Gag me with a spoon
May 16, 2014 10:02 PM   Subscribe

Poolside Radio is a bizarre slice of the 1980s in a browser. Strange old clips of 80s movies combined with 80s synth music and a lovely pastel palette make for a good time.
posted by mathowie (28 comments total) 62 users marked this as a favorite
 
This gives off some crazy vibes. Love it.

He's streaming from youtube. Here is a link to the videos he's using if anyone cares to see them individually.
posted by nerftoe at 10:36 PM on May 16, 2014 [2 favorites]


Haha! My least favorite decade of them all, now with its own website!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 11:10 PM on May 16, 2014 [6 favorites]


I'm the target market for this. It's a home screen bookmark on my smartphone already.
posted by sleeping bear at 11:38 PM on May 16, 2014 [2 favorites]


This is... sublime. WS Burroughs couldn't have dreamed of this.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:44 PM on May 16, 2014 [2 favorites]


was this bullshit made by 30 year olds? this is the least 80's thing i've ever seen.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 11:46 PM on May 16, 2014 [3 favorites]


Huh. I just keep getting modern house music, no 80s music. Maybe there was a DMCA complaint or something?
posted by Bugbread at 12:38 AM on May 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


No way this music is 80s, it's way too minimalist/wide. Dig the idea though.
posted by wyndham at 1:29 AM on May 17, 2014


80's here. The first three selections were straight from a mix tape I made for a weekend softball tourney in Atlanta in 87. For a pool party. Some 90s creep as it progresses, but it started out terrifying - there for a minute I thought I was 28 again.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 4:38 AM on May 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


If somebody put the MST3K silhouettes at the bottom, this would be perfect.
posted by PlusDistance at 5:06 AM on May 17, 2014 [6 favorites]


Huh. I just reloaded it five times and googled each piece of music, and the oldest song was from 2011, with the other four tunes from 2013 or 2014. I'm kinda jealous of y'all.
posted by Bugbread at 5:08 AM on May 17, 2014


Love these tunes! Even though that cool Usher remix wasn't so 80s.
posted by oceanjesse at 6:35 AM on May 17, 2014


All of these tracks make me feel like I'm listening to a digital mixtape from 2009. I like the concept and the clips, but man, that music.
posted by Redfield at 6:49 AM on May 17, 2014


People didn't go to the beach as much as is depicted in the 80s. Think crowded pee-filled community pools.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:17 AM on May 17, 2014


If somebody put the MST3K silhouettes at the bottom, this would be perfect.

"It's the 80s! Do a lot of coke and vote for Ronald Reagan!"
posted by drezdn at 7:24 AM on May 17, 2014 [4 favorites]


My visit had a clip from Lucas, which I've never seen all the way through, but I could swear was on at least once a day in everyone's house during the 80s.
posted by drezdn at 7:26 AM on May 17, 2014


I didn't mean it only played 80s music, I mean 80s-esque music. Most of the tracks I hear on it are modern but attempting to get that cheesy 80s sound.
posted by mathowie at 8:36 AM on May 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


I still live in the '80's, as it is the universal decade of absolute awesomeness and now I see it is slowly overtaking the Internet now...thank you for the rad link, dude...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 9:08 AM on May 17, 2014


I love this!

Worth noting: I got a video that would make me close my browser at work (tall, tan, buff blondes, skimpy swimsuits, hot body contest, etc.) So definitely LOLBUTTS and potentially NSFW.
posted by juliplease at 9:25 AM on May 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


It's modern music made to fit a 1980's vibe as vaguely remembered by 30 year olds. So while it's not really 80's music, it's still a pretty fun genre choice. The out-of-context video also has a vaguely-remembered-childhood vibe. I think the execution is great from that perspective.
posted by sixohsix at 9:47 AM on May 17, 2014


What button do I press to put on the scorpion jacket?
posted by Redfield at 10:53 AM on May 17, 2014


James Murphy said something in one of his songs about "Borrowed nostalgia from the unremembered 80's"

Some of this music gets lumped under "chillwave" for those who like to pigeonhole.

Some of it noodles off into the lo-fi weeds like it was taped off the radio late at night or dubbed from VHS to listen to it in some old honda with a sweet pioneer tapedeck and 6x9's in the rear deck. Everything is slightly magenta and the tracking is a little off.

Sometimes I think this sound might have evolved in the 90's instead of the 10's if hip hop hadn't come along and changed absolutely everything.
posted by freq at 12:59 PM on May 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


I love this. The tracks are total 80's synth revival which emphasize the dreamy haze of nostalgia rather than the actual crappy sounds. And people did go to the beach if they lived near one. Also, the prototypical 80's movie summer always happened in California.
posted by grumpybear69 at 4:20 PM on May 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


It's the Procatinator for a new old generation!
posted by JHarris at 7:26 PM on May 17, 2014


This is like taking quaaludes with Bret Easton Ellis.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 8:43 PM on May 17, 2014


Instant nostalgia (for 2009.) Pretty cool capsule of the chillwave aesthetic.
posted by naju at 11:12 PM on May 17, 2014


Procatinator...So much time I can never get back...i hate you Proctinator
posted by xtian at 6:17 AM on May 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Totally rad. I could get sucked into watching this for hours.
posted by dnash at 7:35 AM on May 18, 2014


I see some 20-Minute Workout videos in there. Clips of the original music here (warning: angelfire pop-up attack). My ten-year-old self still can't believe that this show was on during the daytime.
posted by Kabanos at 2:07 PM on May 20, 2014


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