Ubiktune’s new release has me in awe. We’ve covered some of this netlabel’s other releases in the past, but nothing has quite struck at a chord with me like this release (oh man, that was a music pun… someone summon brentalfloss)
The Black Box is a collaborative album from two artists, pianist Aivi and chiptune programmer Surasshu. Together they’ve woven a beautiful ten track album. What makes this really special is comic artist Diana Jakobsson has illustrated a gorgeous comic book for the album. The fusion of art, music and storytelling is wonderful, and nothing short of inspiring.
Download the release from Ubiktune or Bandcamp right now. As far as progressive chiptune music goes, this one sets new heights for the growing scene. Bravo!
There are myriads of awesome instrumental true chip artists and bands out there, but the ones that break the norm the most are the ones that combine chip music with other genres of music and add lyrics. This article is not about the best live performing bands but rather those of the highest quality music and lyrics.
The Depreciation Guild
Download album.
Style: Shoegaze + Chiptune
Sounds like: The Cure, Cocteau Twins, Armor For Sleep (the music anyways)
If you never heard the term shoegaze, it’s a style that started in the early 90s and had to do with using layers of guitar effects and lots of keyboards to create a dense dreamy wall of sound. If you ask me, chiptune and shoegaze go together perfectly and it’s a widely unexplored area of music that has massive potential.
Heartfelt romantic chiptune? Yeah! You may recognize the names and voices of Kurt Feldman and Christoph Hochheim from their currently popular indie pop/noise rock band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart which is also riddle with nostalgic nods to the Smiths, Smashing Pumpkins and other things from the past. The Depreciation Guild is one of my all time favorite acts. They are now broken up but you can still find their albums out there for download. My favorites are Butterfly Kisses, Sky Phantoms (epic feels!) and Dream About Me.
Cheap dinosaurs
Style: Rock + Math Rock + Chiptune
Sounds like: A little bit of everything all mixed together
There’s nothing cheap about Cheap Dinosaurs. This is some high quality music here with jagged math rock tempo switches and unexpected changes. Their tracks are mostly straight-up chiptune with just some light drums and guitar augmenting them. The trippy Train Hop is one of my favorites and it has a whacky video to match.
Revengineers
Style: Post Rock + Chiptune
Sounds like: A more rockin’ Six Parts Seven, Tristezza, Solar Powered Sun Destroyer
Post rock is an instrumental style with lots of dynamic changes. I think Revengineers captures this better than any other band I’ve heard. The amazing song Laika is a prime example of this bands powerful sound. It’s emotional and uplifting and gets you banging your head at the same time.
The Flight Away
Style: Punk Pop + Electropop + Chiptune
Sounds like: Angels And Airwaves, A remix of Dangerous Summer, Owl City (just a little)
The Flight Away has some of what might be called an “emo” sound (although I hate to use the word) by some with their expressive vocals. It’s one of the catchiest chiptune rock band type groups you’ll find. I really can’t get enough of their EP.
The J. Arthur Keenes Band.
Style: Ska + Regae + Rock + Chiptune
Sounds like: 311, Elvis Costello, Dub (not step), Various other rock groups
While their name sounds like some kind of blues trio, The J. Arthur Keenes Band’s album “Computer Saavy” is a great little smattering of ska, regae and rock influences with excellent vocals and lyrics. The vocals will remind you of 311 or Solar Powered Sun Destroyer. You have to love that they have a song called, “The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down.”
KANGAWA
Style: Noise Rock + Ambient + Post Rock + Shoegaze + Chiptune
Sounds like: Caspian, Hammock, Solar Powered Sun Destroyer, Explosions in the Sky, most Shoegaze acts
Another shoegaze+ chiptune pioneer, Kangawa combines high quality production values with lush synth backgrounds and Gameboy thumps and bass lines. Their songs range from post rock anthems to gentle yet noisy ambient tracks. There are also some surprising moments on this album that you won’t be expecting.
Super Danger Casper
Style: Punk Pop, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists if Ted was from Indonesia + Chiptune
Super Danger Casper is similar to Anamanaguchi musically, but they have wonderful emotional vocals over top of it…in Indonesian. Yeah, I have no idea what they’re saying but it sounds very endearing and emotional. I love all those rolled R sounds too. After a few listens, you’ll find yourself singing along although you have no idea what they’re saying. If you speak their language, tell them to set up a bandcamp and a soundcloud page! The song above is one of their few english songs.
Beatscribe is a full time indie composer, musician and writer. By day he creates soundtracks for various mobile gaming companies, by night creates megaman-inspired chiptunes, in the afternoons he drinks tea. Check out his latest releases, tutorials and retro ruminations at www.beatscribe.com.
Philly Chip all-star Chipocrite has just released a six track chiptune tribute to The Big Lebowski titled: 8-Bit Lebowski: 100% Electronic. I had the honor of working with Chipocrite to produce and master this album, the entire thing written and performed on a single Nintendo Gameboy.
Chipocrite writes:
“8-Bit Lebowski: 100% Electronic” is a tribute to several seemingly unrelated entities that are, individually, quite important to me: chip music, one of the greatest films of all time, White Russians, flamenco re-arrangements of classic rock tunes, fake pornos, Kenny Rogers, and so much more. Although I originally performed these songs as a one-off live set at Lebowski Fest Philadelphia 2011, I quickly realized that taken as a whole, they actually make up quite a comprehensive little release. I feel like it really ties my discography together. So here you have it today, to listen at your own leisure, whether through your car’s tape deck (provided it’s not stolen), with your significant other (provided she’s not kidnapped) or during a chilled-out rug meditation session (provided the rug, also, is not stolen).
The album contains six licensed cover songs from the movie’s soundtrack, including:
“Tumbling Tumbleweeds” by Sons of the Pioneers
“The Man In Me” by Bob Dylan
“Lookin’ Out My Back Door” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
“Traffic Boom” by Piero Piccioni
“Hotel California” by The Gipsy Kings
“Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
Today is my birthday, and to celebrate I am releasing an album of brand new songs unlike anything I’ve released before. This is significant, not just because it’s my birthday, but because this is the first album I’m releasing without video game remixes or exclusive chiptunes. It’s a collection of six collaborations with other musicians I’ve encountered on my adventures as Dj CUTMAN, including Ben Briggs, Smiletron and Kevin Villecco.
The Dj CUTMAN project started as a video game beatmaking project with live DJ performances. It quickly grew to incorporate my love for original chiptune music. Since then I’ve had the honor of performing as Dj CUTMAN as prestigious events such as Penny Arcade Expo, MAGfest, and Nerdapalooza.
Lost Beats & Found Friends signifies an evolution of the project, so I am dropping the “Dj” from the name of this album and presenting it simply as “Cutman”. There are no video game remixes on the album, but if you listen close you’re sure to hear my influences. The tracks are varied in style and tempo, spanning hiphop to house, with my trademark crisp production style and vintage drum samples.
Lost Beats & Found Friends is currently being offered on music.DjCUTMAN.com with no minimum price to download. If you can’t afford to pay for a download, enter 0 to download for free. Be sure to share the link with friends who may enjoy it!
Ubiktune’s new release has me in awe. We’ve covered some of this netlabel’s other releases in the past, but nothing has quite struck at a chord with me like this release (oh man, that was a music pun… someone summon brentalfloss)
