The new Washed Out sounds really good, is a total grower, and may induce boners. Also: There’s nothing wrong with chillwave! Anybody out there really into it or even, really not into it? Curious.
Despite being the butt of jokes because of its goofy but actually spot-on name, chillwave as an idea and a sound is here to stay. Synthesizers are in; guitar-based rock has taken a backseat to diffuse, rhythmic dance music; and the sound’s key influences (broken, blissed-out electronica, hip-hop) have leached into most interesting music happening right now.
So, where does a significant subgenre defined by the less-than-lofty goal of manufacturing good vibes go next? The artists either do the same thing with the same synth presets to diminishing returns (Memory Tapes, Small Black, Teen Daze) or they pull a Toro Y Moi on Underneath the Pine and morph into something different altogether. The former creates music that can seem a little too comfortable, and the latter, while admirable, could come over as a bit alarmist– a calculated response to the critics…
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I feel one of the first comments I made on this blog was about Chillwave. I’ve pretty much been pro Chillwave, since there was a time when it could have been called “Glo-Fi” (I always like that term more). Of the big three I went Washed Out, Neon Indian, and Toro y Moi; Washed Out’s album pretty great, Neon Indian still waiting (but the first was good), and Toro y Moi (first was interesting and the second lost me). I know there are other Chillwave artists, but I cannot think of stuff beyond random MP3s (some good other eh).
That is still talked about even just two years later is kind of great. I may have missed reading this, but Clams Casino always sounded like Chillwave to me except removing the human narrator. But, then again sometimes that lack of human connection held back some of the music (not Clams though), because just some distant vocals and 80s samples were all some people did, and at this point are already forgotten.
dalatu
12 Jul 11 at 1:50 am
I am a big fan of ambient-like music, from its “roots”: Tangerine Dream, Eno, Harold Budd, Vangelis, into more recent artists, The Orb, KLF’s Chillout, Boards of Canada, Air, Biosphere, Aphex Twin.
Washed Out are a compelling sound. So, we have this term chillwave. I am still trying to triangulate on its definition.
Would Ulrich Schnauss be considered Chillwave? Why or why not?
Gordon
4 Nov 11 at 10:48 am