Episodes
Published 11/07/22
New to The Virtual Ocean? Here's a bit more about our show: Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking...
Published 11/07/22
Happy Halloween! This year Brandon and I take in the Halloween vibes with a strong classical vaporwave record by EPX90. Hallowave is a 2019 halloween vaporwave album that brings together all the spooky tropes of halloween and turns it into a plunderphonic-heavy vaporwave LP. The record plays like an unlabeled broken casette tape you may have found amongst the brown autumn leaves. Let's set sail for EPX90's Hallowave. New to The Virtual Ocean? Here's a bit more about our show: Vaporwave is...
Published 10/05/22
Fantasy. Temptation. Escape.  Dreams are an unknown ancient realm that we move to and from every single day. Soft Replica's debut album "Only Ever In Dreams" is a synthesis of many styles: the hypnagogia of vaporwave, the everlasting echoes of dream-pop, and the blurred sonic blanket of shoegaze.  Their sounds will envelope you in a warm electronic embrace, and we're excited to share that embrace with you. Let's set sail for Soft Replica's Only Ever In Dreams. New to The Virtual Ocean?...
Published 09/06/22
Let's start off by saying this album is a masterpiece.  Death's Dynamic Shroud is a vaporwave trio made of Keith Rankin (aka Giant Claw), James Webster (HCMJ), and Tech Honors. However, this album is a solo album by Keith Rankin under the Death's Dynamic Shroud project. "Transcendence Bot" is a masterful display of Keith's high-volume, intentional sampling style. The project concept evokes a range of experiences from post-humanist, to Dante's Inferno-esque angel aesthetic, to ethereal; all...
Published 08/23/22
Kawaii-desu! On this episode of The Virtual Ocean, we sail to the world of Mikazuki Bigwave's EP collection titled "She Is a Magical Girl". The collection of tracks is our first introduction to their music and reflects the fantasy and perfection of, well, an anime magic girl. It's a sound as pink and sweet as bubble gum, and even pulls us to muse upon this magical girl for a minute. You'll just have to listen along to see what we mean.  Let's set sail for "She is a Magical Girl" by...
Published 07/05/22
Lust is a sin that feigns its reward.  In today's episode, we explore our first Macroblank album with their latest release "Dungeon of Lust." The album makes use pairing unlikely hard hitting  samples from what appears to be medieval times and Hindustani music. The album is a subconscious foray exploring the emotions, psychology, and excitement of committing the one deadly, but exciting, sin. Let's sail for Macorblank's Dungeon of Lust.   New to The Virtual Ocean? Here's a bit more about...
Published 05/31/22
Every now and then, we enjoy going back to "old" vaporwave albums to live in ambiance of that time. Space Magic is a vaporwave artist from the golden era of vaporwave (in our opinion, 2011-2015). His album 98 'Waves is a collection of nostalgic spaces from various locales, both physical and digital, fashioning a nostalgia that can only be as focused and immersive as it is in the vaporwave space. This album brought some very specific vivid memories, and we enjoyed how it lulled us into them....
Published 05/04/22
Color Theory is a synthwave artist from Huntington Beach California with quite a discography to his name.  His 12th LP, Mages, is an album that homages to the escapism of DnD, but also to the hardships, victories, and joys of life itself. It is a lyrically strong, honest, and tightly arranged 10 tracks that uses the nostalgic sounds of synthwave to express some very sincere sentiments.   Let's set sail for Color Theory's Mages. New to The Virtual Ocean? Here's a bit more about our...
Published 04/05/22
Happy Holidays everyone :) As we go into our indefinite hiatus of 2022, we reflect on the amazing year we had creatively with both the podcast and things outside of it (that we hope you'll be able to experience soon!) To follow the short film that Brandon and I produced, check out @avelino.film on Instagram. In this episode, we recap our time at a live Pacific Plaza Records show in Oakland, our appreciation for our community (if you DM'd us recently, you got a shoutout), our thoughts on...
Published 12/14/21
When the internet came to the world, the world became much smaller.  The power to gain information through technology gave many optimism for the future. If you were in elementary school school in the late 90s and the early 2000s, chances are you've experienced learning through software.  Pangeapedia Plus by Daniel White takes the sound of what appears to be 90s educational software and takes us back to the optimism that pervaded the earlier parts of the information age.  While we don't...
Published 11/30/21
Silkersoft is a Berlin-based who is the sound designer and composer for Crows Crows Crows, an indie video-game studio that released the 2011 cult hit "The Stanley Parable", as well as many others. 1000 Eyes is an album that takes us, track to track, through a beautiful, terrifying, and lulling journey. Silkersoft's talent for composing both background and foreground sounds shine in this record, taking us to 12 unique scenes that transition as seamlessly abrupt as the way things transition in...
Published 11/17/21
What does a perfect morning at an airport feel like? To those who are unaccustomed to travel, it sounds like an strange idea, and to those who are accustomed to travel, it's a straight up absurd idea.  The airport is  a space that has undergone some strange moments in the past year, and Russian vaporwave artist Bronston Bridge channels that wanderlust fantasy into a beautifully composed chillwave album. Using beautiful synthesizer compositions, this record transports you to headspace where...
Published 11/02/21
Happy Halloween!! This year, we are giving a listen to 波S E R V I C E's (aka N. Padre) 2018 Halloween Record, HARVEST.WAV, a collection of different ambient tracks that evoke our childhood fears. It features some great nostalgic homages while sustaining feelings of uneasiness and deep-seated fears. We had a great time experiencing this nostalgia-infused homage to death, and we'd love to have you experience it with us too. Let's set sail for HARVEST.WAV by 波S E R V I C E, aka...
Published 10/19/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 10/05/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 09/21/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 09/07/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 08/25/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 08/10/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 07/27/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 07/13/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 06/29/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 06/15/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 06/01/21
Vaporwave is an art aesthetic that embodies the anxiety, disillusionment, and nihilism of the modern world. In music form, vaporwave dives deep into these unconscious anxieties, manifesting sounds from past decades - warping them, manipulating them, and summoning the ghost of the good times that were promised by modern capitalism, but never came. Vaporwave is an expression of the pains of the collective modern unconscious, taking the form of heroin-level escapism, ecstasy-inducing pop...
Published 05/18/21