Always demonized as the main culprit in the reabsorption of underground subcultures into the mainstream world, the mass media have inevitably changed their role in recent years, to the point of becoming facilitators in the formation of some movements, first and foremost the case of Vaporwave.
Birth and characteristics of Vaporwave
"The synthesized postmodern revenge of the 90s". "The flower of nostalgia that arises from the carcass of the independent new wave". "A musical genre inspired by Electronic Dance Music, seapunk, independent dance chillwave, synthwave, glo fi, summer music, new retrowave". "An artistic movement that was born by nostalgically representing a futuristic past that never existed".
Explain a musical genre It is never a simple undertaking, especially in the case of a micro-genre born as an "offshoot" of what is already generally called "electronic music”. And yet, as much as these definitions might seem to have gotten a bit out of hand, they couldn't be more accurate. But let's try to put things in order. Born around 2010 within some online communities, Vaporwave is a aesthetic and musical movement from the retro-futuristic approach which is characterized by being nostalgically inspired by the past, while simultaneously looking towards the future. The music, often defined as an ironic version of chillwave, is full of reverberations, synthesizers, elevator tunes e trace manipulations '80s and '90s, but also TV theme songs and infomercials, deliberately slowed down and reduced to a lower quality than the original versions. To understand a little better, here's an example:
The track is from Vektroid, one of the pioneers of the Vaporwave genre, along with James Ferraro e Chuck PersonAfter them, all the other DJs released albums along the lines of these early productions, gaining status and notoriety in the ether, that is, in the magical world of the Internet, as in the cases of Saint Pepsi, Internet Club, MACROSS 82-99, Miami Vice, Remember, Blank Banshee and many others. These artists, in fact, owe their success to Last.fm, Reddit, 4Chan, but also Soundcloud, Mediafire and Bandcamp, thanks to which they created their own scene and a following, made up of a veritable Community has gradually become increasingly larger, interested in following and downloading music, as well as interacting with other fans of the same genre. A genre that in the meantime has seen the birth of some further subgenres within it, such as the more ironic cases of Simpsonwave, born in 2016 and inspired by the famous cartoon series "The simpson” or of the Trumpwave, focused on the US President.
An aesthetic movement bordering on the satirical
As mentioned, Vaporwave is also an aesthetic movement , better known and written as Vaporwave. It is a form of artistic expression closely linked to the collage technique, infused with childish elements associated with the world of video games, Japanese anime stills, but also Greek statues, exotic sunsets, palm trees, and pixel art completely detached from any real context or situation. A form of expression often defined as "satirical" due to the excessive use of elements from the capitalist and consumerist society of the past, which has made it, according to some critics (even convinced that the name Vaporwave evokes the Marxist concept "all solids melt into air") very similar to the punk movement, simply in a digital age.
An online subculture with its own subcultural capital
Having been born on InternetThe Vaporwave movement knows no geographical or temporal boundaries. Its artists, as well as its followers, are part of an online community where everyone can feel free to be who they truly want, with a nickname and a unique spontaneity that truly reinforces their interests. These interests are no longer driven by social ties, but by their own unique personal curiosity, which, faced with an unlimited source of information, can shape their musical tastes beyond any kind of conditioning. Simply put, on the web, aesthetic styles, clothing, and attitudes no longer matter; everyone can build their own. personal identity and socially in a more authentic way, thus connecting with other people as they are truly linked by similar interests: no one needs to prove anything and therefore the subcultural capital It is defined not only by the distinction from one's social class and from the rest of mainstream society, but also by the use of the Internet to access music, to new niche genres, beyond the popular ones. Clearly the technological progress It once again played a decisive role in the evolution of electronic music enthusiasts, but this time it shifted interactions from the social dimension to a virtual and individualistic one. But while in this case the mass media didn't destroy the subcultural soul of a movement, having served as its "nest," are we really sure it didn't compromise the interactions between its members?
Alice Porracchio
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" If there's not a rebellious youth culture, there's no culture at all. It's absolutely essential. It is the future ."
