Continuing in Ramona Andra Xavier’s New Dreams Ltd. project, 札幌コンテンポラリー (“Contemporary Sapporo”) was released on April 20th in 2012 shortly after the release of Floral Shoppe. As expected, this album was released under a different name; in this case, the album is credited to 情報デスクVIRTUAL.

札幌コンテンポラリー is described by Xavier as “a brief glimpse into the new possibilities of international communication…[and] a parody of American hypercontextualization of e-Asia circa 1995.” (Tiny Mix Tapes). This theme of international communication is primarily conveyed through the titles of the songs. “SHOP@HOME NETW☯RK LLC”, “街へSAPPORO✔✔✔ SPRING EQUINOX”, and “風船ガムBUBBLEGUM” combine multiple forms of communication: Japanese, English, internet shorthand, and assorted symbols are used to aesthetically enhance the titles and thematically convey a single idea across a wider audience. The track “風船ガムBUBBLEGUM” literally translates to “Bubblegum BUBBLEGUM”, for example.

札幌コンテンポラリー is filled to the brim with early new age, lounge, and shopping mall music. It’s hard to tell what’s sample-based and what’s original material because of how stylistically similar the tracks are to each other. Whether the sounds are new or old, the accessibility of this album is based around the listener’s familiarity with common sonic experiences such as shopping malls, loading screens, montage videos, and hold music. Even if you’re listening to this music for the first time, chances are you’ve heard it before. Thematically, this chapter of the New Dreams Ltd. saga is arguably the most cohesive. Where Floral Shoppe’s tracks are similar in compositional approach and diverse in content, 札幌コンテンポラリー is consistent on all fronts.

One term that is used frequently in the vaporwave community is the “virtual plaza”, a bridge between the digital world and the real world that doubles as a capitalist icon. This term comes into play often throughout this album. Tracks such as “札幌地下鉄・・・「ENTERING FLIGHT MUSEUM」” waver between real and synthetic instruments through the use of overtly-synthesized horn stabs and a live saxophone solo.

Parts of this album are incredibly hypnotic and ambient as well. “7 WONDERS OF THE iNTERNET FT WIND☯WS 97「GEOMETRIC HEADDRESS」” leaves the listener with a sense of uncertainty and wonder by combining dark ambient drones with inviting and enchanting bells. “XX ”RUBY DUSK ON A 2ND LIFE NUDE BEACH” ☯ . . . の生活・・・「ロベルタ」” has a similar approach. For a majority of the track, time moves freely. Parts of a distant and spacey saxophone solo are looped, doubled, and reversed while a dreamy lounge texture drones on.

I think it’s really interesting that Vektroid chooses to release different projects under different names. While all of the projects under New Dreams Ltd. have their similarities, each “artist” under the umbrella term has a distinctly unique sound. Of course, since all of the music is produced by one person, one can hear stylistic similarities and approaches between projects. Creating different names for one’s self provides a sort of artistic security. Since each artist’s work is separated from each artist’s self, each pseudonym and album can be judged separately from the individual. This separation-from-self approach has been used by many artists. For example, Jan Jelinek uses his own name for his glitch music and minimalist releases: Farben for more danceable material, Gramm for a happy medium between the two. It’s one thing for an artist to have individual projects aside from a band the artist is a part of (e.g., Damon Albarn & Gorillaz, Thom Yorke & Radiohead) but the fact that Ramona Andra Xavier chooses to have so many identities apart from herself is truly fascinating.

I really enjoyed listening to this album and highly recommend it to anybody who’s new to vaporwave.

Favorite Track: TUSCANY背筋に対して「NEO SPA」