Cardian松の木 Evokes Classic Era of Roblox

Even the project name, Cardian松の木 translates to Cardian (Matsunoki) Pine Tree (thank you Google Translator), and references gamer culture, specifically Yu-Gi-Oh! with the Flower Cardian Pine. Of this I am not certain because the research led me to infinite rabbit holes not very familiar to me, and not a journey I want to embark on right now. I did have a very brief period of interest in Yu-Gi-Oh! back in-the-day and I spent even less time with Roblox, a free game site for kids pre-dating Minecraft, coding, designing, and learning how to build their own games among other things. We could also credit Roblox outlasting its initial influence on Cardian松の木 and developing his musical style which he appropriately calls Robloxwave. Robloxwave is his style of vaporwave that preserves his hauntological approach to the genre, as he puts it:      

 "Roblox was glorious. [I would] always go on for a good time. Menial obstacle courses, zombies, and frivolous house building were staples of the once great website."

Vaporwave On Vinyl, Mini-Disc, For The Spooky Season

"A once great website," could suggest that he feels Roblox's best days are behind it. Cardian松の木 attempts to capture the nostalgia of it all with his mini-album, a collection of vintage computer sounds, creepy ambient music and game play effects he would have experienced at the time. This was originally released on Cardian松の木's Sticky Noises label in early 2018 before Underwater Computing _ re-released it this year. The packaging is a little easier on the eyes this time around but more importantly, the label has transferred this mini-album to minidisc and vinyl for a limited time. This is only the latest reincarnation of this release, having already gone through Power_Lunch Corporation, the now defunct VAPE tapes, and Forecast Sounds in the form of colored cassettes, floppys and even VHS.

Having this mini-album looping in the background, I get a lot out of this journey. Some of the tracks become more familiar but then you'll find that in cases, one track was broken up into three. It's in cases like these that get you through the more tracks faster even though they're about 30 seconds average, more or less. There is certainly some action and adventure along the way, where you can hear swords clashing, thunderstorms, running through water, etc. It conjours up visuals in your imagination as opposed to putting them on your computer monitor. This is definitely a fun release. The tracks at times are haunting, which is right on time as we go into October, which is a plus for me and should be for everyone who loves this time of year.  

As of this writing, I get the most out of 12. 急速な崩壊 (フルサークル) - Rapid Collapse (Full Circle).

Here's the translation from start to finish of the tracks that needed translating:  

1. ☆★☆ 初心者 ☆★☆ - (☆★☆ Beginner ☆★☆)
3. ├┬┴┬┴ マスター ┬┴┬┴┤ - (├┬┴┬┴ Master ┬┴┬┴┤)
4. X∩X ペイントボールのマスター X∩X - (X∩X Paintball Master X∩X)
5. 交差道路 ! - (Crossroads!)
6. ロブスホーダー  - (Robs Hoarder)
9. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ お化け屋敷 - (~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Haunted House)
10. 勝利 BLOXXED! - (Victory BLOXXED!)
12. 急速な崩壊 (フルサークル) - Rapid Collapse (Full Circle)
13. ううふ ううふ ううふ ううふ ううふ ううふ (- Uhhh uhh uhh uhh uhh uhh uhh)
15. lighthouse自宅 - (lighthouse home)
16. ログアウト画面 - (log out screen)

Bes sure to check out his other projects under Hello, I'm Real and other releases under Cardian松の木. Also, check out his Shatterfoil Industries label for more rabbit holes I'm not ready to go down yet.