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Index · 102 pages

Sitemap

Everything on the site, in one list. Crawlers should use the XML sitemap instead.

Shop

Editions, pulled once and never reprinted.

Archive

Who made the work, and what the work is arguing about.

Listening

Twenty-four hours, no host, no ads.

Utility

Structure, and how to reach us.

Works · 008

Records · 015

Labels · 008

Architects · 027

Roster · 011

Questions · 009

What is vaporwave, exactly? An internet-born microgenre of music and a visual aesthetic, both surfacing in the early 2010s.
Why is it called vaporwave? From “vaporware” — an announced product that never ships — plus the “-wave” genre suffix.
What is the first vaporwave record? Floral Shoppe (2011). Two 2010–11 forerunners came first.
Which visual elements define vaporwave art? Marble busts, pink-and-cyan gradients, checkerboard floors, VHS decay, Japanese text, ironic logos.
How is vaporwave different from synthwave? Synthwave is original, fast and neon. Vaporwave is sampled, slow and deliberately degraded.
Is it satire? Read as an ironic critique of consumer capitalism — but the ambiguity is structural, not accidental.
Who are the notable artists? Vektroid, Lopatin, Ferraro, Saint Pepsi, Clanton, 2814, Blank Banshee — and the painter Hiroshi Nagai.
What are the subgenres? Future funk, mallsoft, vaportrap, signalwave and others.
Is vaporwave still around? Yes. The 2012–15 peak passed; the aesthetic stayed and keeps feeding new ones.

Artists · 004