The Chiptune concert at The Elbo Room

I remember I missed last year's chiptune extravaganza and I definitely wasn't gonna miss this year's. . .Even though I was late, I raced from damn near an hour away and got there before everyone was finished. It wasn't the biggest crowd, but fuck it, the music was raw as hell and everyone there was cool. . .

Disasterpeace's stuff was colorful, with complex structure and rich melodies. Saskrotch just rocked hard as hell with some raw ass beats and dark chords. . .the last dude Kkrusty had some nice stuff too, plus he was hype as hell--dancing all around the stage and stuff.

Oh yeah, shout to Br1ght Pr1mate for bein such as good guy as well. Lydia gave me his CD for free which I offered to pay for, because I'm that kinda guy. He kept the room hype as well (do people still say hype? whatever). . .

LINK TO INSTRUCTION BOOKLET EP (Alpha Version)

I finally finished the album. . .Here is the version that I'm putting out--there will be minor tweaks before it goes on sale. . .

http://www.sendspace.com/file/8zfb50

Script for EA's Syndicate???

From Kotaku, I read that their is a new script floating around for a new Syndicate game. . .I couldn't be more excited about this as Syndicate is probably one of my favorite games of all time. . .In fact, the 4 player version of Syndicate Wars for the PSone is probably holds some of my most memorable gaming moments this side of General Chaos.

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/05/25/syndicate-script-leak-gives-us-a-first-look-at-eas-cyberpunk-game/

Favorite Game Journalists -- Part 2

This journalist, tired of the sterile and, basically, pandering style reporting of the late 80's and 90's sought to revamp what video game journalism was.



Dan Hsu famously revamped Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) from its previous state and followed the more inquisitive and insightful reporting from publications such as Time, LIFE, etc. Gone were pages of fluff and pretty pictures. In their place in depth articles such as a look at the subsidiaries of SEGA's developing studios or face to face, no holds barred interviews with the infamous grilling of Peter Moore (which I also rhymed about on Sensational--"I'm that Dan Hsu to Peter Moore / the E3 award winnin' killer application you're facin'" #plug).

He now runs Bitmob,



which was pretty interesting in its inception because it used to be a more personal blog that he and Crispin Boyer managed that gave LOTS of secrets of life while working in the 90's at EGM. But he still delivers that raw, honest reporting without any thought of swaying and he deserves a look as one of my favorite video game journalists. . .

I am so bad at keeping up BLOGS

I really need to hire a staff. . .but it seems as if everyone is already attached to projects. My man Blue is studying to become a recording engineer, my partner in crime and I are mixing our OFFICIAL album (by a grammy nominated engineer that worked with Kanye, Rihanna, etc I might add. . .#wow), and my web designer friend is knee deep in work. . .So to anyone reading this--realize that I'm doing EVERYTHING myself: Beats, rhymes, engineering, marketing, video directing, etc. . .

It's hard enough to even break through with something like chiptune rap, but I'm going as hard as humanly possible. . .But most of all, I'm really happy with what I've done and I believe that it will be appreciated. . .

ANYWAY--check out the new promo video for GET LIVE! I love it. . .considering that I filmed it in my garage with a motorbike helmet I bought from Meijer's! HAHAHAHAH!! The inspiration, though, was that pivotal stargate scene from 2001: Space Odyssey. . .



Alright. . .See you next year!! LOL (no, not really)

Favorite Video Game Journalists - Part 1

I am a video game magazine reading addict. I read new ones, old ones--well, there is no such as in between ones I guess, eh?

Anyway, seeing that video game journalism was something I actually had a passion for, it's obvious that I would have favorite journalists that write, or have written, for publications, books, and websites throughout the years. I decided to focus on a few of them on this blog. . .

First up is Steven Kent.



He's written a number of books detailing the history of the gaming industry and most of the content was jammed together in his early 2000's book, The Ultimate History of Video Games, that chronicled the industry's beginning to its ending--which was right around the time the Gamecube was released. . .

. . .okay, so the info is KINDA dated, but it's still a really good read. Especially the parts about Atari, Activision, and the early Famicom/NES days.



http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-History-Video-Games-Pokemon/dp/0761536434

He also has a website that has. . .content. I dunno. I didn't really look into it. But I'm sure the stuff is probably interesting.

http://www.sadsamspalace.com/

When you find the secret to Sad Sam, let me know. Out.

Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka. . .One of the greatest

You gotta love those early NES OSTs from games
like Kid Icarus, Gyromite, and even Wrecking Crew. . .

But mostly this man is known for his groundbreaking (at the time, at least) compositions for Metroid and Mother, which had sounds totally unlike anything gamers had heard of. . .

Of course, we're talking about Hip Tanaka and thanks to somebody that was smart and cool enough to capture this video, we have him performing at Cheapbeats. . .Check it out!




http://vimeo.com/13492125

Understand Me. . .

One more for the upcoming Instruction Booklet EP. . .

Very true song and listen deep for the metaphors and what they relate to. . .I'm sure others can relate to this as well.

Enjoy it!

Independent game music composers - 01

I really like the chiptune, game music composing culture and there are a lot of artists that don't get the notoriety I feel they deserve. So, I'm gonna put my two cents out there and focus on independent composers every week. . .

The two for this week are: Numberoneblind and Whizzywhipitwonderful. . .

Both are mostly fighting game enthusiasts and create the music that fit games in the Vs. or Street Fighter series. . . Check them both out if you wanna hear new and exciting themes for your favorite fighting characters. . .

http://www.youtube.com/numberoneblind



http://www.youtube.com/WizzyWhipitWonderful

People are so funny. . .

I love seeing peoples' random humor. . .Like this stick art on a bathroom painting.

Though this is probably what you WOULD ponder if you were up there. . .

YMCK player

I wish I had an IPhone so I could use all of those cool ass gadgets. . .Instead I'm stuck playing Snake on my wack ass, green screened, head cancer device. . .

If I did, though, I would definitely get the YMCK player from one of my favorite groups, YMCK. . .

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ymck-player/id376191305?mt=8

And if you don't know YMCK, well. . .You are missing out, homey.



They only use 8-bit sounds for their music and have the most BEAUTIFUL colors in their songs, ever! Love em. . . But here's the YMCK player in action being used by one of the masters of 8-bit composition, Hip Tanaka. . .

Be There (Wherever) - unreleased

This is a great song that I really like, but I hated the lyrics--so I'm going back to the drawing board and I may release it later. . .

The sample is from the incredible OST of Sega's Galaxy Force from the song "Take Back. . ." It's a split second intro that has beautiful chord progression. . .

Check it out. . .

SENSATIONAL -- almost final mix

The lead single off of the Instructional Booklet EP, set to be released in January 2011. . .

The entire project will probably be done in February of 2011. . .Still talking to DJs and promoters.

Enjoy. . .

Where to find and record game music. . .

A lot of people ask for OSTs for a lot of old school games, and while I'm happy to make them, there is a way to easily do it yourself.

This is the place you should go to. . .

http://www.zophar.net



At Zophar's Domain, you'll find a lot of tools and players for almost every system outside of the PS3's and 360s of today. As well, you can record the music yourself with the help of Winamp and other tools. . .

So go over there and check it out!

Awesome band that I think everyone should know about. . .

I love video game music. I LOVE it. . .

There is no greater music, in my opinion.

I also love groups that keep the sound alive like YMCK, minibosses, etc. But I came across a new group that blew my mind away. They are completely reminiscent of Sega's SST Band and they've released a new EP. . .

There name is Project Dolphin. . .No, not the codename for that Nintendo console, but probably derived from it. I may just interview them for the hell of it. Just because I can.

Check them out. . .



Ahh. . .Street Fighter goodness. . .And they start off with Chun Li's Alpha song of all things!!!! What more can you ask for?!?!?

. . .nothing. You may ask for nothing.

Might as well post the fan favorite. . .

This was literally a song that I used to sing when I got lost in Last Battle back in the day. . .well, not all the way--but I definitely used to sing that Aarzak was lost.  I just have always loved that name along with Zane from Rambo for the Sega Master System, who I also made a song for, but I will never release to the public. . .

It just ain't come out right. . . :p

Anyway--here's Aarzak is Lost!

Here we go.

Chip-hop at its finest.  Also, you will learn to hate the term I have deemed "chip-hop."

Oh well. . .deal with it.