I think āvapourwaveā and its associated a e s t h e t i c s are considered a bit gauche by many people nowadays, but Iām not the kind of person to let that deter me from enjoying something that I really like. Iāve actually got my own twist on the vapour vibe that means a lot to me, even if it probably wonāt take off and become the next cottagecore anytime soon. Itās called āsmartcore,ā and I like to think itās a combination of the late 90s/00s nostalgia inherent in kidcore and āvanillaā vapourwave, plus the whole āI was a weird, academically-overachieving gifted kid growing up, how could you tellā sensibility of dark academia. Thatās kind of a mouthful, though, so either hop on over to @smart-wavesā for a visual demonstration, or listen to this playlist full of cheerful and upbeat jams all about maths, science, and history. In short, smartcore is all about how fun learning could be as a kid, and how vibrant and full of possibilities the universe could seem.
TELEX - āBRAINWASHā
KRAFTWERK - āPOCKET CALCULATORā
ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK - āTESLA GIRLSā
THE B-52ā²S - āMESOPOTAMIAā
NIK KERSHAW - āDON QUIXOTEā
PET SHOP BOYS - āIāM WITH STUPIDā
THOMAS DOLBY & RYUICHI SAKAMOTO - āFIELD WORKā










