Ethereal

Ethereal on vinyl: music as if from the mist

In short: Ethereal wave developed in the eighties out of post-punk and dark wave – floating, reverb-soaked music with soft voices; Cocteau Twins on the British label 4AD were among its defining bands. Our style tag also covers music between dream pop, ambient and electronics. The Vinyl Room currently has 14 ethereal records.

What is ethereal?

Voices in the mist: Grouper is represented with “A I A : Dream Loss”, Beach House with their first album, Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions with “Bavarian Fruit Bread” and Grimes with “Visions”.

Alongside them come Arthur Russell with “World Of Echo” – cello and voice with plenty of reverb –, Anna von Hausswolff live at the Montreux Jazz Festival and Yeule with “Glitch Princess”.

What to look for

Most of our ethereal records are editions from the 2010s and 2020s; label, catalogue number and year of release help you tell which edition you have – it’s noted with each copy.

From our stock

First pressings

New in

→ Dream pop · Ambient · 4AD · Electronic on vinyl · How to spot a first pressing · Grading explained

FAQ

What does ethereal mean? Floating, reverb-soaked music with soft voices – the word means “otherworldly” or “airy”.

Where does ethereal wave come from? From the eighties, out of post-punk and dark wave; Cocteau Twins were among its defining bands.

What is the difference from dream pop? The boundaries are fluid – ethereal emphasises the floating, reverb-soaked side, dream pop often more the pop song.

Which ethereal records do you have? Here, for example, Grouper’s “A I A : Dream Loss” and Arthur Russell’s “World Of Echo”.