Amidst their various more hyperpop-informed, deconstructed albums, here’s an album from death’s dynamic shroud.wmv that goes back to a more classic, eccojams-y vaporwave direction with post-processed, repitched cheesy 80s songs—more reminiscent of the style from which the project, or Giant Claw, was born. What’s interesting about the album, especially for listeners socialized in Germany, is the use of German Schlager as source material (such as Juliane Werding, Udo Jürgens, Ireen Sheer or Münchener Freiheit). There is something unfamiliar about hearing this music as sampling material. Strangely enough, I rarely hear the omnipresent Schlager music being sampled in German music. (If anywhere, then most likely in German rap for comedic value.)
While away from the genre-defining releases, vaporwave to me is one big replicating meme, with thousands of releases constantly reproducing the same idea without adding much innovation or deviancy, occasionally producing a good release that creates an engaging mood, but too often remaining irrelevant and unlistenable, I’ve always read the origins of the genre as a certain engagement with the pop cultural heritage that comes with childhood and adolescence; in other words, the music you used to listen to on the radio. I found that idea actually fascinating. However, this heritage was primarily from the English-speaking world and I thought it might be exciting to apply this vaporwave-method to other contexts and wondered why there was no Yugo-pop vaporwave or anything similar. And even for the invention of German Schlager vaporwave apparently it needs an American actor such as death’s dynamic shroud.wmv.