Vįr+üål Åįrßñß - ▚ ▛ ▜ ▟ ▞
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Vįr+üål Åįrßñß
EP
Ambient
Liam Murphy
December 16, 2021
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August 5, 2024
Tracks in this feature
Tracks in this release
The glitter and neon brilliance of an arcade elicits an excitement equalled only by a colossal sugar rush. Zany music, blinding lights, and the chatters of clattering machines make those spaces rumble. Like being a kid in a candy store, the choices can be overwhelming – and a waste of money too. Your favourite game may be in there somewhere, but the chaotic multicoloured carpets often lead to attractions doing everything they can to ingest more of your coins in exchange for fleeting carnivalistic highs. Certainly, arcades are fun, but the magic can wear off with age. There is one section that is perennially tempting, however: the arcade racers.
The arcade could be one that spans endlessly or is simply a room with a few machines at most, but those bold, ergonomic racing chairs are always present. Without them, the arcade would be missing an essential limb. When they lay empty, the automatic gameplay on screen flashes ever more visibly and induces people into feeding the machines with coins – a one-way ticket to the high-velocity drift racing where flashy polygonal sights entrance the eyes.
It’s only appropriate that an artist like Hello Meteor explores this phenomenon. Already a master of mapping time and place, the album The Oahu GP 2: Hyper Tropic is packaged as a sequel to its 2021 predecessor, largely covering the same territory. While the first instalment possessed that cruisy feeling intrinsic to racing games in general, its synthwave-inspired smooth soul palette stopped it from reaching the high-octane spirits like those in the real arcades. The Hyper Tropic title underscores this repackaged burst of energy, where every ingredient for exhilarating arcade racing is included in this succinct release. Hello Meteor’s new age jingles embark on a fresh venture when redecorated as sound bites for each facet of The Oahu GP.
Cool Sport (Main Menu Fanfare) awakens glinted to zipping race cars that burst into an atmospheric drum ‘n’ bass jam. The skittery ambient techno groove of Cool Garage (Car Select and Option) depicts the mesmerising task of sifting through the polychromatic cars. The standout is the gargantuan Good Morning! (Circuit H3) – not only a vibrant welcome to a new day, but a new touchstone in the Hello Meteor catalogue. The jungle influence is seamlessly embedded in this breakbeat-heavy tune, conjuring the scene of a tropic sunset on what may be the coolest circuit in The Oahu GP game – a feat credited to giving this song a worthy home.
Other fast-paced themes follow, like the loosely Prodigy-inspired big beat of the titular banger Hyper Tropic (X Island Circuit). The rest of the songs play like scrolling through a debug menu, as if it’s “Game Over”: The soft ambient pads in Next Time, Buddy! (DISQUALIFIED) coddle you through the disappointment of losing, as each howling pulse asks if you want to insert an extra credit to continue playing – the addictive lure of the arcade perpetually looms. Meanwhile, Debug Mode (Mirror Tōge) literally plays on the debug idea – its acid trance groove echoes like it’s trailing through pipes, as if inspecting the mazey inner workings of The Oahu GP’s technical mechanics.
After the race is run, Hello Meteor has crafted another amazing concept release, an impressive assortment of sublime sounds for the most exciting fictitious arcade racer around. With the advent of this collection, no matter how bad your driving skills are, you’re inspired to careen through a thrilling racetrack experience. Every track is a winner.
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