Tag: Nullsleep

  • Best Track

    Getting this list down to five worthy tracks was a nearly futile effort. First there was the impossibly hubristic act of saying that only five songs where good enough to be considered, then the consideration of what effect time had on older tracks and will have on younger ones. But then I just let go and picked the songs that “I” liked and said damn the torpedoes. And now, with surely a great flurry of controversy, here are the nominees for Best Track.

    8bit What – Bud Melvin w/ gwEm

    Dis tracks are great when done right, and this tracks deliberate dismantling of a certain Best Label nominees vetting process is wickedly funny and well executed with next level sound design, catchy hooks and lyrics and an over all high quality we’ve come to expect from both these artists seperately, and now together.

    $$ Troopers – Huoratron

    In a year of “me too” dance beats, and hackneyed use of basic chip sound design, this track from Huoratron was a breath of fresh air. Yes the gameboy is heavily processed, but the spirit of its use is still intact and the track shows excellence on all measurable levels of ass kicking.

    Nullsleep- Shadows In The Sky

    Long considered one of the Ambassadors of the US chip scene, this track may be Nullsleep’s magnum opus. A great blend of complexity and simplicity the track performs the rare feat of making you forget the device being used, and focus soley on the song.

    Animal Style – DMG Guitar

    Animal Style – DMG Guitar

    An even more difficult effort for chipspotters is this track which rocks both Animal Styles compositional skill and his guitar abilities. A live powerhouse, the track has withstood repeated listenings and still kicks my ass every time I hear it.

    Cheap Dinosaurs – Hot Plate

    Having come late to the Chromelodeon party, One definiatly does not have to settle for this solo project. This krush groove esque synth jam seemlsly blends chip sounds and enhanced synthesis into an organic brew that foretells of a stunning chip future, where the composition is never overshadowed by the platform, and the artist is always amazing without an “for a chipmusican” qualifier.

  • 8bitpeoples: 2 New Releases from NYC’s Finest

    minusbaby + baby = null(sleep, rocking)
    minusbaby + baby = null(sleep, rocking)

    After what seemed like an internet eternity (like 3 months?), the netlabel/posse 8bitpeoples are back in a big way with two (2) new releases from Nullsleep and minusbaby to whet your appetite for their imminent Blip.08 performances.  Get them here.

  • PopMatters reviews Nullsleep live

    Now accepting writers!
    Now accepting writers!

    PopMatters wrote a review of Nullsleep‘s Lit Lounge Show on Oct 3rd.  While its geat to see an lengthy article focusing on one of the live greats of the scene, the article falls short in a few ways. Some Excerpts:

    But back to the familiar part for a moment: Imagine he’s set up like a conventional DJ, with pulsating basslines reaching outward from a huge 4×12 speaker cabinet atop of which he has placed a mixer cabled to two turntables. Now scratch the turntables—instead, they’re Game Boys.

    Its a common conceit amongst many authors that chip music IS JUST like something you know very well, but MIND BLOWINGLY different. He goes on to overly complicate and mystify the process by describing artists using “expensive proprietary writers, others imported from Europe thanks to an industrious German” and making the logical leap that “it’s a lot like Tetris, but with square waves taking the place of those infernal L-shapes.”

    But while he gets the basic demoracy of the chip platform wrong, he does touch on the point of it all with the following:

    “There’s a minimalism in the equipment which you’d think would parallel the compositional philosophy, but in fact it seems to be the inverse. How much noise can we make with this?  How complex can the songs get with just two toys? With eight bits? Some say the absence of limitations is a mortal enemy of creativity; Johnson takes that philosophy and bites its head off as though it’s a dead bat.”

    So it still worth a read, as we still wait for the right author to speak evocatively about the scene from an outsiders perspective.  I would like to see in the future authors start judging the music on the merits of the compostion isntead of waxing pihlosopically at length about the boring technical details, all the while getting many parts of the process incorrect, or simply representing them in a way that further distances the artists from potential fans.

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  • PULSEWAVE 10.25.08 Rom Flier

    Show info

    The new ROM flier from NO CARRIER and featuring a hilarious Halloween medley by Baron Knoxburry is online for this months Pulsewave show. This months show is a special mash up of chip stars and famous rock band, and should be a good opportunity to indoctrinate the unsuspecting neophyte in your midst.

    Darkness falls across the land. The midnight hour is close at hand. Creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorize your neighborhood. And whosoever shall be found, without the soul for getting down, must stand and face the hounds of hell, and rot inside a corpse’s shell…

    2 Player Productions is proud to host a very special Halloween Pulsewave! Bust out your costume one week early and come party with us at AlphaBeta as esteemed members of the New York chiptune crew perform as other bands! That’s right. All covers, all night long. For one night only, the raw power of the Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo Game Boy will be harnessed to summon the spirits of Ian Curtis, Glenn Danzig, David Gahan, and Rivers Cuomo! Ok, so only one of those guys is actually dead but if the others were, their ghosts would be there too. Throw in live, Halloween-themed visuals, a costume contest, some killer raffle prizes, and a VERY special MYSTERY PERFORMER and you’ve got a Saturday seance that can’t be missed!

    Anamanaguchi as WEEZER
    Glomag as JOY DVISION
    Nullsleep as DEPECHE MODE
    Bit Shifter as THE MISFITS
    ++FULL SET by MyStErY PeRfOrMeR++

    Live Visuals: NO CARRIER + VBLANK

    – Costume Contest (w. prizes)
    – Hardware Raffle: Enter to win a Commodore64 or ProSound-modified, Glow-In-Dark Game Boy w. backlit screen…!