If you have won a TCTD award, and not received your trophy, please contact me with your contact information so i can send out the last of the awards. This includes anyone who has EVER won an award. If you haven’t heard from me this week, I will be trying to track you down so please get in touch!
Category: TCTD 2008 Awards
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Artist of the Year – gwEm
Many different criteria came into play when considering Artist of the Year. Music was one, but also other aspects of work done within the community also came to factor in the decision. Weighing all these facets equally, this years choice was gwEm. As a musician, developer, and tireless advocate for his own platform, he worked throughout the year producing an brilliant music release on 8bitpeoples, a collab with fellow nominee Bud Melvin, and his work on his maxYMiser tracker for Atari computers.gwEm is a great spokesman for his own software taking time to help users in forums and mailing lists, and was a thoughtful voice on the heart and philosophy of the chip music scene world wide. In that respect, he is an artists artist, and all his work is marked by high levels of ass kicking and insight that any of us would loved as our own. Striving to be the best is one of the more admirable trait of the chip music scenes, and few artists set the bar higher than gwEm.
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Best Release – Trash80 – Icarus
Probably the toughest of all awards, best release was one I did not award blithely. after much consideration, and numerous nominations it became clear that Icarus was one of the most complete tracks of the year. Possibility the next evolutionary step, Icarus is at times soulful, retro, and emotional. One of its greatest achievements is that it often makes you forget the chip source of the instruments, not due to overproduction but thanks to great songwriting, arrangements, and sound design.It was clear why Trash80 “Missing You” was chosen often in the mainstream to represent this years scene in news reports and radio programs, because it was an overwhelming positive foot forward that captured the spirit of the community, yet was unrestrained by any of the cliches or traps that chip artists too often fall into.
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Best Track: Hot Plate
With a great hook that is one part Krush Groove, one Part ” Superstition”, this tune simply dominated my personal music device all year. I simply could not believe this was just one gameboy and one synth until seeing this live, where it rocked me at least 18 times harder. Cheap Dinosaurs has proven that his songwriting skills transcend any band he performs with, and even kill in the framework of a solo project. One of the more overlooked talents in the chip music scene, here’s hoping that 2009 is his breakout year. -
The True Chip Lifetime Achievement Award: Hally
When I first got into the scene in a level any more than a dalliance, VORC was an essential news site. The cnn of chip news for a long time, it was mine, and probably many of yours home pages and its shift in focus to its (awesome) chip label roots was bittersweet. Hally himself is responsible for a great many achievements, whether it was organizing his local scene, or branching out to artists world wide, to kicking ass on his own as an epic performer. Always brimming with positivity yet with a strong sense for talent and creativity, TCTD would never exist unless it was for his shining example. With great honor and humility I offer him the TCTD Lifetime Achievement award.
