Late Arcane ‘non-canon’ is out now via Business Casual on Bandcamp.

Out now on Business Casual, “Emotion Engine” is a delightful blend of synthwave, future funk, nu disco, and vaporwave that plucks you from your chair and deposits you in early cyberspace. This exquisite blend of genres is pulled off perfectly – it’s really hard to understate just how immensely groovy these tracks are.

This album is the first full-length we’ve heard from Sferro, the Cleveland-based founder of Girlfriend Records, since 2018 – that is, unless you count “Interactive Sampler Disc” – an interesting release of 40 demo tracks that dropped in 2020. “Interactive Sampler Disc” is pretty sick itself, It’s an interesting concept I’ve only seen once before with HOME’s brilliant “Resting State.”

“Emotion Engine” features several singles Sferro has produced over the past few years, and loads of new material as well. The singles themselves were great, and I’m happy to see they’re finally gettting a physical release! The talented Mecha Maiko is also featured on ‘Modular Origami,’ lending some juicy-yet-meloncholic vocals to an already fantastic mix.

Perhaps the most interesting part of “Emotion Engine” is it’s aesthetic. Instead of focusing on 80s retro, it has an incredibly distinct early 90s sound. Listening to this album conjures images of REBOOT style early 3D animation  – or the mesh of multicolored tubes from the Windows 95 screensaver working themselves through a CRT. Something about the vaporwave influence on tracks like ‘Okay Regain’ combines perfectly with squelching synths on tracks like ‘Almost Caught A Break’ to recreate that unique transitory period right before the internet became commonplace.

Sferro himself called it an “…anti retro neon grid testerossa aesthetic city nights palm beach wayfarer hoverboard type number…” So the 90’s take makes sense, and I think this is yet another perfect example of synthwave artists moving away from that 80s aesthetic as part of the natural evolution of the genre.

Whatever the route, “Emotion Engine” still arrives at that all-important nostalgia factor, making for some supremely phat tracks!

Grab yourself a copy now here before they’re gone!

Listen to Emotion Engine on Spotify.

It’s also available for “name your price” on 3D Blast’s Bandcamp page!

Hailing from Detroit Michigan, 3D BLAST has been at it for a minute, with his first release coming in 2015 (at least according to Bandcamp anyway.) That experience in crafting sound is immediately evident from the first track on this album, “3rD BEST,” which almost instantly drops the listener down a tunnel of spiralling synthy bliss. The incredibly bright, expertly chopped samples that follow are stuffed with reverb and delay, conjuring feelings of happy nostalgia with a distinct groove.

It’s hard to overstate just how rich and expansive 3D BLAST’s sound is on “Here to Stay.” Most vaporwave feels pretty full, but here we have a release truly in a league of its own. Something about using 90’s samples (like in “Going For The Orange”) as a base instead of unknown 80’s jazz or city pop really also hammers extra hard on that nostalgia button.  Topping it all off are these expertly crafted future funk grooves in tracks like “Nailed Frequencies” that rip you from your feet and almost force you to dance!

Overall, “Here to Stay” is a release that adds up to be more than the simple sum of its parts. Sadly the physicals are sold out, but you should still grab a listen to this album immediately!

Grab a listen on Business Casual here!

Download the album for “name your price” directly from 3D BLAST here!

Even if you don’t follow these labels, you still might recognize them since we’ve covered some of their artists before. Some examples are Yuni Wa’s “True Ecstacy” on First Class Collective, as well as Hotel Pools, Nitewind, and Chillsynth in general from Stratford Ct. Some of Business Casual’s releases have even hit our yearly top 10 lists and retro recaps! Suffice to say they each know their way around some pretty hefty tunes.

Now, writing about each individual artist on three compilations would be an insane task, so instead, we’ll drop the track listings and links below so you can explore this mountain of wicked tunes yourself. So, in no particular order….

Stratford Ct. Secret Selection #61-70

Stratford Ct. has been dropping their “Secret Selection” series for a while now. These selections are always a beautiful array of the chillsynth and synth-heavy vaporwave often featured on the label, and I’ve never heard a Secret Selection that disappointed! That said, I always get to them late, and have never been able to snag a tape myself. Secret indeed!

Business Causal – Anniversary Vol. 8

Big business, always casual! Celebrating 8 years of releasing fantastic tunes, “Anniversary Vol. 8” is an interesting compilation of chilled-out vaporwave, future funk, and plunderphonics. It leans heavier into the vapor side of things, but each track has that unmistakable Business Casual feel.

First Class Collective –  First Class Anniversary – Year Two

The First Class Collective is a relative newcomer, as you can tell from this compilation being their “Year Two” anniversary. (What’s up with all these labels being created in May, anyway?) The FCC was founded by two high schoolers. They focus on the more experimental side of vaporwave and future funk, releasing some real gems over the past two years – even dropping some awesome VHS releases! This compilation feels a bit more disjointed than the other two, owing to the wider spectrum of more experimental sounds. Nevertheless, this “Year Two” anniversary is still chock-full of incredibly interesting tunes, and it’s really worth sifting through each track to find some real gems.