Best Physicals of the Month: June 2021
At the end of each month here on Celadon Plaza, we like to highlight our favorite Vaporwave physical releases. Although each month brings many top notch products, we’ll be narrowing it down to the 3 that we enjoyed the most and personally decided to buy.
Another month gone means another look at the best items it had had to offer! The past month unfortunately had a lot of big pre orders in which we won't see the actual product for months, but we'll be sure to cover those as soon as they come in!
As a reminder, the criteria for these lists is as follows:
1. The item was released between the first and last day of the month
2. The item is physically in our hands at the time of posting
3. The item was released as a pre order that stated release/shipment was set for the current month. (i.e. A pre order is listed in March and stated to release or ship out in April. This could be feature on an April list)
Alright, let's take a look at the best that June had to offer the physical Vaporwave scene!
Atlantic Memories/Exotics - vcr-classique
Self-released - Double Cassette
A rather small and quiet release, vcr-classique reissued 2 of their most popular albums this past June 1st. 'Atlantic Memories' and 'Exotics' originally received tape releases via Business Casual in 2019 and 2020 as separate cassettes. For the reissue, however, the artist decided to self-release a butterfly shell case double cassette featuring both albums. A very small run that only featured 15 copies and sold out quickly, we are extremely happy to be one of the few to grab a copy. The butterfly case perfectly features both albums' respective artwork on individual jcards and the tape shells are colored yellow and blue to correspond with the art. Both albums blend into each other marvelously when listened to back to back given their ample amount of classic Vapor and late-nite lofi tracks that are just as good for drifting off to sleep as they are for walking the city streets at night. The re-release was a welcome surprise from the artist and we could easily see a reissue given how fast they sold out. Keep an eye out if you're missing these albums on your shelf!
Favorite Track: sunday noon
CRS 3.0 - Donovan Hikaru & 猫 シ Corp.
No Problema Tapes - Cassette
Talk about unexpected re-releases! No Problema Tapes dropped a reissue of the 2017 split album 'CRS 3.0' from artists Donovan Hikaru and 猫 シ Corp on June 4th. Originally released on Midnight Moon Tapes, 'CRS 3.0' features corporate themed Vaporwave, taking us through original compositions by Hikaru in the first half and classic CatCorp tracks in the second that are sure to make you feel like you're wandering the halls of a business complex heavily monitored by cameras that follow your every move. No Problema gave the tape their classic treatment, with full on-body printing, a high quality dub and matching obi-strip.
Favorite Track: Golf Clubs
To You Baby, With Love - Tupperwave
Oasis Ltd. - GBA Cartridge
We've seen Vaporwave physicals evolve greatly over the existence of the genre. From the traditional releases on cassette, vinyl and CD, to the more uncommon on VHS and DVD, to even the obscure ones on floppy disk and reel-to-reel, it's no secret that artists and labels push the physical scene of the genre to new heights as they try to release the music they love on the most interesting and abnormal formats they can find.
Enter Oasis Ltd, who brings us the most unexpected and engrossing format for a Vaporwave physical release we've seen in a long time: a Gameboy Advance Cartridge. Oasis had previously released two albums on the format in 2021, but they took it to a whole new level in June, putting Tupperwave's fan-favorite 'To You Baby, With Love' on their newest type of Vaporwave physical.
We may normally only cover vinyl and cassette here on Celadon Plaza, but we felt an exception had to be made to highlight an evolution in Vaporwave physical collecting.
A tremendous amount of love was put into this release, evident by the superb design of the game packaging and the two cartridges containing the album. Popping in a cart to your old GBA reveals not only the album in its entirety, but an audio visual experience containing footage relating to the samples used as well as moments from the best of 80s and 90s cinema. Mingkurray, the artist responsible for the visuals, went above and beyond, matching the flow of the album precisely to the images and videos we see flashing across the minuscule GBA screen in degraded, yet endearing, quality. We applaud Oasis Ltd, Mingkurray and Tupperwave for their work on this product; it's truly one of the more special Vaporwave physicals we've collected over the years. It's without question, the best physical of the month we received, and we're anxious for what's next from the up and coming label!
Favorite Track: Back To Yesterday
And that's Celadon Plaza's Best Physicals of June! As always, remember to subscribe to our Mail List to receive all weekly and emergency physical updates and check our complete Release Archive to stay up to date on all the various releases occurring around the Vaporwave scene so you don't miss the top ones of the next month. Remember as well to follow our Twitter page for updates, as we retweet noteworthy physical announcements and make condensed versions of Celadon Plaza posts there. It's a quick and convenient way for us to instantly update you all when a new product is announced, so be sure to follow us @CeladonPlazaDRP and turn on post notifications.
Until next time, hope to see you around the plaza!