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Originally Posted by Diesel
That's not to say the genre does not have it's place: as used expertly in Dan Bells' youtube Dead Mall series. There is no better genre to better express 80/90's desperate materialistic over indulgence and cringe. Therefore when this music is used as the soundtrack to a man walking around a deserted and spacious failed relic of a mall it is perfect because the visuals mirror the shallowness of the music and capture failed capitalism. Ideal for the zoned out drug/alcohol inclined. Or Dawn of the Dead fanatics and/or weird cunts like me. But as a serious genre, feking avin' a laugh pal.
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Also for clarity's sake: A lot of that is kind of the reason why I enjoy it. I have a strange infatuation with abandoned/defunct places. Used to do a few urbex trips many years ago and I've created some sort of soft spot for dead-malling (though mostly vicariously, as there aren't that many super-dead malls around here). Something cathartic to seeing the odd quiet and solitude after a temple of commercialism has failed. I thought it was generally accepted that's what the whole vapor thing was about (However, looking at some of the comments in chat sections, I feel like some are missing the point). There's a certain kitschy-ness to it too.
And I'm with on you on the fact that some artists don't bother to do much beyond using a sample and changing the pitch. However, there are projects that have moved way past that. Windows96, as far as I can tell is producing his own stuff and it's pretty sweet, 2184 released a
sweet futuristic original album that just oozes atmosphere and death's dynamic shroud have their own approach - sometimes using several samples at once to create something new - not unlike some instrumental Hip Hop producers like DJ Shadow did back in the day. Also, you can even use one sample creatively sometimes - I mean, taking the Gumby-theme and making it positively
terrifying does take some talent.
In my original post, I was kind of trying to point out the irony of rather recent developments heavily favoring an overabundance of nostalgia. I agree with a lot what you said. A lot of the "genre"'s merits do tap into those post-modern sensibilities of scewering old properties. As of late, I've really learned to appreciate it though, as it kind of fits perfectly into this somewhat nightmarish society during the pandemic. I don't know, maybe I just have a weird doomy sense of romanticism, or maybe I'm just unapologetic about enjoying wonderful trash (I mean, it is already by definition) every now and then. Anyway, I think that certain artists have elevated it above just a tired gimmick over time, by putting their own spin on it. Though I do understand that criticism and in many cases will certainly agree.