Vektroid
| Vektroid | |
|---|---|
| Born | Washington, U.S. |
| Genres | Vaporwave, experimental, plunderphonics, lo-fi, ambient, drone, hip hop, electronic |
| Occupation(s) | Music producer |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | PrismCorp, Beer on the Rug |
Ramona Andra Xavier (born 1992), also known as Vektroid, is an American musician, based in Portland, Oregon. She has released music under various aliases, including Macintosh Plus, New Dreams Ltd, PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises, Laserdisc Visions, 情報デスクVIRTUAL, and dstnt, among others.
Xavier had a hand in the creation of the vaporwave subgenre of electronic music and the associated health goth subculture.
Early life
Xavier was born in Washington State in 1992. She began producing and releasing music in 2005. Xavier now resides in Hawthorne, Portland, Oregon.[1]
Music career
Xavier has released music through aliases including Macintosh Plus, PrismCorp, and Laserdisc Visions, among others.[2] She reports that she has released over forty full-length albums since 2005. Paolo Scarpa characterized Xavier's music as an "exposé of late capitalism".[3] James Parker noted Vektroid's "sensuous virtuality" and "new cyber-pop unconscious".[4] Writing for Sputnikmusic, Adam Downer called Floral Shoppe a shift toward beauty in an age that has nearly "run the gamut of what artists and musicians can do".[5]
Tiny Mix Tapes ranked Floral Shoppe and 札幌コンテンポラリー, released by Xavier under her Macintosh Plus and 情報デスクVIRTUAL aliases, respectively, on its list of its 50 favorite albums of 2012.[3][4] Fact magazine called Floral Shoppe the defining album of Bandcamp, the streaming service through which Vektroid releases her music. The album is the site's most user-recommended album in the experimental music category.[6]
Xavier stopped releasing music regularly in early 2013, only releasing two albums of that year, Home™ and ClearSkies™. Both albums were released under the PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises pseudonym in April. In 2014, Xavier released her most recent vaporwave project, Initiation Tape: Isle of Avalon Edition, a revision of her release initiation tape (part one), as New Dreams Ltd. In early 2015, she collaborated with electronic duo Magic Fades to produce a remix of the song "Ecco" from their debut album, Push Through.[7] In February 2016 she released three albums, Fuji Grid TV: EX, Shader Complete and Sleepline. The first two are revision of some of her albums while the last one was produced in 2013 but never released previously.[8]
Impact
Under various aliases, Xavier played a role in the creation of the modern electronic genre vaporwave between 2010 and 2013.[9] Xavier's heavy use of net art in vaporwave, in turn, helped to spawn the health goth subculture.[10]
Discography
As Vektroid
- TELNET EROTIKA EP (2010)
- Polymind EP (2011)
- Polytravellers (2011)
- Starcalc (2011)
- Neo Cali (2011)
- Color Ocean Road (2012)
As Vectorfray
- From the Comfort of Your Deathbed (2005)
- Omegalpha (2005)
- Pentbüt (2005)
- Bloodsample EP (2005)
- For OCRemix's Evaluation (2005)
- Ides EP (2005)
- NolemN Single (Unknown)
As Vektordrum
- Shitaihokansho (2008)
- Hello Skypedals EP1 (2009)
- Hello Skypedals EP2 (2009)
- Capitose Windowpane (2009)
- Deciphered (And Re-Encrypted) (2009)
- Fraktalseq: Blossom (2009)
- Discrét Night Signals (2010)
- Geese: I, Banished Re-cut (2010)
- Trinity (2010)
As dstnt
- isoDMOS (2010)
- ntdrv (2010)
- iss2 (2010)
- isÆ (2010)
- NSII (2010)
As New Dreams Ltd
- initiation tape part one (2011)
- Initiation Tape: Isle of Avalon Edition (2014)
- Fuji Grid TV: EX (2016)
- Sleepline (2016)
As esc 不在
- black horse (2011)
- midi dungeon (2011)
As Sacred Tapestry
- Shader (2012)
- Shader Complete (2016)
As PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises
- Home™ (2013)
- ClearSkies™ (2013)
One-time pseudonyms
- fuji grid tv: prism genesis (2011)
- Laserdisc Visions: New Dreams Ltd. (2011)
- Macintosh Plus: Floral Shoppe (2011)
- 情報デスクVIRTUAL: 札幌コンテンポラリー (2012)
- Tanning Salon: Dream Castle (2015)
References
- ↑ "Vektroid's Bandcamp". Retrieved 8 July 2014.
- ↑ Lillie, Mitch (31 December 2013). "Scene Report: Electronic Music". Willamette Week. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- 1 2 Scarpa, Paolo (December 2012). "情報デスクVIRTUAL 札幌コンテンポラリー". Favorite 50 Albums of 2012. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- 1 2 Parker, James (December 2012). "Macintosh Plus Floral Shoppe". Favorite 50 Albums of 2012. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ↑ Downer, Adam (16 February 2014). "Review: Machintosh Plus - FLORAL SHOPPE". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ↑ "January’s best Bandcamp release". Fact. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ↑ Bowe, Miles (10 February 2015). "Vektroid makes triumphant return with her massive Magic Fades remix". Fact. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ↑ "Vektroid Drops Three New Releases via Bandcamp". Hipstetic. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ↑ Harper, Adam (2 February 2015). "What Health Goth Actually Means". The Fader. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ↑ Cantino, Chris; Grabarek, Mike; Scott, Jeremy (20 October 2014). Is the Health Goth Movement Selling Out to the Mainstream?. Interview with Alex Horne. Vice. Retrieved 16 July 2015.