It can be easy to take vaporwave for granted. Unlike other contemporary music scenes that tend to recycle the same familiar subgenres every 20 years or so, vaporwave by its very nature is the result of its creators’ deep crate-digging and internet-wormhole-welcoming tendencies, a plunderphonic soup of generic thrift store finds amalgamated into something that’s a little more accessible to listeners of outré electronic music. It’s one thing to reinterpret a Velvet Underground riff for a dancier rhythm section, but it’s another thing completely to immerse yourself in commercial artifacts from the era of your youth and patch together a visceral narrative with whatever scraps you’re able to bring back with you.
While Louisville-based producer Alex Koenig has evolved into more of a sound-collagist since dropping Pharma, his last proper album as Nmesh back in 2017, the newly released Molokai Compendium clearly maintains this archeological mindset at its core. The project’s tropical theme wasn’t inspired by actual surfing, but rather by channel surfing in the midst of COVID-induced quarantine and landing upon the ’80s B-movie Hard Ticket to Hawaii. In stark contrast to vaporwave’s smooth sheen, Molokai uses the genre’s conventional manipulation to present 21 tracks that are intentionally choppy, as if to reinforce the idea that the listener is browsing premium cable channels in a seedy hotel at the dawn of subscription television channels.
To further illustrate his vision, Koenig compiled an even longer set of tracks for us that serves as a companion piece to the record—a playlist of new age, ’90s and aughts downtempo, and other proto-vaporwave sounds which together serve as “a tour of the more equatorial areas of [his] formative years.” Check out the record here, and take in the multi-sensory overload below.
Kevin Klingler, “Song Hard Ticket to Hawaii”
The intro to one of the greatest “bad movies” ever: Andy Sidaris’s 1987 cult classic Hard Ticket to Hawaii, which, after my initial viewing in a rather shitty Brooklyn Airbnb post–Aphex Twin show, ultimately shaped the theme of the new album. There’s some hard lessons in this jam, as well, if you’re ever planning on visiting the Aloha State: “It’s not paradise all the time... Although it’s like a dream, it’s not what it seems.” Take heed.
Luke Vibert & BJ Cole, “Fly Hawaii”
I used to constantly see this album while perusing CDs at my local record shop. Not sure if it was the incredibly blasé album cover (it was, who am I kidding), but I always flipped past it, despite already being a big fan of his work at that point. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered what a fun listen this one is. Cole’s pedal steel guitar and Vibert’s playful signature sound are a great combination. I’m still flabbergasted that I got to meet the man himself last year after being whisked backstage by the event planner at his show here in Louisville’s Art Sanctuary venue alongside the legendary Kenny Larkin. He was in the process of rolling a J when we barged in, and seemed completely unbothered. Mad respect.
Nmesh, “Lines Are Open”
Sampled from a 1980 KIKI FM Hawaiian radio broadcast, the DJ being interviewed wisely states, “If you can talk to one person, then you can talk to 64,000 listeners. Everyday the radio is different, it changes so often. Your mood depends upon what you project on the air. How you perceive a phone call and take a request changes your whole spirit. You make what you want to out of radio.” This interlude also serves as a PSA advising you not to drink heptachlor-contaminated milk.
architecture in tokyo, “OCEAN BREEZE”
A breezy early vaporwave classic from 2013 by my friend and peer, architecture in tokyo. Sadly, they stopped releasing music a couple years later, and then disappeared from the scene altogether. Would love to know what they’re up to nowadays. This track takes me back to simpler times in “the scene.”
Manual, “Biarritz”
Just an absolute monolith of a song—starts off ambiently crawling through the sand before the three-minute mark hits you with an, “Oh fuck, what is this?” moment, and ultimately resulting in one of the most drool-worthy BOC-centric climaxes of any track I’ve heard that starts out so unexpecting. I’m pretty sure I first heard this when I was scoping out Echoes’ transition from the radio waves to a subscription-based internet streaming program. Nevertheless, I caught clips from Drowned in Light on the website and immediately purchased. “Morning Glass 1982” is the other stunner on this record.
High Tides, “Summer Reflections”
My pals in High Tides have released some insanely chill stuff throughout the last decade, and this is one is no exception. Plus, it samples that iconic surfer bro who went viral for his news interview 23 years ago. I was first introduced to the High Tides duo in person when they opened for TOBACCO at Zanzabar back in 2016, in attendance with Luxury Elite. Kept in contact with them, hung out with Warren in Portland, and later went on to remix their song “Lines on the Horizon” for their 2019 remix EP on Rad Cult. I have in my possession an incredibly dank rendition of “Sunnex T3 Process Line” off the new album, which they started and finished all the while chipping away at a 1.75 liter bottle of Malibu rum over the course of the year they intermittently worked on it.
The Ballistic Brothers, “A Beautiful Space”
I was first introduced to this track via a shitty 128 kbps rip of Café del Mar mainstay José Padilla’s 1995 BBC Essential Mix (to be fair, these were recorded off the radio onto cassette, and there’s a definite charm about the sound quality). I’ll never listen to this track without hearing Pete Tong’s “You’re listening to the Saturday Night Essential Mix” voiceover in my head at the 6:19 mark. Whoever uploaded all those mid-’90s Essential Mixes, you were doing God’s work, and informed my further opinion of dance music well into the early aughts. This track is an absolute Balearic beauty, as the title suggests—although it could just as easily soundtrack a blistering cold walk down a bustling downtown Chicago sidewalk as it does a stroll on the beaches of Ibiza. José unfortunately left us back in 2020, but left us with some amazing mixes. The Ballistic Brothers had a relatively short-run output of jazz-influenced downbeat stuff until they hung it up in the late ’90s.
SOFTWARE, “Island Sunrise”
Many cite this as one of the prime examples of proto-vaporwave, and they’d be right. I first heard this 1988 new-age gem from German ambient/synth duo SOFTWARE on PBS’s Far Side Virtual, an experimental-electronic program out of Melbourne that lasted from 2013 to 2015, named of course after the infamous James Ferraro album. They enthusiastically kept Nu.wav Hallucinations on rotation for months, so I was tuned in. What can I say about this song? It’s perfect. It’s everything vaporwave aesthetically strived to be in the 2010s, but made almost 40 years prior. Genius move on the part of 100% Electronica back in 2017 to release their entire digital discography, which I nabbed immediately.
Nmesh, “Cocktails on the Beach”
A proper follow-up to Pharma’s “Cocktails in Space” off the new album. Relaxing at the beach with a drink in hand? This is your melody. The bulk of the track unabashedly samples Stelvio Capriani’s “Mary’s Theme,” and the dialogue in the middle is courtesy of Doris Day and Richard Harris from the 1967 comedy-thriller Caprice. The original Gidget played by Sandra Dee appears in the beginning and end. “Hey, can we do it again?”
Mr. Bungle, “The Air-Conditioned Nightmare”
Where’s my rainbow? Where’s my halo? “The Air-Conditioned Nightmare” is my (other) favorite track off Mr. Bungle’s near-perfect 1999 record California. It’s like if The Beach Boys dropped even more acid topped with PCP and then tried their hand at metal. Mike Patton, love him or hate him, is a master of his craft and really flexes his vocal and musical range on this album.
The Art of Noise, “Robinson Crusoe”
AON’s 1989 cinematic cover of Franco London Orchestra’s “Main Theme From Robinson Crusoe” off their album Below the Waste unfolds like a symphonic hallucination. An elegant soundtrack to aimlessly wandering the beach, knowing you’re stranded and being perfectly OK with it.
James Darren, “Gidget Goes Hawaiian”
Gidget, on vacation in Hawaii, finds a gang of lads vying for her attention, starting a chain of romantic complications when her boyfriend arrives. Hilarity ensues. Although I sampled Gidget on “Cocktails on the Beach,” the original movie took place in California, not Hawaii. There’s a chance I missed out on some even more relevant samples. A beach is a beach, yeah?
Dragon Sound, “Friends”
“Friends through eternity, loyalty, honesty. We’ll stay together through thick or thin. Friends forever, we’ll be together. We’re on top ’cause we play to win.” Just a lovely message conveyed by a night club band wearing gis and shoving their bare feet in the mouths of their bandmates.
Torn Hawk, “I Am Returning”
Torn Hawk graciously lent his guitar work for the big closing track on The Molokai Compendium. Although not my first introduction, I’ll never forget the one time I was listening to his monthly show on NTS while tidying up my then-toddler’s room back in May of 2018, when Luke was playing Gloria Estefan’s “Can’t Stay Away From You” on loop for damn near 20 minutes, all the while laying down an epic, sweeping guitar solo overtop. It was the greatest thing I’d heard from him at that point, and secured me as a dedicated listener from there on out. It was also what led me to approach him about collaborating on a song. Sidenote: Years prior to that, someone left a YouTube comment on one of my Nu.wav Hallucinations music videos stating, “You ain’t torn hawk, you ain’t shit.” Love it. It’s kind of hilarious to me that he’s featured on the latest release (said with a smirk). Force of Will is a classic album, and this track is a banger.
18 Carat Affair, “Paul’s Corvette Complex”
My pal Denys Parker is one of the best to ever do it. The entire 18 Carat Affair catalog is a gold mine of tiny hypnagogic vignettes that warrant many repeat listens. I feel like “Paul’s Corvette Complex” is almost akin to some of Ferraro’s early CDr output.
Gary Stockdale, “Life’s A Bitch”
And then you die.
Chapterhouse, “Gamma Phase” (Retranslated by Global Communication)
IDM aficionados Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard, a.k.a. Global Communication, reimagine Chapterhouse’s shoegazey “There’s Still Life” and “Deli” into a shimmering, slow-burning ambient masterpiece. The original is literally unrecognizable in this version. It’s essential to the playlist, as I’ll never not associate this track with the memory of me floating in the Gulf of Mexico (yeah, I said it) with this song stuck in my head. I’d been rinsing the Pentamerous Metamorphosis at the time after recently downloading it off Audiogalaxy, if I’m not mistaken.
The Future Sound of London “Amoeba”
One of the greatest tracks off one of the greatest albums by one of the greatest electronic acts ever to ever exist. No joke, ISDN is my desert island album—the ’95 reissue, that is (often referred to as the “White Edition”). Perhaps my most played CD ever, and the biggest influence on my music, if you could pin down one album to be responsible for such a thing. “Amoeba” just seems to effortlessly coast until it occasionally submerges you underwater when the beat pitches down and things start getting a little murky. Just a mesmerizing listen all the way through.
VHS Head, “Farewell Africa”
An unexpected downtempo intermission on 2014’s Persistence of Vision. For an album packed with regurgitated VHS samples and monstrous chopped up bangers, “Farewell Africa” strikes a rather somber tone. I love the guitar lick in this one.
Euphoria, “Sleep”
A devilish little tune informing you to get some rest—preferably six to eight hours, if your schedule allows it. Euphoria put out several records in the late ’90s into the early aughts full of uplifting downtempo grooves, not all of which land for me. “Sleep,” however, was a standout on their eponymous 1999 record, and I still love it to this day.
Loop Guru, “Sussan (Sensual A-Version)”
My favorite remix of Loop Guru’s “Sussan” from ’94, plucked off a compilation of rare tracks they put out in 2001. This version packs everything I love about the group into one song: the mélange of Asian and Western music, exotic vocal loops, and a punchier breakbeat than the original. This is kind of what I wish all those Buddha Bar compilations actually sounded like. R.I.P. Jamuud.
Journeyman, “50cc”
Taken from Coldcut’s Tone Tales From Tomorrow Too DJ mix, this edit shaves off four minutes from the severely down-pitched original version from ’97, and highlights the best section of the track, in my opinion. I always thought it sounded way better at this speed. The shimmery switch-up after the one-minute mark is elegant perfection.
The Future Sound of London, “Shifting Sands”
A gorgeous track off FSoL’s seventh volume of archived material. The moment the acoustic guitar starts at 2:53 is where the hairs on my arm stand straight up. Beautiful stuff.
David McCallum, “House of Mirrors”
First heard this off of DJ Food & DK’s impressive 2001 Ninja Tune DJ mix Now, Listen! on a listening station (remember those?) at my local record shop. This song from 1967 could easily fit right in on the soundtrack to a Tarantino movie. Apparently David McCallum played a Russian agent on American spy fiction series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. from 1964 to 1968 (I was previously unaware of this).
Markey Funk, “Dream of Africa”
Some excellent downtempo stuff from Markey Funk. I can’t remember where I first heard this track, but it falls right in line with the style of Journeyman’s “50cc.” Recommended listening for your next sunset soiree.
Steve Stevens, “Feminova”
Back in 1999, Steve Stevens put out his second solo album, Flamenco.A.Go.Go, which was on heavy rotation for a few months on Echoes. I was really vibing with this song, enough to warrant riding my bike several miles up the road to purchase the CD. The entire album is not what you might expect from Billy Idol’s guitarist of over 40 years. It falls more under the new age/world music umbrella than anything that resembles the punk/rock music he’s associated with. “Feminova” is the definite standout, with its more electronic elements and media samples.
The Future Sound of London, “Yage”
My pal and old bandmate Chris a.k.a. Mongo had just installed a new sound system in his car. He was testing it out and/or showing it off in the driveway. We were packed into the car, and I was sitting in the backseat rather stoned. I remember Chris was taking suggestions on what to play. I’d been rinsing FSoL’s Dead Cities after picking up the CD in a Portland, Maine record store, and I didn’t hesitate to have him put this track on. Within seconds of the opening, reality gave way, and I felt like I was being launched through a portal, weightless and spinning. My soul was being sucked out of my body and swallowed by the vortex. For sure one of the most visceral reactions I’ve ever had to a song.
Torn Hawk, “Thud”
My favorite track off Torn Hawk’s collection of white labels and outtakes from the early 2010s.
Dragon Sound, “Against the Ninja"
“There’s fire in their eyes / No mercy in their hearts / They tell their dirty lies to finish what they start / Evil is their drive / Hell possesses souls / Won’t get them alive / The feeling’s twisted cold / We will stop the senseless killing, we will end this evil war / We will stop the senseless killing, and we’ll even up the score.” For a movie whose ultimate message was “Only through the elimination of violence can we achieve world peace,” there sure was a substantial amount of murder at the hands of the “good guys” in Miami Connection.
Gary Stockdale & Kevin Klingler, “Song Hard Ticket”
After an immersive, sun-kissed two hours, we’ve come to the end of our journey. Thanks for joining me on a tour of the more equatorial areas of my formative years. It wasn’t until typing all this up and researching some of the tracks that I realized the bulk of this playlist is heavily fixated on what I was listening to in the late ’90s/early 2000s. Nostalgia always has its hooks in me, what can I say. Hope everyone’s having a great summer, and thanks for listening.
