Ramona Andra Langley 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] Langley played a prominent role in the popularization of the vaporwave subgenre with the release of her ninth studio album, Floral Shoppe, under the alias Macintosh Plus. Since then, she has continued to release music through Bandcamp and other online platforms.
Ramona Andra Langley | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Vektroid
|
| Origin | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Music producer |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels |
|
Career
editLangley began producing and releasing electronic music in 2005. She 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 Langley's music as an "exposé of late capitalism".[2] James Parker noted Vektroid's "sensuous virtuality" and "new cyber-pop unconscious".[3] 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".[4]
Tiny Mix Tapes ranked Floral Shoppe and 札幌コンテンポラリー, released by Langley under her Macintosh Plus and 情報デスクVIRTUAL aliases, respectively, on its list of its 50 favorite albums of 2012.[2][3] 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.[5]
Langley 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, Langley 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.[6] 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.[7]
Impact and legacy
editUnder various aliases, Langley played a role in the creation of the modern electronic genre vaporwave between 2010 and 2013.[8][9] Her projects, Macintosh Plus and New Dreams Ltd., are considered as the primary artists in the vaporwave genre.[10][11]
Personal life
editLangley resides in Portland, Oregon.[12] She is a trans woman.[13] She was diagnosed with autism in February 2024.[14]
Discography
edit| 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 | ||
| 2022 | Vektroid & New Dreams Ltd. | Fuji Grid TV II: EMX | |
| 2023 | Vektroid | cRASH 1 | |
| 2024 | cRASH 2: Mac +/- | ||
| 777 PIG DANGER | |||
| TBA | Macintosh Plus | Untitled album[15] | |
| Vektroid | No Earth | ||
| The Children's New Book | [16] |
References
edit- ^ a b Lillie, Mitch (December 31, 2013). "Scene Report: Electronic Music". Willamette Week. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
- ^ a b 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 June 23, 2014.
- ^ a b Parker, James (December 2012). "Macintosh Plus Floral Shoppe". Favorite 50 Albums of 2012. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
- ^ Downer, Adam (February 16, 2014). "Review: Machintosh Plus - FLORAL SHOPPE". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
- ^ "January's best Bandcamp release". Fact. February 7, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
- ^ Bowe, Miles (February 10, 2015). "Vektroid makes triumphant return with her massive Magic Fades remix". Fact. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
- ^ "Vektroid Drops Three New Releases via Bandcamp". Hipstetic. February 17, 2016. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
- ^ Harper, Adam (February 2, 2015). "What Health Goth Actually Means". The Fader. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
- ^ Cantino, Chris; Grabarek, Mike; Scott, Jeremy (October 20, 2014). "Is the Health Goth Movement Selling Out to the Mainstream?" (Interview). Interviewed by Alex Horne. Vice. Retrieved July 16, 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's Bandcamp". Retrieved July 8, 2014.
- ^ RaRa [@VektroidLive] (June 24, 2021). "Just now remembering that I came out as trans ten years ago this month. Holy shit" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ RaRa [@VektroidLive] (February 22, 2024). "also i got an official autism diagnosis, i am mid-high level 1 autism certified now" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "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 July 17, 2020.
- ^ "Moebius Blue (from "Seed & Synthetic Earth") by Vektroid - Free Listening on SoundCloud". SoundCloud. Perma.cc. November 1, 2018. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018.