Tag Archives: funk

RobKTA – Super Sonic Speed (Sonic Mega Mix)

The Sega Super Star himself is back! The Blue Blur, the Master of Speed, the… Handsome Italian? Did you think I was talking about Sonic? Of course not! I’m talking about Gamechops’ resident funk master–RobKTA!

Continue reading RobKTA – Super Sonic Speed (Sonic Mega Mix)

“Boogieman” — A Review of Jake Kaufman’s “Mighty Switch Force! 2 OST”

"Everybody out!"
“Everybody out!”

Call up your folks and tell ’em disco ain’t dead, baby! Jake Kaufman‘s newest release, the soundtrack to WayForward‘s 3DS puzzle-platformer Mighty Switch Force! 2, harkens back to the glory days of dancehall greatness, yet still keeps things fresh by throwing in some of electronic music’s more recent innovations. Nearly every track on this album will make you want to stand up and get down. I guarantee it. So grab your white suit and let’s groove!

This album has a very distinct, classic dancehall inspiration behind it that strings the whole album together, but different tracks approach that unifying sound from various angles. Numbers like “Rainbow Love Zone,” “Got2BAStar,” and even the short little “Title” track bring the funk like only old-school-inspired dance music can. I honestly thought Maurice White or Barry Gibb was going to start singing when I cranked up that opener. You can imagine my surprise, then, when “Rescue Girl” comes around at the end and actually kinda delivers on that feeling, in the form of Kaufman himself singing with a couple friends, no less.

Meanwhile, other tracks take the album’s disco sound and brilliantly mix it into something more contemporary. “Exothermic” lays that sound over a drum-and-bass beat that slides into classic dubstep, but without following that old and busted build/drop formula that loses the beat. In fact, the closest thing this album has to a modern dubstep track is “Soak Patrol Alpha,” but even that song has more in common overall with 80’s pop music, and the drop isn’t even really a drop so much as a random section of wubs. Somehow it works, oddly as that may strike you.

Other tracks fit into a kind of gray area between these two extremes, and I think that’s where the album truly shines. “The Afterblaze” has got to be the catchiest thing I’ve heard so far this year, and gives “Exothermic” a run for its money in terms of being my album favorite. Tracks like “Soft Collision” and “Dalmatian Station” owe as much to 70s disco as they do to modern house music, yet both manage to synergize those two genres, rather than imitate one or the other. “Rescue Girl” is so incredibly fun to sing they probably can’t play it in countries where joy is frowned upon by the State, and “Glow” sounds like the opening theme to a Powerpuff Girls movie in the best way that sentence can be read.

My only real gripe with this album is that it can be repetitive at times, but that doesn’t even feel fair considering that’s my default problem with any video game soundtrack. “Title” forms the basis for much of “Got2BAStar,” while “Rescue Girl” is just a longer version with words. This isn’t inherently bad, but I could definitely understand people taking issue with it. Beyond all that, the album in general is built upon the soundtrack for the previous game in the series, which Kaufman also made. However, where the MSF1 soundtrack had chip, MSF2 has disco, so if you’re familiar with the previous OST, you may or may not prefer this one.

The album closes with several remixes by other artists of some the album’s core tracks, which are great from a standalone perspective but might feel repetitive if you’re listening to the album cover-to-cover. Under his “virt” handle, Kaufman turns “Rescue Girl” into a slow-jam R&B song, which was pretty rad, while his remix of “The Afterblaze” lives up to its “Bonus Chip Mix” subtitle. Coda drops the dubstep trappings of “Soak Patrol Alpha” and replaces the main melodies with delicious funk basslines. Finally, DJ Bouche‘s orchestral remix of “Glow” could easily be a tune in a Zelda game.

Just like the firefighter heroine of his song, Jake Kaufman is here to rescue us. His disco- and funk-inspired music rises above the jaded wastes of modern dance and reminds listeners that, in the future, electronic music can still have a soul. This is the music we’ll be listening to when we’ve all got virtual reality glasses grafted to our faces and we’re dancing in German diskotheks in the Metaverse. Except we haven’t left out living rooms.

 

Danwich once deconstructed a post-modern novel.  He is still too irradiated to risk personal human contact.  You can reach him through his email or his radio show’s page.

Friday Freakout: Yoann Turpin’s Rhythm ‘N’ Bits = FUNKALICIOUS

I’ve said this before and I’m gonna say it again now:  one of my favorite things about chipmusic is how an *AWESOME* artist that I’ve never  heard of before can come out of nowhere with a *STELLAR*  release  and *COMPLETELY*  blow my mind. Today’s Friday Freakout artist does this yet again for me and in a *SPECTACULAR*  fashion:

Rhythm ‘N’ Bits

by Yoann Turpin

This Ubiktune release (that alone  should tell you something!!) is jammed full of funky  goodness with 19 tracks of mind blowing, hip moving, baby making AWWWW YEEEAAAH!  Yoann describes his fantastical release quite accurately as, “…the meeting of Chiptune with Funk, RnB and Epic Themes!!” While there’s a goodly amount of EPIC  in the chipscene, both funk and R&B are largely underrepresented genresThis release most definitely  helps fill that void and in a damn powerful way!  The overall level of musicianship displayed by Yoann on this album, along with the very high production value of it, is frighteningly amazing; even for the talent rich chipscene full of stand-out releases and artists, this one stands out like a 100 story unicorn made of disco balls and laser beams and EXPLOSIONS and sexy. 8)

There’s a bit more going on with the theme of this album than meets the eye as well. According to Dmitry at Ubiktune, “Rhythm’n’Bits is a tribute to the video game soundtracks that had a big impact on Yoann as a child. Yoann captured this fascinating music in this album, inspired by the RPGs from the 90’s as well as Sega Mega Drive and Super NES games.” Dmitry goes on to explain, “The story told with the album is about the gamer he (Yoann) was and still is. In every track, Yoann tried to show that chiptune has not aged and can be considered a contemporary medium or instrument.”

Snag this FUNKALICIOUS  album on iTunes, Bandcamp, or Amazon.mp3 (the latter currently having the lowest price for purchase in the states, as Yoann hails from France!). EASILY  worth the purchase price to obtain these EXCELLENT  jams, although if not you can always stream it at Bandcamp or Ubiktune. Whatever you have to do, GET THIS GOODNESS IN YOUR EARHOLES.  It’ll do your mind, body, heart, and  soul a world of good. Funk is magical like that. 8)

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Shnabubula – NES Jams

A flawless fusion of incredible piano arrangement and Famitracker NES programming, Shnabubula’s new release from Ubiktune is not to be missed. With tunes from games like Zelda, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Contra, and MegaMan, what’s not to like?

Grab the album on Ubiktune or on Bandcamp!