Author: Peter Swimm

  • Retinascan Release Onslaught Continues

    Retinascan keeps up with its crazy 3″ CD-r series, so I thought I’d do a rundown of whats been released so far.

    The Best.. etc
    The Best.. etc

    8gb‘s release sounds very good, even though he just has previews online.  The pounding and techy drum programing and glitchy pulsewaves are crackhead addictive, so this sounds like a no brainer of a purchase. So far “Viking Line” might be my favorite chip song to flay alive my helpless victims.  And “61b” is hard enough for the toughest of Techno Vikings.  8GB shows that a savvy ear can push the genre far enough you forget all about what hardware is doing what and just fucking dance.

    Stunning, and blinding.

    Another release is from Multifaros,  the alter ego of young Swedish gameboy artist Bard Ericson.  “Good Luck” is an mix of the Swedish hump style happy blip mania and really grungy almost rock like tones and how successful the blend came across was one of the biggest surprises for me. Following that with the mournful pause of “Legoman” and  “Mr. Rai”, and closing out with the arcade funk of “Toffel” and the beautiful “Why Are You Floating” has added Ericson to my must listen list. Excellent stuff.

    Doing unspeakable acts with atari sts.
    Minimally invasive procedures.

    Finally is the first release in this series, Stu‘s “Atari Solo”. The release is simply a prolonged beat down of the Atari ST soundchip, especially the wife beating kick stomp of “Ready to Score” and the moaning lofi samples in “Fuck Machine”.  Stu shows unwavering dedication to fucking shit up.  The sound design alone would make this one of the top chip releases of the year, but Stu also has a number in tricks in store with amazing composition and intriguing mix choices. If you only get one (and hell they are cheap enough to get all three), you’d be hard pressed to ignore “Atari Solo”

    I am unclear how many retinascan releases they intend to put out in this format, but this may be the hottest chip run of any label in years. Will be sure to keep an eye on it.

  • sBACH “Track 5” Video

    A solo project from the guy involved in both Hella and The Advantage, sBach is all over the place musically, but this track is a great combo of the contentious prog/nintendocore/whatever sound and soaring square leads. As chiptune stars to spread into and becomes more organically connected stylistically, it’s going to be intersting to see what hybrid styles spring forth. In the meantime check their myspace for shows and tour dates.

    Thanks SHAWNPHASE!

  • Jellica’s “With Love from Grandma” out on Retinascan.

    Shirtless boy wonder and cat benamed gameboy model Jellica is the latest in a series of 3″ cd releases from Retinascan.

    Knitting optional
    Knitting optional

    From the site:

    After 8bitpeoples, Kittenrock is certainly one of the most loveable outlets for free chippy weirdness in the world of gameboy music. Thanks to Jellica, this will remain a place to be for the next couple of centuries.

    Nonetheless Retinascan also wants its piece of cake and has therefor set up this next chipstyle series with ten artists from 9 countries, where Jellica represents the home of fish and chips and the motherland of football, the Empire called United Kingdom.

    Besides, England is also the birthplace of warehouse parties, combat drinking and pop in general. Jellica embraces this all in a wonderful hysteric yet funny stylemix of everything that swapped over from the island in the last few years, including especially electro, drum’n’bass and breaks.

    The site has full length streaming of all the tracks, but at reduced quality from what you’d get on the cd-r. Standout tracks include the spacey driving beats on “Man QQQ”, the hard tech jamming on “Soft Pink” and that awesome basslines in Man One.

    Download Man QQQ.

  • From the Editor: Call for Political Chiptunes

    In honor of the clusterfuck that is the U.S. election process, I’d like to showcase political minded chip tracks on Tuesday November 4, 2008. If you would like to be included please submit a link to your track via our contact forum:

    Its like a Mario at a MOVEON.ORG Party.
    Its like a Mario at a MOVEON.ORG Party.

    Contact Us

    Thanks and be sure to Vote, if you are able.

  • Chibi-Tech Interviewed on Denpa No Sekai

    All around chip god and sex idol Chibi-Tech is profile on the Denpa No Sekai Blog. The interview is massively in-depth and well worth the read.

    Excerpt:

    “Chiptune is slowly but surely getting recognized as a musical genre, though it remains solidly anchored in the gaming world that created it. I think the problem at this point is that it features no lyrical content or message. A Tokyo group called “DENPA PARTY” are throwing events and composing music under the “NO WAR” banner, clearly a political message (simple though it may be). If you started adding lyrics to your songs, what would they be like?

    The man, The Pixels
    The man, The Pixels

    Haha with all aside from synthesized vocal techniques, I honestly never thought of it this way. However, maybe that kind of deliverance can get certain problems with chiptune’s public perception off my chest!

    My problem is that the general public either thinks of chiptunes in two ways. One: Their first impressions are that chiptunes are not legitimate music in their own right simply due to their age — and often get dismissed as “crappy General MIDI sounds” not worthy of serious evaluation. Two: People exploit 8bit as some sort of retro-waxing of “a simpler time” without much real thought put into it. Emo-wanker groups are probably most well known for this. It honestly gets tiring to see a young kid yell out “Whoa that totally sounds like MEGAMAN MUSIC” without putting much thought to why I make this kind of music. It’s all a combination of misinformation and groups of people trying to stake their claim on its nostalgic factor.”