Miami Virtual was originally released digitally on February 2nd, 2015 (could this date be a coincidence? I will elaborate on my theory later in this piece) on Dan Mason’s independent Bandcamp storefront. A little over a year later, at the end of March, it was acquired by Lost Angles, a cassette label located in Ottawa, Canada, and as of the writing of this article, is still being pressed.
The album opens up with “と言って別れ”, which roughly translates to, “Say Farewell”. Waves crash while a sultry brass melody and shimmering chimes draw the listener into a seemingly contradictory landscape of overcast weather in the Floridian Keys. Right from the get-go, Miami Virtual sets the tone for an ambient escape.
Dan Mason’s nine-track experience in plunderphonics was one of the top releases of the summer on Bandcamp as a whole, and now sits as the 7th best vaporwave album of all time on RateYourMusic, bumping out essentials such as James Ferarro’s Far Side Virtual and Sacred Tapestry’s Shader by the skin of their teeth. Miami Virtual, while conceptually considered a “winter” album, can now be an essential soundtrack to the summer.
The initial release of this album, as stated earlier, was on February 2nd, 2015, which also doubles as Groundhog Day here in the United States. Similar to the film starring Bill Murray—and as farfetched as this may seem—this album can be compared to being stuck in an endless loop. With seamless track qualities, it may sound as if the album is never ending if one is not paying attention. Again, this is most likely an improbable speculation. After all, I’m sure all of us may not want to leave paradise once we get there.
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