8-Bit Daily

Galactron - Wo Men Move On

2011-01-26T23:12:00.002-05:00

Described by Galactron itself as a band from outer space, this first track of theirs has a very strong FM synth quality to it. Excellent fake-guitar instruments, some nice airy pads below everything, and really shiny, popping drums make this sound like the future we all hope to some day inhabit. Apparently a proper album is in the works, slated to come out this winter or possibly spring. I'll be anticipating it!

Happy 2011, guys and gals:)

Galactron's website

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Hubnester - Cortex Command Intro

2010-12-15T23:06:00.003-05:00

You guys, this game is incredible. Here's a smattering of links, in no particular order:

CC's intro video
Music for the above video
Cortex Command's website
The Humble Indie Bundle

You can buy the game for a name-your-own-price deal using the fourth link there, and you can have that money go to the developers or charity or a combination of the two. I bought and played all of the included games, it's really worth your time (and at LEAST a few bucks!)

THAT IS ALL

glič - Withes Ain't $H!T

2010-10-06T15:12:00.002-04:00

I was contacted the other day, as I sometimes am, by a chiptune artist who had recently finished a project. I love getting emails like this, and I love it even more when the music included is as crazy good as what he attached. Pronounced "glitch", (č is actually the phonetic symbol for "the chuh sound", as I found out), the music is decidedly spastic and at times completely non-sequitur, in a great way. The best part about music like this, for me, is when you're being tugged along through all manner of chaotic noises and rhythms and suddenly there's a great, solid beat.

I'm a sucker for simple rhythms; math-rock and crazy progressive metal are interesting and display heaps of talent, but they're not my preferred genres of music. I have to admit, when I began listening to this track, I was pretty put off by how crazy it was, but made it to the minute mark where there's this awesome straight-up beat that I loved. Then it goes crazy again for a while, then there's another awesome beat... And so on, throughout the whole album! Yes, there are in fact 11 more tracks to follow this one on his album "Schwartzenegger Please!", which you can buy over at his bandcamp site. I've bought a copy so I can listen to this in my car and drive really, really fast to it, and I suggest you try that out too!*

glič's website

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*generic disclaimer blah blah don't speed whatever okay shut it

Daemon9623 - As We Approach The Dawn

2010-09-07T13:34:00.002-04:00

When I first heard this, I thought for sure it had to be a cover of some tech metal band or something. In fact, it's an original composition on I think Famitracker? He never really said. Regardless of the software used, it's a brilliant chiptune. It would be an interesting departure from the norm to hear a cover of this made with real guitar and drums!

Daemon9623's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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CSGuitar89

2010-08-25T14:11:00.003-04:00

Today I'm doing whatever I want; this isn't 8-bit music at all, it's HARDCORE METAL COVERS OF ZELDA SONGS. YEAAAAAAAAAAAH!! Well they're guitar covers of Zelda songs anyway; some of more down-tempo tracks remain down-tempo and pretty. Wow if only he were making these when I was in middle school, I would have had better music than MIDI covers of Zelda songs to listen to.

GERUDO VALLEY:

SONG OF STORMS:

GREAT FAIRY'S FOUNTAIN:

BALLAD OF THE WIND FISH:

There's tons more on his channel. Go! And listen to them all!!!

CSGuitar89's website

Inverse Phase - NES Me An Angel

2010-08-24T14:51:00.002-04:00

So Inverse Phase got a hold of me the other day as people sometimes do to let me know about a project he's just finished, and I've got to tell you guys: It's really good! It's a chiptune cover album using I think just the NES to make all the tracks, not sure if there's more systems involved on other songs or not... Regardless, this entire album is worth your listening to (for free) on the bandcamp website or (for $5 and a blank CD) in your car. There's a cover of Weezer, a couple songs by The Cars, that one "Woo hoo" song by Blur, and most interestingly, a cover of a cover of an NES song. Just think about that one.

Inverse Phase's website

Real Life's website

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Get "Retrocovered", the whole album!

.:ikanetik:. - Before I Go..

2010-08-23T12:47:00.002-04:00

At first I was like "ow those drums are super fuzzy" but you get used to it, and it actually makes for a really awesome, full sound. Something you come up against basically first thing when you start writing chiptunes is the fact that the very simple waveforms that are the bread and butter of the genre have very little presence. Whereas many people can and have made excellent sounding music using only a guitar and their voice, the equivalent in chiptunes of using just a couple of waveforms can be very difficult to make sound "whole". It's a very ambiguous quality which is why I'm having such a hard time describing it, but what you need to know is that this track is full, whole, whatever. Listen to it with headphones! There's little, subtle, barely-noticeable things happening all over the place in this one. It's great!

.:ikanetik:.'s website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Anamanaguchi - My Skateboard Will Go On

2010-08-06T14:07:00.003-04:00

Sup guys! I took a little break from chiptunes recently, but you all knew that. I've been playing a ton of Starcraft 2, listening to non-chiptune music, and basically being a big lamer all summer, working and sitting around. Hurf durf to the maximum, that's right.

So I'm done with that crap, I went onto my usual sites (see the bottom of this page for what exactly those are) to find some FRESH MATERIAL, and of course my progress was instantly halted when I went on 8bc.org and saw that Anamanaguchi had procured the top two most-liked spots on the chart. Well sheesh just listen to this track, they deserve the entire chart. It should just say "ANAMANAGUCHI'S UPLOADS" over there because god they are KILLING it.

Anamanaguchi's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Maktone - Addiction

2010-07-08T13:37:00.003-04:00

Wow, it's been a month since I updated 8BD? Sheesh! Well I've been working on stuff of my own... SECRET STUFF. So I say that's okay. :B

I don't know how many of you guys go to 8BC.org on a regular basis, but man. Lately, that site gives me a headache just looking at it. The front page is ceaselessly filled with first attempts, and now more than ever before every artist seems to have "bit" or "nintendo" or something like that integrated into their name. Seriously! Go to the site and read down the list of artists!! It's artists like Maktone that punctuate that noise with music I can get into, making chiptunes that sound like the background music to a Commodore 64 demo.

Maktone's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Zan-Zan-Zawa-Veia - Grey Mlkn

2010-06-08T12:17:00.002-04:00

I was talking to a chiptune artist from New Jersey named Kris Keyser yesterday about some of the finer points of the chiptune scene. We were talking about chiptune labels and the character of music typical to a few of them. I've always thought of Pause and 8bitpeoples as the two "premier" avenues of digital chiptune distribution, but I had never really thought about the markedly different styles of music each puts out. Whereas 8BP does not hesitate one iota to put out some fast, hard chiptune techno, Pause has a lot of complex, intricate releases. Not to say 8BP is lacking in detail! But I think Kris was onto something when he connected the name "Pause" to the action you must take when listening to their releases. This isn't music to listen to on the go. This is music that listening to is an event in and of itself.

Zan-Zan-Zawa-Veia's website

The Pause page (leave a comment!)

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Fuckjazzforaminute - Closing Night at the Drive-In

2010-06-02T14:59:00.002-04:00

Way intense LSDJ jam. Loud as you'd ever want it, with tons of raw noise and abrasive textures, but nothing cacophonous or annoying, just one really heavy track. I need more of this, pronto!

Fuckjazzforaminute's website

The Chipmusic.org page (leave a comment!)

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EpiiicSignal - Telephone

2010-05-26T14:04:00.002-04:00

I like how this song is actually good instead of the original which is endlessley abrasive. EpiiicSignal is some sort of musical alchemist, transforming this song at its most fundamental level into something with a completely different feel and tone. It's a fantastic remix/cover, and I don't care what anyone thinks of me for featuring it. MY SITE, MY RULES. END OF STORY. (ha ha)

EpiiicSignal's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Pieces Of Eight - Eraser to Erase Her

2010-05-21T12:34:00.003-04:00

8BD is getting old enough where I can do cool things like click the random post link at the top, find one I remember liking a lot, and then going to the artist's page to see what's new, and then picking that as a new 8BD!

Not that that's what I did today, oh no, I was just listening to some 8BC.org tracks from over a month ago, because I suspected something good to have been posted then, and I was right!

Pieces of Eight's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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BEASTMODE - Gameboy Beats Vol. 2

2010-05-20T13:13:00.006-04:00

Some heavy electro made with the Game Boy. Very unique sound for LSDJ, and some really good party music. Actually, similar comments apply to most of BEASTMODE's library! He's definitely got a great technique with LSDJ. Go check it all out!

Also the MP3 player should be fixed?

BEASTMODE's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Bryface - Eye Twitching

2010-05-17T14:49:00.004-04:00

DS-10 music has always interested me, since it represents a sort of locked treasure chest of musical capabilities. I cannot seem to get anything interesting out of it, but then someone comes along with a track like this that is so full and rich you want to go try your hand at it again. But I've played this game before, and I know that if I boot up the DS-10 again it'll just lead me right back down that road of frustration. It's a software better left to the experts, far as I'm concerned.

Another reason I was glad to feature this track was because through it I discovered a great site called DS10forum.com. Maybe I can learn some tricks there!

Bryface's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Get
"Health and Safety", the whole release!

Noisewaves - Do I Look Like I Want To Play Volleyball?

2010-05-12T12:03:00.004-04:00

Coming out with his (their?) first EP, Noisewaves is a neat guitar/drums/NES outfit from my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI. Together we form the West Michigan chiptune scene, though there may be others who keep their work to themselves. Anyway, when I first heard Noisewaves, it was a song called Pioneer Island which sounded a lot like Anamanaguchi. Since that track, the sound has gone a few notches down-tempo, with a lot more of an experimental indie band sort of composition to it. It's a great feel; extremely calming with dramatic builds and explosive outbursts of drums.

Noisewaves' website

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Get "Noisewaves", the whole release!

Kool Skull - STRUCTURE B

2010-05-11T11:22:00.003-04:00

I like melodies. Catchy lines, structured harmonies, and distinct lead instruments make up most of this site's library. This track has none of that; it's a thrash, a jam, made on a sample-based tracker that lends itself to fast, loud, aggressive and abrasive music. Unlike so many circuit-benders or self-proclaimed "noise musicians", Kool Skull has discernable rhythms, musical structure, and a sound that is not so overbearing as to be distracting. It's definitely a standout from the rest of the music I pick, but it represents a large segment of the population that identifies with the chiptune scene, and a very large, perhaps even majority, of the live acts out there. Seriously, if you go to a chiptune show, you can expect a lot of noise, then a lot of typical DJ-electro-trance-whatever, followed by anything you might see here on a daily basis. Whoops!

Kool Skull's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Fun Secret - SHEMP

2010-05-08T12:35:00.003-04:00

Despite the fact that it's made with LSDJ and I listen to music made on that software nearly full-time (exaggeration), this sounds very different from typical LSDJ fare. The entire song consists of notes just barely long enough to hear, like he wanted there to be equal parts silence and noise only chopped up very finely. It's not easily placed in any genre I'm familiar with, either. All around, I just don't know what to make of this! I like it though, and I'll be waiting for a full-fledged release from Fun Secret.

Fun Secret's website

The Chipmusic.org page (leave a comment!)

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Interview with Brian Mazzaferri of I Fight Dragons

2010-05-07T18:35:00.004-04:00

A couple weeks ago, just days after booting 8BD out of hibernation mode, I got an email from Atlantic Records asking me if I'd like to interview the band I Fight Dragons for my site. I've never been asked to do anything like this, in fact it's usually been me on the requesting end, asking people for permission to release their music, if they have websites they'd like me to link to alongside their featured track. But it was a cool opportunity to promote a band that's working hard at getting off the ground and becoming a full-fledged professional bunch of musicians. So I agreed and sent Brian, their lead singer/songwriter/founder a bunch of questions. Here are his answers!

8BD: Did you have experience writing chiptunes before IFD was started, or did you decide to try your hand at it shortly before deciding you could work it into your band's repertoire?

Brian: Actually, it all kind of came around at the same time. When I was first working with Bill Prokopow, our first project together was making a demo of "Heads Up, Hearts Down" back in very early 2008. I had randomly thought the song would work well with an intro that sounded as if it was the song coming out of a nintendo, so we mocked one up using the internal Logic synths, and were quite pleased with ourselves. After showing it to a few people, I decided to look on the internet to see if people had done that sort of thing before, and I stumbled upon the whole world of chiptune. I was immediately hooked, got myself a copy of LSDJ and started using it on my old DMG from growing up. However, I will say my interest in chiptune was always related to how to use it in a full-band setting, since that's the world I come from, I'm not really an electronic musician by trade.

8BD: Have you ever written music for non-Game Boy trackers, or used other consoles in your live performance?

Brian: I've played around with FamiTracker and NitroTracker, which were cool but not as portable as LSDJ since I can bring my DMG anywhere with me and write. I also have a midiNES which I find to be AWESOME in a studio setting and can do a ton of things with sweeps and samples that I don't find LSDJ as useful for. I've also got 2 Pixelh8 Music Tech carts for GBA which I've used in recording settings as well.

In a live sense we tend to sample the sounds and trigger them using controllers, since the complication of mixing all of those different consoles and samples (we tend to ignore polyphony limitations) would be near impossible, and more than that I like the idea that we're triggering electronic sounds in real time, turning them into instruments in a way.

8BD: What gave you guys the idea to allow 100 people to have unlimited access to future shows/CDs/etc. for $100?

Brian: That was just out of my twisted imagination. I think it's been really cool, and the fans have really responded well too, although I will say it was a one-time thing. We might do a lesser permutation of it in the future, and we'll definitely continue to search for ways to push the boundaries of the industry.

8BD: Was it a bit of a surprise to you guys that the band took off as well and as quickly as it did?

Brian: Yes. There's no other way to put it. Yes. I mostly did it because I wanted chiptune-pop-rock to exist, and I tried to build some kind of sustainable career around it, but none of us had any clue it would skyrocket this far this fast. It's incredibly humbling and exciting all at once.

8BD: Is it true that you guys are getting some sweet custom-made superhero digs for on-stage, and if so when do you think they'll be ready?

Brian: Sort of. We've all got our own logos which represent each of us, and we just debuted our new outfits which incorporate those logos earlier this week on tour. There's some pics up from the first show here, and we'll be putting new promo shots up on our website soon.

8BD: What made you decide to wear all DC Comics shirts rather than all Marvel Comics or a mix of both?

Brian: You know the biggest thing for me is that I love Superman. I love what he stands for, I love that no one really thinks he's cool any more, and I love the mythos surrounding him. From there I just thought it would be weird to mix Marvel stuff in there, although I will say there was one photo shoot where Bill wore a Captain America shirt mostly because it's impossible to find a 6th Justice League shirt (we ended up custom making his Hawkman shirts later on)

8BD: Do you have any favorite chiptune artist/artists/band?

Brian: You know, I feel like there's a decidedly mixed reaction to us from the chiptune scene, because we're not pure chiptune. Admittedly, we've never pretended to be, it's just one element of what we do. All the same, I do love chiptune in lots of its forms, despite the artists mixed reaction to us as a band. A few of my favs are Chipzel, 8 bit weapon, Anamanaguchi, Starscream, and YMCK.

8BD: Since getting signed to a record deal with Atlantic earlier this year, do you feel as if you've had more or less time to concentrate on fan interactions? What's changed since getting signed?

Brian: Well, it's a tricky question to answer, because we've been in a big transition period that would've happened whether we signed with Atlantic or not. We've been working on our first full-length album for the past few months, as well as working on our new website and generally trying to figure out how to make it all work on a larger scale. So there's been less free music emails and fan interaction. However, we've kept up with weekly internet call-in shows, Facebook, and more, and we'll soon be relaunching our email list with lots of new material and free downloads coming every couple weeks, so I feel like ultimately we'll get to do more fan interaction on a grander scale, which excites me greatly.

8BD: What games did you bring with you when you were on tour? Are there any new games you want to play while on the road for the upcoming summer tour?

Brian: Hmm, well we've got a PS3 and an XBOX 360 on the bus. Not enough room for a Wii :P We've also got laptops with fully stocked emulators too and USB retro controllers. As far as specific games, I know last tour I played a lot of Secret of Mana, Packy played a lot of Kung Fu, Bill got Left 4 Dead 2 and started playing lots of that. I know JJ our manager has been playing a lot of Robotrek (an old SNES RPG) this tour, and I brought FFXIII to finish it although I haven't had much time yet. We played a bunch of Street Fighter 2 the first couple days, I've been playing a lot of Command & Conquer for the iPad too, so I guess generally lots of different ones. JJ and I played a round of hotseat Settlers of Catan for iPhone today :P

Shiru - Fase Dos

2010-05-05T12:39:00.004-04:00

Shiru wrote the software to make this song, I think that is more hardcore than most other chiptune musicians out there. It's also a 1-bit tracker, giving it a very distinct sound. You can hear that it only likes to do one noise at a time, so the drums have a sort of "perfect sidechain" effect to them, and playing two notes at once gives it a strange flanger sort of noise. It's awesome!

Shiru's website

The Chipmusic.org page (leave a comment!)

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Liphian - Two of a Kind

2010-05-04T11:26:00.002-04:00

It might strike those of you that don't listen to the vast archives of websites like 8bitcollective.com or chipmusic.org as a bit strange for me to say this, but this song sounds like something you might hear in an NES or maybe Game Boy title! A lot of people, naturally, think that everything on this website sounds "just like Mario" or whatever stupid way they'd communicate that sentiment, but there's usually a wide chasm between the songwriting styles of people who grew up listening to a blend of modern music and video game music and the people with more classical music composition backgrounds who were writing music that sounded unlike anything made previously. This is one of the very few songs I've heard that captures the essence of what it takes to be in an NES platformer. I could absolutely play some Castlevania to this.

Liphian's website

The Chipmusic.org page (leave a comment!)

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??? - Magic Whale Trick

2010-05-01T15:51:00.004-04:00

Done by a man of mystery. I'd like to know who made this, it's really awesome and professional sounding, so you know there's got to be more! But anyway, I have no links to share, except for the page on which this was found.

The Chipmusic.org page (leave a comment!)

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AFTER HOURS EDIT: ??? got in touch with me on Chipmusic.org to let me know that "???" is for real his artist name. This of course makes it completely impossible to ever look him up, but he supplied me with a handy link to more of his work! http://www.myspace.com/rezrezrezrez He's got a handle on chiptune Dubstep, that's for sure. Enjoy!

Gijs' Various Creations

2010-04-30T12:25:00.003-04:00

Completely different from my typical sort of thing, this guy's creations are incredible. Some videos for you:

HSS3b demo from Gijs on Vimeo.

HSS3 Hypnotoad from Gijs on Vimeo.

Synth Car V1 from Gijs on Vimeo.

Acid Machine V2 from Gijs on Vimeo.

Plenty more on Gijs' Vimeo page!

Drome - Death Runs Over Me Every Day

2010-04-29T17:21:00.002-04:00

Kind of a strange one to attribute, but here I go: This is by a band called Drome, the track was uploaded by the producer/arranger of the track, Zabutom, the singer, lyricist, and player of chords goes by Iris, and the music equipment belongs to Miniclash. I only have a website for one of the three (four?) parties, and that's Zabutom.

So that's out of the way. Check out this song! It's got lyrics, wicked solos, some jazzy lines, and a pleasant unassuming demeanor. I dare you to not like it! Just try! You can't do it.

Zabutom's website

The Chipmusic.org page (leave a comment!)
The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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OxygenStar - Easier Done than Said

2010-04-28T11:39:00.006-04:00

Two songs in one! There's a great 80's fantasy epic adventure sounding theme for the first three minutes, a minute of interlude, and then some end-of-the-world jams at 3:53. It's a bit droning, really gritty, and tough as anything. It's really incredible to me that sounds like this come out of a DOS program, but I've heard some insane noises come from the docile Game Boy, so I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise!

OxygenStar's website

The Chipmusic.org page (leave a comment!)

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Freezedream - Falling Without Landing

2010-04-27T13:04:00.002-04:00

8BD is a little overdue for some lush chords, this oughtta fix that. The bass in this track is extremely subtle but very effective. It comes in around 1:00, you'll see what I mean!

Freezedream's website

The Chipmusic.org page (leave a comment!)

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Linde - Heights

2010-04-24T12:23:00.003-04:00

We got some FM synths, we got some atypical time signatures, we got some funky drums, oh yeah. This release is pretty cool as it's a sort of narrative collection of five songs about a manned craft that flies out from the sea and into space (this is the space song). Play it in reverse; it'll be as if the spaceship is plummeting into the ocean!

The 8BC Forum page (leave a comment!)

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Get "Lander", the whole release!

Teleidofusion - Summer Mood

2010-04-23T13:28:00.002-04:00

What is this? We've got some JAZZ on 8-Bit Daily?! This whole album is a piece of work; much different from your typical chiptune fare. Put out by one of my personal favorite chiptune sites Ubiktune, this is a collab between the site's administrator C-Jeff and a musician colleague of his named Megus.

Teleidofusion's website

The Ubiktune.org page (leave a comment!)

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Get "Around Past", the entire release!

Multifaros - 7AM

2010-04-22T12:36:00.002-04:00

Discontinuous, jerked around, and confusing in some parts but possessing a down-to-earth beat covered with a great catchy moving line in other parts, 7AM is the most bizarre track to be found on Multifaros' recent release put out by CalmDownKidder Records. As the cover art explicitly states, the whole release was made with Reason 3, his guitar, and a recording device. This track is a great example of a blend of all sorts of chiptune influence (FM synthesis instruments that barely sound like "chiptunes" proper; that trumpet instrument you hear is FM) with real live instruments and more modern sounding composing (such as the drum samples galore). The use of chiptune as an ingredient rather than by itself can have - as you'll hear today - some great results.

Multifaros' website

The CDK page (leave a comment!)

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Get "Dreams", the entire release!

J. Arthur Keenes - Oprah Shmup

2010-04-21T14:49:00.003-04:00

The result of a ridiculous music-writing challenge (details can be found on the chipmusic.org post), this track combines four solo sections, one of which is a drum solo, samples of Oprah's voice (which seriously freaked me out) and a general shoot-em-up (shmup) theme throughout. There's been quite a few songs by The J. Arthur Keenes Band on this site before, and if you go back and listen to them all you might be struck by the variability in styles and techniques he achieves. One bit of common ground throughout the J.A.K. library, however, is plain and simple catchy songwriting you can't help but get into!

J. Arthur Keenes' website

The Chipmusic.org page (leave a comment!)

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Bit Rat - Ultramarine

2010-04-20T21:52:00.006-04:00

Well, tomorrow's the one year anniversary of 8-Bit Daily! Or at least it's the one year anniversary of me registering 8bitdaily.com! I've let this place fall into shambles, and it's a real shame. But I've got my renewal fees for the domain paid, and I'm gonna get this website back up and running! I think this song pretty well sums up my feeling on the matter! Let's gooooooooooooooo~~!!!

Bit Rat's website

The Chipmusic.org forum post (leave a comment!)

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Get "Test Subject", the entire release!

ShmallowMan - 8-Bit Constellations

2010-03-15T00:29:00.003-04:00

So, I'm poking around chipmusic.org when I really ought to be asleep for my early morning tomorrow, or at least doing the homework I was planning on doing tomorrow morning, or something, but no. I had to find a chiptune cover of Frank Sinatra by Cake. And so I had to come blow the dust off of 8BD and post it for everyone to hear!

ShmallowMan's website

The Chipmusic.org page

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Maxo 01 - Railroad Chase

2010-02-16T10:45:00.003-05:00

Oh hey guys! This track is pretty sweet because even though the instrumentation isn't ostentatiously "chiptune", the musical stylings of it are. A nice example of how chiptunes aren't just an instrumental choice, but an actual style of songwriting (in my opinion, I mean, and I'm probably totally wrong). I heard this song and decided that I would love to have it in the "8BD Library" as I've been known to call it today, and so... Here it is. Check it out!

Maxo 01's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Sievert - Black Hole Cannon

2010-01-15T14:17:00.003-05:00

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang~~!

This song is intense! It might scare you into turning the volume down like I did because the kick is so raw. It sounds like it's going to punch out your subwoofer! Anyway, go ahead and download this whole release, it's definitely worth your while. Sievert's a great artist, I enjoyed following his musical rapport between the anonymous Dr. Szliszka on 8bc.org, but it would seem that saga has ended and Space Captain Sievert is the victor!

Sievert's website

The Forum Post (leave a comment!)

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DEER - It Must Have Been My Happy Robot Dog!

2010-01-12T23:54:00.002-05:00

Something about this track sounds like it would be played during a grandiose demo, something about its chord progression early on. If I knew theory I'd tell you particularly what was going on, but hey, I don't! Anyway, here's another late-night 8BD post for you owls/vampires out there. I realized that I have no time in the middle of the day like I used to (I'm back in school), and so it looks like I'll have to just squeeze 8BD picks in whenever I can, lest this site fade forever into obscurity!

DEER's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Cathode Rays - Evil Cartridge

2010-01-12T00:17:00.004-05:00

I just found out about this guy today, it looks like most of his music was uploaded in the recent period of time during which I've had little opportunity to feature 8bc.org tracks. You guys might not all realize it, but in the span of a few days I can find myself 200+ tracks behind the latest upload, making staying "up to date" an incredible task. In recent months, I've been hitting the "mark all read" button just to get through some of the stack and back up to current music.

Ya see, if you have a collection of 1,000 tracks that are for all intents and purposes completely random in terms of who made them and how "good" (defined by my subjective taste which determines whether a song is placed on this site or not) they are, and you eliminate 800 of them, you are left with 200 tracks that are of practically identical distribution in terms of the quality of the songs. So I have no problem eliminating a couple hundred tracks from ever being considered for this site. Thing is, I'd be a few thousand tracks deep by now if I weren't clearing them out once in a while.

But what ends up happening here in the REAL WORLD, where I'm not just eliminating completely randomized samples of songs but possibly the entire existence of some artists or truly outstanding songs greater than any 8BD pick hence is that people like Cathode Rays get completely overlooked.

There is a solution to this, however! You can email me a link to your music! This blasts your music from some generic RSS entry that has a somewhat troublingly high chance of never being heard up to a track that I will not only listen to, but pay attention to! I am human, and listening to a lot (a LOT) of tracks can get to be a bit much. It is refreshing to get linked directly to music! It makes it interesting.

Sorry for the thesis! I just want you to know that it's cool if you email me with songs.

Cathode Rays works at Harmonix, the company that first made Guitar Hero, then was somehow made to compete against Guitar Hero 3 with Rock Band (there's more to that story if you want to read for a little while, but it's kind of funny/crazy). I think that is about the raddest job of anyone I've ever talked to. I don't really know what a person would have to do for a living to have a cooler job in my book, though! Work for NASA? Be a professional Building Exploder? I just don't know!

Cathode Rays' website

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Animalstyle - Superrr Forrrrm

2010-01-11T23:39:00.003-05:00

Off of the latest Pause release - Animalstyle's "Teletime" - is this purely NES song. You might notice on the release's page that alongside the option to download MP3 or FLAC versions of the tracks there is an option to buy an NES cartridge or download an NES ROM! Similar to Alex Mauer's Vegavox II, you can get all these tracks on an NES cartridge that will play on your old system (given it still works)! If you are unfortunate enough to not have an NES of your own, or if you'd rather not buy the cartridge version (but let's be real, I'm just talking to the people without an NES here), you can get the ROM which, by utilizing state-of-the-art technologies, allows you to experience many sensations similar to what you would on the original Nintendo! Oh how lucky you are to live in such a day and age!

Animalstyle's website

The Pause page (leave a comment!)

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ORBiT-8* - Stickerbrush Symphony

2010-01-11T22:38:00.002-05:00

This track is a cover of a song from Donkey Kong Country 2! If, like me, you aren't familiar with the original, check it out! There's some very interesting noises in that original; it really shows what can be accomplished with the SNES's powerful soundchip. In relation to the original, though, this cover has some rad, buzzy bass going on which I like a lot, and faithfully reproduces the sedate mood of the song. Good night-time music, which seems applicable since it's almost 11PM here, haha. Latest post ever! (Just wait a few minutes and this record will be broken, though!)

ORBiT-8*'s website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Lamb - Setting Sun

2010-01-08T13:47:00.002-05:00

The original is an .xm, meaning it's not EXACTLY chiptune, but .xm files are typically made with trackers, and are the most direct descendents of the music formats used on old computers like the Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore, CPC etc. which are the foundation of the demo/chiptune scene.

Anyway, this track, like all the others that I have listened to by Lamb, is just gorgeous. Very rich chords, the cleanest instruments you can imagine, and solid but not overbearing percussion, with some great breaks in there just to keep you guessing. I highly recommend checking out the other tracks uploaded by this user.

Lamb's website

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Joshua Morse - Funk Bump

2010-01-07T14:09:00.003-05:00

Frequency Modulation Synthesis is just great. In class today there was an old physics demo we watched on LASER DISC, and it had this awesome FM Synth intro complete with spacey synth drums and gobs of delay/reverb. No such luck here, this is a bit of the FM noise that successfully transitioned into the modern era without dating itself too badly. And it's by an 8bc.org newcomer! He's clearly no noobie to writing music, but this is the only track of his on there. Maybe google will turn up some more!

Joshua Morse's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Wigfred - Nosey

2010-01-06T12:59:00.002-05:00

Is it an organ or is it chiptunes? Either way, this song is probably the most chilled out track I've ever featured, in a great way! The 6-bar phrases give it a pretty unique feel, also. If you're not listening for them it can sound like the track is one extended phrase, meandering as it pleases, but try and listen for where the patterns begin and end! It makes the song more enjoyable. Also, and I don't know exactly why, it reminds me of foggy mornings.

Wigfred's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Daft Bits - Around Da Chip!

2010-01-03T17:04:00.003-05:00

Daft Punk's "Around the World" (one of my least favorite songs by them, if I can be honest) remixed quite heavily and recreated using FM Synthesis, the technique of sound generation that gave Sega consoles (most memorably the Genesis/Master System era ones) a sound very different from that of other consoles (SNES which came earlier and PS1 which came after were both pretty much sample-based, though I believe SNES had basic waveform generators, but I'm not completely certain).

In short, music that I can't help but love.

And just like that, I'm caught up!! Well, for the days I missed over New Year's, anyway. Still have a few to make up from the Blip Trip, but I'll get around to it.

Daft Bits' website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Nick Maynard - Lightning is Badass

2010-01-03T16:00:00.002-05:00

Oh no! A profane word on 8-Bit Daily! I like to keep this site "family-friendly", even though I'm fairly certain my audience is nothing but a bunch of crass, vulgar hooligans ;)

But to the point, this track has a very deceptive little intro that you ought to be getting through at this point in the paragraph (you folks DO listen to the song while reading my writeup, don't you?), and there's this break... (wait for it) That's just so huge, isn't it? Lots of contrast in this song. The thrashy section has some great NES-sounding instrumentation, and it reminds me a bit of Anamanaguchi but with... Dare I even say it? More distortion!!

Oh and you're not going crazy, this is the second update today. I'll probably do more. Depends on if I find anything good or not, but I've got a pretty wide-open afternoon for the first time in days so I'm doing a bit of "catch-up" today!

Nick Maynard's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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KiddyBit - Racer Kid

2010-01-03T15:26:00.004-05:00

It's all about the kids with this kid, apparently. I have to say that I wasn't very hopeful for this track when I saw the track title. It's also by an artist I've heard nothing by before (despite the fact that he's been occasionally uploading tracks to 8BC.org since Feb '09!), so when I heard this well-produced dancey-but-not-just-a-loop track, I was, I'll admit, a bit surprised! I love finding secret gems like this and sharing them. It feels like what 8BD is most useful for!

KiddyBit's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Lucius - Bach Two-Part Invention #6

2009-12-31T12:37:00.004-05:00

I can't help but imagine sitting in the library of some gargantuan house, a tumbler of bourbon held lazily in one hand while I read from a book of classic literature in front of a fireplace, comfortable in my high-backed chair. On a nearby endtable sits a Game Boy, quietly emitting the music of Bach.

Happy New Year!

Lucius' website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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NOROCK - The Walk

2009-12-30T16:40:00.003-05:00

Hahaha, yes. I just did that.

In 20 minutes I've gotta be at work. I spent all day downloading as many old 8BD entries as I could, and contacting the artists of all the songs that have since been taken down. I'm trying to get every song I've featured onto my hard drive, and it's taking a while. But! Here's some stats about my current 8BD pick playlist:

- It consists of 168 tracks (I'm into October and missing some tracks)
- It's 776Mb, meaning a full year of this stuff will likely be about 2Gb
- The length of all tracks combined is an impressive 8:57:10. A full year looks like it will end up being about 24 hours long. How about that, a year of 8-Bit DAILY and it's ONE DAY long! So cool. :)
- The longest track (added so far) is Maktone - Playing With Music at 10:00.
- The shortest track (added so far) is Sci - Superdrums at 0:42.

So, like I have done in the past when I'm crunched for time, I just upload something of my own! This was made by controlling my Atari ST with MIDI. It's short.

NOROCK's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Coma - Skogens Djur 011

2009-12-29T14:19:00.002-05:00

Some radical cracktro/demo/keygen/mod music! I did a bit of random digging around on keygenmusic.net (lol) and found this track which was released with a keygen for Goldwave (an audio program I've used before which is why I happened to click on that one). I thought it was a pretty sweet track, so I decided to check out the guy that made it, who I discovered to be a fella named Daniel Johansson, aka Coma.

This track is part of a 20-track release by him, which you can get here. Probably the oldest track I've featured, this one was written way back in '97! And suddenly, here it is, on a website in 2009. Oh, by the way, you'll need something like ModplugPlayer to listen to the .mod files, but it's worth it! They're cooler than .mp3s, since the files are telling your sound chip what to play rather than just giving some (potentially lossy) waveforms to be parroted by your speakers. Also, they can repeat partway the song, so you'll hear the intro but once and jam out to let's say Skogens Djur 020 for let's say ten minutes while writing up let's say a blog post about chiptunes. ;)

Coma's website

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Silent Requiem - Killed By Cardboard

2009-12-28T11:10:00.002-05:00

The bass on this one is just incredible. It sounds like a small lowpass filter was laid over the top though, since the lead instrument seems to have had its "edge" taken off. It's only in the awesome saw instrument and the super high-pitched tones that you really hear those high frequencies come out. I dunno, I just love the sound of it.

Silreq's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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4-Mat - Veni, Vidi, Vici

2009-12-27T17:21:00.003-05:00

Looking around at old Demos on pouet.net, found this awesome one for the VIC-20, with music by 4-Mat (protip: you need to know who 4-Mat is). I'm currently about a quarter of the way through downloading the .avi of the whole demo (it's 160Mb, I'm excited).

It came in second place to this demo, however. You win some, you lose some! Nevertheless, great great music 4-Mat, and a nice "old-school" feature the likes of which I don't do nearly often enough.

4-Mat's website

The pouet.net page (leave a comment!)

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Je Deviens DJ En Trois Jours - Bencong

2009-12-26T13:20:00.003-05:00

FRENCH TECHNO. JDDJ3J played one of the best sets in New York, figured I should show you guys this (because you know, nobody gets their music from any other site but this one!). Wish they'd release more on 8BC but hey, what can ya do.

JDDJ3J's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Glomag - The Ectasy of Gold

2009-12-26T12:33:00.002-05:00

I have some catching up to do, what with all the days I blatantly disregarded the needs of you, my poor, poor audience, and you were left stranded and chiptune-less. So it's two today, and two again whenever I feel like it's applicable! There's a new Glomag release over at 8BP, the first track of which is simply fantastic. It's a cover, yeah, but I don't think it detracts from this site to feature covers. Anyhow, enjoy!

Glomag's website

The forum post (leave a comment!)

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8BC Advent Calendars 2008 & 2009!

2009-12-25T12:11:00.003-05:00

50 Christmas tracks!

Thanks to all you guys who have been spending almost a full year now checking out this site, listening to all the cool chiptune artists I feature every day. It's been a lot of fun getting to know the chiptune community better, and I hope to be writing a similar post one year from now! Have a great Christmas, wherever you're from!

-Curt

Rush Coil - What Child Is This

2009-12-24T12:49:00.003-05:00

From 8-Bit Christmas, which I had been planning on featuring since I got word of it on December 1st. It wasn't until today that I realized a few things:

1. None of the songs are available for free download, so I'm not about to post .MP3s to subvert that.
2. All the proceeds of this project are being DONATED TO CHARITY so I would effectively be stealing from kids in hospitals if I tried to get you this music for free.
3. [adult swim] linked to this project as well, and it's Christmas Eve so none of the songs will load very quickly due to some overloaded bandwidth.

Regardless, I cannot recommend this album enough as the end-all chiptune Christmas dealio. The "What Child Is This" (officially the 8BD of 12/24) cover mixes Metroid with classical Christmas tunes, and as soon as I heard that I knew there would never be a Christmas song that topped it. Equal it, maybe. But not top it.

Merry Christmas, people! Give $4 to charity and listen to some rad music!

EvilWezil - Second Hand March

2009-12-23T12:59:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I featured a release! Today's track is not off of 8bc.org, but the venerable Pause. The whole release is worth grabbing, of course, so I suggest you follow the link to the Pause Page and get the MP3 .zip! Although not too apparent in today's track, the album makes use of a lot of strange time signatures and rhythms, making it a pretty engaging listen. Pretty cool fake-world writeup, too! I always get a kick out of that kind of thing.

EvilWezil's website

The Pause page (leave a comment!)

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Trash Can Man - Birth

2009-12-22T12:33:00.002-05:00

Here's the TCM track I promised you guys! The melody comes in about halfway, I think you'll really enjoy it. More stuff tomorrow, when I'll have time to do stuff!

TCM's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Blip '09 Writeup #3 (The J. Arthur Keenes Band, Trash Can Man, Bubblyfish, The Hunters, Glomag, Bit Shifter, David Sugar, Psilodump)

2009-12-20T12:20:00.003-05:00

Gooooooood morning (yes it is almost 12:30PM as I begin writing this)! What a weekend Blip has been. I've got one last show I'm going to today at 4PM, and then it's all over! So many chiptunes. It's been absolutely fantastic, I got to meet a lot of excellent folks and listen to some ridiculously jamming tunes. Okay, here's your writeup!

J.A.K. was one of my most anticipated shows of these three days. I don't know what it is about his songwriting, but I just love it. Like the previous night, it took him no time at all to get the crowd jumping and moving. His Game Boys supplied ample bass and percussion, covered with his top-notch vocals, guitar, and melodica, which I had never seen played live before. It's got the sound of a harmonica, but it's played like a piano (except you have to blow into it)! Very interesting, but it went great over the more chilled-out portions and grooves of his set. He has a sweet variety of reggae, ska, and rock feels to his tracks, and it had the crowd hooked, singing along, and happy. Superb!

Next, Trash Can Man played what I want to call chip-grunge, but won't (I didn't, see?) because I'm not sure the consequences I'll be bringing upon myself if that's inaccurate. At any rate, he opened with a cover of a song called "Emancipation" according to Twitter posts, and by my best guess it's by a guy named Ihsahn, frontman to a black metal band named Emperor. The crowd was screaming along, and I have to admit I felt pretty awkward that I didn't know the lyrics myself! Haha, anyway, it was a pretty rad set, and TCM made a few new fans judging from what I read. I'll have to feature a track by him soon so you guys get an idea for what he was like.

Bubblyfish followed, opening with a cover of Sleigh Bells that was much louder, tougher, and cooler than it ought to have been. Her set was a lot of fun, and she had some really crazy tunes that sounded folksy or country or something. Like the music that plays when a horse is walking in a cartoon. But then she'd break out of that into really thick beats, as powerful as anything played that night. It was really interesting, but a lot of fun. It was also the last set that I stuck to the front of the stage, at that point I was really feeling the effects of having partied and walked for miles for two and a half days straight with less than optimum amounts of sleep. It was an awesome set, though, and I'd love to see Bubblyfish play again!

The Hunters came up next, playing a really chilled out tune before unleashing their more hopping tracks. They also supplied their own visuals, which were much smoother than the hyper glitched stylings of the VJs (The C-Men, Paris, Outpt, Enso, Vblank, NO CARRIER, and Rosa Menkman, all of whom were just incredible and mind-blowing). They had that thick, bassy Game Boy sound that drives people nuts, and it looked like a great response from where I was standing during their set!

Glomag followed, getting the crowd going ballistic to his heavy, fast beats and rock and roll guitar playing. A New York favorite, Glomag's set had everyone going nuts, quite a feat when you consider what most participants had been through the past few days. For one of his tracks he had one of the C-Men (who were VJing his set at the time) come up on stage to sing some vocoded lyrics, and chiptune-writer-guy Natty Adams to rap, which went over most excellently as you can probably imagine.

Then Bit Shifter! The Blip Festival was nearing its end, and it was apparent by the awesome acts they had "saved for last". Bit Shifter had the crowd going wild, yes I'm aware that EVERY ACT seemed to be doing that last night, but it's the truth! The chiptune scene only gets one Blip Festival every year, we make it count! So he's playing, people are loving the Information Chase tracks, Reformat The Planet went over exceptionally well, maybe the biggest cheer all three nights for a song coming on. But at the end of his set, once we all thought that he was about to leave the stage, he announced that while he had been feeling sick and for that reason didn't sing any songs like he had wanted to, he was going to sing his very last track, which was the cover of a Misfits song called (excuse me here) "AngelFuck". He invited everyone who wanted to up on stage, and closed his set out as powerfully as you might expect from Bit Shifter.

David Sugar played next, sometimes singing, sometimes playing guitar, but always using the Game Boy and dancing around to his tracks. He's been away from the chiptune scene for some time now, saying that it had been probably close to a year since he'd played any chiptune shows. But being invited to Blip had gotten him excited over chiptunes once more, and he played us a track that he wrote just for Blip. It was a good song, and the crowd ate it up! I'm not as familiar with David Sugar as I think I ought to be, so I think this week I'll have to spend some time getting to know his music better.

And, after three very full concerts even without him, it was time to squeeze one more act into the agenda, and Psilodump took the stage. He played absolute bangers. His act had superb visuals by Paris and The C-Men, in my opinion the best of all three nights (though Minusbaby's was a very close second). His sound was very professional sounding, with spot-on levels and mixing, and tight crossfading between tracks so as to not let the crowd down for even a second. It was intense, and seemed to last much longer than it actually did. To put it shortly, it was the perfect set to close out Blip '09!

And that's how the show went down. Once I got outside, there was a ton of snow on the ground and I got to shuffle back to my hotel in the wind and the cold. Sigh. Such is the dichotomy of life, an equal and opposite reaction for every action. But I cheated this fate, that seemed to be punishing New York for having too much fun, by getting a delicious sandwich on my way home, and having a great night's sleep. Can't beat me, snow! I'm from MICHIGAN!!

Blip '09 Writeup #2 (Disasterpeace, Starscream, Fighter X, Little Scale, I, Cactus, Nullsleep, Rainbowdragoneyes, Patric C, Hally, CONDOM)

2009-12-19T11:30:00.004-05:00

First off, this is the longest concert I've ever been to. I suppose that's why it's legitimate to call Blip a festival rather than, say, a "concert series" or something like that. These are not concerts every night, they are tests of party endurance!! Okay, so going right in order...

Disasterpeace, of whom I'm a big fan, was up first. He had his whole set queued up on the software side of things, and played his guitar along with. It seemed as if some residue energy was still in the crowd from last night, since there wasn't that two or three set buffer between concert starting and crowd starting like there was Thursday. Although his music isn't the best for headbanging, jumping around, and crowd surfing, it was apparent people were into the math-rock compositions, crazy time signatures, and powerful (not to be confused with power) chords. It was quite the set, and same as yesterday's performance by Silreq, a great kickoff for the night.

Starscream was up next, and Damon and George made quick work of getting the crowd frenzied. I was glad to hear some new tracks by them, and everyone around was enjoying the flowing music over the hard drums. I was also surprised to see Damon, who for so long reminded me of a long-haired friend of mine named Justice, had cut most of his hair off. Anyway, the music was great, Starscream is another one of those bands I was extra excited to see perform, and they did not disappoint.

Fighter X came up next, the party-hard collaboration between the original Fighter X and Circles (there's a post about it not too long ago). They played their "unce", as people have come to call it, and it really got the crowd moving. I think at one point they were both in the crowd (by which of course I mean ON the crowd), but I'm not sure. Plenty of people were floating atop the audience last night. During Fighter X's set was when I started realizing how tired I was feeling. Combining the drastic increase in exercise I'd been getting (walking around NYC and rocking out to the entirety of a 6-hour concert all day and the day before) with the toll the loudspeakers were taking on my ears and the fact that my vodka tonics' (drink of choice, people) "influence" let's say was fading, yeah. I was getting pretty exhausted. I wasn't sure what would happen if another Fighter X show happened, but next up was Little-Scale, and what I've heard of him is generally not that up-tempo or ridiculous. I thought I was safe!

Little-Scale's set opened with A vs. B, a track some people might call a "joke track". The 8bc.org version consists of two notes, identical in pitch but with some sort of duty cycle shift or filter cutoff automation or something, resulting in subtly different timbres from start to finish. It's only a few seconds long, and it inspired a few "reimaginings" or "remixes" in the days after its being uploaded to 8bc. So those notes played, and I thought he'd bow and the crowd would have a laugh, but instead the song just exploded into a very hard beat coupled with some fast-paced melodies. He continued in this way pretty much his entire set, taking the occasional break to play some tracks with a down-tempo feel while the crowd caught its collective breath and cheered. It was a great set, and by the time it was over I'd forgotten I was supposed to be tired!

I, Cactus followed Little-Scale's set, playing from his laptop. His music was the least "chiptune" set of these last two nights, with plenty of pop music culture weaved in with his tracks. He had a sort of remix of Britney Spears, Eminem, and Nine Inch Nails I think, all mashed together to make bizarre but coherent sentences. He looked like he was enjoying his set as much as anyone in the crowd, laughing at the stranger sequencing of words (Eminem's "Hi, my name is..." with a myriad other goofy things following it) and getting thoroughly sweaty dancing around the stage.

Nullsleep came on stage to no small amount of applause, and since he's one of the biggest names in Chiptunes it should be no surprise. Playing off a couple Game Boys, his set was way harder, noisier, and devoid of melodies than I had been planning on. Great party music to be sure, and the crowd knew this all too well, but just... Not what I'd expected. Talking with Ethan after the set, he agreed with my take on it, mentioning that Nullsleep's seemed to have abandoned rich, melodic tracks in preference of more up-tempo, crowd-stirring dance tracks, leaving him feeling personally betrayed! I could hear where he was coming from, since I would have loved a slower set for multiple reasons, but what was done was done, and Nullsleep's approach seems to be working out just fine for him!

Rainbowdragoneyes was the second-to last, and what a crazy show that was. I discovered later that RDE actually works in the recording industry, working with all sorts of metal artists professionally. As such, his stage presence was very death-metal, with him flinging his hair around, screaming into a microphone, and turning off all the stage lights. It was a crazy set with a unique style (though I suspect seeing other metal-chiptune artists like Nestrogen or Norrin Radd would be a similarly intense spectacle).

Closing out the night, or at least the part of the night to which anyone with $15 bucks was allowed, was Patric C. He was just awesome. The most "old-school" artist in attendance, Patric C. chided the scene for forgetting about its roots in the demo scene, and expressed some frustration with the iTunes age of music distribution, in which the fringe, self-produced independent tracks, the likes of which have created the entire chiptune culture, have no chance of thriving. His set was invariably intense, getting the crowd moving in no time despite the fact that if they felt anything like I did we were all one minute of silence away from falling asleep.

After Patric C. had finished off Blip night #2 proper, Hally and CONDOM were scheduled to make an appearance. It was around 1:30 when P.C. got off the stage, but it wasn't until 2:00 or so that Hally finally began his set, and I moved toward the stage in a zombie-like state that evaporated as soon as his double NES setup started assaulting us with its rich beats and smooth moving lines. I just have to say that Hally was probably the coolest performer, playing his set in a track jacket and slowly donning his trademark sunglasses right before the initiation of his sonic barrage. The crowd was utterly insane, especially considering how late it was, but that wasn't even the half of it!

By the time CONDOM came on, Covox and Random had been getting their set put together and everything connected for almost an hour. 3:30 AM was when the ambient, flowing dissonance of their opening track started, building into a raging sea of noise, at which point they walked on stage, completely in black. They stood motionless for a full minute, then put their hand to their ear at a musical cue. Another moment later, and they flipped a switch, illuminating two point-sized LEDs where eyes would be. Their set consisted of a few spoken pieces - half jargon half euphemism about condoms - in between all of their tracks. After the show, I ended up meeting a couple guys from Blip waiting for a subway, Kris Keyser and Ricardo Almonte (and one of Kris' friends whose name I didn't catch). Kris summed up the CONDOM show pretty well when he mentioned "they out-Justiced Justice". I think it's safe to say that with music the likes of which Covox/Random was blasting, you could sell out some pretty large venues. It was absolutely insane, and my favorite set of this festival so far.

So, another night of Blip come and gone! Last night, with the exclusive afterparty show, ended up being something like 9 hours long. I showed up at quarter to 8 and got back at quarter to 5. What a night.

So, tonight! The J. Arthur Keenes Band, Glomag, Bit Shifter, and more! It's gonna be a blast!!

Blip '09 Writeup #1 (Silreq, Failotron, Leeni, Minusbaby, Chromix, JDDJ3J, Albino Ghost Monkey, Eat Rabbit)

2009-12-18T12:38:00.002-05:00

Wow, what an interesting experience was last night's Blip! Well, let's get right to it.

First up was Silent Requiem (Silreq), who seemed to be trying his hardest to detonate the sound system. Very heavy on the bass, the percussion (white noise with envelopes = percussion), and other noise. It was a bit like a DJ set because he didn't stop the music, he didn't say anything, he just played some crazy hard music. As I said to Ethan (look in the comments on these entries, chances are decent you'll see that name), "It's good music to show off the sound system". It was a great opening act, and it got the crowd a little bit energized, but nothing like what was to come.

Next was Failotron, from Budapest, Hungary. He spent his sound check strumming a guitar and playing with the delay and stuff, then set the guitar down and told the crowd "I just wanted to test this guitar, I won't be using it". He plays Hullamzoret Two first, which of course I loved! But then, I think it was a couple songs later that he went to play a track the name of which escapes me, it was discovered his LSDJ save had corrupted! So he gets the privelage of playing at Blip '09 in New York, flies there from Eastern Europe, he is about to play what he called his "FAVORITE SONG"!!!! And the cart died! It was... The saddest thing I've ever seen. But he got his "Commodore Advanced" (his laptop), and we got to jam out to it anyway. The buildups he writes are just fantastic, and the guitar/drum/gameboy trifecta didn't fail to disappoint.

Third, Leeni, a singer-songwriter girl from Seattle, was a radical departure from the rest of the night. I felt like she was disappointed in the crowd for not dancing as much as she'd like us to, and I empathize. You want your Blip show to be as good as it can be! But the thing to realize is that chiptune crowds usually consist of a lot of head-bobbers and toe-tappers. And that's what the crowd did, though slightly harder once she hinted that we were "allowed to dance" and whatever else. The music was nice; melodic and soft, if I had to pick two words, but it didn't get the crowd moving. Ah well!

Next up was Minusbaby. His set garnered a lot of interest before he went on because he had been wandering the club handing out 3D glasses to be worn during his set. The visuals were, as such, rendered with the red and pale blue offset instantly recognizable as 3D, and the beats he laid down were fantastically heavy. It got the crowd moving, but I'd say "pulsing" would be the more accurate term. A lot of movement, but no jumping around or thrashing. Also, those super-low triangle waves... Oh man. It was an all-around intense experience.

Chromix played after, with nothing on stage but him, his GBA SP, and a mic. His set was rad, and he was dancing as hard as anyone else in the room. It was during this set that people really got going, as his fast-paced beats and the amount of energy he was exuding inspired a lot of jumping, thrashing, and yelling. Oh what power the Game Boy holds! He played a rad cover of Chemical Plant Zone from Sonic 2, the highlight of his set for me, as well as plenty of his own original creations which consist of a lot of fast kick-drum and... Noise I guess? Melodies were there, but the spotlight was not on them. It was about the jam.

With Chromix's set done, the crowd was peaking. The music was getting more and more energetic each set, and the next artist, Je Deviens DJ En Trois Jours (I/I've/I'll Become A DJ In Three Days depending on the tense) has a bit of a reputation as making killer party music. He treated the Game Boys like turntables, and it was during this set that people started crowd surfing and the entire audience was jumping around like mad. Also, he was overpowering the system or a cord was unplugging or something, because periodically in his set the noise would cut out completely, with the crowd giving a huge "AWWWWWWWW" every time. But then the problem would be resolved, the music instantly back to its strength, and the crowd was pulled right back in. It was a great set, and JDDJ3J is an excellent performer who knows how to frenzy up a crowd.

Following that act was Albino Ghost Monkey. I'd retreated back to the front room, mostly because it was close to the door and hence some degrees cooler, when I heard the between-sets music cut out and our friend the pale tarsier took the stage. He played very intense music, probably the hardest dance music all night, and got the crowd present absolutely frothing. There was almost perpetually someone on top of the crowd, it was at this point that glow-sticks and other blinking, glowing rave-toys appeared in the crowd, and he was dancing just as hard as he could, so of course the crowd went berserk! He kept telling the crowd he loved them, and I'm sure he made quite a few friends after his set last night. As for me, though, I'd been at the edge of the stage all night, so I just watched all this happen from a distance and had a drink.

Closing out the first night of Blip was EAT RABBIT, a French guy who I would feel comfortable describing as "insane". I mean, he's not really, but his sense of aesthetics is pretty out there. He wore a suit and tie with a big bunny head mask, and his music was like deranged carnie tunes. Regardless, the crowd loved it, and at one point during what sounded like a hardstyle polka, the crowd started chanting "HEY" on every offbeat while I assume they kicked their legs forward and crossed their arms. Hey, we'll make do with whatever music the artists give us!

All in all, the first night of Blip was, I think, successful! It was interesting how heavily documented the event was, with 2PP's camera crew all over the stage, no shortage of cameras, and the entire event being streamed online. I suspect that for those of you that didn't get to attend Blip '09, you'll be able to pretty much "get the idea" from some DVD that will go on sale in a while.

Also, no tracks today, sorry. I'm going to just save up and catch up on music when I get back! Like, I'll post... What, five songs? Something like that. Anyway! Seeya tomorrow for Writeup #2!

Albino Ghost Monkey - Host

2009-12-16T12:25:00.004-05:00

I was hopeful that a "Ghost Monkey" was a real animal. Alas, I have scoured Wikipedia with no result. Most disappointingly was the discovery that there is no catch-all "List of types of monkeys" page, the type of thing you might find for plenty other strange categories.

At any rate, this is a track I had not heard before today, and it makes me very excited to be going to Blip in... Hm, about 15 hours I'll be headed out the door! I'll be bringing my laptop and updating in my hotel though, so don't expect me to take a break or anything lame like that!

Albino Ghost Monkey's website (my best guess, anyway)

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Leeni - Animatronic

2009-12-15T11:40:00.002-05:00

Not only music, but words, too! I suspect Leeni would have been happy to continue playing guitar and singing songs like so many other people do, but apparently she was bored and decided to check out Nanoloop one day! A good decision if ever there was one, as she's quite successful, with a couple of professional looking music videos and some albums that you can buy over at CrunchyCo if you feel like it!

Leeni's website

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Nullsleep - Supernova Kiss

2009-12-14T13:11:00.002-05:00

The classic Nullsleep track! This song was on the legendary 8BP050, which acted as my formal introduction to chiptunes as a genre. Before then, I was familiar with downloading NSFs to listen to the old NES tunes, or going to vgmusic.com (I'd been visiting that page since Windows 98 was the OS of choice, and downloading a MIDI was a serious investment in internet time) to listen to covers of videogame music rendered in a worse-than-the-original sounding style. Of course, I knew the music for Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the N64, but didn't own the console myself! It was my friend's! So I used the internet as a way to listen to the music of G e r u d o V a l l e y, or to listen to that whistley sledding theme from Mario 64 (a game I have, to this day, not played).

But it wasn't until 8BP050, when I heard of guys like Random and Anamanaguchi and Virt and Nullsleep that I finally understood the potential in taking the sounds that I really liked - the tones and styles of game music - and writing original compositions. And once I'd listened to 8BP050, and then gone to 8-Bit Peoples' site and used the Firefox plugin "DownThemAll!" to amass an awesome collection of 400+ chiptune tracks... It was over! From that point on, chiptunes have predominantly satiated my musical appetite.

Nullsleep, ladies and gents!

Nullsleep's website

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Failotron - Hullamzoret Two

2009-12-13T13:27:00.002-05:00

Back when this song was first uploaded to 8BC, I was interested in hearing more of it. This track, as you might have noticed, is the "part two" of a four-track project. Now that I think about it, I've got no idea if it's finished now or not! Regardless, this track stands fine on its own, and it's a very calming piece with great chords and just the right amount of open, empty space.

Failotron's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Bit Shifter - Reformat The Planet

2009-12-11T16:59:00.003-05:00

Bit Shifter is interesting in that the majority of his music has been released on compilations rather than on his own EPs/LPs. Just look at his Discography! Just a whole bunch of compilations, as well as "Life's A Bit Shifter" and "The Information Chase", where this track is from. I'm looking forward to seeing him play because I want to see if it's the same few tracks of his I've been listening to for so long now, or if he'll have a lot of stuff I've never heard!

Bit Shifter's website

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Minusbaby - Left, Part 6

2009-12-10T15:25:00.002-05:00

A big name from the NYC chiptune scene, Minusbaby is equal parts visual artist and musician. His latest collection of tracks, Left, is pretty awesome and I featured a track off of it back in August when it came out. The EP is worth your while, the tracks are all excellent, and it's got a sweet exotic feel to it that I don't think you'll find in much chipmusic.

Minusbaby's website

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Silent Requiem - "Doctor X" 1932

2009-12-09T13:45:00.003-05:00

Wow okay I just realized I have to be to work in 15 minutes (thanks for that, phone!) so I can't say much other than listen to this guy's one-channel LSDJ tracks (on his page, link below). They are very good given the restrictions he's working with!

Silent Requiem's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Fighter X - A Dystopian Future

2009-12-08T13:25:00.003-05:00

I've featured Fighter X before, but he'll be playing at this year's Blip Fest, so I'm featuring him again! When this track was made, Fighter X was just one guy, but now there's two Fighter X members, the second of which used to go by Circles. I've featured him before too, actually! So yeah, their set should be pretty hardcore. They make tough dancey Game Boy music with kicks that are hard and plentiful. Great stuff when the volume is ridiculously amped!

Fighter X's website

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Disasterpeace - Quartz

2009-12-07T13:00:00.002-05:00

Disasterpeace is one of the Blip artists I'm most eagerly anticipating having the opportunity to watch. His songs aren't just good, they're emotive and varied. I'm expecting great stuff from the whole lineup, but I have a feeling that Disasterpeace's set will be a standout, given the nature of all the songs by him I've heard before. Anyway, here is one of his less heard tracks (if 8BC listens are any indicator, and I think they may be). Drink some coffee or something while you listen to this one!

Disasterpeace's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Chromix - Passive Resistance

2009-12-06T15:00:00.005-05:00

My featuring Blip artists is an attempt to accomplish two things. The first is that you, as listeners of Chiptunes, might appreciate the music of the people who will soon be coming together to put on three awesome nights of music and visuals and maybe even choose to fly/drive out to NYC for the big event itself. The other is to expose you to artists who are, for lack of a more precise term, "legit". I mean, I look at the list of performers, and while I recognize most of them, I certainly don't know them all. Aside: To this end, I was going to feature EAT_RABBIT yesterday but was taken from my computer by a shadowy figure and not returned to my home until late that night at which point I decided to sleep. Sorry. So I'm going through the list, checking out some of the artists... And in my usual way, picking out sweet tracks I come across to save you guys some sifting time!

Chromix's website

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David Sugar - Totally On

2009-12-04T14:29:00.002-05:00

With my concert over, we can get back to the concert that's really important - Blip! This track was picked by Octavialsilver since I'm on an internet connection that doesn't allow me to listen to music, and I'm on a different computer than the one I normally use and can therefore not listen to music. But! David Sugar is an O.G. of the chiptune scene, and has toured with Digitalism, a very good and also legitimate band. This track's off his 8BP release "Fresh Off The Chip".

David Sugar's website

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Octavialsilver - Mechanical Madness

2009-12-02T12:25:00.003-05:00

A collaboration between Octavialsilver and Anticlimax. Tomorrow I'll be heading to Detroit to play a show with Octavial and Noisewaves (see yesterday's post!) on really loud speakers and there'll be some shiny lights and people and the whole thing. Wow!

Octavialsilver's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Noisewaves - As Days Go By (Family Matters Theme)

2009-12-01T11:36:00.003-05:00

Okay, Noisewaves isn't playing at Blip but I'm taking a three-day break from the Blip Hype Project to feature the participants of a concert that's this Thursday (yeah that's in two days) in Detroit, on the campus of Oakland University! It's gonna be in an arcade, we'll have free food and video games and maybe some free pool tables but I dunno for sure. Anyway, it's gonna be me (NOROCK), Noisewaves, and Octavialsilver. Should be a cool show!

Noisewaves' website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Starscream - The Rad Truths About Hockey Fights

2009-11-30T13:01:00.002-05:00

Starscream is two guys, one of whom makes LSDJ jams and the other who jams on drums. It is altogether one big jamming experience to see them live. Starscream is also the second-in-command of the Decepticons, often to the chagrin of Megatron, their leader. You see, Megatron doesn't want Starscream to become the Decepticons' number one; he wants to retain his power (of course). But Starscream cares not for the solidarity of his faction, but only for the advancement of his own rank. Due partly to this (and to extremely poor marksmanship), the Decepticons always fall to the Autobots, who know to rally behind Optimus Prime and never attempt to usurp his leadership. Optimus is the symbol of a just leader, Megatron the symbol of a dictator or power hungry totalitarian, and Starscream is basically the representative of anarchy, chaos, and rebellion.

And that is why Starscream is such a cool name for a band.

Starscream's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Glomag - 4shame

2009-11-29T11:56:00.003-05:00

Probably my favorite Glomag track, I was going through his work this morning looking for which track I'd use in Project Hype Blip (or whatever I called the featuring of Blipfest performers for the next few weeks yesterday) and I came across 4shame once again and knew it was... THE ONE.

Glomag's set should be a lot of fun, there are loads of people on the forums and stuff who talk about how crazy a Glomag set can get.

I'll have to show them how we party... (puts on cool shades) In Grand Rapids.

Glomag's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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J. Arthur Keenes - Foe Paw

2009-11-28T13:50:00.003-05:00

A track by your friend and mine, this kicks off Project Hype Blip '09 here at 8BD. I'm gonna be featuring tracks from people you'll be able to hear if you go to the festival in NYC on the 17th, 18th, or 19th of December.

Well sort of. I'm starting it now, then taking a break from it next week to showcase the fine artists that'll be playing at Oakland University near Detroit on December 3rd (I'm one of them!), then it'll be back to the Blip artists! Until like, the 20th when it's all over. AND THEN IT WILL BE ALMOST CHRISTMAS! So then I'll do, I dunno, Christmas songs? Somethin'. Anyway, that's the rest of 2009 laid out for y'all.

J. Arthur Keenes' website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Kosmopop2 - Out of the Silent Planet

2009-11-27T14:22:00.002-05:00

Kosmopop2 is a guy from Russia who seems to be playing more shows than any other musician on 8BC. Just go to his page and look at his image submissions, they're all of him playing different venues/parties! So here is one of his songs, and if you live in western Russia, well... Maybe you've seen him already!

Kosmopop2's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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cTrix - Live Tek-House Set

2009-11-25T17:46:00.002-05:00

cTrix, an awesome chiptune guy from Melbourne, Australia (you'll find that out listening to the song) was recently on a radio station the likes of which I wish existed near where I live. He went on the air, got interviewed, then played a house techno set using a Game Boy and a mixer with some built-in effects (you'll hear the reverb). It's a great set, and I've never heard an LSDJ house track anything like this.

cTrix's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Phase Terminale - Moon Level

2009-11-24T13:20:00.001-05:00

Featuring a lot more bass than you've ever heard from an NES (in all fairness, it came from an NES emulation). It is a cover of a level from the Duck Tales game which I have never played! I'm positive the original doesn't have such hardcore drum writing in it, though.

Phase Terminale's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Peer - Dance 4

2009-11-23T13:11:00.002-05:00

This song takes a while to build up, but it gets some great harmonies and is a very excellent composition for two synced Game Boys running LSDJ. There's 5 other tracks for you to listen to here!

Peer's website

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Shnabubula - Dueling Consoles

2009-11-22T15:06:00.002-05:00

It starts out mimicking the classic "Dueling Banjos" song, which has been covered a million times by a million people, but just kind of evolves into an elaborate jam. The duel is purported by Shnabubula to take place between an NES and an "Okama Game Sphere", the uber-console from an episode of South Park.

And like every "Dueling _______" song, there is no winner, just a display of instrumental mastery. Enjoy!

Shnabubula's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Mahamajama - Man, That Sucka Dun Reached His Prime

2009-11-21T13:46:00.002-05:00

The third track from Mr. Jama to appear on 8BD, I suggest you check the last two out as well. "All The Candy In The World" and "Whale Hail". The first of those two is one of my picks that I go back to pretty often. It just sticks in my head! Also his name is very fun to say (once you figure out how to say it)!

Mahamajama's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Pulselooper - Untitled

2009-11-20T11:15:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! Don't forget to buy your plane tickets to fly to Brazil this Sunday so you can be at the show on Monday the 23rd! No, but to all the Brazilian 8BD fans: Check out the show!

For those of us that live too far to make it at a reasonable expense, we still get to listen to tracks by the performers! Pulselooper's gonna be there (also in the archives, look for his track "Wonky Bits" which has a great beat and is a lot of fun), as well as Covox/Random/Bubblyfish/Henryhomesweet/Sabrepulse/Bit Shifter. Really incredible lineup.

Pulselooper's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Monx - Kanye West Evangelizes the Square Wave

2009-11-19T15:10:00.002-05:00

I just love chiptunes with rap lyrics. Why? Because it sounds so great! I've never heard the source track of these lyrics, but it doesn't matter. You get some basic waveforms going with a beat and put some rap over it, and you've got a winner track. That's science.

Monx's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Ninetales - We Are Your Friends!!!

2009-11-18T13:19:00.002-05:00

A cover of a remix! Simian wrote a song which Justice remixed and Ninetales covered/remixed! I like the Justice version a whole lot. ALSO a Justice compilation is on the precipice of being released (I think!). I made a cover of their song Planisphere, others did other tracks... It should be coming out soon. You'll be hearing more Justice chiptune covers here when that drops!

Ninetales' website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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little-scale - Hyper Plutonium

2009-11-17T12:54:00.003-05:00

If you'll take a look at little-scale's last (which is actually his first) 8BD spot, you'll notice it's very loosely music compared to noise. It is an amazing display of control over a console's sound chip, and an interesting sonic experiment, but like many of little-scale's tracks it is a bit further in the deep end of the pool than most tracks that make it onto this site (it's also deeper than most tracks PERIOD).

That sort of experimental, circuit-bent-but-not aesthetic, where playing around with parameters takes precedence over the sequencing of notes is typically little-scale's trademark, which is why I was so shocked when I heard this cool upbeat track from him I just had no choice but to feature it. To loudly exclaim to the world "THIS IS LITTLE-SCALE'S MUSIC!"

Of course, there was also his release on Pause not too long ago: Dynasty, which was a great halfway point (melodies, obvious ones, breaking through the experimental tones of FM-synth drums and heaps of static), but this has to be the most melodic and straightforward track I've ever heard from him. It needs recognition for that.

little-scale's website

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Bubblyfish - Follow the Red Dots

2009-11-16T12:49:00.003-05:00

So! Today I woke up (a bit late, since I was up until 4:30AM playing the game Borderlands with a friend), checked the email, and had an email from a fella named André (you may know him as Pulselooper) asking if I would be willing/able to promote the upcoming FILE 8-Bit Game People concert which is happening in Brazil next week!

This concert looks absolutely fantastic, with the lineup consisting of Bit Shifter, Covox, Random, Bubblyfish, Sabrepulse, noteNdo and of course Pulselooper. Talk about a great show!

So I was like "yeah! I'll promote this show so hard!" by which I mean I'll mention it/link to it twice this week. :)

I went to the link Pulselooper provided (http://www.file.org.br/) and started lookin' around. The show is being put on by an organization in Brazil called FILE. In addition to the chiptune scene, the organization has an interest in modern video game development as well as electronic music and art. It looks like a pretty rad outfit, and the list of all their events makes me want to fly down there pretty badly (besides this concert, there's a game developer symposium type thing, which my lo-fi-game-designer-heroes at PixelJam will be attending!)

I then found the following video (music by Bubblyfish, art by Raquel Meyers) linked to at the bottom of the site, watched it, loved it, and decided to feature it. This was within, oh, ten minutes of waking up. It's now an hour later and I am just finishing documenting this rather short experience!

Bubblyfish's website
Raquel Meyers' website

The Blip.tv page (leave a comment!)

Anticlimax - No Respect

2009-11-15T14:07:00.002-05:00

Today is a busy day! I'm currently sitting on my work's wifi during the thirty-minute-long window of free time I've got today, and I decided I'd try and get today's 8-Bit Daily get picked out! Luckily for me, I stopped right before this awesome track by Anticlimax (currently going by "an-cat-max" for mysterious reasons). Now, time for work!

Anticlimax's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Geckoyamori - Tortoise Prowess

2009-11-14T12:28:00.004-05:00

The shortest 8-Bit Daily ever, but he certainly packed a lot in there! This track represents a work in progress that was lost. LOST FOREVER. Due to his computer tracking. I've been there, it is not fun! Anyway... IF you need more 8-Bit music in your day than this 0:48 song supplies, you might try downloading it? And looping it? Or you can head on over to Geckoyamori's page and listen to more music by him! It's all quite good.

Geckoyamori's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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lpower - Fourth Challenger

2009-11-13T12:40:00.003-05:00

The title of this track may lead you to believe there are three other songs that come before it in a series. You're absolutely right! This track is from lpower's latest release "Emanon" on the Pterodactyl Squad netlabel. The whole album is a sort of soundtrack to what would probably be an old Sega game, but feels (to me at least) more like an old stand-up arcade machine's music. Maybe it's just because most of the time you come across an old racing game it's an arcade cabinet and not a cartridge... Hmm.

lpower's website

There's no place for comments on this... So leave a comment here!

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Videovalvontaa - Hiro

2009-11-12T16:34:00.002-05:00

This compilation is strikingly divided between its first and second halves. It starts pretty intense with their track "Braino" which sounds like circuit bent noises and some thundery bass, accompanied by instruments that are best described as "post-apocalyptic". The next, "Van Ka", is a nice medium-tempo jam, what I like to call "tough guy walking music". "DMBSS121" is like... Halloween techno or something. It's pretty unique, and an absolute killer track. It was between that track and Hiro for my favorite.

"New Powers" and "J.F. Sebastian" let you down slowly, both tracks being more chilled out than their predecessors, but it isn't until "Hiro" that The End is HNGH really comes all the way down.

Both "Hiro" and "Lori Konkero" are hypnotizingly sedate. They really make the release feel like a solid package and not just a collection of songs, and "Lori Konkero" is pretty much a 7-minute long fadeout for the whole deal. I highly recommend you download the release (there's a handy link for that down below) and just put it on straight through some time. Excellent stuff.

dkstr's website
Kef's website

The Forum page (leave a comment!)

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Derris-Kharlan - Roboroach

2009-11-11T14:06:00.003-05:00

Some day, in the post-apocalyptic future, the only hope for life will not be a cockroach... But Roboroach! An android-roach who will sift through the ruins of civilization... And rebuild! It's like if you took Wall-E and the cockroach and made them into one ULTIMATE CREATURE. This is what we're talking about, here on 8-Bit Daily.

Hey, how do you like the new color scheme? It's blue. I made it late last night and updated it, then was surprised when I visited 8BD this morning. I had forgotten I'd done this. I wonder how much stupid crap I do really late at night that I completely forget about?

Derris-Kharlan's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Sacrenouille - Alex Kidd in Spectrum Castle

2009-11-10T12:54:00.004-05:00

Another vibrant, expressive, and interestingly narrative song, similar to the one from two days ago. It's impressive how much Sacrenouille gets across in only two minutes in this song! Also, if you're into watching trackers do their thing, you can watch a video of this song being played on the Amstrad CPC on which it was composed, here!

Sacrenouille's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Labcoat and Mac - Game Over

2009-11-09T13:56:00.002-05:00

So every once in a while, I gotta throw some seriously dancey tunes up here that sound more like French House than chiptunes. You can find precedents (which are way fine, obviously since I featured them here before) here and here.

Today is one of those days, so enjoy the presence of more technology than usual and expect more ACTUAL chiptunes tomorrow. Just keeping it balanced up in the 8BD.

Labcoat and Mac's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Fameboy - Robot Boy End Credits

2009-11-08T15:44:00.002-05:00

This is something you hear surprisingly rarely in this genre, and that's music that might have actually existed in an old NES game. Usually chiptune artists are squeezing as much of the console's power out as they can, fully utilizing its processing power for music playback alone. Early game developers didn't have this luxury, however, and so they had to have simple music that didn't make use of excessive duty cycle changes, ultra-fast arpeggios/scales, or monster (or any!) pitch bends.

This song is particularly enjoyable because he included the tail end of a fake boss battle theme, as well as fake boss battle noises, and a fake victory fanfare. It sounds like a person actually beating a game!

Fameboy's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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George - Business Trip

2009-11-07T15:16:00.002-05:00

Extremely vibrant breaks, great FM-synthesis bass, some Justice style choppiness at parts, and all around great songwriting comes together to make this awesome track about how cool it is to get on a plane, fly off somewhere, spend nights in hotels and at fancy restaurants all on the company tab. I think an awesome music video for this song could be made with like, two dudes in white collar duds tearing up a dance floor and having parties in high-rise hotel rooms. Yes, this is what I imagine while listening to this track. OH THE GLAMOROUS LIFE OF A BUSINESSMAN.

George's website

The 8BC page (leave a comment!)

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Lovelynewguys - Kota Besar

2009-11-06T12:47:00.001-05:00

Some nice long chords and some minimalist drums. It's very nice to make fried rice to this music. YOU'LL HAVE TO TRUST ME ON THIS ONE. Incidentally, guess what I had for lunch today? Hmmm.

Lovelynewguys' website

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Algernon - Cluckaduck

2009-11-05T18:18:00.003-05:00

Sometimes it's best to keep it simple. This is a nice, straightforward track by Algernon, made on LSDJ. He didn't glitch his instruments out to an insane degree, it's not all dark and brooding and powerful, nor is it sugary and sparkley, nor is it hardcore dancey. It's just a nice song, a story about a little kid that threw a rock at a duck!

Algernon's website

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MisfitChris - French Whores

2009-11-04T13:08:00.004-05:00

MisfitChris is on a roll over at 8bc right now, with his song "FakeBITMuch" currently the top liked track of the past week (and with 171 total, it's one of the most liked tracks of all time), and his current one (this one) with a respectable 33 likes (by comparison, I've gotten the same number of likes in my last 10 songs combined. LOL!). He uses a lot of the same techniques that make me like V i r t's music (most recognizably the super-fast scales and well-placed bends) so much. I'll definitely be watching for more music from him in the future! Remember when I said that, last time I featured him?

MisfitChris' website

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Oxygenstar - La Salsa Loca

2009-11-03T13:36:00.002-05:00

Oxygenstar never disappoints! Although he's more renowned for his skill with FM Synthesis tracks made on old computers with Soundblasters and funky Yamaha 80's keyboards, and for his skilled drumming (not drum programming, but real live drumming), this is a slick NES track by him.

Oxygenstar's website

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Wizwars - Some Day

2009-11-02T12:16:00.002-05:00

This song is actually a cover of a track by a mod/demo artist named Jellydog. I actually found a neat collection of .xm files by him hosted on chiptunes.org, there's some quality stuff in there! So basically I picked today's track to not only feature Wizwars, who is great and has been on this site before, but to feature Jellydog also, who's been making chiptunes since well before the genre was as big as it is now (and it's pretty small now!).

In unrelated news, I've been watching BlazBlue videos on Youtube all morning. I want that game, but I don't own a console! And I don't want to buy it just to play occasionally at my friends' house. Ah well, such is life. If YOU have an Xbox360, though, and like (even a little bit) fighting games, definitely check it out.

Wizwars' website

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DanKirby - Forest of Dreams V2

2009-11-01T14:20:00.002-05:00

How was everyone's Halloween? Whether or not you partied, I think it's safe to say most people had a good time and stayed up a little later than usual! This calm song by the fantastic DanKirby is just the thing to wake up to, I think!

DanKirby's website

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