As deeply involved as I have become in the chipscene as of late, some folk might assume that I would know of pretty much everything happening within it before it even happens. Those people would be dead furkin wrong.  In fact, you’ve only gotta go back as far as last Monday’s episode of 8 Bit Power Hour for proof of this. While we were live on the air, Obtuse dropped an awesomebomb  on me from one of his Michigan chiptuner buds. To be more specific:

Loudness by NOROCK

Loudness = six electro chipjams of booty moving, dance-tastic, high energy, nerd zombie destroying goodness FTW!! This EP has been rocking my earholes daily since experiencing a couple tracks from it last Monday night. In other words, IT’S A SUREFIRE WINNER.

While NOROCK has been around for a good while, this album is brand new; released on 10/12 to be exact. Not your typical chipmusic creation setup either, as the heart of this chipalbum is Atari driven. To be specific: “Loudness was created using a modern PC and an Atari 1040STe. The PC controls the Atari via MIDI, essentially turning the Atari into a very flexible YM2149-based synthesizer. FL Studio 9 runs on the PC, and MaxYMiser runs on the Atari.” This unique chipset gives the bleep bloops in these tracks a different tonal quality than your typical LSDj or Tracker based album; makes it stand out all the more!

At any rate, do yourself a favor and go give this awesome album a solid listen; and if you really dig it, drop a 5-spot on it and download the sucker! Trust me, YOUR EARHOLES WILL THANK YOU.

And if you’re interested in discovering new chipmusic before I get a chance to write about it here, be sure to swing by the 8 Bit Power Hour on 8bitx every Monday night from 9-10pm EST. If nothing else, drop by the irc to give Obtuse a high-five for this awesome tip-off! 8)

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