen Memories could just be those bass lines and, hey, you wouldn’t see me complaining about it.
5. HAWAII94 - Evolve
HAWAII94 | Evolve by HAWAII94
HAWAII94’s latest release, Evolve, is maximized chillwave/future funk, filled up with numerous spritely, twirling parts that bounce across your bod, enticing you to get off your ass and move it rhythmically up and down, side to side. A real grab bag of squishy and sliding 80s synths, funky guitar stabs, snap-mist drums, murmuring vocals and bobbing bass lines, there’s no room to stop dancing. And why should you want to? Evolve is as infectious as dance albums get.
6. Richard Alfaro - Opaque EP
Opaque EP by Richard Alfaro
Classy and softly bubbling, Richard Alfaro brews up a mid-tempo minimal chillwave concoction on his Opaque EP. There’s a faded sparseness to the EP with no textural filler between the pool of subtle synth chords, twinkling lead arpeggios and swishing drums. The result is a sleek, meditative journey, that, although brief, takes good care of you throughout its duration.
7. REIGHNBEAU - HIDE
REIGHNBEAU excels at thick, sliding-door chillwave that leans hard on ethereal vocals overdubs and glimmering synths. Hide exemplifies this aesthetic, sounding like a vortex of ghosts riding on top of massive, digitized ocean waves. It’s a huge, saturated flair that aims to hit you with a blanket assault, rather than taking the popular chillwave cues of drifting, empty spaciousness.
8. FUJI TELEVISION PLUS - Emision
Emision by FUJI TELEVISION PLUS
FTP’s Emision is classic vaporwave done with all the fixins’ I love to hear: ultra-saturated chorus filters coating entire tracks, big drums, tropical-haunt ethereality, smooth jazz home shopping channel playfulness and cycling lo-fi production styles. FTP’s choices of samples and mood painting for the album shine through, never letting things drag and never going away to quickly from a particularly juicy idea. This banger will get you groovin’, grinning and feeling pensive all at once.
9. Secret Attraction - Always EP
SECRET ATTRACTION | ALWAYS EP by Secret Attraction
The latest from Secret Attraction, Always EP, is peak smooth sauna chillwave - the chords are warm and round, the leads gleam softly through the mist, the vocals are whispered so reassuringly. This time around, Secret Attraction jumps into house territory on a few tracks, adding some four-on-the-floor rhythms to the mix. It gives the EP a welcome bit of dynamic, considering the gentle vibe that permeates throughout.
10. Bl00dwave - Fake Reality EP
Fake Reality EP by bl00dwave
A solid synthwave treat, Bl00dwave’s Fake Reality EP conjures up that longing neon-lit night drive fantasy with aplomb. Drifting into lanes of both luminous escape as well as dark pursuit, Fake Reality EP offers up a strongly satisfying 80s cinematic landscape.
