Ben Heels
Everything I do, all in one place.
Music
-
Prism Genesis is a continuation of Ramona Andra Xavier’s New Dreams Ltd. project. The album was released in 2011 under the pseudonym Fuji Grid TV. This installment in the New Dreams Ltd. series runs just under a half hour. The samples that Fuji Grid TV uses come from old Japanese commercials (as the name might…
-
Released several months before Floral Shoppe, New Dreams Ltd. marked the beginning of Ramona Andra Xavier’s music project of the same name. New Dreams Ltd. is also the name that encompasses Vektroid’s other aliases between 2011 and 2012. It’s important to note that this is one of many releases by Xavier that could be classified as vaporwave far before…
-
Macintosh Plus is one of many aliases used by Portland-based producer Ramona Xavier. While Macintosh Plus only had one release under that name, it is Xavier’s 11th studio album. Primarily, Xavier records under the pseudonym Vektroid but has also released music under other monikers such as New Dreams Ltd, Laserdisc Visions, 情報デスクVIRTUAL, and Fuji Grid…
-
Vaporwave is a genre of music that spawned from a semi-underground internet aesthetic. On various internet forums, a small community of people bonded over their love of 80s and 90s pop culture, early graphic design, pixels, roman busts, Japanese culture, and music from the 80s, namely new age, funk, and smooth jazz. Unbeknownst to them…
-
When an artist performs an original piece, it gives them a chance to publicly display their art in an intimate, personal way. Covers, contrafacts, and reinterpretations of music and art allow other artists to express themselves through a new medium. When comparing multiple versions of recordings, it is important to consider the context of the…
-
Nils Frahm is a German composer based in Berlin. He combines elements of classical and electronic music in his compositions. Frahm is classically trained on the piano and often plays multiple kinds of keyboards during his performances. Spaces is a live album that was released in 2013. Spaces is a really neat album that features minimal, yet progressive compositions…
-
Mndsgn (pronounced “mind design”) is the recording name for Los Angeles-based abstract hip-hop artist, beat maker, and producer Ringgo Ancheta. The album is named after the first and last tracks, “Yawn” and “Zen”, respectively. As he puts it, “Yawn Zen comes from a very neutral place that we, sometimes, are too busy to realize is there.”…
Ben Heels 