Vektroid
Ramona Andra Xavier (born August 19, 1992) is an American electronic musician from Portland, Oregon. She has released music under her primary Vektroid alias, as well as others, such as dstnt, Laserdisc Visions, New Dreams Ltd., Virtual Information Desk, and PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises.[1] Xavier played a prominent role in the popularization of the vaporwave subgenre with the release of her first studio album under her Macintosh Plus alias, Floral Shoppe (2011). The album helped popularize the vaporwave genre throughout the Internet. Since then, she has continued to release music through Bandcamp and other online platforms.
Vektroid | |
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| Also known as |
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| Born | August 19, 1992 Washington, U.S. |
| Origin | Portland, Oregon, U.S |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Music producer |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts |
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Personal life
Xavier was born in Washington state on August 19, 1992. She began producing and releasing electronic music in 2005. Xavier now resides in Hawthorne, Portland, Oregon.[2]
Xavier is a transgender woman.[3]
Career
Xavier has released music through aliases including Macintosh Plus, PrismCorp, and Laserdisc Visions, among others.[1] She reports that she has put out over forty releases since 2005. Paolo Scarpa characterized Xavier's music as an "exposé of late capitalism".[4] James Parker noted Vektroid's "sensuous virtuality" and "new cyber-pop unconscious".[5] Writing for Sputnikmusic, Adam Downer called Floral Shoppe a shift toward beauty in an age that has nearly "run the gamut of what artists and musicians can do".[6]
Tiny Mix Tapes ranked Floral Shoppe and 札幌コンテンポラリー, released by Xavier under her Macintosh Plus and 情報デスクVIRTUAL aliases, respectively, on its list of its 50 favorite albums of 2012.[4][5] Fact magazine called Floral Shoppe the defining album of Bandcamp, the streaming service through which Vektroid releases her music. The album is the site's most user-recommended album in the experimental music category.[7]
Xavier stopped releasing music regularly in early 2013, only releasing two albums of that year, Home™ and ClearSkies™. Both albums were released under the PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises pseudonym in April. In 2014, Xavier released Initiation Tape: Isle of Avalon Edition, a revision of her release Initiation Tape - Part One, as New Dreams Ltd. In early 2015, she collaborated with electronic duo Magic Fades to produce a remix of the song "Ecco" from their debut album, Push Through.[8] In February 2016 she released three albums, Fuji Grid TV EX, Shader Complete and Sleepline. The first two are revisions of some of her albums while the last one was produced in 2013 but never released previously.[9]
Impact
Under various aliases, Xavier played a role in the creation of the modern electronic genre vaporwave between 2010 and 2013.[10][11] Her projects, Macintosh Plus and New Dreams Ltd., are considered as the primary artists in the vaporwave genre.[12][13]
Discography
| Year | Name | Album Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Vektordrum | Capitose Windowpane | |
| Deciphered | |||
| Fraktalseq: Blossom | |||
| I, Banished | |||
| Hello1&2 | Compilation of the EP's "Hello Skypedals EP1" and "Hello Skypedals EP2" | ||
| 2010 | Geese | ||
| dstnt | isÆ | ||
| Night Signals II | |||
| iss2+2 | |||
| Vektroid | Telnet Erotika | Reissued in 2017 as Telnet Complete | |
| 2011 | Polytravellers | ||
| Starcalc | |||
| Neo Cali | |||
| Fuji Grid TV | Prism Genesis | Reissued in 2016 as Fuji Grid TV EX under the name New Dreams Ltd. | |
| Laserdisc Visions | New Dreams Ltd. | ||
| New Dreams Ltd. | Initiation Tape - Part One | Reissued in 2014 as Initiation Tape: Isle of Avalon Edition | |
| esc不在 | Black Horse | ||
| MIDI Dungeon | |||
| Tanning Salon | Dream Castle | ||
| Macintosh Plus | Floral Shoppe | ||
| 2012 | 情報デスクVIRTUAL | 札幌コンテンポラリー | |
| Sacred Tapestry | Shader | Reissued in 2016 as Shader Complete | |
| Vektroid | Color Ocean Road | ||
| 2013 | PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises | Home™ | |
| ClearSkies™ | |||
| 2016 | CTO | GDGA1 | In collaboration with Ray Sherman |
| New Dreams Ltd. | Sleepline | ||
| Eden | |||
| PALACIO DEL RIO | NO TITLE | In collaboration with Siddiq | |
| Vektroid | Midnight Run | ||
| Vektroid Texture Maps | |||
| Big Danger | |||
| RE•SET | |||
| 2017 | Seed & Synthetic Earth | ||
| Peace Forever Eternal | Nextcentury | ||
| 2020 | Macintosh Plus | Untitled Project[14] | |
| Vektroid | No Earth | ||
| TBA | The Children's New Book | [15] |
References
- Lillie, Mitch (31 December 2013). "Scene Report: Electronic Music". Willamette Week. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- "Vektroid's Bandcamp". Retrieved 8 July 2014.
- RaRa [@VektroidLive] (26 December 2019). "I'm often reminded about how Sailor Moon probably played no small role in making me suspect early in life that I was trans. Like, OK, sure. Sounds plausible enough. ... But then, every so often, THIS shit comes back to haunt me" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- Scarpa, Paolo (December 2012). "情報デスクVIRTUAL 札幌コンテンポラリー". Favorite 50 Albums of 2012. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- Parker, James (December 2012). "Macintosh Plus Floral Shoppe". Favorite 50 Albums of 2012. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- Downer, Adam (16 February 2014). "Review: Machintosh Plus - FLORAL SHOPPE". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- "January's best Bandcamp release". Fact. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- Bowe, Miles (10 February 2015). "Vektroid makes triumphant return with her massive Magic Fades remix". Fact. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- "Vektroid Drops Three New Releases via Bandcamp". Hipstetic. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- Harper, Adam (2 February 2015). "What Health Goth Actually Means". The Fader. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- Cantino, Chris; Grabarek, Mike; Scott, Jeremy (20 October 2014). "Is the Health Goth Movement Selling Out to the Mainstream?" (Interview). Interviewed by Alex Horne. Vice. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- Galil, Leor (February 19, 2013). "Vaporwave and the Observer Effect". Chicago Reader.
- Friedlander, Emilie; McDermott, Patrick D. (October 8, 2015). "A Recent History of Microgenres". The Fader.
- "Vektroid on Twitter: Just so you know - the Macintosh Plus sequel is NOT called "Rise From Your Grave", nor is it "Sick & Panic"! Sick & Panic is one of roughly a dozen (also long) tracks from the album. I'm not announcing the full title yet, but for now...MACINTOSH PLUS PLUS/Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
- "Moebius Blue (from "Seed & Synthetic Earth") by Vektroid - Free Listening on SoundCloud". SoundCloud. Perma.cc. 1 November 2018. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
