Why Christtt's "Deep Dark Trench" is a Masterclass in Plunderphonics

christtt as an artist has been a distinctive figure in the vaporwave community with his ability to blend characteristics of vaporwave and plunderphonics together in such a seamless way that's uniquely just him. i personally have been a huge fan of him since his landmark vaporwave release, "fraiserwave", an album that beautifully encapsulates its sitcom counterpart with its entrancing yet smooth 80s loops.

this album was the start of something special. nobody knew the kind of music he would be making years down the line after this. however, he was still relatively underground during this time. that is, until the release of "7​年​后", a vaporwave album that broke new ground in the scene and would soon become a cult classic.

7​年​后 was the moment that christtt started to become respected as a vaporwave artist, and if you are even remotely involved in the vaporwave scene, you have definitely heard of this song before. his popularity from then on skyrocketed to astounding proportions, putting him amongst titans like Vektroid, t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者, etc. the classics didn't stop here though, as he would eventually release the hard-hitting and bleak "no lives matter", the meme-infused and catchy "social justice whatever", and the album that i'm here to talk about today, "deep dark trench", easily the most tragic yet beautiful album in his discography to date.

Deep Dark Trench: A Tragedy Told In Three Acts

deep dark trench on first listen doesn't seem to have any typical substance or meaning behind it, and it may just seem like a bunch of samples being interlaced together like an audio ytp, but it's quite the opposite. this album is a harrowing three-part act that depicts 9/11 and its nationwide consequences on america. this already is such an interesting concept to get into, but he not only executes this with ease, but he does it ONLY with samples, specifically samples of internet memes and youtube videos, which still amazes me to this day.

Act I: Before Chaos Struck 

this album is split into three acts, those being Act I, before the event happened, Act II, the moment the planes hit, and Act III, the shock and horror that unraveled afterwards.

act I opens with the daunting "broadcast", and this is such a great way to start off the album. the unsettling background music combined with the unusually cult-like voiceover really sets the tone of the album right from the get-go, and i love it for that.

this act has a way of finding solace in its dramatic irony, knowing that we, the listener, know what's going to happen in the next act. it reminds me of a child that doesn't yet know about a close relative's passing. the track "falling" displays somewhat of a cheerful vibe, almost basking in its naivety in a way.

"scanning" ends the first act with a droning and everlasting voice in the background with a very poetic song in the forefront, with the lyrics "if i just lay here, would you lie with me and just look at the world" coming off as naively lighthearted, unaware of what the next act beholds.

Act II: Calamity Unfolds

act II is depicted as the moment that the planes hit the two towers, and this is where the album starts to change its vibe, going from somewhat cheerful with a dramatic irony, to unsettling and creepy. one thing i have noticed with this album is that you can tell how the track is going to be based off the track names, like "never forget", which starts with a ripping guitar and a beat that sounds like it's being played in a club a couple miles away, but slowly turns into a melancholic and depressing passage, with Seal's "Kiss From A Rose" juxtaposed against a haunting piano loop, possibly symbolizing people attempting to find solace within the sudden tragic event of 9/11.

now, to me, this is where the message starts to get a little muddy, because as much as i love this album, act II message-wise is definitely the weakest. you can only do so much using only samples and i think act ii definitely exemplifies that. with that being said, however, that doesn't mean this act is bad or unlistenable. in fact, even though its message is muddied, the songs are still quite enjoyable to listen to and in certain parts of some tracks, the message is loud and clear. like in the song, "format failed", which samples "Eventually" by Tame Impala, it turns the original song into a spliced version of itself, kind of signifying the divide that the tragedy caused.

act II ends with "world peace", and personally, this is my least favorite song from the album, mainly because of the miley cyrus loop near the end, i can see why he added it as it's somewhat of an ironic usage since the song is about having fun in america even though the act is about when the planes hit the towers, but personally, i just don't like it all that much.

Act III: Finding Solace

act III is about the events following 9/11, and how people coped and tried to understand what happened. now this, far and away, is not only my favorite act of the album, but i believe it to be the strongest and most emotional point of the album.

the track, "hope", pretty much tackles the message of act III head-on, with what sounds like a reporter asking a woman if she is "still haunted by (9/11)", and then asks how she deals with the "psychological pain". from what it sounds like, we could possibly put act III in a time frame of a couple years or so after 9/11, as the woman says this was when she was 19. the woman then goes on to say some of the most heart-wrenching things of the entire album, which i won't get into because i don't wanna spoil it in case anybody reading this wants to listen, but when i first heard it, it struck an emotional chord and i almost shed a couple tears.

the next track, "american dream", is easily my favorite track on the album, which is funny because it's also the longest track on the album. throughout its entire 7-minute duration, there is what sounds like a house loop in the background that kind of skips, and it is incredibly catchy and hooks you in right away. however, the track over its time starts to evolve and blossom into an ethereal soundscape. around the 3-minute mark is where these beautiful, entrenching strings swallow and envelope the backing track, almost sounding triumphant in a way, like people have finally started to find solace in the tragedy that was 9/11. but then at the end of the track, one sample plays that changes the whole mood entirely, and it's of a character from a Pajama Sam video game that simply says, "well, here we are.....burning". this single phrase instills such a haunting image into my head of the scene of 9/11, and it's amazing how christtt can turn a sample of a phrase from a random cd-i video game into a deeply tragic ending of the song.

the way this act ends is quite possibly one of the best endings to an album that i've ever heard, with the final track, "thoughts and prayers", beginning with a lighthearted and joyous sample, and knowing the general backstory of the title, this can be seen as sort of a shallow happiness.

the term "thoughts and prayers" has notoriously been used as a blanket statement for when a modern tragedy happens, especially for school shootings, as they have become essentially normalized in america, and what that terms signifies is a lazy, thoughtless, and apathetic view towards these tragedies that has no bearing in reality. politicians especially will use this term as a "get out of jail free" card, using it to get out of a tragic situation as fast as possible without actually caring about the devastation at hand, so the fact that christtt used this title for the ending of this act tells me that the song acts as a blanket statement for the 9/11 tragedy, posing as a triumph over the matter and pretending to rejoice, be happy, and act as if 9/11 never happened.

this theory holds more weight as the song progresses, where the original sample starts to break apart and unravel into a cacophony of noises and leads into a sample of a corrupt ps1 starting up. to me, the sample signifies the facade of happiness and celebration breaking down and folding under the pressure, and becoming corrupted in the process by sadness and regret. then the track finally ends with another cheerful sample, as if america is attempting to put back up the facade so their image doesn't falter. this cheerful sample is complemented with a sample of a news broadcast, in which a woman reports that "we're back at 8AM on this tuesday morning" before immediately cutting to tape hiss. this broadcast aired on the day of september 11th, 2001.

this ending is so powerful for so many reasons, but the main one that really hits me like a truck is the fact that i interpret the broadcast at the end as history repeating itself. 9/11 was a terrible tragedy, and the amount of lives lost on that day is absolutely staggering, and yet, we might never learn from it. with the ongoing genocide of palestinians being heavily funded by america, the message of the album hits even harder now, because it shows we never learned from 9/11 at all, and as a matter of fact, have only become more aggressive and financially driven, even if it means the loss of so many innocent lives in the process. even 6 years later, this ending STILL gives me chills down my spine.

My Final Thoughts

deep dark trench is one of my favorite albums of all time, and i think i've explained more than enough as to why that is. this album on the surface seems like a corny satire mixtape, especially considering that the album art is a commissioned art piece from Chris-Chan. but when you actually dig deep into the album and learn about the true meaning behind each act, it becomes a strikingly dark and dejected tale about a country that once suffered such a huge tragedy eventually becoming the very same aggressor that it portrayed its "enemies" as. if you've gotten to the end of this review and you haven't listened to the album, i HIGHLY recommend it, as it's (in my opinion) christtt's best album. but obviously, christtt's entire discography is worth listening to, so once you've listened to deep dark trench, try his other albums as well. in fact, he released a prequel EP following up to this called "sacrificial lamb", which i recommend as well, it's a nice lead-up to the album. christtt is such a talented artist that knows how to rework such unique samples and turn them into a whole story arc that depicts one of the most infamous tragedies in american history, and i think it's time we give him more flowers and appreciation for the absolutely astonishing work of art he's put together here.