Tag Archives: netlabel

Friday Freakout: Breakbeat Heartbeat returns!!!

Nobody ever really quits chiptune.  Regardless of the reason – busy raising a litter, taking a hiatus in an attempt to shake the burn out, feelings hurt by too many forum trolls –  any chipartist truly in love with chipmusic always seems to come back eventually. The 8-bit addiction is simply inescapable.  Today’s proof of this theory is thus:

 22:06
by Breakbeat Heartbeat

Yup, that is indeed a name that hasn’t been heard from in awhile, possibly even since the 8bc days! Breakbeat Heartbeat has undoubtedly been a viable chipartist since 2007, but there’s not been much from him in recent years. That said, via the new chip netlabel The Waveform Generators, he’s most definitely  blasting back onto the chipscene with a powerfully composed & well produced new album full of melodically driven, beautifully melancholy earjoys. It took all of about 10 seconds of the first track “Blue Paint” to get its hooks in me, which were pounded irretrievably deeper in by the following 11 tracks (track 4 “Before My Eyes” quite especially! POTENT STUFF).

To shed some light on the creative process behind the release & his return, Neil Turnbull (BBHB) says, “When I’m actually writing I do each song in one sitting because I much prefer to start from scratch every time I sit down; which has really helped me get a better variation of styles into the album.” Neil goes on to say, “I listen to lots of different stuff and everything puts me into a different mood for writing so I end up feeling a bit constricted having to go over something I’ve already written. Sometimes I’ll listen to something I’ve written a while ago and I won’t even recognize it!”

He’s also very glad to be back into music production mode and feels that he’ll definitely be at it pretty solidly for the foreseeable future. “It’s good to be back making music though I don’t think there will ever be a point when I don’t enjoy making it! I’m sure I’ll do another album. I’ve got myself just a little but more free time from now on and I can’t really think of a better way to spend it!”

Andrew Kilpatrick of TWG, and also a renowned chipartist in his own right, shares some insights on his netlabel’s latest release as well: “Every release I put out on TWG I want to be special. Whilst with Pxl-Bot I work in conjunction with someone and our opinions and feelings towards pieces conjoin, with TWG everything within is something I hold dear by someone I admire hugely. As a result, I thought BBHB would fit in PERFECTLY.” Andrew continues on with, “I’m really glad, feel honoured in fact, to have had the chance to work with Neil, and hope to do so again in the future. His talent pool is too deep to not continue exploring!”

At any rate, be sure to check out this stellar new BBHB comeback album below for absolutely FREE. Yup, another amazing chipalbum for $0. Are we spoiled rotten in the chipscene or what?

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Perelandra Records – Tide

Netlabel Perelandra Records has released a free compilation of Chiptune fusion music, taking electronic and chip elements and mixing them with organic instruments, vocals, and other soundscapes. The album features tracks from downtempo to jazz to alt rock electronic; Tide is a diverse pallet of sounds to fit your fancy. A personal favorite of mine is the track Famicom Blues by Positive Infinity, a funky tune with clean electric guitar, chiptune arpeggios and a soaring square lead. Beautiful!

Perelandra Records is also home to Daniel Capo, the artist who’s album OST we covered back in May.

Like Perelandra Records on Facebook and visit PerelandraRecords.com for more music!

Friday Freakout: Vacation Wasteland EP by Slime Girls

Oh the joy of the pleasant surprise. Honestly, one of my favorite things about Chiptune is how a brand new artist that you’ve never heard of before can just come blasting onto the scene with a killer album out of fuggin’ nowhere. Case in point:

Vacation Wasteland

by Slime Girls

Seriously, I was just chilling in Areciboradio.com‘s chatroom during Obtuse’s 8 Bit Power Hour chiptune show (Man, did we throw an awesome listening party for the Chiptunes = WIN compilation there or what?!? \m|♥|m/ ;D ) when he up and decided to play a few Slime Girls tracks and completely blow my mind.  Nothing I had ever heard or heard of  before. So I did what any self respecting nerd would do: I googled ’em. And was very happy with what I found. To borrow a few words from Pterodactyl Squad, the netlabel that released their EP a few days ago:

“Bright blue pixellated waves lap against the pink sand as you quench your thirst on an ice cold cocktail. Over the gentle lull of the tide, you can hear the warm sounds of surf, ska, reggae and chip. You watch the musical notes float by. Slime Girls are playing in the distance and their debut EP is the chiptune soundtrack to your summer.”

Yeah, that pretty much sums ’em up. hahaha Sound somewhat like Anamanguchi and The Revengineers (soaring electric guitars, crashing drums, LSDJ leads & bass), but definitely have enough of their own sound to stand out; more of a surf rock/guitar sound than the aforementioned bands, which is something I could enjoy hearing a lot more of (well, that and Chipblues! GOD I LOVE CHIPBLUES~~ ).

So yeah, check ’em out when you get a chance. =) SAY FOR INSTANCE THIS MONDAY NIGHT AT THEIR LISTENING PARTY DURING THE NERDYJUNKFOOD SHOW ON ARECIBORADIO aka Listening Party Radio!!  Will be good times for sure, as it always is; and the more, the merrier, so come! And bring friends!! =D

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GameChops: A GameMusic / Chiptune Netlabel

April 3rd, 2012 marks a momentous day for me. It’s the launch of my not-for-profit internet record label GameChops. Over the last few years of DJing VGM and making beats I’ve met a lot of great people and learned a tremendous amount about production, performance, and making music a greater part of my life. With GameChops, I hope to give back to this vibrant, supportive scene.

I love hearing bits of original game music in new productions. Chiptune samples are my favorites, I don’t care if it’s a funk tune or a rap track, you throw a Nintendo or a raw sawtooth wave in there and I am hooked. It was this irrational love of game sounds that got me started as Dj CUTMAN; I was working as a hiphop engineer and I made my first video game beats while hanging out in the studio after recording sessions.

The debut release for GameChops is none other than Benjamin Briggs, veteran OCRemixer and budding digital DJ. The release is an EP inspired by Diddy Kong Racing aptly titled Bootleg Circuit. Thsip reductions cleverly utilize in-game samples to create a five track electro-house marathon worthy of any street race or game party. Grab the release on GameChops.

Head over to GameChops.com to check out all the releases. Please support this project by adding GameChops on Facebook. Here’s to much more music.

-C