Reformat your FACE!

December 23, 2009 1:47 PM

Blip Festival happened just this weekend in Brooklyn. Chiptune geek, but couldn’t make it? The YouTube videos are starting to appear. Here's an internet approximation of the festival. If you just want a quick overview, a prepared playlist. [via].

Here in order of appearance are the actual live performance videos. Interviews and pictures are substituted where concert footage was unavailable.

Thursday: Interview, Silent Requiem, Performance Photo of Silent Requiem, Failotron, Photo of Leeni’s performance, Interview with Leeni, Minus Baby,Chromix, Je Deviens DJ En 3 Jours, Albino Ghost Monkey, Eat Rabbit.

Friday: Interview Disasterpeace, Starscream, Fighter X, Bit Shifter, little scale, I, Cactus, Nullsleep, RainbowDragonEyes, Patric C, Condom & Hally

Saturday: The J. Arthur Keenes Band, Interview, tRasH cAn maN, Bubblyfish, The Hunters, Artist's Website: Glomag, Bit Shifter, David Sugar, Interview with Psilodump

There’s also some interesting stuff that came out at the open mic on Wednesday, including Luke from Anamanaguchi covering Miley Cyrus with Party in the USK, c-Trix, Fenris.

posted by edbles (20 comments total)

I think the thing that bugs me most about chiptunes and circuit-bending and general noise-hacky music is that there's almost none of it going on here on the West Coast.
posted by lekvar at 2:07 PM on December 23, 2009

I hope you forgive me for the self-referential comment but I put together a list of nearly 20 chiptune/8bit Christmas albums on my blog the other day. I hope it's an appropriate link in the comments here.
posted by hubs at 2:49 PM on December 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yes! Love this. Favorited for being the awesome sauce.
posted by OrangeSoda at 3:05 PM on December 23, 2009

I've been going to blip fest since it kicked off in 2006 and it has become better with each incarnation. We didn't see the guy who desses up as a Tetris piece this time around, but still a great show. The crowds really get into it, which is the best way to experience the show (sweaty nerds EVERYWHERE).

OTOH, I saw a couple of the "headlining" performers (Nullsleep and Bitshifter) in Marseille in 2007, and the few locals who showed up we not as into the music as we Brooklyners (Americans?).
posted by tip120 at 3:08 PM on December 23, 2009

I like Blip a a lot yet I've never actually been there despite, at one point, living mere blocks from the event.

Which is a long way of saying I'm super lazy but I enjoy chiptunes.
posted by The Whelk at 3:29 PM on December 23, 2009

Je Deviens DJ En 3 Jours plain owned Blip this year. Just sort of walked in, signed some papers, and made it his property.

Supposedly some of the sets should be showing up on the Free Music Archive soon. Can't wait.
posted by phooky at 3:31 PM on December 23, 2009

Thanks for the post, edbles, a cornucopia of blippery!

Here's my band featuring Tokyo Gameboy goddess Henna Dress.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:39 PM on December 23, 2009

I was there Friday and it was freaking awesome!
posted by fuq at 3:58 PM on December 23, 2009

I don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers, but I'm dismayed that "chiptune" seems to be replacing circuit bending as the cool thing among music-hackers. There's nothing innovative about putting a cartridge in a Commodore 64 or Gameboy.
posted by DecemberBoy at 5:21 PM on December 23, 2009

(I say this as a dyed-in-the-wool circuit bender who will continue doing it whether it's cool or not)
posted by DecemberBoy at 5:22 PM on December 23, 2009

And I mean, if you're gonna mess around with SID chip sounds or whatever, at least do it right.
posted by DecemberBoy at 5:23 PM on December 23, 2009

I like the 8 bit sound, but I don't like pure chiptune stuff. To me, it's just another way of distorting a waveform. I particularly like when producers take an 8 bit synth and run it through delays, compression etc to make it sound really huge.

To wit:

Bionic Commando (Surkin Mix)
posted by empath at 5:32 PM on December 23, 2009

I know nothing about chiptune and thus picked a name at random - holy shit, Albino Ghost Monkey is great!
the others I sampled after just didn't do it for me though. not bad, just not as exciting.
posted by mannequito at 5:37 PM on December 23, 2009

Also, Tiesto - Louder Than Boom uses a fast arpeggiated 8-bit synth to great effect.
posted by empath at 5:38 PM on December 23, 2009

I see your Bionic Commando (Surkin Mix) and raise you Bionic Commando (Rusko Remix). That's right, a dubstep remix of an original video game track (only now found via YT's recommendation system).

I don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers, but I'm dismayed that "chiptune" seems to be replacing circuit bending as the cool thing among music-hackers. There's nothing innovative about putting a cartridge in a Commodore 64 or Gameboy.

Knowing nothing of the current state of Chiptunes (beyond the fact there are still lively festivals), I think it's moved beyond innovation and gotten into a stable genre of electronic music. I'm sure there are chiptune artists pushing what they can do, but it seems like there are plenty who are using the tools available, just like every garage band who plays stock guitars and drums without distorting the sound with DIY equipment.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:48 PM on December 23, 2009

Also: I left out the visualists, without whom the imagery would mostly consist of one-handed fist pumps and randomized head bangs.

Enso - Check out his October 26 post
Jean Y. Kim her website is less than informative but she did the visuals for Starscream
No Carrier
Outpt
Paris
Rosa Menkmen
VBlank

Summaries of all performers.
Schedule for who was paired with who.
posted by edbles at 6:40 PM on December 23, 2009

I don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers, but I'm dismayed that "chiptune" seems to be replacing circuit bending as the cool thing among music-hackers. There's nothing innovative about putting a cartridge in a Commodore 64 or Gameboy.

Little-scale made a MIDI-controlled Sega Master Sytem, among other things.
Burnkit2600 do indeed put a cartridge into a game system, but they programmed it themselves.
Ditto Paul Slocum.
x|k had to build a MIDI interface for the NES in order to make his music.

I don't know, that all sounds pretty innovative to me. And that doesn't even take into account the 498,251,654 different instruments that use the SID chip.
posted by lekvar at 9:54 PM on December 23, 2009

I see your Bionic Commando (Surkin Mix) and raise you Bionic Commando (Rusko Remix) .

Oh, i much prefer it, but i didn't use that one cause it wasn't particularly 8 bit except for the intro.
posted by empath at 10:32 PM on December 23, 2009

I'd love to get out to a blipfest one day. I got to see Anamanaguchi at PAX 08, and I was hooked since. Even got to meet Luke in Bandland and gush for a few.

I Fight Dragons is a lot less... let's say "blippy," and more pop, but they still use a Gameboy an NES for melodic background. First exposure: "Why Bother?" from the Weezer 8-bit tribute album, and I was sold. Their EP isn't bad, but it's nothing great, either. But it looks like they're just getting started.
posted by gc at 10:56 PM on December 23, 2009

Every year I tell myself I'm going to go to BlipFest and every year I find myself either broke or on another continent when it happens.

This video for a performance by Hally in 2007 remains one of my favourite things ever http://vimeo.com/649115
posted by mkn at 5:08 AM on December 24, 2009