I recently read a great article about “chillwave” as a genre and the effects of labeling a burgeoning scene over at The Bygone Bureau. A great read for fans of the genre that want to know its (very short) history & origins, and for people new to the scene who want to learn more about it. Below is a snippet but you can read the full article here.

“Since the middle of 2009, much of the online music community has been abuzz with talk of a burgeoning genre known as “chillwave” (a.k.a. glo-fi, hypnagogic pop). Acts like Washed Out, Memory Tapes, and Neon Indian were crowned the consensus forerunners of the scene, and observers scrambled to cover the phenomenon. What typifies this new sound? Here’s an excellent description from The Stranger:

Sonically, this stuff is generally as mellow and relaxed as its name implies, hazy and soft, with lo-fi washes of guitar, synth, and voice all blurring together; delay and echo are common traits, as is looping and the use of samples. Aesthetically, it’s bright but faded, beachy and pastoral. The genre’s great unifying theme is a kind of fond nostalgia for some vague, idealized childhood. Its posture is a sonic shoulder shrug, a languorous, musical “whatevs” (perhaps inspired by the bleak job prospects, especially for would-be musicians, in our current crap economy).”