Tag Archives: gameboy

CHIPTUNE, MUSIC

Corset Lore’s debut album released on 8static

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Corest Lore CoverPhiladelphia chiptune label 8static just released Corset Lore’s debut album on Bandcamp.

Tamara Yadao, now known as Corset Lore, has released six LSDJ tracks recorded on a DMG-01 Gameboy. Track 5 uses two Gameboys and LSDJ for expanded instrumentation. The EP was mixed and mastered by Chris Burke of 8bitpeoples, and the sound is fantastic. Clean, clear gameboy chiptunes, can’t get much better than that. The music is as creative as it is powerful.

Tamara is a New York City based Chiptune musician releasing with Philadelphia chipmusic label 8static.

The album is available from 8static.bandcamp.com. Follow Corset Lore on Facebook.

ALBUMS, CHIPTUNE, DANCE MUSIC, Features, MUSIC

Fighter X – BERSERKER

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a3831357739_10Chiptune legend Fighter X just released his first new album in four years. BERSERKER is available on Bandcamp for name your own price.

Writing his music on a Gameboy with LSDj, Fighter X has been considered by some to be a pioneer of Chiptune dance music, since his self-titled release back in 2009.

The Fighter X project has gone through some changes over the past eight years. Originally started in 2005 by Seattle-based Chiptune musician  Nickolas Walthew, Fighter X later incorporated Jack Waterman, creating one of the first 2xLSDJ 2xHuman-Being chiptune acts. When the duo split in 2011, Nick took a hiatus from Fighter X while Jack went on to start his own project  Electric Children. On June 1st of this year, Fighter X began performing again, starting with a show at The Vera Project in Seattle.

Get BERSERKER on Bandcamp for free, or choose to donate to help this awesome chipmusician. You can follow Fighter X on Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud.

ALBUMS, CHIPTUNE, DANCE MUSIC, GAME MUSIC, MUSIC

Dj CUTMAN to Release Link’s Awakening tribute album “MeowMeow & BowWow” on 8/31

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meowmeow and bowwow coverDj CUTMAN has just announced that they will be releasing an “unofficial sort-of-sequel” to the breakout EP Bagu and the Riverman, a tribute to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

The album’s full title is “The Story of Madam Meow Meow & Bow Wow the Dog,” a verbose reference to two NPCs that appear in the town of Mabe in Link’s Awakening.

The album art, designed by Tron Bonne Art, shows the characters jamming with two Legendary Instruments, the sacred artifacts that it’s the player’s quest to find (I’m not sure if Bow Wow is jamming or devouring.) The art also shows the game’s Owl guide and the Wind Fish’s egg, two significant elements to the story of Link’s Awakening.

With almost two years since the original release of Bagu and the Riverman, these two chiptune producers have set the bar high in terms of electronic remix albums. Meow Meow & Bow Wow comes out on August 31st. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, Dj CUTMAN is holding a release party at the PhilaMOCA. Check out this Facebook Event for more details.

ALBUMS, CHIPTUNE, Features, GAME MUSIC, MUSIC

Chiptunes = Win Volume 2 Is Here!

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Monday night, the world got to hear 51 brand new chiptune songs for the first time on the 8bitX 8-bit Power Hour. Out of  146 different artist submissions, these colorful tracks made the cut. The listening party was well attended, not only by fans but by a huge collection of the artists as well. This review is actually going to talk about EVERY SINGLE TRACK!

It was clear by the reaction in the chat to every new track that there was not a bad song on this compilation. They’re all incredible upbeat and unique. Obviously a lot of time went into each and every one of them.

There is a huge amount of variety on this release.  Talkboy, SubPixel and Apoc all contributed excellent Famitracker songs. There are also some great Genesis-styled FM Synth tracks from Snooglebum, Jameson Sutton and The Flight Away really bring back some Sonic the Hedgehog nostalgia for me.

What I was really impressed with are the LSDJ tracks. The Gameboy has become the most common chiptune instrument. That’s not a bad thing, but on some compilation tracks, the LSDJ tracks are often the weak links. That’s not the case here. Every LSDJ track stands out and holds its own. Auxcide and Zef both contribute totally epic LSDJx2 songs as well.

The slower tracks really stand out as well, sleepytimejesse’s SNES inspired Riparian Woodland, Viciosul SID’s and Foil Variant’s tracks also provide a nice break from the constant thump of awesomeness without sacrificing a moment of quality.

I really like how a lot of people are using new tools to create the classic sounds. I know some won’t agree, but I see this as a good thing. It keeps things fresh. No new synth is going to exactly match the NES or the DMG, but this adds new dimensions to the classic elements we all know and love. There is nothing here that suffers due to the fact it was created in a DAWs and not on hardware or a tracker.

I normally highlight just a few tracks when I review a compilation, and usually when I buy one, I end up deleting a few songs that just don’t do it for me. This is not the case with Chiptunes = Win Vol 2. There really is not a bad track on this entire album.

So I’m going to do something crazy and write a small review of every song on the whole thing (except my own, because that’s just tacky). Read on to get a quick look at each track!

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