PREMIERE: Auragraph Makes Accidental Mallwave with “Polywave”

The future-shocked sounds recall an era of casual consumption and minimal responsibilities. 
PREMIERE: Auragraph Makes Accidental Mallwave with “Polywave”

The future-shocked sounds recall an era of casual consumption and minimal responsibilities. 

Words: Scott T. Sterling

Photo by Leah Carr

February 04, 2019

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Mallwave.” It’s a world of new music nostalgic for an era where hopped-up teens cruised malls, wasted time in food courts, stalked one another and perused magazine displays at electric-lit book stores—even if listeners never experienced those things first hand.

The warm, pulsating waves of “Polywave” invoke those images immediately. The sleek, linear melodies dovetail perfectly with images of long-dead malls and their endless corridors of empty storefronts. The thought of those same hallways packed with people, idly biding their time, flicker between the precise drum machine rhythms. Listen to it below.

Auragraph is the work of Los Angeles artist Hector Carlos Ramirez, who cites the likes of Boards of Canada and Com Truise among the influences on his sound, which he terms as “retrowave.” He’s already delved into the world of soundtracks, with his music used in the National Geographic series, Valley of the Boom.