Today, I have the great pleasure of introducing a selection from one of my absolute favorite people on the scene hailing straight from Louisiana: Nyoka Shoje. A major force in Naturewave and Ambient music, Nyoka also runs the label Shield Maiden. In addition to his solo work, he has been performing live under the name Age Of Ouroboros, who will be playing a show on May 1st (the day after this article is published) at the Okay Bar (1700 Port St, New Orleans, LA 70117).
As always these records are making their way into the Dungeon !
No Death & 暗い自然 – Signals of Unknown Futures
This is one of the most mysterious and romantic Vaporwave album to me. It sounds like the space between life and death, the last time you lay with your soul mate before departing into the empty expanse of death immaterial. Distant Christmas lights shine through the window as you feel each others breath and declare your love. The cloudless sky is black and yet starless, echoing faintly a signal from far away.
No Death is a guy named Jack. I used to have a longsleeve shirt of this album that I wore all the time until the armpits fell apart and even then I sewed them together. 暗い自然 is another person who also made a starkly beautiful album called 氷床 Earth that I will write about next.
I had this one on cassette, but the material therein was only the No Death side of the split due to some situation involving 暗い自然’s feelings regarding their material. Although the No Death side is excellent, I highly recommend the full version (which is available to listen to on Youtube) for the full, ghostly experience of this one.
暗い自然 – 氷床 Earth
I can barely listen to this one because it is some of the most emotionally devastating music that I have ever heard. I don’t know if this is sampled or original material, but this one is just so wrenching, up there with Henryk Gorecki’s “Symphony No. 3.”
You are in a vast wasteland where everything you love has turned into ash or snow. There are trees there but they are as naked as death. A small deer peers out at you from far away, but vanishes. The angels are here now. Piano and drones carry you into a world of light.
MindSpring Memories – The Safe Inside Chronicles
Now this is a change of pace, similarly relaxed but of a much more uplifting energy. Now that you have died in the wasteland and heard the whinny of the white mare, you are lifted up into the energy of the angels as they happily serenade the light realm with the sound of pure radiant joy.
Angel Marcloid is known for Fire-Toolz, audio mastering, noise music, being a cat lover, and just all around amazing artist. Her work with this project in particular had a big influence on me during the lockdowns, as I was in a very isolated state and the sounds of MindSpring were like the healing balm of Gilead to my aggrieved and tortured soul. Wonderful artist and person, and a big inspiration to me. The LP of this on Underwater Computing is highly recommended!
Various Artists – Solarpunk: A Possible Future
This one is just massive! One of the most incredible albums to emerge from the world of Vaporwave, compiled by the patient and visionary artist Tim Six. Tim’s GLOBAL PATTERN label has been an important touchstone between the worlds of Vaporwave and the larger world of new age and ambient musics.
This collection is a must-listen for anyone who is curious to hear a beautifully optimistic selection of nature-forward Vaporwave that will make you feel happy to be alive. Highest possible recommendation, album to listen before you dead etc, drop the needle anywhere and you strike pure gold (although it was never released on vinyl you get my point). Not to be confused with it’s sequel Solarpunk: A Brighter Perspective which I was fortunate enough to participate in. That one is good too but definitely listen to this one first, it is just flawless work all around.
PJS – Magic Moments
For our last selection, we have chosen this somewhat slept on album/artist. PJS is sort of an outlier in the Vaporwave world due to the fact that they exclusively make sidelong Ambient drone tracks on analog synthesizers. That’s right, they are actually an Ambient Naturewave synth duo, but they exist in the vapor world via a partnership with the groundbreaking label/collective/ensemble known as VILL4IN.
I can’t overstate how influential VILL4IN and PJS were in making me feel like there was a place for me in this genre somehow. I used to watch the VILL4IN 24/7 stream, which played a lot of PJS as well as Sangam and some others of note, and was struck by how it was all ambient music not unlike the music heard on the public radio program Hearts Of Space. Although I like a lot of Vaporwave stuff, the kind of dance or ironic end of it had become the face of it at the time, and by putting a focus on non-meme music that was very soulful and had depth I felt like VILL4IN (as well as GLOBAL PATTERN) really helped me to see how I could have a place in the genre, and the actual people who run the labels have been very kind and supportive to me. Long live the underground.
Before we part ways. Nyoka Shoje, has two recent releases that came out and they are both essential listening. You Will Never Be Lonely Again on GLOBAL PATTERN and Life Dub on WORLD END COLLAPSE.
His label will also release an experimental album by the techno artist maggie² on May 1st !
Follow Nyoka Shoje : https://nyokashoje.bandcamp.com
Follow Shield Maiden : https://shieldmaidenstore.bandcamp.com
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