Hypnagogic pop was a term coined by David Keenan in his 2009 article in the wire and he referred to it as “pop music through a memory of a memory.” The word hypnagogic itself describes the transitional state between being awake and asleep where lucid dreaming, hallucinations, and sleep paralysis occur. This music is primarily made in the 2000s with outmoded analog recording systems and a retro aesthetic and sound. Imagine your parents playing their 80s music in the other room as you fall asleep as a kid.
This genre uses echos, delays, smothered guitars, synth sounds to create this nostalgic lo-fi sound. Artists also often deliberately degraded recordings and left in sounds like a tape hiss.
H-pop relays on the collective memory and personal histories of the artist of the 70s-90s, so it doesn’t faithfully recreate the style. Ariel Pink was labeled the founder of hypnagogic pop with his album haunted graffiti. He recorded all his music on cassettes and was influenced heavily by 60s-80s pop music.
White Freckles- Ariel Pink
Julie- Outer Limits Recordings
Backyard- Ducktails
Pizza Boy- Jack Stauber
Cassie (Won’t You Be My Doll)- Part Time
Fear O The Light- Katie Dey
Dumb- George Clanton
Integration- LA Vampires, Maria Minerva
The Glitzy Hive- Neon Indian
Plastic Raincoats In The Pig Parade- Ariel Pink
So Psycho- Timeout Room
The Mall- Ducktails
Do Your Best- John Maus
Trashy Boys- Tickley Feather
Pocahaunted- Technicolor Hearts
Haunted Graffiti- Ariel Pink
Abandoned Plaza- Macabre Plaza
Dead Weight- Jack Stauber
So Unreal- LA Vampires featuring Matrix Metals
California Shakedown- Puro Instinct
Oozin’ Out- Timeout Room
Rock and Roll Night Club- Mac DeMarco
Strawberry Privilege- Yves Tumor
Hilly Fields- Nick Nicely
I Need My T.V.- Outer Limits Recordings
Black Cat- Broadcast
Pale Spectre- The Wake
Audio Gallery: Hypnagogic Pop 3.11.24
March 11, 2024
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