Stream: Magic Fades + Soul Ipsum “Zirconia Reign” (exclusive)

08 Apr 2014 — Henning Lahmann

Writing about Karmelloz the other day, we suggested that the producer's work was so much rooted in the present that its overbearing nowness might in fact prevent it from being listened to next year, or perhaps even in a few months already. This certainly holds true for a lot of the electronic stuff that's dripping out of the late Tumblr-infected realms of the WWW, those shady regions that cannot help but self-identify as post-internet just to signify a self-aware shtick that's often a mere borderline pathologic cynicism. Vancouver label 1080p's approach to these scenes adds a welcome layer of subtle irony by putting those ephemeral sounds onto the nostalgic if conserving and thus ultimately timeless medium of magnetic tape, perpetuating the fleeting ideas of all those Adderall-induced scenesters.

The reason the whole seemingly illogical effort is worth it lies in label head Richard MacFarlane's astute curation, as exemplified by 1080p's latest and probably most outstanding release to date, a collaboration of the Portland-based producers Magic Fades and Soul Ipsum. Their 60-minute effort Zirconia Reign is truly superb: following the path of James Ferraro's Far Side Virtual and embracing all flavours of vaporwave that had started blooming in its wake, the full-length is much more varied, matured and considered than most of the ill-advised material pushed onto the surface these days. As a result, Zirconia Reign is a real pleasure to listen to, an album you want to come back to so you can discover more of its hidden details and surprising twists. Infused by New Age tropes, it makes a sincere attempt to reassess vaporwave's origins in hypnagogic pop, allowing itself to be more than simply a random accumulation of layers over layers of glacial sounds (though everything is very icy here). If there's only one album connected to the current wave of cyber chic that eventually derserves to stand the test of time, why not let it be this one.

Zirconia Reign is out today on 1080p. Get it over here and stream the whole piece exclusively below.