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Intro
The realm of vaporwave is quite a vast one, and the various subgenres that sprouted up over the course of the early and mid-2010's proved to set themselves apart from one another while still keeping the same core feeling that helped birth vaporwave in the first place: nostalgia and anemoia.
Today, we'll be heading down an incredibly early path, towards the origins of vaporelectronic music.
Do you remember sitting on your couch on a warm summer night, huddled around the television, slowly drifting asleep? Do you remember what you were watching? Cartoons, the shopping network? Maybe educational shows? Maybe. What about, though, those weird infomerical channels? Or the channels of people exercising, perhaps even jazzercizing! That feeling is unmistakable. A kind of odd aura, not disturbing, but comforting, in the most vacant way.
midnight television
Finding information on this artist is quite the task, as they have remained completely anonymous since their first ever release, that being the EP we're going to take a look at today.
Also known as computer dreams, computer slime, and sewer slime, midnight television (yes, this is the correct capitalization) has been a mostly inactive artist in the vaporwave community.
With 12 releases, 6 of them being released in 2011, they were "signed" to pioneering vaporwave BandCamp label BEER ON THE RUG for two of their releases, that being this EP and a COMPUTER DREAMS full length LP.
After the release of their 2013 computer slime project, they would go on a hiatus until 2018, although this was brief. They would return again in 2019 with two more releases and go on another short hiatus. Returning once again in 2022, they have yet to release any more music as of this blogpost (February 27th, 2023) but restored much of their old music to their original pages (which were deleted at various times during hiatuses) and republished their music in physical formats.
Most consider midnight television to fall under various genres, including classic vapor, broken transmission, easy listening and even electronic jazz, while their other works are considered more traditional vaporwave along the lines of their once label-mate, Vektroid (ala MACINTOSH PLUS.)
The EP
Track 1: Now Playing
This track is a full pull or sample of an HBO Intro piece used in the late 70's and early 80's, and what a fitting way to start the EP. With a swelling low-fi blast of fuzz and grainy, yet smooth guitars, midnight television introduces itself to us. This track is a perfect opening track, looping the same electric guitar riff and bare-bones drums with a thick layer of static underneath. This screams the title's connotation.
Track 2: Channel Surfing
With the static gone and the mood set, Channel Surfing delves into a very classic jazzy feel. This feels more like hold music than mallsoft, but more of an original composition than classic chopped and screwed vaporwave. A very soft atmospheric synth wails in the background of beautiful chiming keyboards and artificial brass instrumentation. The drums are very pronounced this time with a rhythmic guitar part quaking away in sync with them. A beautiful, glassy and atmospheric piece to compliment the opener. Keep clicking those buttons on that bulbous remote control, don't go away!
Track 3: Blind Dates
Because there are no transitions on this album, it feels very much like changing the channels on a television, and the next track does not disappoint.
With the longest duration on the EP at 2:23, it doesn't disappoint in being a surge of power after the two laid back tracks before it. Blind Dates starts blasting out of the gate with an incredibly catchy electric guitar riff that just catches your ear immediately, and the pounding drums beneath it make it feel like the corniest 90's action sequence you've ever seen.
Track 4: After Party
From the longest to the shortest, After Party is absolutely what I picture while cruising down the highway at night with the radio to an easy listening station. A slow, methodical approach with the drums swings you into the super smooth guitar riff that's the star of the show on this track. Very simple bass fills the void that would otherwise be left, aside from the sparse chime of the synths at the end of each loop. Truly relaxing.
Track 5: Jazzercise
Get your groove on! This track feels like the title, although it's not particularly jazzy.
The "stanky" electric bass thumps around the shaky and wiggly main synth line while complimenting the very basic drums. Here we start to return to the broken transmission element of the EP with a noticeable fuzz in the background and a drop in objective audio quality. Maybe the reception on that channel isn't particularly good?
Track 6: All Night
Keeping the low quality aspect in mind, the next track feeds into it even heavier.
All Night samples the 1985 Change track "Let's Go Together" and it makes it a slow, beautiful, low-fi piece of vaporwave goodness. The reverb and echo on this track is incredibly heavy and make it feel like a dream, a staple for the genre.
Track 7: Commercial Dreams
Closing out our night of watching TV, we get a superbly upbeat 70's and 80's soaked piece that almost feels ripped straight from a totally unknown disco record.
The warbly organ in the back compliments the once again broken transmission and the upfront brass instrumentation that sounds somewhat busted makes this track a perfect closer to a pioneer in the genre defined by it's old, broken airwave filled atmosphere.
Closing thoughts and links:
Although midnight television hasn't produced many similar works since, this EP is an absolute classic and must listen for fans of vaporwave, broken transmission and even retro sounding easy listening.
As a little side note, this album was released several months before the biblical Floral Shoppe by MACINTOSH PLUS. I feel it's always worth noting when this is the case, as that album marked a true point in time for vaporelectronic music, as well as the internet in general.
Thanks for reading!
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