Review Summary: A fantastic album showing all the glory of the 80's and 90's, this album is one of the best electronic albums of the year.
You might be wondering who this George fellow is, it seems like he came out of the blue and just started delivering sounds that he wanted to hear, but the fact is he's been doing music for a while under the name ESPRIT 空想 long before he arrived.
With the genre vaporwave growing more and more into popularity, a artist by the name of ESPRIT 空想 stood out in a genre that was becoming stagnant. Like George, many vaporwave fans saw the genre declining in ideas music wise, as a vast majority of users on bandcamp started running the genre down by making lazy, uninspired tracks by just slowing songs down, and basically not having any talent to offer whatsoever in the genre; so George decided to do something about it. Thus ESPRIT 空想 was born, creating unique sounds in the vaporwave genre all with mostly no samples, and exploring the idea of the genre even further with albums such as "virtua.zip", showcasing all the nostalgia filled wonder that the genre is so well known for. While doing ESPRIT 空想, George moved to other side projects under the name Mirror Kisses, releasing two great synthpop albums that is very reminiscent of his main work, with the exception of him singing on a lot of the material. After Mirror Kisses, he decided to drop the Mirror Kisses moniker and decided to make music under his full name, which comes to this album.
100% Electronica is a satisfying return to the sounds he was doing with Mirror Kisses, but unlike that project, his sound has matured a lot since then with the first track blowing you away with sounds reminiscent of new wave, chillwave, synthpop, and vaporwave all combined into jams that can only be heard in the digital age. Clanton seems to have a knack for using a lot of the same sounds in his work, but he uses them so clever and uniquely you can hardly distinguish the same sound you've just heard from another track. The album is heavily backed by Clanton's raunchy, charismatic voice, taking lessons from that of The Cure's Robert Smith. His voice works well with his instrumentation, providing a dark and eerie, yet fun experience that echoes (literally) on almost every track. The lyrics are also great as well, With the track "Wonder Gently" taking clever shots of the vaporwave genre, and catchy lyrics that you'll be sure to sing along to.
In conclusion, Clanton does a fantastic job satisfying veteran listeners of vaporwave, electronic fans, and synthpop fans without alienating anyone else. This album is accessible, but not in a way where it outshines the music. It's abrasive, dark, catchy, and comical at times. If you're a fan of 80's synthpop, vaporwave, or chillwave type music, you'll be sure to enjoy this as George Clanton has you covered.
