Style: Vaporwave, synthwave
Primary Emotions/Themes: Chilled out retro vibes
Thoughts: I've been on record more than once saying that vaporwave and synthwave are genres that don't do much for me. Why the hell did I buy this record then? And why the hell am I enjoying it so much?
Magic Peaks - unsurprisingly - plays a combination of vaporwave and synthwave. The album has the speed and the overall feel of a vaporwave album but the instrumentation has more to do with synthwave than anything in vaporwave.
One of the major factors for my enjoyment of this album is that it lacks any of that "lazy" feeling that vaporwave has. It certainly feels lethargic but more like a chilled out nap on a sunny afternoon rather than someone who is moving in slow motion. Now that I think about it, Magic Peaks comes across almost like a video game soundtrack.
The instruments here sound like they are uncompressed versions of a Playstation one soundtrack. Within the synthwave architecture this works quite well. I often find myself bobbing my head to the groove that these tacks create... it's just dope music.
This isn't my first attempt to get into Windows 96. I used to own Glass Prism and sold it. I didn't care for it at all. It was way too much on the vapor side of things for my liking. I'm glad I gave the project another chance though. Magic Peaks is a huge step up in quality from that earlier album.
Vaporwave and synthwave still are not my preferred genres. That said, there are always exceptions to generalities. I'm glad that Windows 96 has proven to be one of those exceptions. Considering my past with the artist I never expected to like any of their work. Just goes to show that even if an artist puts out something that I don't care for, sometimes they are worth a second look.
Written December 14th 2023
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