Chiptunes occupy a strange space in the music world. Using circuit-bent electronics and computers to create bleeps and bloops in real time to create a song, the process was pioneered in the interest of creating music for early video games, but since then has evolved into a different animal altogether. While some chiptunes artists like to stay within the confines of creating and recreating video game music, many have used it to create original works that should impress even 'non-gamers,' at least in the technicality of composition.
But, non-gamers are obviously not really the main demographic for this genre of music. Even though chiptunes don't make any conscious effort to exclude the less nerdy, the sounds produced by the Sega Genesis and Nintendo are inherently off-putting to anyone that doesn't know the Konami Code or how to skip between worlds in Mario Bros. 3. And, quite frankly, this is a tragic state of existence for such a creative and interesting part of the musical universe.
To be honest, I was not particularly thrilled about the idea of chiptunes when I first heard about it despite being an avid video game player ever since I could understand that the object in Tetris was not, as I used to believe, to build a robot. But, after a bit of exploration, I figured out that I was making the critical error of being prejudiced against an all-too-general genre that I incorrectly guessed the conventions of. The problem was that I thought chiptunes were just video game music and/or what is known as nerdcore when, in fact, chiptunes are only partially game music and have little to do with the nerdcore scene.
It took me until winter break of this year to realize that chiptunes were not purely game nostalgia. This epiphany struck me when I attended MAGfest, a four day event dedicated to music and games (that's where the MAG comes from), at which I found myself having one of the most fun nights in recent memory at a late night chiptunes concert. The way it worked was simple: chiptunes artists would come on stage and play a sort of DJ set of their tunes and the crowd would go nuts and dance the night away. While it sounds kind of absurd dancing to something that sounds like it should come out of a Gameboy (and, in some cases, actually is), there didn't seem to be a more unifying experience at the whole event. I believe that this was partially due to the fact that I was at an event full of video game aficionados and we were listening to music that was reminiscent of all of our collective childhoods. But, I also think it was because the music holds up on its own as a unique and fun genre of music.
My friend, who is a current intern over at the KEXP blog out of Seattle sent me a link of some particularly impressive chiptunes for you all to check out too. So, whether or not you already know that Megaman's name in Japan is Rockman, you should check out this free compilation from Chrunchy Records, and enjoy it in its 8-bit glory.
Protoculture: Chiptunes
SONG OF THE WEEK
Fever Ray - "When I Grow Up"
If this doesn't turn you on, we at tableau don't know what will. Fever Ray, more commonly known as the weird sister half of the Swedish electropop duo The Knife, just released her first solo album this week. In an experimental mood? Fever Ray has your weekly fix.
WORDS ALONE CANNOT DESCRIBE...
Let's be honest, we don't know what to make of this. We probably shouldn't like it. But we do. It's crazy addictive -- blast it and you'll see what we mean. Direct from Sweden, it's hip hop/house outfit Maskinen ("The Machine"), who last January were reported to the local police by a 32-year-old man who allegedly failed to understand the humor behind the group's first smash hit "Alla Som Inte Dansar (Är Våldtäktsmän)" (“Everybody not dancing are rapists”). Apparently, somebody neglected to alert the veritable do-gooder to the tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek nature of the song, and he actually thought the people not dancing were rapists. And we thought the band itself was pretty messed up ...
In any case ... geez, we still don't know what to make of this. Is there any way to describe this? It's like somebody took fellow Scandinavian (but now disbanded) band Quarashi and Colorado hip hop/house group 3oh!3 and made them give birth to a dementedly hilarious and over-the-top lovechild. What's more, AllScandinavian.com claims Maskinen's debut album due out later this year -- featuring songs like "Segertåget" -- is one of the "10 Albums Set to Triumph in 2009." One can only hope that the Web site is right.
All things being relative, God only knows how this works. On second thought, it might not work. Wait, it does. Ugh, the hell with it -- check it out for yourself. The Cavalier Daily's A&E section is proud to present the video for "Pengar" ("Money"). And when you're done listening, tell us we're not crazy for somehow liking this.
Post written by Tom Madrecki.