Artist Spotlight: Chinese Hackers

Hey Everyone,

I figured I'd try something here and spotlight a vaporwave artist (and their current discography) for everyone's listening pleasure. If you like what I did in this post please let me know and I'll do another next week. You can even drop me an artist to look into if you'd like

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Artist Spotlight: Chinese Hackers

Chinese Hacker is a post-vaporwave side project of the artists behind The New Pollution. Chinese hackers hit the vaporwave scene in September of 2015, self described as the fusion genre of vaporwave and industrial music called vaporgoth.

░▒▓死▓▒░

View: https://chinesehackers.bandcamp.com/album/-

Chinese Hacker's breakout 7 track album released in September of 2015, it is the first dive into the dark and gritty genre of vaporgoth released by the artist. Consisting of mostly 1 to 2 minute tracks, the dark ambiance of the album is a departure from the typical retro utopian and bellowing nostalgic sound characterized by the vaporwave genre. All the same though, it brings about an eerie critique of the world it is brought about in, creating distorted dystopian soundscapes the look forward towards the potential horrors of the future while drowning us in the characteristic vaporwave sounds of the past.

( wiretap )

View: https://bedlamtapes.bandcamp.com/album/--2

Another 2015 release under the Bedlam Tapes label, ( wiretap ) is a further exploration into the vaporgoth genre. Another album consisting of mostly 1 to 2 minute tracks, ( wiretap ) take a more melodic turn in place of the heavy ambient tracks featured in the last album. The album consists of a haunting refrain of reverb heavy tracks with deep basslines, melting drums, and chilling ambient loops the create amazingly dystopian soundscapes. A particularly good track off the album is 雾 ( ft. チェスマスター ), a dark track with a repeating loop of a Japanese phrase that transposes down towards its end.

クローザー

View: https://chinesehackers.bandcamp.com/album/--3

Released in early January 2016, クローザー is a self proclaimed departure from vaporgoth into a dark, rythmic, non-industrial theme comprising of (yet again) 1 to 2 minute tracks. Closer to the dark ambience served by the first album, the tracks off クローザー are awash with waves of ambient loops drenched in reverb. Closer to vaporwave's cousing genre of oceangrunge than vaporwave itself. In some tracks this experimental album creates wet, aquatic soundscapes that mirror the sound of waves crashing on shore heard from under the water. In other tracks it serves a desolate, yet funky, melody that can remind one of a dying coastal town or a beach town in the off season.

R̀ìt̀ùàl̀

View: https://chinesehackers.bandcamp.com/album/r-i-t-u-a-l

R̀ìt̀ùàl̀, released in March of 2016, is another dark and gritty ambient album by Chinese Hackers. While the album has a similar sound and style to earlier albums, I personally would not regard it as being part of the "vaporgoth" sound, and thus I won't spend too much time on it. The usage of cleared loops and heavy effects to create soundscapes is closer to noise music in practice than vaporwave, and the lack of samples entirely further divests this album from the various vaporwave subgenres out there.

Selfless

View: https://midnightmoontapes.bandcamp.com/album/selfless

In May of 2016 Chinese Hackers release Selfless under the Midnight Moon Tapes label comprising of another selection of mostly 1 to 2 minute tracks. While borrowing some themes from earlier ambient albums, this album takes distinct turn towards broken signal, utilizing effects and noise to create soundscapes that could be invisioned coming from a TV or a radio. Very much sounding like the soundtrack to a movie like The Ring, this album is a collection of eerie, experimental, and droning tracks that sound like the backdrop to a panic attack in a forgotten and abandoned building. The rythmic industrial percussion and creaky bass tones signature to this album, a more new additiona to the sound of Chinese Hackers at this point, give a distinct yet murkey view of the dystopian themes portrayed by the album.

Visions
Visions was released in June of 2016 on the Antifur label. Borrowing themes from both Selfless and クローザー, Visions is an album that moves from dark and industrial to smooth and funky, with an every present bass lucking away at your sonic journey through the album. Comprising mostly of track between 3 and 4 minutes long, Visions is a voyage through something that nearly sounds like post-vaporwave lounge music; the sonic version of being in the lobby of dystopian company or riding the grungy elevator of a looming corportate tower. The song Amnesia serves the feeling of anxiously waiting in the flickering lobby of a dark and ominous company, awaiting your fate. The song Pump HOuse diverges from the typical expectations of vaporwave into a house inspired post-vaporwave track, much like dark rave music of the 90s and 00's (think Blade). This album hands down has some of my more favorite tracks by Chinese Hackers, like Scan: a track that sounds as though you are running through the alleyways of a city avoiding corporate security and state police. The album closes out with the titular track Visions, providing a grungy and dark industrial post-vapor outro serving entrancing, dystopian soundscapes to send you off into the world.

B Sides
B-Sides is a compilations album released in September of 2016 comprised of, unsuprisingly, B-Side tracks from previous albums released by Chinese Hackers. The album serves as another dive into post-vaporwave experimentation. This 8 track album consists of songs ranging from expression on Classic Vapor (see Conformity) to dark ambient (see Oblivion). While the usage of the term "B-side" has little meaning in the world of digital media, these tracks show an interesting look on what could have been on previous albums while providing an interesting range of listening in their own right.

Ascii Violence
Released in July of 2017, Ascii Violence is a much harder post-vaporwave album. Sharing much more sonically with Witch House acts such as CRIM3S and Salem, this album is the first Chinese Hackers album to feature vocals that appear to not be samples (or at least to what I percieve). This dark and grungy album is less in line with vaporwave and closer to industrial grunge or oceangrunge. It very much feels like listening to vaporwave if it were influenced by punk rock rather than R&B and Pop. It is not without its ambient tracks, with the track Church being over 7 minutes of uninterrupted noise. The album takes a hard turn towards noise and drone after Church, begging the question of whether or not droning soundscapes are post-vaporwave or if vaporwave itself is just a form of drone music. In the end, this album presents itself closer to hardvapor due to the rave inspired 4-to-the-floor drums found throughout the drones and hoover basses.

( c h e m t r a i l s )
( c h e m t r a i l s ), released in Decemeber of 2017, is Chinese Hacker's spiritual successor to their album ( wiretap ).It is the first album in their repertoire to feature the tag dreampunk. It is an apt classification, with the album opening with a 4 minute long airy track that sounds like you are stuck in a dreamscape. The album, in fact, sounds less like all of their previous works and sounds more like an album by t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 at parts. The fourth track in the album feels like a return to the Chinese Hackers that can be found in Visions or AScii Violence. From there onward we (the listeners) get more of a taste of the classic Chinese Hackers mixed with the new dreampunk themes with detractions to the distorted dystopian sounds from their very first album.

Year 2000 - EP
Year 2000 - EP, released in mid January of 2020, is sonically much more similar to Visions than any release since the 2016 album. The album consists of mostly 2 to 3 minute long tracks, all exploring vaguely similar themes within post-vaporwave. In a return to the dark, industrial, and oceangrunge sounds, Year 2000 explores new ground through the use of new themes within its loops, including samples from the infamous Heaven's Gate VHS tapes (featured in the track Recycled).As the album progresses it takes a turn towards hip-hop stylization, paticularly sounding like lofi hip-hop at times. The titular track Year 2000 is a funky track featuring a chopped drum break along with soothing pads, making it sonically feel like vaporwave breakcore mixed with a bit of lofi hip-hop. The album closes out with a remastered version of Awake off the Ascii Violence album, serving us one last hit of dark trance-like vibes.

(w i r e t a p) Redux
Released in Feburary of 2020, (w i r e t a p) Redux is a remastered and revisited release of the original (w i r e t a p) album. Some songs have been slightly extended, but largely this release seems to be a remaster and revisit to the album 5 years after the release. While I did not listen to the tracks side by side from the two releases, it sure does serve the classic Chinese Hackers sound that one would expect.

Chinese Hackers: What's Next?

Several days ago Chinese Hackers dropped a tweet from their twitter handle for The New Pollution. Their next album, Algorithm's End, is expected to drop on July 10th of 2020.

You can listen to a preview track here:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/chinese-hackers/isolation-blues?ref=clipboard[/soundcloud]

There are also several albums by Chinese hackers I did not cover here which are mostly remixes of the artists main music from The New Pollution or a defunct side project called Kurt Propane.
 

Attachments

  • 0009256472_23.jpg
    0009256472_23.jpg
    13.7 KB · Views: 403

IlluminatiPirate

The Dreaded Pirate of Agora Road
Joined
May 29, 2018
Messages
1,562
Reaction score
5,056
Awards
275
Wow, this an amazing and very detailed write up about Chinese hackers. I'm not really into their vaporgoth stuff but their newer post-vaporwave albums like Year 2000 and Visions are bangers! And I love the ambience of クローザー
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

netdenizenlain

Traveler
Joined
Jul 3, 2020
Messages
101
Reaction score
95
Awards
13
Website
netdenizenlain.neocities.org
Wow, this an amazing and very detailed write up about Chinese hackers.

Thanks!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

ALERT! ALERT! ALGORITHM'S END IS NOW ONLINE!


Algorithm's End

View: https://chinesehackers.bandcamp.com/album/algorithm-s-end

The newest installment in Chinese Hacker's discography (released in July of 2020) consisting of 17 tracks, all shorter than 4 minutes. Algorithm's End is a vaporwave (or post-vaporwave) conceptual album dealing with in technological themes, particularly the dark effect they have had on the modern world. The album opens with the chilling track Glistening, a track awash with a classic rock sample drenched in reverb and distortion. The album quickly moves into its dark concepts, throwing dark ambiance and dystopian distortions with the next few tracks. Tracks like Kill City serves the listener a dark, industrial soundscapes of a thumping thumping drums with deep reverb that entrance the listener in the darkness perceived by the artist. The album serves us tracks like Isolation Blues, with gives us a view into interpretations of vaporwave if it were based off jazz instead of pop and R&B while still giving the listener the classic vaporwave feel. Overall the album is haunting and chilling, and very much feels like a culmination of all of their previous works and experimentation wrapped into one album. While some tracks feel a bit weaker when compared to the other on the album, they are still good in their own right.
 
Virtual Cafe Awards