Hey everyone !
Today, I’m (Lost Colossus) excited to share a new selection of albums curated by roman foster, a multifaceted artist and member of the Children of Vapor crew. Known for exploring many sounds and styles, roman foster is the kind of creator who approaches music with curiosity and passion. I’m really glad to share their eclectic taste with you today.
So let’s take a deep breath… and dive into this selection of albums that might just lead you to some great discoveries.
As always these records are making their way into the Dungeon !
Being from Houston, DJ Screw is very important; it’s a genre that hits home. DJ Screw laid down the foundation for so much that people don’t credit him for. It may seem simple, but his music was revolutionary, not only to Houston but to music in general. During the 90s, when Chopped and Screwed was being developed, it made Houston the oddball city in the southern hip-hop scene—every other city prioritized speed. New Orleans Bounce, Memphis Rap, Miami Bass, but Houston went the other direction and decided to slow it down.
It was that hazy, hypnotic atmosphere he created that inspired me as a vaporwave artist and as a musician in general. Especially LNFYB. In conversation about Screw’s tapes, this one is sort of forgotten. It almost entirely consists of Contemporary R&B samples. You could argue that this is the prototype for Vapor.
His ability to create such a sound pushes me to follow in his footsteps, not directly, but he influences me in almost all my musical decisions. To me, vibe and atmosphere are very crucial to an album, so I make sure to build those characteristics as much as I can. Rather, it is in sound, theme, or overall vibe and aesthetic. He is a cultural staple, and I’m glad to be alive in an era where I can easily access his music.
When the internet started to be more and more social, it was this collection of distorted memories that completely flipped internet music on its head and impacted my projects, even many years after release. It’s impossible to date a project that dates itself. It’s bittersweet nostalgia repackaged as a completely new listening experience. Discovering this masterpiece completely changed my view on music and sampling as a whole, and opened up my mind to how I can create music.
As I stated previously, vibe and atmosphere are very crucial to me, and Eccojams hits it out of the ballpark. In some songs, it’s being lost in an aquarium after closing, and they hadn’t fixed their intercom system in years; it’s driving through an empty city in the hazy morning blue; it’s recalling a memory that is slowly slipping away, even though you thought you cherished it so much.
I relisten to Eccojams as much as I can, and it continues getting better after every listen. It’s the project that proves the unbreakable link between Chopped and Screwed and Vaporwave. Even if it’s a sound that has been done to death and rehashed in other projects, it cannot get old for me. There are always new ways to make a sample engaging, even if it’s been used multiple times.
This has easily become one of my favorite projects to listen to. Its rich world-building puts the image of being trapped forever in limbo right in my imagination. There is no lyrical content of any sort, but I have no issues following along with the plot. Infinity Frequencies brought new life to the scene as it was slowly waning, along with connecting the worlds of liminal spaces and vaporwave. Hear about the Kane Pixels Backrooms movie coming soon? They better have had IF do the soundtrack.
The thoughts of a man forever stuck in time, in music form, guiding you through his experiences and thoughts. Every track is something new but oddly familiar. It’s memories that have become a puzzle, and you’re trying to piece the whole thing together as you venture through hell. Are you alone? Are you truly alone, even if it’s only you?
Broken Transmission has been one of my favorite styles of vaporwave thanks to Between Two Worlds. I have the most fun making songs for Hotel Programming.
VUE is anti-vaporwave; it pokes fun at the stereotypes while maintaining this lush but unsure atmosphere. The overall sound is unsure of itself. It builds the feeling that everything has to be perfect, but no matter how perfect, you are still unsatisfied. It can’t decide if it wants to sound aquatic, haunting, mallsoft, or like a memory. This project is almost entirely without samples, which is already unlike vaporwave, but it’s a hypnotic mix of folk sounds that fit right into vapor.
It helped me discover that to be in a genre, you don’t have to be entirely faithful to a genre. James pushed the envelope here that took me so long to appreciate, recently becoming one of my favorite DDS releases. VUE was my first introduction to folk music, which may sound like an odd start, but we all start somewhere.
I wish more vapor projects would explore the sound James created here. It pushed vapor to its limits, but still an untapped sound. Someday, I’d love to add to that sound, and more people would join.
Some people may not see the relation between hip-hop and vaporwave, but Vaportrap emphasizes that link, especially in this project, by an iconic producer who went on to produce for Bladee and Sybyr. It’s pure lush and nostalgia within each track. The bass and drums perfectly accompany the vapor. TWBBFNO perfectly encapsulates the state of hip-hop and internet music back when it was released, 2014, which is nostalgic for two time periods simultaneously.
During the era where trap dominated hip-hop, many artists gave their different and unique ideas of how it sounds, and bine☃ stands out the most. The production is clean and crisp, but not at the cost of the emotion portrayed. Cloud rap is easily one of my favorite genres of hip-hop, and of all time, and TWBBFNO, along with vaportrap as a whole, feels like a beautiful love letter to both genres and vibes.
This project is why I primarily produce hip-hop and would like to continue making it. The lush sound might’ve lost its popularity, but it goes platinum in my ears.
These could all change over time, but I’m confident that these projects will stay near and dear to my heart and continue inspiring me as I continue with music. I would like to share some honorable mentions about other projects that inspire me, that I didn’t want to leave out.
Bonus
“Veneno” by SpaceGhostPurrp
https://brattydogtapes.bandcamp.com/album/veneno
“Wuxian kewang” by Virtual Dream Plaza
https://virtualdreamplaza.bandcamp.com/album/–43
“The Narcissist II” by Dean Blunt
https://soundcloud.com/deanblunt/sets/the-narcissist-ii-1
“death cycle” by b e g o t t e n
https://geometriclullaby.bandcamp.com/album/death-cycle
“Instrumental Relics” by Clams Casino
https://clamscasinoofficial.bandcamp.com/album/instrumental-relics
“I NO LONGER FEAR THE RAZOR GUARDING MY HEEL (1-5)” by $uicideboy$
https://soundcloud.com/nowavelisteners/sets/i-no-longer-fear-the-razor
Big thanks to roman foster for sharing this great selection of albums ! And before we wrap things up, a quick shout-out to their latest release under their alias behind_the_screen : https://romanfoster.bandcamp.com/album/when-the-bubbl3-pops — definitely worth checking out.
Thanks again to roman foster for the contribution, and see you soon for more musical discoveries!
Follow roman foster : https://linktr.ee/romanfoster
Discover Children of Vapor : https://childrenofvapor.bandcamp.com/
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Really thoughtful piece. I like how you describe the atmosphere of the music instead of just the sound. The way you connect liminal spaces and memory makes the whole thing feel like a story unfolding. Looking forward to reading more of your work.