''Blank Banshee 0'' is the debut studio album by Canadian artist and producer

Blank Banshee Patrick Driscoll (born June 28, 1987), known professionally as Blank Banshee, is a Canadian artist, musician and producer from Saint John, New Brunswick. He rose to popularity in 2012 with his album ''Blank Banshee 0'', which combined traditiona ...

. It was released for free via

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

on September 1, 2012.

Background and composition

In 2010 Patrick Driscoll and Curtis "Cormorant" Ferguson began performing live as Blank Banshees (previously Shinjuku MAD) which consisted of "predominantly instrumental" compositions. By 2012 the duo had become a solo act, with Driscoll continuing to release instrumental music under the pseudonym Blank Banshee and Ferguson appearing as a recurrent guest vocalist. ''Blank Banshee 0'' was produced between 2011 and 2012 in Driscoll's hometown, Saint John, Canada. In the summer of 2012 Driscoll made a move for the West Coast, seeking to escape the "bubble of economic and demographic slump" plaguing the creative industry of his

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

hometown at the time; he relocated to

Vancouver, Canada Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, releasing ''Blank Banshee 0'' shortly thereafter. The album was released as a

pay what you want Pay what you want (or PWYW, also referred to as value-for-value model) is a pricing strategy where buyers pay their desired amount for a given commodity. This amount can sometimes include zero. A minimum (floor) price may be set, and/or a suggeste ...

digital download via

on September 1, 2012. ''Blank Banshee 0'' was composed with an Akai MPD26 using Ableton Live. The album consists of largely

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and

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...

sourced samples layered over original beats, instrumentation and vocals. Several aspects of the album including song titles allude to

computer technology Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...

. Many tracks blend

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

style beats with elements of

seapunk Seapunk is a subculture that originated on Tumblr in 2011. It is associated with an aquatic-themed style of fashion, 3D net art, iconography, and allusions to popular culture of the 1990s. The advent of seapunk also spawned its own electronic mu ...

and

vaporwave Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, visual art style, and Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, elevator music, elevator, contemporary ...

, such as OS start-up sounds and 1990s-era

video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...

. Exclaim magazine named "Teen Pregnancy" among notable songs featuring samples inspired by ''The Message'' by ''Grand Master Flash and The Furious Five''. Commenting on his use of sampling, Driscoll states it "stemmed from a desire to separate myself from the guitar driven music I was making and listening to at the time." Many songs on the album feature vocal and lyrical contributions by Cormorant, the stage name accredited to Curtis Ferguson. The song "Dreamcast" features a vocal melody by Ferguson from a Shinjuku MAD song originally released in 2010. ''Blank Banshee 0'' has been released on cassette tape, compact disc, vinyl, and USB flash drive independently through the online store Hologram Bay.

Reception

''Blank Banshee 0'''s "vaportrap" production style helped popularize

in the 2010s. The album's influence has since been attributed to a shift in the direction of the genre. ''Esquire'' calls it "more approachable" than other vaporwave subgenres while building "on the basic premise". In 2016 ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' called ''Blank Banshee 0'' a "definitive document of the vaporwave era." ''Bandcamp Daily'' called the album "a progressive record, abandoning the often dissonant nature of vaporwave but emphasizing the more accessible elements, and incorporating beats characteristic of trap music."

In popular culture

"Teen Pregnancy" became part of a viral video trend in 2016 called

Simpsonwave Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, visual art style, and Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, elevator, R&B, and lounge music from ...

. Music from the album has appeared on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Unplanned America Unplanned America is a gonzo television documentary series about three Australians, Pawel Jarecki, Tim 'Gonzo' Ryan and Nick Maher, who travel across America without a plan, other than to embark new adventures encountering as many unique indivi ...

''. In 2020,

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users shared their experiences with cyberbullying using the song "Teen Pregnancy".

Track listing

Adapted from official liner notes. Notes * "Wavestep", "Venus Death Trap", "Hyper Object", "Photosynthesis" and "Dreamcast" feature words and vocals by Cormorant

References

{{Authority control 2012 debut albums Blank Banshee albums Vaporwave albums