Album Review: Computer System by 人類 – A Vaporwave Odyssey That Feels Like a Glitch in Time
Alright, let’s talk about Computer System. This 2017 release from Canadian artist 人類 is one of those albums that doesn’t just sit in your playlist—it lives there, haunting you with its strange, pixelated soul. Released under Evaporated Sounds, this thing blends vaporwave and experimental vibes so well it feels like you’re hacking into some forgotten digital dreamworld. The whole album has this eerie nostalgia for tech that never existed but somehow should have. It’s like someone took all the old Windows startup sounds, soaked them in neon rain, and whispered secrets to them.
Now, I gotta shout out two tracks because they’ve been stuck in my head like an unkillable virus (pun intended). First up: “中央処理装置の夢” (or "CPU Dream"). Man, this track hits different. It starts off slow, almost like your computer freezing mid-task, but then BOOM—it kicks into this hypnotic loop that feels like falling through cyberspace. There’s something deeply unsettling yet comforting about it, kinda like when you stare at a screensaver too long and start questioning reality. You know how sometimes music can make you feel like you're living inside a machine? Yeah, that’s this track. Every time it plays, I swear I hear whispers of binary code calling my name.
Then there’s “バッファリング” (“Buffering”). Oh man, if you’ve ever had the internet cut out right when you needed it most, this song will hit way too close to home. It’s got these choppy, stuttering beats that mimic the frustration of waiting for something to load—but instead of being annoying, it’s oddly satisfying. Like, yeah, we’ve ALL been there, staring at that spinning wheel or progress bar, hoping against hope. But here, 人類 turns that tension into art. By the end, you don’t even care if it loads anymore—you’re vibing too hard to notice.
The rest of the album follows suit, blending glitchy textures with ethereal melodies. Tracks like “沈黙の夢” (“Silent Dream”) and “インタラクティブドリーム” (“Interactive Dream”) create this surreal atmosphere where nothing feels real but everything resonates. And props to 人類 for naming their songs in Japanese—it adds another layer of mystery, like decoding fragments of a lost AI’s diary.
What gets me about Computer System is how personal it feels despite being so mechanical. It’s not just background noise; it’s more like a conversation between humans and machines, full of longing and static-filled pauses. Listening to it makes me wonder what computers would dream about if they could sleep. Would they imagine endless loops of data? Or maybe… us?
Anyway, here’s the kicker: after spending hours diving into this album, I realized something weird. We spend so much time trying to fix our devices when maybe, just maybe, they’re already perfect the way they are—glitches, buffering, and all. Wild thought, huh? Guess that’s what happens when you let vaporwave mess with your brain.
So yeah, check out Computer System. It’s not gonna be everyone’s cup of RAM, but if you’re into music that feels like a late-night existential crisis wrapped in retro-futuristic vibes, you won’t regret it. Just don’t blame me if your toaster starts talking back afterward.
