What is Vaporbreaks?

We are pleased to host a new type of content here on Vaporwave News Network: articles/scripts from some of our favorite YouTuber’s in the vaporsphere! It’s with great pleasure that we get to bring you an (edited) script from the latest video by Daydream Deluxe called “What Is Vaporbreaks?”. It’s taking a deep dive into the embrace of breakbeats and Y2K nostalgia by the vaporwave scene with a bevy of great recommendations! You can watch the video on YouTube or read the edited script below:

What is Vaporbreaks?

by Daydream Deluxe (edited by VNN)

Picture this: it’s the mid-90s, and you’ve been introduced to the new wave of video games where 3D graphics- the integration of polygons and the six degrees of freedom- bring you, the player, into this fresh, more open world of escapism to indulge in. No longer are the second-dimensional bitmaps of the Super Nintendo or the Sega Genesis involved in the capitalist war of video game consoles, as this new era with the Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn and PlayStation 1 now become the hottest thing on the market. 

With newly-developed engines and chips installed into the hardware of these consoles, composers have now been given more artistic freedom to experiment and generate scores for the next generation of gamers. Thanks to the addition of disc drives on the Sega Saturn and PS1, CD-ROMs became the new vessel for video games, as they no longer required sound-chips and could also hold up to over 700mb of data, which was 175 times bigger compared to a Super Nintendo cartridge. Since CDs were already so popular among the masses, this meant that gamers from around the world would not only be promised the highest sound quality, but would be introduced to new and exciting intricacies that weren’t previously seen or heard before.

As the latest video game consoles are being announced, a recent trend of electronic music has also been making waves, spawning from the United Kingdom and its rave scene. This genre that would later be referred to as Jungle Music would incorporate heavy nuances from the Jamaican dub and reggae movement as well as a variety of sampling and [...] syncopated drum patterns at a tempo between 160 to 185 beats per minute. Such elements [...] would be enough to inspire Japanese composers Soichi Terada, Yuzo Koshiro, and Motohiro Kawashima with very particular projects that would later surface in what was about to happen [in] the new age of gaming. With both video games and this new take on electronic music at the forefront of the mainstream at this time, these two mediums would soon form an alliance and change the world of video game music forever. This would eventually be discovered on the soundtracks [of] the likes of Sonic R, Ape Escape, Ridge Racer, Bomberman 64 and many more among the pantheon of 64-bit games. 

Now you may be wondering, where am I going with this? Well, this is where Vaporwave comes in. Since Vaporwave has been known to include the 16-bit to low polygon graphics of the Sega Genesis and PS1 in the overall visual aesthetic, the sample-heavy nature of its audible counterpart has derived from a plethora of video games from those eras to encapsulate the nostalgic overtones it’s known for. Some of the best examples of VGM being sampled in the genre hails from the likes of Death’s Dynamic Shroud with their 2014 84-track mammoth Derelict Megatower, Blank Banshee’s 2012 debut, and WAV.RACE64 by Trucks Passing Trucks, just to name a few.

Contrary to popular belief, Vaporwave doesn’t exclusively rely on samples, and instead, we’ve seen a rise in producers becoming more dependent on their own intuition. Some are even willing to take pages out of the books of VGM rather than solely chop up various sections of a pre-recorded piece and reformulate it into something new. Especially considering that the sample-heavy temperament of the scene has found itself [...] somewhat scarce in recent years, and more artists [are] pioneering their own ideas through the presets of their DAWs to replicate those classic hypnagogic attributes we all love. Some of which has been proven through labels including My Pet Flamingo, Business Casual, and George Clanton’s 100% Electronica. All of which has helped see a new leaf be turned over in the community and ultimately bring a breath of fresh air to what Vaporwave might have been needing. Especially since the downtempo nature of 65 to 100 beats per minute [makes] the inclusion of a fast-paced Drum N Bass loop somehow align smoothly in the overall production. 

On top of that, the internet has seen a renaissance of these two genres- Vaporwave and Drum N Bass- resurface, [gracing them] with millions of views through a myriad of mixes curated by many content creators across YouTube. Coalescing both VGM and Vaporwave in these hour-long mixes. So today, we’re gonna take a dive and look at some of the artists that have broken the status quo lately and successfully amalgamated the worlds of Vaporwave, VGM, and Drum N Bass. A new microgenre that has been debated to be [...] VaporJungle, Drum N Vape, or what has recently been dubbed by the internet as Vaporbreaks. 

Level Select by Pizza Hotline

Pizza Hotline packed a wallop of a punch in 2022 with what many deem to be one of the best examples that unites Liquid Drum N Bass with Vaporwave. Just from looking at the album cover alone, you can immediately tell how heavy of an influence the Y2K consoles of yesteryear have had on Level Select. But what separates this record from most releases of the decade so far is though while it is still very much a Vaporwave-adjacent record, Level Select puts more emphasis towards its Drum N Bass elements. How it implicates these notions is by making every track feel like its own level and natural environment. Such [tracks] include the opener “Dualshock” which warps the listener into the soundtrack’s own tutorial stage to understand what’s to be expected throughout the journey across Level Select, right before transporting them at breakneck speed into bangers including “Dreamshell”, “Shadow Moses”, and “Emotion Engine”. 

Thanks to its lush selection of synths, pads, and leads it emanates a minimal, yet effective sonic atmosphere. This record gives you that escapist feeling of the Sega Saturn opening up a portal from your TV. Transporting you into a world of polygons with the goal of trying to find your own way out of the console and back into the IRL world. Only for you to hope that said portal re-opens and allows you to retry for a higher score as soon as the last track snaps you back into reality. All of that being said, Level Select is the ideal soundtrack for those who want to make the fantasy of living in a 64-bit world feel all the more realistic- as though you yourself are the protagonist of your own game.

I would also recommend you scope out Pizza Hotline’s latest record Polygon Island which dropped recently on Spotify and BandCamp, and lemme tell you, it goes real fucking hard just like Level Select. You’re welcome to give Polygon Island a listen, but I highly recommend you start with Level Select so you can see later on how much Pizza Hotline upped his production game since.

Strawby Computer Entertainment Europe by Strawberry Station

My boy, and fellow Future Funk producer, Strawberry Station has never been shy of experimentation in the last few years. Having made a name for himself through a myriad of sweet selections such as 128 State, Talk of the Dancefloor and Strawberry Dreams in the future funk scene, Strawb has found himself becoming rather enticed by Drum N Bass as of late. As a result, we have 2024’s Strawby Computer Entertainment Europe, featuring collaborations with Mr. Wax and TikTok DJ mashup extraordinaire: Snowdream. 

If DLCs were a thing back in the 90s, Strawby Computer would be an Ape Escape expansion pack. This album alone could very well pass off as a genuine Video Game OST that its developers believed to have completely vanished and remain lost for decades, only to resurface within the confines of the internet. Despite being what seems to be uncharted territory for Strawberry Station to indulge in, Strawb’s own unique fingerprint from past Future Funk releases still linger fervently throughout the course of the album’s length- including his love for kawaii anime samples and sanguine synths patterns fluctuating throughout his MIDI clips. Strawby Computer makes itself very apparent in providing a multifaceted sonic platter for the OG players of yesteryear and allows you to be the judge of what games work best with this LP. SCEE is a very bias-free record that emphasises itself as a more versatile assemblage of the old school gamer’s favourite soundtracks and suspends the idea of categorising tracks for particular games and its levels to ensure a more nostalgic experience for the listener.

Forgive Yourself by Luxury Noise

Stepping away from the console-centric nature of the aforementioned albums, Luxury Noise’s 2023 release Forgive Yourself produces its own unique spin on what VaporBreaks would potentially sound like if it had completely forgone the video game aesthetic, and fixated on integrating the more hypnagogic rudiments with cinematic and lo-fi undertones. Forgive Yourself is best described as otherworldly; accentuating the personas that [...]  breakbeat, IDM and jungle are known for [in order] to manipulate a more innovative approach by moulding the more fundamental aspects of Vaporwave into the mix. 

Luxury Noise has always been one of the more experimental artists in the Vaporwave community that has never shied away from tapping their more left of field mannerisms into anything that piques their curiosity. Forgive Yourself only heightens that said curiosity of theirs even further, and it shows by how consistent the track listing is throughout its course (and avoids dissociating every umbrella term for what Luxury Noise alters to their liking). Imagine if George Clanton’s ESPRIT.WAV were to take pages out of the books of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada or Squarepusher. Or if the Black Sapphire Club from Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty was met with the likes of Saint Pepsi and Iglooghost all sauteed together—that’s essentially what you get by listening to Forgive Yourself and everything else in Luxury Noise’s catalogue.

Rose Room by Donor Lens

UK duo comprised of producers Kid Neon and Love In Dust, Donor Lens returned this year with a crispy selection of singles meshed into the ever-so-delightfully euphoric [album] Rose Room; showcasing a wave of digital accoutrements including Drum N Bass, early Y2K pop, VGM, glitch, electronica and hip-hop alongside a variety of guest features from Jana Tyrrell, DATAGIRL, and Enzo Van Baelen. What makes this album even juicier is that both halves of Donor Lens have had a long-standing mutual fascination in both Vaporwave and Video Game Music. On top of that, both of their dads have apparently been involved in the video game industry, with Thom’s father being a video game developer in the 90s, and Jay’s dad being an avid retro gaming collector and enthusiast. 

Though Donor Lens have had their fair share of constructing alternative dancefloor anthems, their own spin on the polygon aesthetic of the 90s through Rose Room was made purposely to resonate within the confines of a smaller sound system fit for your family room as opposed to a club’s PA setup. Their little twist with the mixing however inoculates a more bass-heavy nature that many of the 64-bit games didn’t capture. Given that soundtracks like Wipeout X and Ape Escape were driven towards an audience that was obviously too young to go clubbing, Rose Room replicates the idea of having music from the clubs during the mid-90s in the UK be brought to the home console. Allowing the listener to immerse themselves into a space that paints pictures of how it felt to go clubbing without turning off your Sega Dreamcast.

Innersense by 3PeaceSweetz

This leftfield fever dream spawned from the mind of Enzo Van Baelen and the aforementioned Donor Lens is quite possibly the most 90s-sounding breakbeat record you will ever hear in the Vaporwave spectrum. Innersense is what you could describe as The Crystal Method going cold turkey on Ritalin and spending a whole week playing the N64 while having Aphex Twin on spin cycle in the background. Being one of the first fully-fledged releases to be dubbed a Vaporwave/DnB crossover, 3PeaceSweetz presents Innersense as a more sporadic take on what Vaporwave had the potential to be at the time. A project that lifted off in 2020, this collaborative effort was seen by Enzo Van Baelen as what he dubbed “Vapor Rave” to give the genre a chance to inhabit a fast-paced approach to its downtempo counterpart.

The idea that Innersense tries to convey to the listener is understanding versatility without trying to force it; to decorate your canvas naturally without any contrived mannerisms that others would contrarily assume to work. Anything that you initially perceive as something absurd to execute will actually turn out to be your most prodigious brainchild to date. Variability is 3PeaceSweetz’s bread and butter, and keeping an LP’s head afloat is something that can easily go wrong if variability becomes too overbearing. Innersense however defies those odds and presents itself on a silver platter with a certified Michelin star.

Conclusion:

Even though all these albums I’ve mentioned are far from being the earliest archetypes of VaporBreaks, they still demonstrate the potential this cutting-edge addition has to offer within the Vaporwave community. Especially since some of the harbingers of VaporBreaks date back to Saint Pepsi’s Mr. Wonderful 2, and you could argue that some of James Ferraro’s Far Side Virtual could have something to do with the inspiration behind these records as of late. Even the Vaporwave King himself, George Clanton, who has been influenced by 90s acid and rave music, has incorporated slow drum breaks into a fair amount of his songs. Some that have been sampled from old 70s [ed: and 80s and 90s] records, and the rest being made entirely from scratch. All things considered, there’s never been a right or wrong answer as to how Vaporwave is meant to be executed via one’s DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), and the idea of slapping an Amen Break sample over a slow 80s funk track transposed by a few semitones down may not seem as far-fetched as some may have thought.

All in all, what we have seen for this new umbrella term in the scene has been a very refreshing addition so far. Given how much the scene has elevated over the last decade and has [tinkered] with new ideas that would develop into micro-genres such as Vaportrap, Mallsoft, Hardvapour, Future Funk and Late Night Lo-Fi (just to name a few), VaporBreaks already seems to blend in with every other category so fluidly. The question is, what could possibly happen next for this new off-the-cuff extension and what current artists could we see become newfound participants? We can’t say for sure, but regardless of what happens next, it’s gonna be really exciting to see how everything turns out, and it might even inspire you to do something like this.

What do you guys think? Is VaporBreaks something that Vaporwave needed? What other artists, albums in or outside of Vaporwave would you say are associated with the aforementioned sounds?