Buskerdroid/Microman - RAW! RAW! RAW!

WHAT


This thing is 100% banger. There's some really really cool points in this album. Very awesome. Sounds like a lot of it is hard hitting, electro house-ish music. Some wobbles, some BRK, some cool sounds. Definitely worth many listens. I've been putting it on every once in a while when I'm doing homework or whatever. Such good bass sounds! They absolutely know how to program these gameboys man, I'm telling you. 


I can't quite tell which tracks are whose, maybe the whole thing was a collaboration or a split, but the styles are very similar. I feel like a lot of split releases have such different styles that it can get a little difficult to listen to as far as balance, because it's such a jarring change in sound (sometimes). There are also splits that pull it off really well, this being one of them. It's a lot like that USK/Fighter X split that worked really well. You can listen to the whole thing and not be like "Oh, they switched artists now". It has a sense of being more complete and together. 

Very cool. Check it out here!

Decktonic - Stars

So it's out, and the ball is rolling! This album is mad dank just saying. So bassy, so chill, just such good music. Also, word up from NJ! Decktonic really has it going well in this release. DS-10 and NL4i? Such great, fat, greazzy sounds coming from this stuff.

I've never used DS-10 before, but it sounds like it has some strong capabilities. It's a strange thing to think about how little it's used in our scene, you know? Either way, I'm glad Decktonic uses it haha, he appears to be the expert on it.

Jredd uses DS-10 on occasion, I believe, but I haven't heard much from him since the big FM release he did with some other ex-8bcers.

Whatever, Stars is great. GET IT.


PS: This counts as a review. I'm telling you, it's good.

New Decktonic Album Soon!

Hey guys! So Decktonic got a hold of me and sent me his latest album, "Stars". It's DS-10 and iPhone Nanoloop! Very very very cool. There's some real interesting instruments and sounds going on in here, never heard stuff up this level made in these programs. You guys should be excited for the 27th!




Get it JULY 27TH!!!!


Listen to old Decktonic here.

Paralellis - Intergalactic Dancefloor

Saw this on Facebook the other day. Super cool, definitely worth a listen! Paralellis is a good friend of mine :) I promise, he ain't bad at all. Some really dank sounds in this, very original and fun!

AUXCIDE OF ATOMS AND STARDUST RELEASED!

Pxl-Bot, oh you. Nice job finding this guy. IT'S A FANTASTIC RELEASE? YES??? GET IT!


HERE!

Cheapshot: Streets of Bass

It is finally that day. I totally forgot how bad I wanted to review this beautiful album! I remember a while ago, I was talking to Cheapshot in gmail about how he's got this awesome full length coming out, and then it got caught up in all kinds of label garbage and whatever and it became an issue and then it was gonna come out soon, and then it didn't and yada yada yada. Needless to say though, I nearly crapped my pants in excitement waiting for this thing.

So, I'm sitting in the pit orchestra for this play I'm playing at, right? And my garbage old android phone (Samsung Moment, don't get it.) vibrated, telling me that I had an email. I checked it, and it was something unrelated to this story. Well, i decided since I didn't have to play at that moment, might as well check out CM.O. It took 5 minutes to load, but when I did, the newest topic was titled Cheapshot - Streets of Bass. And then I saw it was in the releases forum.

My heart skipped many beats. 

He had told me about how he focused more on the bass instead of just wubs, and he totally did that. It didn't detract from his style at all! This is such a chill record. I put it on whenever I'm studying, falling asleep, or whatever it is that I do when I relax.

There's not much that could be done to improve this album. Maybe just a teeeeny bit moar wubs, but we have zOMG!! for that!

GET IT NOW

Some News

Hey guys, got some random bits of news for you!

1. The Pxl-Bot 1 Year Compilation just came out today. This thing is awesome! I'm actually a staff member of Pxl-Bot, and you can listen to my track Evergreens II on the album :) It is right here.

2. Vince Kaichan just sent me an unreleased track he wrote today with some new tricks he learned. Not typical dance, but I'm sure you could get a groove on to it ;) Listen here.

3. boaconstructor is working on an EP! It sounds great from what I've heard so far. Upcoming interview to be posted soon! Also, look out for a KILL3R WHALE interview on the way!

4. I just purchased this. It is FANTASTIC. Listen to this guy, so much potential with that sort of complextro (don't shoot me!) feel. Yes, I know it's a buzzword, but seriously. Check this guy out! It's only a dollar for the purchase, and it comes with 3 LSDSNGs so you can see what he's doing. So cool.

5. I also just purchased THIS. WOW is it cool! I love Sabrepulse, and this is his LSDJ stuff at his finest. I'm out to pick up an iPhone 4s tomorrow, and this game is the first I will download. Along with that sick CM.o app. Anyway, this album is OFF THE CHARTS. So cool!
















Anyway, I'm off to continue watching some nerdy documentary about post-human life. Check out these links dudes!

KILL3R WHALE - Let's Party EP

Let's do a little lesson in words here. Give me a G, an R, an O, a U, an N, a D, and a BREAKING. What does that spell?


THIS RELEASE IS AWESOME, that's what it spells! It's also groundbreaking for chip-pop. Really, this album stands out so much. It's my go-to album for crappy days. You know the kind, where everyone's on your butt, everything's too expensive, you can't get out of this oppressive monetary-based society, your schoolwork is out the wazoo, you don't understand half of what's being said to you, and your schedule's filled up like crazy, but everyone's mad at you because they think you're a lazy piece of crap?


Those days.


Alas, this album is where it's at. It hits the sweet spot for me, what with this dude's GORGEOUS VOICE. Yes! Chiptune with vocals that doesn't SUCK. Finally. There's also a live drumset in there. And the album art is too cute. 


The music on this album is just so poppy, but in the best way possible. You could hate the radio, and still fall in love with the style of this album. The little dubstep breakdown in the first song is in NO way in your face, but it fits in perfectly. The melodies in "Turn Out All The Lights" and "Shell Art Is Over" are really cool. I think "Shell Art" is my favorite off the album.


Anyway, the timbre of these guys just works together so well. I love the way it sounds, and I cannot wait for moar.


DAT MUSIC.

Roboctopus - Victory Lapse EP

WOW. How have I not reviewed this yet? Once again, I was sent early demos for this release, and crap. This is sooo good. Roboctopus has such a jazzy, odd style that I've never heard anywhere before! It's really brought out on this little gem of an album. Dude, really, this thing blows my mind. Just one DMG (as usual), with a surprising amount of punch, melodic catchiness, and pure radness.


The 7th chords he throws in all over the place really make it unique. He throws in a lot of pulse PWM with those arpeggios too! W command all day bro. His bass instruments are mad cool also. SO crunchy, but they don't get in the way of that triangle wav kick (the volume on that thing is at 40!!!)


He details a lot of his cool tricks on Noisechannel with his LSDJ Guides! They're freely available to learn new tricks and ideas, so I'd say go check them out, here.


This album is super cool and also very dope and rad and fly.


CHECK IT OUT.

Nonfinite Live at the Dragonfly!!!

HERE






This is such an awesome album! Just released today on Betamod :) I heard an early copy of this album, very very cool. 

Auxcide Interview

In case you didn't know, Auxcide is this really cool dude on CM.O. I met him on the forums, and we've been chatting it up ever since. He writes some really really cool 2xLSDJ stuff with SPs, and he's got an album coming out soon! Also, I have a copy early, suckers! ;) Expect a review soon :)
Anyway, I interviewed the dude for your pleasure. Enjoy:


1. Why SPs dude? Why not DMGs like all the cool kids?


Hahaha you know, when I first started delving into LSDJ, I used a DS because I already had a card for it. But when my cart from kitsch (shameless plug) got here, my custom DMG from Loomis (shameless plug) was going through some UPS backlog screwup. So for the time all I had was an SP. And I was traveling a lot with it. I guess I just got used to it. There's several plus to them that I just love. TL;DR: SPs are compact (perfect for x2lsdj work) and are rechargable. I'm mastering having one in both hands for writing dual lsdj songs. On a "I still got street cred" note, I have a custom DMG and another in progress and 2 MGBs that I prosounded as well. I'm still cool.


2. Any hints for the upcoming album?


Hints? There's an extra track (or two) that I did after I released the preview. A lot of the songs are connected. Both through their titles and through the actual audio. I like to include little codes or puzzles with my music. Here's an example: the three songs Helios, Selene, and Eos are all named after the greek gods for Sun, Moon, and Dawn respectively and all transition into each other. Another connection can be made between the songs Aphelion and Ellipse, ellipse being the shape that a planet orbits in. That being said, Aphellion is the point a planet is farthest from the sun, so maybe there'll be a song about the point closet to the sun??? (hint hint)


3. You integrated into the community so nicely, basically skipping the entire n00b phase. Any tips for other newcomers?


Haha yeah. I've joined forums where any new member is instantly flamed until they give up. What I did at cm.o to avoid the whole "I'm a new name" phase was to act like I've been there before. It's surprising how well that can work. This is a plea to N00bs coming to cm.o: please lurk for a while. Use the search function and common sense. We have a lot of members who will eat you alive (myself included) if your first post is "wut is chipmusic lul??? How do you lsdj?". I think that if you look around a little and try to find your answer by yourself first you'll see we've already answered it. I lurked and figured out almost everything by myself before I decided to post. It works a lot better.


4. What turned you on to the scene?


Sigh. There is no chipscene here in Sacramento (Yet). I get so jealous of everyone in NY, NZ, Aussieland. . . But it's okay. What turned me onto the scene was how inviting it is. That's the greatest thing about chipmusic, wherever it is, it's still at your fingertips. I was bummed about [not attending] Blip, but listening to those streams I felt like I was there.


5. What's the most emotional song that you've ever heard? Has it influenced any of your pieces?


I love Bjork. She has some very emotional songs if you can understand her (lul). She has a song called "Pagan Poetry" and just the audio was emotional enough, but I watched the video and there's a part where you can see the emotion on her face. She didn't act, she was just herself. Feeling her own music, it was beautiful and I was bawling my eyes out. I don't think the song has influenced anything, but that emotion has. Maybe not in any of my chiptune stuff but definitely in my other stuff. (electronic music and piano)


6. What are your main influences or other tastes?


I actually write all of my music on piano first. My piano influences everything. Granted, they sound a lot different on it. I just sit down and whatever comes out, comes out. I have to record on my phone huge improv sessions where I just start with ideas and let them expand. Anything dancey. I've been described as a dance pianist and honkey tonk. I do a lot of four-on-the-floor stuff. But I listen to almost any type of music and I bet it just all get's jammed into what I do.


7. What kind of a guy are you? Party-man? Workoholic? Artsy out-there dude? Skateboarder? Old?


Hahahaa Well actually I'm a hybrid party-man workoholic. I was actually at a party recently with my friends, writing a track on both of my AGSs and with a melodica a friend gave me while dancing and drinking. My friend comes up to me and says "You know, we were always wondering how you had the time to program so many songs!"


8. How do you feel about recent politics? Are you a liberal or conservative or whatever? Does it affect your creative abilities?


I try to stay away from politics. Too much headache. But I make fun of all sides.


9. Any historical figures influence you as a person?


Hmmm. I don't think so. That's not to say they haven't, just that I can't put my finger on any.


10. Have you ever used Calculus or Trigonometry in real life? Honestly? Jeeze.


Haha nope. I didn't even take them in school. I don't know anyone who can honestly say, "I used Trigonometry today to save the world", so I think I'm okay. ;]




There you have it! Such a chilled out guy. Check out his EP preview right here:
Of Atoms and Stardust

Frostbyte 2012 RELEASED!!!

Download.


 Now. Please. I need to get money to continue eating. Also, you just might like the music.

CHIPTUNES = WIN!!!

SUP DUDES!


So, the Chiptunes = WIN compilation came out TODAY. This thing is massive. It's got 51 tracks, and the vast majority of them are really really cool! Now, they're not all dance music, but hey. SMILETRON, Monodeer, iamclouD (shameless self plug), Cheapshot, BR1GHT PR1MATE, Kedromelon and Zef are on there, so it deserves mention ;)


Honestly dudes, this thing is really cool. I'm glad to be a good friend of Brandon's. He's been such a trooper, getting this thing put together. This is his first compilation! It's quite a success, really. I'm so surprised one of us was organized to get something to this magnitude to work. Really really really cool.


Definitely check it out. It's mastered by DJ Cutman, and has totally bonkers art by Nate Horsfall (http://www.lightningarts.com/). I am super glad to be a part of this compilation, and am even more super proud to be writing about it now!


LINK. 

NAMELESS - UNHEARD OF EP

Hey there guys!


A long time ago in a galaxy far away, there was a release on the Pxl-Bot.com label that I helped a dude named NAMELESS put together. He uploaded a track called "DEBUT" on 8bc back in the day, and upon listening, I realized it was some of the most unique chip smash-thrash-punch-explode house I've ever listened to. That song was super crunchy and wonked out! 


So I emailed the dude (who for some reason was catching a lot of flak about the song not being melodic enough or whatever)  and told him that I for one loved the track, and am working for Pxl-bot (we'll talk about that another day). I asked if he'd be down for a release, and he was so enthusiastic about it.  


Like, a week later he sent me a four track EP that I threw up on the website immediately. This guy was a beast! I can't believe how unique his music is, but it works so well with that traditional 4-on-the-floor beat! 


There's no streaming link, but dudes. You MUST download the zip. It's right here:
BAM.

Also, here's the little blurb I wrote for the release page:

"NAMELESS, a never before heard musician uploaded a song called DEBUT to 8bitcollective recently. The textures were so rich, so full. One could quite obviously see the potential. Pxl-Bot contacted him and asked for an album to see where it would go.

And oh boy, did it go. This 4 track album is a bone-jarring rip-roar of a musical adventure, taking you through sharp rhythms and rough-as-all-heck synths. Throughout the whole time you listen to this album, your mind gets ripped in half and put back together numerous times as you try to comprehend how dirty this kid can make LSDJ sound.

You should totally download this album and get punched in the face with each of the free mp3s. It's worth it!"

BREAKING NEWS: A SIGN OF LIFE FROM IAYD

Never Age


City of Mediocrity


It would be criminal to not post anything about IAYD on an electro blog. The story goes like this: I posted the Kedromelon review, and got an email alert that IAYD released two tracks on soundcloud today. Awesome.


Check them out! I'm pretty sure they've been heard before, but still. 

Kedromelon Interview

Hey all! So, I was able to talk to my good friend, Kedromelon. This guy is a beast. His tunes have so much punch, it's really kinda ridiculous! Anyway, he was willing to do an interview for The Vanguard (which is super swick). Here it is, mangs!

1. What started you with Chiptune?

I used to be really into circuit-bending.  So sometime in early 2010, I had stumbled across game boy modifications while looking into all that stuff and liked that idea, so I looked more into the possibilities of bending video game consoles.  Since I didn't know anything about chiptune, it took awhile to come across 8bitcollective and chipmusic.org.  I discovered MIDINES first, and since I couldn't afford to purchase one at the time, I started messing around with Famitracker.  Somehow, that led to my discovery of nanoloop, LSDJ, 8bitcollective, etc.  When I gained interest in using a game boy, I had wanted to use nanoloop because the LSDJ GUI seemed intimidating.  After failing to create anything I liked with nanoloop, I decided to give LSDJ a try and ended sticking with it.

2. What song of yours do you like most? Do you have any patches you're particularly attached to?

Recoil, Titan, and Reveries at Sunrise has always been personal favorites.  I also am pretty proud of Desolate Time (which I'm now actually playing as CHILLBRAVE).  I don't have any particular patches I'm attached to, other than a top-secret WAV kick that was given to me recently by an artist who would like to remain anonymous.  Different songs call for different patches.  I suppose I have a sort of "system" for making patches work better as leads, basses, etc, but I don't have specific patches I program in every time I open a new LSDJ project.

3. What is your strongest influence?

My strongest? Ugh, its difficult to pick just one.  I'm very influenced by other chipmusic.  My earliest influences in music are based in film scores and the Super Smash Bros Melee soundtrack that Nintendo Power sent out to its subscribers.  I'm definitely not influenced by video game music other than that, if that's what you're asking.

4. You loooooove doing covers man. What's your process with that?

I've never been someone particularly good at transcribing music by ear, so I'll generally find multiple references online.  My covers are usually based on a combination of various guitar tabs, piano sheet music, and chord sheets.  I actually just finished something new that I actually had to do mostly by ear myself, and I think it turned out pretty well still.  Once I have all the notes in, I go through and add TONS of L, E, K, V, P, and W commands to try to emulate the way the vocalist sings the melody on the original track.

5. HOW WAS BLIP

SO GOOD. I loved getting to meet people from online in real life finally, and getting to see all my NYC friends one last time for the summer.  The artists were all GREAT as well.  Live Nation ended up being pretty annoying with some policies like no re-entry and all that, but it didn't end up getting in the way too much.

6. Any rumors for the masses?

I heard there might be a CHILLBRAVE album on its way...

7. Any releases that struck you recently? Artists?

I really liked Je Mappelle's Wish and Knife City's EP.  ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT NEW FROSTBYTE RELEASE.  Outside of chipmusic, I've been listening to a lot of Sigur Rós' Valtari and Knife Party's Rage Valley.

8. On a scale of 1-10, what do you want to be when you grow up?

10… definitely 10.

9. Do you have a favorite super hero?

Nah, but Spider-Man is pretty cool I guess.

10. What makes you write dance music? Do you listen to hi-fi dance when you're not around the gameboys?

I'm not sure really.  I was completely unfamiliar with dance music prior to getting into chiptune… my roots were mostly in post-rock and punk stuff.  I suppose I caught on that the LSDJ tracks that were most fun to play live also happened to be my danciest ones, so I just went with that, I guess.

So that's how THAT went down. Hope you enjoy the read! And did you hear that? There might be a CHILLBRAVE release on the way...Hmmm.

Peace out, folks!

Frostbyte 2012 EP Preview

CHECK THIS OUT!!!


This is the preview track I made for my upcoming EP, due out June 5th! I think it's pretty cool. It has some sampler tracks from upcoming full time projects that have been in the works for a while (cough cough CODEX cough cough) and some other stuff for you to enjoy. 6 tracks of bass and face punching.


Enjoy guys :)

Knife City - Self Titled EP

You want chiptune electro? You've got it. This is Knife City's "debut" EP (I'm not sure if the magfest live ep counts). This album is just pure extreme. My friend Roboctopus was chatting with me the day this came out, and he sent me the link to 8bp telling me I might like it. So, I loaded up the first track, "Hunting" in another tab, and I listened to the odd little melodic and harmonic passsage got louder and more exciting as the low-pass filter's cutoff was raised. I was like, ahh, this is pretty cool. I like it.


Then it hit me.


Really, it really in 100% actuality hit me. The first drop in this thing is a monster. I didn't even know that this was a dance record, so I totally wasn't expecting the killer kick and the bassline that ripped me to shreds. It was totally okay though. Crisp and clear, that thing just slayed all morning. The end section of "Hunting" is so ridiculously cool too. It makes me happy whenever I listen to it.


On I went through the album, and "Slam Dunk Lifestyle" came to bite my booty as well. That track is a monster! It's not even fair what this guy can do with just two Gameboys and a few samples. The production and mastering on this album is ridiculous.


The rest of the alum is just as good, but I want to keep this article concise. This. Album. SLAYS.


GO LISTEN!

Chip For Cancer

Hey everyone!
A little while back, I organized a compilation album called Chip For Cancer, where I got a sick amount of sick artists to write some incredible music for a charity album. So far, the album has raised around $600 to be sent to the BCRF by August (waiting for some final donations!). 


Anyway, since this blog is about dance music, I figured I'd post a link to it and let everyone know of the progress :) It was a tremendous undertaking by the chip scene, and the amount of support that I had with this made me really understand that there are so many good people in the chip scene.

Thank you all :)

Take a listen!

Je Mappelle - Wish EP

My oh my. I’ve heard bits and pieces of this since it’s conception in the mind of Je Mappelle (affectionately to be referred to as JeMap from here on out), but I never realized it’d turn into this something so freaking smooth! This EP is quite the unique little bugger. The chord structures and melodic ideas all through this thing are like none I’ve ever heard in chip before. JeMap is definitely the most harmonically interesting man out there in the LSDJ electro scene. That coupled with his off the charts programming skills make his writing some of the coolest there is to listen to.

Funny story about this EP: There’s NO stereo effects whatsoever. You know why? Not only has his computer crapped out on him, one of his speakers did too. So the only way for him to write this thing was mono. Honestly, I think it worked out very very well. It’s supah cool, and it adds an even more unique and talented sound to his work.

So yeah, the album is full of cool little electro surprises, with some of the coolest pulse instrument rhythms I’ve ever heard. Full of variation, genius transitions and brilliant instrument creation. One of the outstanding parts of the album is that it doesn’t even need a ton of low end to sound fantastic! The most interesting parts of it are in the higher pulse instruments, a sound that is near impossible to recreate. JeMap does this with ease.

So anyway, I’m gonna go study these tracks to get on his level at some point in my lifetime. Listen to it! 


GO LISTEN!

HI!

Hey there!

It's me, Frostbyte. I'm sure you know that I make lots of chiptune electro house and dubstep. I figured that since there's no real central spot for this type of music, I'd contribute to the chip scene by making one! I'll be posting reviews and interviews, and some LSDJ tips, tricks and instruments :) Feel free to send me your music! I'll listen to it and maybe write about it :) The more I know, the more I have to write about! It's free publicity to you.

- Frostbyte

Electric Children: All Night Party

Jack Waterman, the college-aged electro genius, once again slayed with his two unmodified Greyboys earlier this year on his most recent EP, All Night Party. All four tracks include LSDJ, but the last two are mainly modern tech. It adds quite an interesting characteristic sound to the whole album, seeing how his skills and familiarity with his old-school gameboys translates into a more modern sound. Basically what I’m trying to say is that the album rocks.

The technique is all there. Nobody knows how to get the smooth, easy going sound that EC draws from these old VG consoles. Nothing could compare to the synths and the sound design on this whole album: it sounds unique, fresh, and recognizable as a distinct sound. Pure genius! The meshing of the Gameboy synths with the more modern sounds is spot on in terms of “brand new”!

The one drawback is that I hear a lot of the same sounds (on LSDJ’s part) here as well as on his previous release, YOU ARE. There’s not much change in feel. Which is okay, it keeps the EC style alive, but it’d be great to hear some updated EC patches on display later on in his discography.

As far as harmonic/melodic writing goes, Jack really brings it all in his works. He tends to focus on pentatonic basslines/melodies, but who cares about theory! Whatever he does, it always flows well, never sounds amature, and it always makes me wanna get up and dance. DAT MUSIC!

GO LISTEN!

Cooshinator - Buttpoop EP

Cooshinator’s new EP, the Buttpoop EP is a fantastic example of chip house. Back in the day, he sent me an early copy of two tracks off of it. I remember listening and being surprised at the kid’s melodic sense! There are some very very cool elements in it that I think would appeal to a large percentage of the house-y crowd. It sure appealed to me!

The kick drum stands out to me. Kicks in general are pretty much the second most important part of EDM to me. If it doesn’t have a good sounding kick, it won’t keep my interest. Well, Coosh’s percussion sounds great, so don’t you worry about that. The bass he boosted with EQ (I’m assuming!) really helped bring out some of the important lower ideas like the kick and the cool basslines.

As far as content goes, the ideas, harmonies, and melodies are all great and really appeal to me as an avid EDM listener. Very cool in that regard. However, every album has it’s flaws. There are two things that really stand out to me about the album in a not so great way: the length of the tracks, and the sound design (minus kick).

The length is fine for some people! A lot of the dance community listens to tracks upwards of 6:00 all the time! And I think that’s cool with regular dance, but that’s not really my thing. Personally I like chip tracks to be between 3:00 and 5:00. It’s a shorter amount of time to really get the message across, and the shorter it is the more likely someone is to 1. Listen to it the whole way or 2. Listen to it more than once because they want to hear certain parts again. Again, this is just my opinion! It’s not a negative factor for the album; it’s just not a plus for me!
Going on, the sound design could be more interesting! It sounds like the majority of the leads/basses are very similar! Which is cool as well; we’re not all gonna be as varied as Roboctopus’ instruments, or Zef’s, or mine, that’s just our styles. But, it would be nice to hear a more technical side of Coosh! I know he can do it, and I know this is his sophomore release (a pretty damn good one at that!).

Overall, this album is really really great. 


GO LISTEN!

Thanks!