Chillwave
Hazy, nostalgic bedroom pop from the blog era — sun-faded synths and tape warble.
What you're really asking
You're asking about chillwave: the hazy, nostalgic pop and electronic sound that flourished on music blogs around 2009 and 2010. Sun-faded synths, tape warble and summer-memory moods, made mostly alone at home and shared online.
Where it sits
Chillwave appeared through the blog era, a loose tag for bedroom producers working in warm, washed-out textures. Washed Out's Feel It All Around and Toro y Moi's early records set the tone, with Memory Tapes, Tycho, Com Truise and others filling it out.
It was an internet phenomenon first, named half in jest and then adopted.
The scene
Who: Washed Out, Toro y Moi, Memory Tapes, Tycho, Com Truise, Twin Shadow, Small Black and the blog-era bedroom producers. Where: online, late two-thousands.
What: hazy, nostalgic synth pop with tape warble. How a record gets in: it belongs to this chillwave moment.
The leading records
Oddballs
Keep digging
- Start with the defining singles
- Toro y Moi's early run
- The more electronic, synth-led side
- Where chillwave led next