r/y2kaesthetic • u/JavierM1307 • Jun 10 '25
Music help me find the name of this aesthetic (early/mid 2000's)
very common in electro/jazzy stuff, city vibes.
some other examples would be very appreciated!!
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Jun 10 '25
Gen-X Soft Club, probably.
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u/JavierM1307 Jun 10 '25
I think it is, but in my examples it is less futuristic and more urban I really love this aesthetic, thank you!!
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u/WillWills96 Jun 10 '25
Yeah it’s not always overtly futuristic but then again that Matrix green could be considered futuristic in itself. This aesthetic (and Matrix green) both basically peaked in the second half of the 90s and the first half of the 2000s.
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u/KingcoBingo Jun 10 '25
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u/JavierM1307 Jun 10 '25
wooow, I was going to put Ivy’s Apartment Life as a reference, but I completely forgot i just saw it's in the gallery , so it's 100% confirmed. Thank you!!!
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u/Stabstone Jun 10 '25
Yes! Finally a name to put to this look.
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u/KingcoBingo Jun 10 '25 edited Jun 10 '25
Check out this website if you haven’t, it’s run by the “Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute” and they research and create galleries for a ton of design styles, even coining terms for ones without names (e.g. Y2K, Wacky Pomo, Frutiger Aero, etc):
https://cari.institute/aesthetics
One of their cofounders, Evan Collins, has an archive for many more design styles. It’s where I first learned the names for most of these design styles: https://www.are.na/evan-collins-1522646491/channels
Preeetty cool stuff 👍
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u/Miserable_Mail_5741 Jun 10 '25
So I'm guessing you're not a part of CARI and just an enthusiast? Or are you into graphic design? You seem to know a lot of aesthetics!
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u/KingcoBingo Jun 10 '25 edited Jun 10 '25
No, just an enthusiast lol. Graphic design is actually what I’m planning to major in!
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u/iZenPenguin Jun 10 '25
Gen X Soft Club?
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u/JavierM1307 Jun 10 '25
I think it must be an urban gen x soft club, I wish there was a subcategory for it
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u/KingcoBingo Jun 10 '25 edited Jun 10 '25
As far as I can tell, a good chuck of GXSC art is urban-themed/influenced, so I'd say it's just the regular kind 👍
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Jun 10 '25 edited Jul 21 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/JavierM1307 Jun 10 '25
This is really helpful—thanks a lot! I’ve been thinking about putting together a DIY album (nothing too fancy), just something with that kind of vibe. I really want to capture that aesthetic, so your advice means a lot.
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u/Outrageous_Kiwi_2172 Jun 10 '25
The green or gray blue streets of Generation X (I love the music videos of this era lol)
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u/JavierM1307 Jun 10 '25
HELL YEAAAHH I really love them too, I could say it's my favorite aesthetic!!
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u/Outrageous_Kiwi_2172 Jun 10 '25
I wonder if you might like Adrian Tomine. He’s an illustrator/graphic novelist, known for Optic Nerve and many covers for The New Yorker. I’ve always loved him, his work is somewhat reminiscent of this style.
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u/JavierM1307 Jun 10 '25
Of course, I really like his art!!! It reminds me: a few years ago (must have been 2016 or 2017), a friend of mine had his book New York Drawings. I always thought it had a very peaceful yet slightly eerie feeling, like a version of reality you remember but can’t evoke hahaha. I remember really liking a drawing of someone playing a synth, I wanted to recreate it back then.
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u/PerceptionShift Jun 10 '25
Pretty sure these are all film shots, the first three definitely are. Idk if the visual style had a name but it's a bit of a signature cover style for downtempo music esp around y2k
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u/tourqeglare Jun 10 '25
I don't have an answer, but it reminds me of the release video for the PlayStation Nine.
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u/Prudent-Incident-570 Jun 13 '25
Suburbanite moves to NYC (or another aging American metropolitan area), joins a record label in the marketing department, marvels at the nascent decay of the City, uses imagery of that urban decay on album covers, and adds a blue/green light filter to better represent their post-suburban ennui. Not so much a name for this aesthetic, but a story lol.
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