This is an excerpt that Cutman wrote about a year ago as a guest blog author. While this is some stuff many of you probably already know, it goes great with our indie musician series and is the perfect place to start if you’re thinking about delving into creating your own tunes!
8-bit music, or Chiptune, is the art of creating new music with classic, nostalgia-inducing sounds found in antiquated video games and computer hardware, like the Nintendo Entertainment System and Gameboy. Originally restricted to almost exclusive use within video games, Chiptune music has now grown well beyond the cartage into its own unique style of electronic music.
The word Chiptune was affectionately applied to this sub-genre of electronic music in the 90′s, as communities of musicians around the globe began to assemble around the love of this classic sound. The word “Chiptune” was given because the music was primarily created on a system with a single hardware sound chip (much unlike modern computers and recording equipment) Now-a-days, there are many ways to create this type of music, from running homebrew software on a modified Gameboy, to downloading standalone software and plug-ins for modern Digital Audio Workstations (DAW).
Compilation albums rock. Through them, you gain exposure to other musicians and genre’s that you may not have heard of. OCReMix is wonderful at that as I have discovered several different genres and artist through them. It is because of OCReMix I have discovered my love for rock game covers, as well as classical piano work. Another example of a great compilation album is the remix version of one of Auxcide’s earlier albums, Of Atoms and Stardust, which I will be looking at today.
Before getting into the review itself, I would like to first commend Auxcide in using a Gameboy while making the album. Using a 20 some odd year old console to make music, and make it sound good is quite a talent, and this isn’t just limited to Auxcide. There are plenty of artists out there who use the Gameboy as an instrument which gives the old brick a new lease on life. I commend these artists for utilizing an important piece of gaming history in new ways.
Reading up on Of Atoms and Stardust, I can appreciate the love and kindness that went into these remixes. The performers here didn’t just remix the songs for fun, they did it to show appreciation to Auxcide’s first album, which is an example of how close knit the indie music scene can be.
So how is this album? It is a solid remix project. The artists keep it safe which can be a mixed blessing. They keep the music simple, but it lacks innovation. I do believe they didn’t try to innovate because they wouldn’t want to overshadow Auxcide’s original album, while commendable, does in the end make it sound somewhat average. Don’t get em wrong, the album is great, but it is also sadly predictable.
I never had a chance to listen to the original Of Atoms and Stardust as I came across Auxcide through word of mouth, but listening to this remix album makes me want to listen to the original. Also, it is because of this remix album that I would like to listen to the other chiptune artists on this album and check out their work.
Should you purchase this album? Even though they played it safe, I would still say yes as the album exposes you to new chip artists. These guys are good, and if they start experimenting more, then they could be great.
Triple Triad is now available from GameChopsFinal Fantasy is widely known for exceptional characters, superb storytelling, and memorable music. The music is so loved that many groups have adapted it for live concerts, including five distinct tours over the past decade. Today, the team of electronic dance musicians at GameChops have released “Triple Triad,” a twelve-track remix album playing tribute to Final Fantasy and the music of series composer Nobuo Uematsu.
Spearheaded by UK producer Mykah, Triple Triad takes inspiration from three classic games in the Final Fantasy series, VI, VII, and VIII. To many, these games were an introduction into the series. To others, these games serve as a fond memory of when story, mood and music took precedent over graphics, hardware and spectacle.
Triple Triad contains a multitude of genres and styles to fit any electronic appetite; styles range from latin dancehall to drum ‘n bass to house and dubstep. Mykah shows his versatility as a producer, while the compositions of Mr. Uematsu are proven, yet again, to be powerful in any context. Whether you’re a long-time fan of the series or a casual listener of electronic music, Triple Triad is something special.
GameChops is a record label started by Dj CUTMAN that produces electronic cover songs of video game music. GameChops acquires mechanical licenses to the compositions contained within their albums. Music is available on GameChops.com, Loudr.FM, iTunes, and other major marketplaces.
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.
A blog for video game and chiptune music, retro gaming, and live events. Created by Dj CUTMAN.
