Style: Witch house, EDM
Primary Emotions/Themes: Looking at life through a magical lens where everything slows down
Thoughts: What is witch house? I feel like I need to remind myself every time I pull out a record in my collection that has this tag on it. Every time I listen to this genre, I'm reminded of why I like it.
To those not familiar (and for my own reference down the line), witch house is a genre that started right around 2009 to 2010 by Salem and Holy Other. It tends to create slow looping beats that often have a lethargic feel to them and pairs them with hypnotic samples and atmospheres. The end results in a nearly ethereal experience for the listener.
If this sounds familiar it should. All of these descriptors can be used for early vaporwave as well. In fact many of the 1st wave vapor heads will cite witch house as a primary influence for the genre. Where the two start to differ though is in the atmosphere and song structure. Vaporwave often feels like a slow version of classic pop songs, whereas witch house has a highly religious sound to it. The end result is that witch house has a fuller sound and can often lead to sounding like an out of body experience by the time the music has it's way with me.
All of this is true of Forever: the religious experience, the slow beats, being spirited away, feeling like I'm in a place of worship. All of those things happen while likening to Akiaura.
The music has this slow and insidious way of making it's way into my brain and staying there. The beats resonate with my entire body and slowly lull me into a state of deep peace and feeling fundamentally safe. As the album continues I'm lured further into the trance that Forever brings, and by the end of it I'm nearly asleep and/or in a hypnotic trance.
It's hard to quantify how well this album works with me. It grooves at the exact right pace for me to vibe with it. It is so full, so complete that I can't do anything but get lost in it's ocean. I don't know why it takes me so damn long to listen to this album, I know I like it and I know what kind of effect it has on me. This is a reminder to myself to not let it be years before this hits my turntable again.
Written April 13th 2024
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