Category: In the News

  • Odds and Ends from Twitter 2009-06-21

  • Odds and Ends from Twitter 2009-06-14

    • Rare Sabrepulse Interview http://pixelstopolygons.com/blog/?p=193 #
    • http://short.to/f0va #
    • Hot coverage of the jakartachip http://short.to/f0va #
    • offworld has some konami POSTchipjams. #
    • RT @micromusic EINDBAAS in de NL30 van Juni, pagina 6! http://twitpic.com/73so7 #dutch #utrecht #
    • nice hardsid mockup http://bit.ly/P8qKb #
    • RT @micromusic Just got the official news that there will be a 10 year The C-Men anniversary 6th of November in Atak, Enschede, NL. Dutc … #
    • The rad pixel art at the end of wall-e makes up for the terrible peter gabriel song #
    • Chromelodeon http://snurl.com/k3k2w and II Records profile http://snurl.com/k3k2w on TheStartScreen via @Nobuooo #

  • Open Thread: Compare and Contrast

    RWAR!! PRRR!@ PRRR
    RWAR!! PRRR!@ PRRR

    http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Music/84270-Bit-players/

    Berkman may confess that playing Game Boys on stage is “inherently absurd,” but he’s deeply gratified that Anamanaguchi have earned respect and admiration within the 8-bit community, even as they’ve diverged from the purists. “I feel like it’s not like the Good Charlotte situation in punk where we’re, like, ruining it. It’s definitely more accessible than other 8-bit music, but I don’t think it sacrifices the core values of it. I think it’s more of, like, a Rancid than a Good Charlotte situation.”

    vs

    http://www.theskinny.co.uk/article/45913-unicorn-kid-level-up

    Sabin does not take his cue from the capital’s burgeoning folk scene as one might suspect, however. “My music follows the aesthetic of chiptune: it’s a big influence but it’s not the whole story,” he offers. “I suppose you could call me 8-bit dance”. To the uninitiated, chiptune is the result of sampling old, bashed-in computer games to make high tempo dance music.

    Do you feel the chipmusic meme bullies artists to tow a certain party line when it comes to speaking about how they approach their music? Is it a requirement to name check the demo scene and the hacking tradition in every contact you have with the media? At what point is an artist free to promote themselves, rather than worry about being a figurehead for the “scene”


  • GM4A Interviews II Netlabel

    Missed this from earlier in the week, but GM4A has interviewed the II Netlabel. Some choice excerpts:

    When you started your label, what were your initial goals and ideas for what you wanted out of your site?

    R: We initially wanted Pause to be a team of musicians who exclusively released all of their music on Pause, essentially to use the site as a homepage on the web. It was going to be the place for this small group of artists to have all their music either available or linked to, blogs, and all sorts of information that people might care about. Ultimately we decided to go for a broader variety of releases and pass on the team idea, at least for the time being.

    E: The idea was that we’d get more exposure if we made one website instead of as individuals. As Pause grows we get new ideas and set new goals. I guess now one of the main goals would be to find ways to generate some income, so we can treat our fans to more merchandise, gigs and what not. But for the time being, Pause is still just on the hobby level.

  • Chipflip: Mind Bending the Cult of the Bent

    Chipflip tackles the tangled family tree of circuit bending. He writes:

    But I also think that chipmusic and demoscene practitioners could learn a lot from the conceptual and noisy ways of sound art and circuit bending/”building”. It is funny how circuit bending, chip music, and the demoscene is sometimes presented as related to each other, even though they are so different. Chip music is (too often) about 4/4 happy bleep pop and using default samples of LSDJ. Demoscene music is (too often) about perfectionism and competition. Circuit bending is (too often) about tech-concepts and predictable noise.

    Yea I have to say my favorite musical acts tend to be the artists that transcend the obvious ironies inherent in their platforms and become figures greater than their platforms. Think of People like Dan Deacon, Little-Scale, or Depreciation Guild. Once you make the journey into the world, and get over the novelty at the end of the day, you still have to create captivating and interesting music and art.