A Vapourwave Nationalist Review of Mantra - VHS LOGOS

   MANTRA - VHS LOGOS   

VHS LOGOS is a Brazilian vapourwave artist that I accidentally found one day from a random vapourwave playlist on Spotify, through the second song on the album named "TV2". The crispy aesthetics of the song really caught my attention, even though, for the most part, it is a simple loop. And frankly for a fair majority of the album, the songs are short loops that really give the feeling of short songs and jingles you'd hear for late night adverts, which in my opinion really is true to, and encapsulates the aesthetics of the genre as a whole. As VHS LOGOS' first album, the runtime is quite short, at around 31 minutes, 24 seconds. However the track list is 20 songs long, making each song last about a minute each, except for a few exceptions. Nevertheless it provides a very authentic vapourwave feel, with extremely good production quality that extrudes how much passion and effort went into the album. So let's begin with talking about each individual song.

-- Track 1 : Dial 89,3 --

Track 1 starts the album off with a nice groovy beat, which as the title of the song implies, sounds like you're tuning into the TV channel you're looking for, flicking through the frequencies and hearing the brief differences in sound until you're tuned in correctly. The samples loop very cleanly and were obviously carefully crafted, but otherwise there's not much to say as the song is very short, and doesn't deviate much from the initial loop, which is something we'll find characterises the rest of the album.

-- Track 2 : TV2 --

TV2 gives the vibes of switching onto a channel that has finished all its airing for the day, and is just showing a montage of the programs they would normally have on, like the old days of Cartoon Network and other cartoon channels that would finish their airing schedule around midnight. Very nostalgic for the kids who, like when I was younger, would get out of bed at 3am and watch cartoons in the front room on old obscure channels. Once again, the song is very simple, using a well crafted sample loop, and throwing some effects on, such as fading in and out and the scratchy background noise you'd get from older media. 

-- Track 3 : Love --

Track 3 takes us to a much slower paced song compared to the first two, and is very reminiscent of jewellery adverts. The type where you'd have a hand model showing off the product, and this would be playing in the background. Once again, very well crafted sample loops, and a nice bassline that's not overbearing but is very soothing.

-- Track 4 : Vegas --

Despite being named Vegas, I wouldn't exactly say this song brings an image of a casino, or gambling of any sort for that matter. This song gives me more of an elevator song vibe, or a lobby song. In terms of TV channels, it gives the feeling of the type of music you'd hear on a channel that has finished it programmes for the night, and rather than playing a montage like in TV2, would simply display a single message of "Daily programming has ended, please tune in at 6am for more." So far this song is the first one to introduce pretty persistent lyrics, which have been crunched down and are mostly intelligible, but this does work very well for the vibe of 90s late night television. From here on out is where the album slowly becomes more complex in terms of the production.

-- Track 5 : Dreams --

However for this track, I would say the name "Dreams" is very accurate the vision it gives off. Slowly waking up, hearing the background noises from the television as it plays a random show, finally being forced awake by your phone ringing, in that delirious state of being exhausted and waking up in front of the TV at 3am. This is the beginning of the more complex tracks, and introduces progression into each track, going from a simple sample loop into moving from one melody to another.

-- Track 6 : Acapulco --

A very chilled out and upbeat track, and while the many video game noise samples used make it seem like this song would relevant to a video game or tech based TV show, I would instead say it relates more to a childlike nostalgia for cartoons you would've watched as a child, like coming across shows like Pokémon that you would've watched at breakfast while likely playing Pokémon on your Gameboy. The sound samples give this track a very retro feeling, that's not too much, nor too little. It's just enough to get your nostalgia going, and very pleasant to hear.

-- Track 7 : Paralelo30 --

This track reminds me of when you'd come across a channel with bad reception, and would constantly flicker in and out of having a good signal. You'd get enough to make out some of what was being said, but otherwise would stay as fuzz and white noise on the screen, repeating the same most recent sound that came through, as if glitching. I also believe that, as this is one of the shorter tracks on the album, it plays into the idea that on a channel with bad reception, you wouldn't wait around to see if it would get a better signal, you'd simply switch to another one very quickly.

-- Track 8 : Nonversation --

The streak of finding channels with bad reception continues, as this track starts with seemingly switching between multiple channels in quick succession, as they glitch out and begin repeating. Finally we get good reception for a little while, until we once again lose it towards the end of the song. First it seems we switch to a news channel, to an advertisement, and then to a music channel, where we get to enjoy some funky music, but obviously as the reception is poor, it comes out very dampened and faded, as well as the normal crunch we'd have from the technology. As the title implies, we're getting no eligible conversation from the channels as they're glitching out.

-- Track 9 : Verano --

In Verano, we've found ourselves on a nature documentary channel, simply showing landscapes and life nature, evident by the singing birds and running water in the background, paired with the extremely relaxing and comforting music, just how you'd expect to find one of these channels, serving as a brief respite from all the channels based on the urban life and technology and more upbeat songs before and after.

-- Track 10 : ZYB --

ZYB starts us off with an obvious advert about transportation in some regard. Now I'm going to go with an advert about flying, as the vibe gives me an image of "flying with style" and boosting about having the greatest technology and comfort available for travelling. And in fact, in the background there is some bit crushed and hard to make out sounds, that to me, sound like the engines of a jet whirring away.

-- Track 11 : 50% Off --

One of the bigger hits on the album, with 58,000 listens on Spotify. As the name implies, is a montage of advertisements for multiple products and sales, but rather than presenting them with a commentary, it would be more akin to a slideshow slowly going through each product. For example, presenting a car under a spotlight, on top of a rotating platform, with the price and discount amount on a clip art star. It's understandable how this is one of the more popular tracks as it's very catchy and the sample loop can become an earworm if listened to enough.

-- Track 12 : Metaverse --

The obvious joke here is that the Zuck stole the idea of the Metaverse from our boy VHS LOGOS. But the song does give a feeling of being in a plaza, with no one else around and just the architecture and the sounds of nature around you. Akin to Verano which is a nature documentary, this would simply be a highlight tour of an old European city with all the traditional architecture, without any commentary, and just the peaceful background noise and music instead.

-- Track 13 : Golden Era --

I believe this track has some bias, as I believe VHS LOGOS himself has a soft spot for street videos and music, which leads into the album he made after Mantra named "Street Smarts", and this track perfectly captures that. It has a very hip-hop vibe and sound to it, that gives me the feeling of watching skateboarding videos and montages, such as Thrasher. It's also very reminiscent of games such as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and would fit in perfectly with the soundtrack.

-- Track 14 : Sunshine --

A return to a more upbeat track. Sunshine sounds like what would be used to advertise a cold soft drink during the summer heat, hence the name "Sunshine". It's something I would expect of Pepsi or Fanta to put out during the 90s beach season. Even the background sound effects sound like ice hitting the side of a glass, bottles being moved around, and drinks being poured.

-- Track 15 : Classy Loop --

The name speaks for itself. I envision it being the instrumental to a sitcom of sorts. Nothing much else to say.

-- Track 16 : Feeling --

Whether intentional or not, there is definitely some influence from Saint Pepsi & Luxury Elite's Late Night Deluxe. Feeling gives the feeling of a fast food advertisement, akin to the Mac Tonight commercial, which is referenced by Saint Pepsi's Enjoy Yourself. It's very funky, very catchy, and very memorable.

-- Track 17 : Interlude --

An interlude. Would simply be an interlude between channels where there's no assigned programming, whether another show or advertisement. Another sample loop done very well.

-- Track 18 : Freq --

One of my personal favourite tracks on this album. Feels like it would be used for an advertisement that's meant to be melancholic, such as the singer giving up a product, but missing it and reuniting with it as the song progresses.

-- Track 19 : Magic --

I can see this being used a song for a "Get fit quick" device, such as the Shake Weight. With these devices being "magic" and helping you to lose weight with very little effort, from the comfort of your own home. 

-- Track 20 : Mantra --

Mantra, in all honesty, is kind of an anticlimactic ending to the album, but that could be seen as late night TV being anticlimactic as you are unable to find a good channel, and you either switch off the TV or return to flicking through channels, which is what happens if you replay the album from the start again as the ending of "Mantra" and the beginning of "Dial 89,3" flow together very well.

-- Summary --

Mantra is a very relaxing and interesting journey through VHS LOGOS obvious attraction and intrigue with old advertisements and TV channels. Of course, this is all plays into the vapourwave aesthetics very well, and in my personal opinion captures the essence of vapourwave in its purest form. Transfiguring cold and unfeeling capitalist adverts and media into something new and nostalgic for a time where it wasn't as obvious that you were simply just a potential for profit to these massive corporations. Most of the songs on this album feel like they're meant to be trying to sell you something, but you can't make out what it is, and instead get to enjoy the little jingles that are provided, without having to worry about anything else. 

In terms of a story, the album feels exactly like switching between TV channels on an analogue television during the early hours of the morning, and flicking through each channel, giving them each a minute or two to catch your interest before you move onto the next lifeless, and colourless programme that would air during the dead hours of the night. If you finish listening to the album on the final track, then you turn off the TV, realising you're not going to find something worth watching, and going to sleep instead. If you instead continue to allow the album to loop, you continue switching channels, in a fruitless effort to find something of substance, when for the most part it's just all infomercials and shows that were too unpopular to air during the day.