They Searched Through Hundreds of Bands to Solve an Online Mystery

The primary development in years got here in Might, when a consumer on the buzzing Reddit group r/TheMysteriousSong found a reference to Hörfest, a contest for newbie bands the radio station held yearly in Hamburg, Germany. “It was a really probably technique to clear up our riddle,” says Arne, a moderator of the subreddit who posts below the deal with LordElend (Arne declined to offer their final identify, citing privateness considerations), “since this was an excellent rationalization as to why an newbie band tape would have been aired on NDR, which normally had excessive requirements.”

A search of native authorities archives turned up 1000’s of pages on Hörfest, however they wouldn’t be straightforward to comb by way of. “We realized that 800 bands, most obscure and never on Google, will want a bigger group of researchers,” says Arne.

Quickly, lots of of individuals throughout a number of platforms had been collaborating on extensive spreadsheets, itemizing band members, sounds, songs, and anything they may discover. Certainly one of these investigators, who posts utilizing the deal with marijn1412, discovered {that a} member of a band on the spreadsheets, Phret, had joined a unique band known as FEX. Getting in contact with the previous members of FEX, they confirmed the song’s origin. They waited to announce the discover publicly till the band was in a position to log off and supply a clearer recording of the track.

“Subways of Your Thoughts” isn’t the one misplaced media thriller to be solved not too long ago. In September, a picture from a cloth sample was traced back to its source. Again in June, one other lostwave track often called “Everyone Knows That” was discovered after it had turn out to be a viral sound on TikTok. It might have been helped by a track from a well-liked YouTube video identified in November 2023.

These searches are typically loads much less particular and targeted than the Hörfest knowledge, however no much less organized or collaborative, since whether or not or not they will discover the track, individuals are discovering kindred spirits. “Misplaced media searches have shared group values,” says Chapdelaine, including they’re “amplified by the dynamic of social media platforms. Platforms incentivize engagement. Misplaced media searches promote interactivity and participation.”

Which is why the story isn’t over, even when the so-called “final boss of lostwave” has fallen. Since different communities dedicated to searches have since discovered what they had been on the lookout for, they’ve been folded into the bigger lostwave and lost-media group. As Baskerville noticed, it isn’t actually concerning the track, it’s concerning the search, the sense of taking part in a undertaking that provides to cultural heritage—and, perhaps, discovering some songs so unique they haven’t been heard in many years.