Vaporwave and the Hyperreal

Explicit content warning

02/15/21 • 32 min

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews

Hyperreality, a term coined by Jean Baudrillard, is the point at which the real can no longer be easily distinguished from fiction or simulation including simulations of realities that do not exist known as simulacra. The connection to vaporwave, a genre of music which seeks to induce nostalgia for eras that never existed, is immediately apparent.

On this topic episode we briefly introduce some of the ideas behind Baudrillard's hyperreality and discuss how we think they can be applied to vaporwave and its aesthetic goals.

Reading List
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Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard
America by Jean Baudrillard
Faith in Fakes: Travels in Hyperreality by Umberto Eco, William Weaver

Additional Resources
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Baudrillard and Vaporwave: A Remixed Nostalgia
Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs
Rick Roderick on Baudrillard - Fatal Strategies
Episode 124 ... Simulacra and Simulation on Philosophize This!
American Psycho, Baudrillard and the Postmodern Condition
Don’t Worry, These Gangly-armed Cartoons Are Here to Protect You From Big Tech
Comment: Vaporwave and the pop-art of the virtual plaza
Comment: “Distroid” – the muscular music of hi-DEF doom

Credits
--------
Music by: 2Mello
Artwork by: Patsy McDowell
Ross on Twitter
Birk on Twitter
Follow Night Clerk Radio on Twitter for updates

On this topic episode we briefly introduce some of the ideas behind Baudrillard's hyperreality and discuss how we think they can be applied to vaporwave and its aesthetic goals.

Reading List
------------------
Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard
America by Jean Baudrillard
Faith in Fakes: Travels in Hyperreality by Umberto Eco, William Weaver

Credits
--------
Music by: 2Mello
Artwork by: Patsy McDowell
Ross on Twitter
Birk on Twitter
Follow Night Clerk Radio on Twitter for updates

Previous Episode

Music and Lost Technologies

Often, technology evolves at such a relentless pace that consumers may not be able to explore something's full potential before moving on to the next upgrade. In this episode, we dive into two artists who are linked by their common goal to produce novel audiovisual art using these abandoned technologies as both inspiration and instrument. Join us as we explore two very different slices of computer history.

Albums Discussed
------------------
C:\>DEFRAG by MASTER BOOT RECORD
Cyberspace Database by Fornax Void

Credits
--------
Music by: 2Mello
Artwork by: Patsy McDowell
Ross on Twitter
Birk on Twitter
Follow Night Clerk Radio on Twitter for updates

Next Episode

r/Vaporwave Best of 2020

News: The Night Clerk Radio Patreon is now live. You can check it out and support us at:

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Each yeah, the vaporwave subreddit (r/vaporwave), compiles a list of their favorite albums of the year. For this episode, we checked out the "Best of 2020" albums and listened to as many of them as possible. We discuss our personal favorites from the list, but in reality they're all worth checking out.

Full Best of 2020 List