Stephan Kunze

Staying at home and listening to the entire EtheReal Media catalog is my idea of a great Tuesday night. etherealmedia.bandcamp.com

Monday night ambience: Sample-free signalwave EP from @eccosystem.bandcamp.com, very "interesting" indeed. eccosystem.bandcamp.com/album/1992-cm

Great piece by NYC based composer Samuel Reinhard.

@yesoms.bsky.social VS @www.zensounds.de

Check out my interview with the Catalan art-pop force Marina Herlop. We're talking about how Disney soundtracks and Eminem hits have inspired her music, how a slow start to her career made her more resilient, and how difficult it was to find inspiration after three years of constant touring.

TODAY!!

15 minute warning. This is going to be epic.

Day 2 of Vaporwave Alive II starts in less than an hour! We're going about 9 hours today and there's so much good stuff to show you. www.twitch.tv/djnightleek

If you’re into dark, dub-like, ritualistic electronic music with an almost industrial cold-wave feel, you’ll definitely love this.

Check out my playlist of my 30 favorite songs with vocals from the last couple of years and a video interview where I'm talking about some of my selections.

Synth drone master Jordan Christoff was involved in multiple outstanding ambient releases this year, among them his solo piece Nonlinear and the PJS album Auroras. It felt like a good moment to speak to him about his musical background, philosophy and evolution.

Strmi remains one of the biggest talents in signalwave to me, really enjoying this evocative journey into vaportrance. strmi.bandcamp.com/album/liquid...

“I’m about as Japanese as most of my colleagues in slushwave, and I’m about as much from Kagoshima as I am a Tangerine.”

Congrats to the legend @puderpolli.bsky.social who released his first vaporwave album ten years ago! puderpolli.bandcamp.com/album/palware

"Matter of fact, it still sounds like the future, even if it’s just the illusion of a lost future that will now never become a reality."

Fall-themed climatewave from the big homie. Right up my alley.

music journalist zensounds 禅の音 recently interviewed me! BUT also check out his other articles covering a swath of underground music and vaporwave. it's brilliant stuff! and it sounds like he's hard at work documenting vaporwave history. it's worth checking out.

“I’ve always been a storyteller and I’ve always aspired to create worlds, mostly so that I can believe in them myself and get lost in them.” Vapor Talks x @dreamcastletm.bsky.social

Brilliant new signalwave compilation from @freshwatermedia.bsky.social, bundled with a webzine and featuring contributions from so many amazing producers in the scene. I truly appreciate the deep love and care going into non-profit projects like these. freshwatermedia.bandcamp.com/album/antenn...

My 9 albums. www.zensounds.de/p/the-music-...

Some thoughts on the connection between Haruki Murakami and vaporwave, plus a list of my favorites from his popular ‘80s/’90s novels as an introductory guide into his work.

This whole series is absolutely sick. Currently listening to Pt 4 @brickmason.bsky.social businesscasual87.bandcamp.com/album/abando...

“Going back to a full-time office job would destroy my soul.” Here’s my chat with the Australian ambient artist and sound healer Phoebe Dubar. @iksre.bsky.social

Brilliant new high school themed signalwave compilation on Hitachi Home Video. 8 CDs remaining. It's Bandcamp Friday, by the way! hitachihomevideo.bandcamp.com/album/the-ba...

Autumn is here and so I am back to spending my mornings listening to atmospheric dnb sets from late ‘90s London pirate radio on YouTube.

Got a really nice shoutout from the folks at @nightclerkradio.bsky.social , a great podcast about vaporwave, ambient and experimental electronic music. (timestamp: 09:34) Recommending the podcast in general, been listening to it for some time! www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-pX...

"There are a lot of very bigoted and vitriolic people in the [vaporwave] scene, and that’s in a genre that came from a Black man, a Russian Jew, and a transgender woman."

This week: 1. A liminal landscape complete with pristine buildings. @hiafr.bsky.social - WFWM #0127 Early access: dlcm.app/freshwater-m... 2. A road trip to somewhere unknown in search of mental comfort. @graphiccoma.bsky.social - WFWM #0128 Early access: dlcm.app/freshwater-m...

If you’re interested in getting to know me and learn how I arrived at this point, this piece – modeled after a certain Pitchfork column – will come in handy.

In 2022, a teenager from southern Germany made an album that gradually won over the synthwave community. Four years later – he’s still only 20 – Hypixi’s Quarter Vision now gets an anniversary re-release on vinyl and tape. I spoke to the young producer about his inspirations now and then.

My newest interview went live this morning; it's a conversation with Jeff, the person behind possibly the biggest YouTube channel in vaporwave.

"Here I am with the sun rising, just pinching myself with glee at not only seeing the sunlight shine through the oak, but then also having this natural reverb. There’s little baby frogs jumping around. I felt like there’s magic waiting to be found here."

Today's writing ambience. @brickmason.bsky.social brickmason.bandcamp.com/album/a-day-...

New Vapor Talk!

Monday morning spa soundtrack. @kratzwerk.bsky.social kratzwerk.bandcamp.com/album/--138

Back on the LA metro. Easily one of my fav signalwave projects right now. @metro-rail.bsky.social metrorail.bandcamp.com/album/westbo...

I’ve been arriving at the conclusion that melodic, jazzy and dubby techno might actually be my favorite music in the world. This realisation struck me just recently, after many hours of revisiting my favourite CDs from Detroit and Berlin on my early ‘90s Denon stereo hi-fi system.

Bandcamp purchase of the week: TV2's brilliant signalwave rendition of vintage Spanish karaoke tapes. @vaultofdiscoveries.com vaultofdiscoveries.bandcamp.com/album/junk

Afternoon soundtrack. @hiafr.bsky.social hiafr.bandcamp.com/album/p-e-r-...

Love barber beats, hate fascists. modestbydefault.bandcamp.com/album/a-comp...

Finally getting around to checking out the Channel 1 compilation curated by S u i t e B. Some brill stuff on there, two and a half hours of strange sound collages from the current signalwave generation. suiteb.bandcamp.com/album/channe...

I discovered @slow-blink.bsky.social last year. Amanda is one of the most talented ambient/drone artists out there – her weathered tape loops never fail to captivate me. Removed the paywall from my interview, because more people need to discover her music. www.zensounds.de/p/slow-blink...

This version of Daybreak is the full tour version and released on August 23. A handful of CDRs remain available for purchase. You can listen or support here slow-blink.bandcamp.com/album/daybre... Thanks for listening! #ambientmusic #musiqueconcrete #tapeloops #cassetteculture #darkambient

youtu.be/sCiRbRKVxqA?...

My festival report from @slushwavefestival.bsky.social is live now!

This is still the most successful post I’ve ever published on Substack. It came out exactly one year ago. I’ve removed the paywall to celebrate its anniversary.

My interview with @jessicaroch.bsky.social about her new album Human Music: Live Improvisation I on @pastinside.bsky.social

Probably my fav set of this year's Slushwave festival is up on Bandcamp now. @818181slush.bsky.social 818181.bandcamp.com/album/slushw...

OUT NOW: NEW COMPILATION! The Annual Carfolk Magazine of 2005 by Various Artists Created by Mr. Luigi 4 hours, 30 minutes of audio! freshwatermedia.bandcamp.com/album/the-an... Download codes: band.codes/freshwater-m...