Sometimes in music, consistency is key, especially with conceptual works. Most vaporwave works seem to have a consistent concept, possibly a “story line” throughout it. However, this album seems to diverge from that ideal. The principle of inconsistency is evident in Stereo Component’s Coastal Nostalgia.
The album opens up with a teaser track, possibly to simulate a “promotional use only” feel. It features ambient waves and winds and calming chill beats. Drums are crystal clear, string-like synths are not, which is a pretty pleasing balance in terms of equalization, for it adds an aged effect to the track.
One of the songs, “細長い” (Elongated), uses an audio track over the music that makes the listener feel like they are listening in on a private conversation, possibly a job interview or a product negotiation. I haven’t heard something similar to this yet, so I found this particularly interesting. However, I would say that the speaking is slightly overpowered by the music track. This may be intentional, but I am very curious to be able to understand what the speakers are discussing. Again, this adds to the unpredictability of the album and the ambiguity of the genre as a whole.
Each track seems to draw inspiration from different genres of music from the late seventies and early eighties. There are strong smooth jazz feelings being emitted from tracks such as, “Unlock Your Business Potential” and “パー*ビーチ” (Palm Beach). A tune like, “Faded” reminded me instantly of a certain song by Toto. From jazz to prog-rock to eighties funk, Coastal Nostalgia seems to cover all of the bases of the genres that are used as influences mainly in the vaporwave community.
Minor mixing and cleaner editing, such as removing the minuscule gaps between loops on one or two tracks could potentially make this album more interesting, however, I am fairly pleased to have listened to this album and am certain that, having listening to it in order the first time rather than later on, influenced my opinions on this album.
