Ever-reliable Reformat the Planet directors 2 Player Productions have gone one step further than the usual bits and clips we’ve highlighted in the past, and uploaded the complete 40 minute set by Corpus Christi 8-bit hardcore chip-tuner IAYD, as seen in the previously mentioned latest monthly Pulsewave show. Click through for the second half of the set. [via ZenAlbatross]

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Another month, another NYC Pulsewave showcase (Saturday, June 27th, click here for details), another brilliant No Carrier NES rom flyer, this time gone all Star Soldier.

Kicking off a series of official posts for Sony’s PlayStation blog on Namco’s upcoming PS3 ‘tribute’ release Katamari Forever, producer Kazuhito Udetsu relays a message from longtime series (and Noby Noby Boy) sound designer Yuu Miyake, who explains the process of collaborating with various Japanese acts to remix classic Katamari tracks.

Saying he wanted a split between ‘organic’ and ‘electric’ sounds, Miyake highlights oft-blogged NES-samplers YMCK and the chiptune swing of their “A Crimson Rose and a Gin Tonic” remix. Unfortunately, we don’t get the whole track, but we do get enough to hear that it’s going to be another must-buy collection.

Click through to the original post to hear precisely the opposite: an all-live rendition of the original game’s You Are Smart.

LISTEN: DUTYCYCLE’S LATEST CHIPTUNE/GLITCH/ELECTRO SAMPLER

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6.22.2009

Brandon Boyer

2 Replies

In preparation for their upcoming show, taking place 8pm, Friday, June 26 at San Francisco’s 835 Geary St. Caffeine location, DUTYCYCLE have released another of their free samplers — possibly their most accessible lineup to date — ranging from nicely traditional anthemic chiptunes from Nonfinite and LURV, and some fantastic downtempo beats and glitches from starPause, Harbour and Kallipolis.

Download the five track EP here, and find out more information on the show and its artists via its Upcoming page.

The last post where I featured Bit Shifter‘s 2007 BlipFest performance didn’t quite go over so hotly with a few of you, apparently, so try this one — freshly published from 2 Player Productions — on for size instead. It’s from a Tank performance several months later in Spring of 2008, and is a bit more classically melodic. Now do you get why the kids are dancing?

Isometric infographic living-room pulsating 8-bit techno from Montreal’s Aliceffekt (MySpace), who has gone on to do much, much more fantastic ‘3D doodles’ and digital art in the intervening two years since this was first uploaded — see it all via Vimeo.

For all those that missed DUTYCYCLE’s GDC week show (myself included), a freshly uploaded video wrapup of performers Mr. Spastic, A_Rival, Two Playa Game, WDUWSTS and cris2600. An EP of all five is still available via the DUTYCYCLE blog.

Also wonderfully spotted by Tiny Cartridge, this little bit of classic arcade musical trivia: a small number of Konami’s arcade machines operating on an obscure “bubble memory” hardware setup — which literally required warming up to get to fully functional — also feature this little minuet known as “Morning Music” to accompany the slow start.

The tune’s gone on to be included in tribute in some of the company’s later music games like KeyboardMania, but, as Cartridge points out, the net effect of starting up a number of the machines every morning, must have been daily cacophonous hell for arcade operators.

There’s something about Röyksopp that brings out the best in everyone, as with Bang-yao Liu’s Savannah College senior project DEADLINE, which sees Liu procrastinating via low-bit post-it pixel versions of Breakout, Pole Position, et al. See also: the making-of. [thanks, Tom!]

LISTEN: MISTER BEEP’S 1-BIT BLEEPS

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6.8.2009

Mike Nowak

1 Reply

Recently released on Berlin’s B-Hack Records is Mister Beep‘s “Monophonic Generator” album. It’s a chiptune album containing, mostly, cover versions of various songs by Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, amongst others, that is notable for being composed entirely on a Timex 2048. That one I had to look up.

The Timex 2048 was a cousin of sorts of the British favourite Sinclair ZX Spectrum. The system was mostly compatible with the “Speccy” and was most popular in Portugal and Poland, which accounts for its somewhat obscure nature. It’s also a computer that had a one channel “Beeper” for audio production. The entire album is 1-bit, which is trumped on the label site as “the first 1 bit album ever to be released on a netlabel!!!” I can’t confirm or deny that, but either way it is certainly rare.

Monophonic Generator [Mister Beep software page, 8bitcollective profile, via the excellent True Chip Till Death]