This board is for the discussion of a subgenre that takes classic vaporwave's interest in consumeristic detachment and uses it as the thematic basis for spacious ambient music—in the imagined space of the suburban shopping mall.
What is Mallsoft?
As with all art, it's meant to be interpreted by you.
Mallsoft is distinct from its cousin Vaporwave by using ethereal, vague music that is very easily looped as 'background' music. The genius of mallsoft is that it's not meant to be paid attention to, it's not distinct. It's meant to be left on repeat while the 'listener' does other things. The repetition of the music eventually forces its way into the listener's mind subconsciously, to be recalled at later date as a memory of something that may or may not have happened. Mallsoft is the ultimate commentary on our ADD, twitter-obsessed generation that can't focus on one task at a time, much less an entire album."
As distinct as mallsoft is argued by listeners, the concept of ambient commentary about consumer culture is not new and mallsoft fits easily within the spectrum of vaporwave.
One of may favorite Mallsoft albums
View: http://noproblematapes.bandcamp.com/album/palm-mall
The economy we knew as children in the late 1980s to early 2000s is rotting away, and empty shopping malls are the physical embodiment of that economy. As the middle class shrinks and people have less expendable income, and as internet technology advances, shopping centers have fractured and shuttered to cheaper online sites and a few remaining low-price-leader stores.
Thinking back to the late 1980s and its hyper-consumerist art/music seems like a nostalgic figment of the past, something that is lost and won't be found again, echoing through a distant part of our minds, washed out with reverb and dirty cassette tape noise. That's what mallsoft is to me.
I described it a different way as well.
Hope you enjoyed the Macintosh Cafe
What is Mallsoft?
As with all art, it's meant to be interpreted by you.
Mallsoft is distinct from its cousin Vaporwave by using ethereal, vague music that is very easily looped as 'background' music. The genius of mallsoft is that it's not meant to be paid attention to, it's not distinct. It's meant to be left on repeat while the 'listener' does other things. The repetition of the music eventually forces its way into the listener's mind subconsciously, to be recalled at later date as a memory of something that may or may not have happened. Mallsoft is the ultimate commentary on our ADD, twitter-obsessed generation that can't focus on one task at a time, much less an entire album."
As distinct as mallsoft is argued by listeners, the concept of ambient commentary about consumer culture is not new and mallsoft fits easily within the spectrum of vaporwave.
One of may favorite Mallsoft albums
View: http://noproblematapes.bandcamp.com/album/palm-mall
The economy we knew as children in the late 1980s to early 2000s is rotting away, and empty shopping malls are the physical embodiment of that economy. As the middle class shrinks and people have less expendable income, and as internet technology advances, shopping centers have fractured and shuttered to cheaper online sites and a few remaining low-price-leader stores.
Thinking back to the late 1980s and its hyper-consumerist art/music seems like a nostalgic figment of the past, something that is lost and won't be found again, echoing through a distant part of our minds, washed out with reverb and dirty cassette tape noise. That's what mallsoft is to me.
I described it a different way as well.
Hope you enjoyed the Macintosh Cafe