Vektroid
| Vektroid | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ramona Andra Xavier |
| Also known as |
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| Born |
August 19, 1992 (age 24)[1] Washington |
| Origin | Portland, Oregon |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Music producer |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts |
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Ramona Andra Xavier (born August 19, 1992,[1] known by her primary alias Vektroid) is an American electronic musician from Portland, Oregon. She has released music under her Vektroid alias as well as others, such as dstnt, Laserdisc Visions, New Dreams Ltd., Macintosh Plus, Virtual Information Desk and PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises.
Xavier played a prominent role in the popularization of the vaporwave subgenre of electronic music with the release of her only studio album under the Macintosh Plus alias, Floral Shoppe, in 2011. The album helped popularize vaporwave throughout the Internet, along with Oneohtrix Point Never's Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 (2010). Since then, she has continued to release music through Bandcamp.
Early life
Xavier was born in Washington State in 1992. She began producing and releasing electronic music in 2005. Xavier now resides in Hawthorne, Portland, Oregon.[2]
Music career
Xavier has released music through aliases including Macintosh Plus, PrismCorp, and Laserdisc Visions, among others.[3] She reports that she has released over forty full-length albums 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 her most recent vaporwave project, 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 revision 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] Xavier's heavy use of net art in vaporwave, in turn, helped to spawn the health goth subculture.[11]
Discography
Studio albums
- Shitaihokansho (2008) (as Vektordrum)
- I, Banished (2009, reissued in 2010 as Geese: I, Banished Re-cut) (as Vektordrum)
- Capitose Windowpane (2009) (as Vektordrum)
- Discrét Night Signals (2010) (as Vektordrum)
- Trinity (2010) (as Vektordrum)
- isÆ (2010) (as dstnt)
- Nsii (2010) (as dstnt)
- Polytravellers (2011)
- Starcalc (2011)
- New Dreams Ltd. (2011) (as Laserdisc Visions)
- Initiation Tape - Part One (2011, reissued in 2014 as Initiation Tape: Isle of Avalon Edition) (as New Dreams Ltd.)
- Black Horse / Midi Dungeon (2011) (as esc不在)
- Neo Cali (2011)
- Floral Shoppe (2011) (as Macintosh Plus)
- Contemporary Sapporo (2012) (as Virtual Information Desk)
- Color Ocean Road (2012)
- Shader (2012, reissued in 2016 as Shader Complete) (as Sacred Tapestry)
- Home™ / ClearSkies™ (2013) (as PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises)
- Dream Castle (2015) (as Tanning Salon)
- Sleepline (2016) (as New Dreams Ltd.)
- Big Danger (2016)
- RE•SET (2016)
- Midnight Run (with Siddiq) (2016) (as Vektroid)
- Eden (2016) (as New Dreams Ltd.)
- GDGA1 (2016) (as CTO & Ray Sherman)
Remix albums
- Deciphered (And Re-Encrypted) (2009) (as Vektordrum)
- Comfort Zone Remixes: Floral Shoppe (2016) (as Macintosh Plus)
Compilation albums
- Texture Maps (2016)
EPs
- Fraktalseq: Blossom (2009) (as Vektordrum)
- Hello Skypedals EP1 (2009) (as Vektordrum)
- Hello Skypedals Ep2 (2009) (as Vektordrum)
- Isodmos (2010) (as dstnt)
- iss2 (2010) (as dstnt)
- ntdrv (2010) (as dstnt)
- Telnet Erotika (2010)
- Prism Genesis (2011, reissued in 2016 as Fuji Grid TV EX by New Dreams Ltd.) (as Fuji Grid TV)
- Polymind (2011)
- NO TITLE (with Siddiq) (2016) (as PALACIO DEL RIO)
Singles
- "Enemy (feat. Moon Mirror)" (2013)
References
- 1 2 http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/ramona-xavier.html
- ↑ "Vektroid's Bandcamp". Retrieved 8 July 2014.
- ↑ Lillie, Mitch (31 December 2013). "Scene Report: Electronic Music". Willamette Week. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- 1 2 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.
- 1 2 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). Interview with Alex Horne. Vice. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
