After the last post I managed to grab some new stuff from my 'recommended's that would make a decent follow up, but I've put those plans to one side for a minute as in the process I found something new as well. Soichi Terada's Omodaka alais that I thought was retired is still very much active - and in its current incarnation is doing some very interesting things when it comes to electronic music.
First and foremost Omodaka is now a full on performance experience - with Terada donning a blank white mask and a shrine maiden's outfit, surrounded by wires, tweaking the electronics as screens play out a combination of motion graphics and slightly surreal video edits. This past meets present aesthetic extends to the songs as well, the main methodology of the Omodaka project has been about fusing traditional Japanese folk music with modern electronics. Well, modern-ish, because as you'll soon hear a lot of the backing for these tracks is full on chiptune. Take a look at the 2-minute trailer for the most recent Omodaka album 'Gujoh Bushi' and have a listen for yourself:
It's an odd combo for sure, one that I'm not quite sure always works but there are definitely moments on this LP that have me falling head over heels. I've never really been much into chiptune as a whole, I have a couple of tracks here, and even then usually from soundtracks. I do have quite a strong nostalgia for them having said that though, one that comes from a lot of long haul flights with Pokémon generations 1 & 2 when I was little. The intro to Kariboshi Kiriuta hits that note something fierce, and when the worlds collide with that bassline at around 6 seconds in - this album immediately shot up my list of things to get a hold of. The Enka-esque vocals I can see putting some folk off, and in this early honeymoon phase of the album for me sometimes I feel that. Though for me I think it's a case of the instrumentals being gorgeous and I just want to spend a little bit more time with them.
The album does have a fair bit of variety in it though even when sticking to those same key elements. Hyamikao is fast on it's way to becoming my favourite so far, here Terada slips back into his old House grooves, with a thumping kick and bassy stabs taking over the expected chiptune intro - as it develops the chiptune elements almost take a backseat and it becomes more like a traditional Terada house tune. I also love the almost text-to-speech style cut-up treatment the vocals get here (again, my bias showing as I love anything to do with altered vocals!), I think it injects a nice bit of variety to the LP - the jumpy cuts making some nice unexpected melodies. and makes them feel a little more fitting than the above track for example. That and if we're getting philosophical, it's truly then a merger of the new and the old.
Speaking of returning, on Tosa Miren Terada brings out his Drum & Bass skills again, those of you familiar with his work on Ape Escape will find a fair bit of similarity here in the more melodic parts - especially when the little bits of chiptune flash through in the most playful way. This one and Hyamikao are currently locked in a fight for my no. 1 favourite from this LP. I think this is one of the more accessible tracks here to boot, the traditional vocals really work in its favour. But that's something I'd expect that as Terada has experimented with mixing them and Drum & Bass going back to 1996 - it's nowhere near as prominent as on this album, but there are hints of chants and such on Sumo Jungle, the album that got the attention of Sony and led to his work on Ape Escape. It's used throughout, but my favourite use of it is on Sukiyaki Dohyo Chanko. But enough of that, enjoy the tune!
I'm really excited to see Terada still active, his output rarely disappoints and having done a bit of research for writing this he seems like he has a lot of fun making stuff. Doubly so when he's performing as Omodaka, from the videos I've seen he'll just occasionally wander out into the crowd and give whoever's in the front row control of bits and pieces of equipment, making the whole thing more of an experience than just a concert. It seems as if he was gearing up to do more regular performances as well which is a shame - here's hoping he can get back to them when things are a little more safe. But in the meantime I am more than happy to jam out to this album, and I hope you are too!
And as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
Showing posts with label chiptune. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chiptune. Show all posts
Friday, 12 March 2021
Friday, 17 July 2020
We Are All Connected
If you'll allow me, I'm going to indulge once again in the slightly more niche ideas I've been kicking around in my head. I've been thinking a lot about the concept of fan-works and the inspiration they offer. Fan-works are usually visual art, but sometimes they cross over into audio as well which is what we'll be talking about today, but first a bit of background.
It should come as no surprise to some readers that I am a big fan of Serial Experiments Lain. It's a series from 1998 that only seems to have gotten more prophetic about technology with age and has some incredibly visceral visual depictions of mental disorders that I really resonated with. Anyway, Lain has potentially the most fan-made music out of any fandom I actively follow, which is equal amounts surprising and expected really, and it runs the gamut from a Bootleg remix of the show's opening theme, that was then remixed again by one of the musicians responsible for the series' music, to the usual affair of 'inspired-by' compilations. And this was all before the landmark choice to make Lain "Open Source" until 2028, making the creation of fanworks not only easier, but essentially officially sanctioned. That is an incredible choice, and one very fitting for the source material.
As mentioned before though, people have been making fan works even before that point, and I'm going to talk about a few of them here. First off; I'm Real, I'm Here from Echochamber. This release is a perfect starting point as it doesn't lean very heavily on referencing the source material, making it very accessible if you're unfamiliar. But also playing into my initial point, it's a great fan work because it is very much evokes the atmosphere of the source material but with a more modern and personalised by the artist twist. I'm Real, I'm Here runs through a whole host of moods, from full on hip-hop, straight up Vaporwave and to Minimal House pieces like the one I'm going to post. I listened to it straight through for my first time and the whole experience flows together supremely well. Gorgeously lush in parts, intensely claustrophobic in others, it would definitely be my most recommended LP to check out from this post.
It's a very well balanced LP, despite spanning a ton of genres it never feels like it's particularly weighted one way or the other, save for the more hip-hop influenced pieces. I'm keeping it on he more accessible side for now with another one of my favourites which transports me back to my very short lived Progressive House phase. It's odd for me to describe a tune like this as nostalgic, but that time I was into Prog House is only getting further away! As above there's no obvious nods to its inspiration material here, which is a bit of a blessing as it lets me focus on the content itself. Occasionally when tracks like this come on I begin to vibe with them in an extra special way, a way that reminds me why I love electronic music and more specifically the myriad of House-y offshoots. This one in particular is excellently crafted; I adore that sweeping intro, there's not a single element out of place throughout, and to boot it doesn't suffer from having 3+ minutes of 4/4 tacked onto the front and back like some Prog House tunes in my library.
It's no surprise that such a surreal and psychological series like Lain, that also is steeped heavily in technology attracted the more... extreme side of electronic music genres. We're not going to dive straight into the deep end yet however. Let's talk about the self-published compilation Subhuman. True to the Dōjinshi format, Subhuman was available in limited supply from a comic market on December 30, 2009 (and I think from the label's site in limited quantity too?). Despite this the compilation is not incredibly difficult to get your hands on, and it's definitely worth a look. The opening track, fittingly called 'Depersonalization', is a lovely slice of dark and gloomy IDM tinged trip-hop. The breakdown at about 4 mins in is absolutely delightful.
I'm totally betraying the opening sentence of the last paragraph though because I'm not posting the more abrasive tunes from this comp. Tracks like "The Accelerator" for example have Current Value style hard Drum & Bass as the dish of choice, but the artist behind that track and the Compilation at large; 3x6, also has a more traditional drum & bass appearance on this comp. Both I'm Real, I'm Here both sport samples rom the series scattered throughout (though none of the tracks I've picked do!), on paper I'd be inclined to call this a little on-the-nose but in practice it works incredibly well; none of the samples feel forced or shoehorned into make it more of a fan-work, operating more like a knowing wink to those who know the source material. One last thought here: truth be told I remembered this as being one of my lesser liked tunes from here, but something about it is just hitting slightly different today.
Rounding us out for today I will now take a dive into that extreme side! The final compilation I'm talking about is La-Incarnation, from Otherman Records, a tiny (seemingly defunct) netlabel from Japan, who in their own words are "Leading Japanese Breakcore Scene". This one is the real mixed bag of the bunch, I can't recommend it as easily as the other two as it is often a challenging listen, but I still like it (it's also name your price if you want to scoop it for free). It's taken me a good while to narrow it down to a couple of songs actually, trying to strike a balance between a good demonstration of that atmosphere and not being too experimental. First example is fairly tame, what I really like about this album is that it feels very distinctly like when you used to stumble into weird websites way back when; full of strange screen-names and site-specific slang. There's plenty of Chiptune on this compilation but this might be my favourite example, the smooth intro giving in after a minute or so to slightly glitchy bleeps and bloops that are straight out of a Keygen song only cements that technology fuelled atmosphere.
The intro and main body having wildly different flavours is a trend in my picks, at the risk of spoiling the experience it's why this one won out. It reminds me an awful lot of when I first listened to Clark's The Autumnal Crush, specifically being completely blindsided by the sheer intensity of it. If you're playing the song as you're reading this you've probably raised an eyebrow. "Intense?" I hear you say "Seems like it's just a regular downtempo type tune" and you would be right, but there is a sudden switch up after about 3 minutes that certainly lives up to that breakcore quote the label said initially. It's definitely an experience that is better if you're NOT expecting it like I wasn't on my first listen but I couldn't really talk about it without spoiling. On some days it really hits something inside of me and it's incredible, other days I have to reach for the skip track button when I remember that part approaching. Today I can appreciate them both in their chilled and face melting moods respectively.
It should come as no surprise to some readers that I am a big fan of Serial Experiments Lain. It's a series from 1998 that only seems to have gotten more prophetic about technology with age and has some incredibly visceral visual depictions of mental disorders that I really resonated with. Anyway, Lain has potentially the most fan-made music out of any fandom I actively follow, which is equal amounts surprising and expected really, and it runs the gamut from a Bootleg remix of the show's opening theme, that was then remixed again by one of the musicians responsible for the series' music, to the usual affair of 'inspired-by' compilations. And this was all before the landmark choice to make Lain "Open Source" until 2028, making the creation of fanworks not only easier, but essentially officially sanctioned. That is an incredible choice, and one very fitting for the source material.
As mentioned before though, people have been making fan works even before that point, and I'm going to talk about a few of them here. First off; I'm Real, I'm Here from Echochamber. This release is a perfect starting point as it doesn't lean very heavily on referencing the source material, making it very accessible if you're unfamiliar. But also playing into my initial point, it's a great fan work because it is very much evokes the atmosphere of the source material but with a more modern and personalised by the artist twist. I'm Real, I'm Here runs through a whole host of moods, from full on hip-hop, straight up Vaporwave and to Minimal House pieces like the one I'm going to post. I listened to it straight through for my first time and the whole experience flows together supremely well. Gorgeously lush in parts, intensely claustrophobic in others, it would definitely be my most recommended LP to check out from this post.
It's a very well balanced LP, despite spanning a ton of genres it never feels like it's particularly weighted one way or the other, save for the more hip-hop influenced pieces. I'm keeping it on he more accessible side for now with another one of my favourites which transports me back to my very short lived Progressive House phase. It's odd for me to describe a tune like this as nostalgic, but that time I was into Prog House is only getting further away! As above there's no obvious nods to its inspiration material here, which is a bit of a blessing as it lets me focus on the content itself. Occasionally when tracks like this come on I begin to vibe with them in an extra special way, a way that reminds me why I love electronic music and more specifically the myriad of House-y offshoots. This one in particular is excellently crafted; I adore that sweeping intro, there's not a single element out of place throughout, and to boot it doesn't suffer from having 3+ minutes of 4/4 tacked onto the front and back like some Prog House tunes in my library.
It's no surprise that such a surreal and psychological series like Lain, that also is steeped heavily in technology attracted the more... extreme side of electronic music genres. We're not going to dive straight into the deep end yet however. Let's talk about the self-published compilation Subhuman. True to the Dōjinshi format, Subhuman was available in limited supply from a comic market on December 30, 2009 (and I think from the label's site in limited quantity too?). Despite this the compilation is not incredibly difficult to get your hands on, and it's definitely worth a look. The opening track, fittingly called 'Depersonalization', is a lovely slice of dark and gloomy IDM tinged trip-hop. The breakdown at about 4 mins in is absolutely delightful.
I'm totally betraying the opening sentence of the last paragraph though because I'm not posting the more abrasive tunes from this comp. Tracks like "The Accelerator" for example have Current Value style hard Drum & Bass as the dish of choice, but the artist behind that track and the Compilation at large; 3x6, also has a more traditional drum & bass appearance on this comp. Both I'm Real, I'm Here both sport samples rom the series scattered throughout (though none of the tracks I've picked do!), on paper I'd be inclined to call this a little on-the-nose but in practice it works incredibly well; none of the samples feel forced or shoehorned into make it more of a fan-work, operating more like a knowing wink to those who know the source material. One last thought here: truth be told I remembered this as being one of my lesser liked tunes from here, but something about it is just hitting slightly different today.
Rounding us out for today I will now take a dive into that extreme side! The final compilation I'm talking about is La-Incarnation, from Otherman Records, a tiny (seemingly defunct) netlabel from Japan, who in their own words are "Leading Japanese Breakcore Scene". This one is the real mixed bag of the bunch, I can't recommend it as easily as the other two as it is often a challenging listen, but I still like it (it's also name your price if you want to scoop it for free). It's taken me a good while to narrow it down to a couple of songs actually, trying to strike a balance between a good demonstration of that atmosphere and not being too experimental. First example is fairly tame, what I really like about this album is that it feels very distinctly like when you used to stumble into weird websites way back when; full of strange screen-names and site-specific slang. There's plenty of Chiptune on this compilation but this might be my favourite example, the smooth intro giving in after a minute or so to slightly glitchy bleeps and bloops that are straight out of a Keygen song only cements that technology fuelled atmosphere.
The intro and main body having wildly different flavours is a trend in my picks, at the risk of spoiling the experience it's why this one won out. It reminds me an awful lot of when I first listened to Clark's The Autumnal Crush, specifically being completely blindsided by the sheer intensity of it. If you're playing the song as you're reading this you've probably raised an eyebrow. "Intense?" I hear you say "Seems like it's just a regular downtempo type tune" and you would be right, but there is a sudden switch up after about 3 minutes that certainly lives up to that breakcore quote the label said initially. It's definitely an experience that is better if you're NOT expecting it like I wasn't on my first listen but I couldn't really talk about it without spoiling. On some days it really hits something inside of me and it's incredible, other days I have to reach for the skip track button when I remember that part approaching. Today I can appreciate them both in their chilled and face melting moods respectively.
Monday, 17 April 2017
Risen [SoundCloud Links Broken as of 2020]
Whoops, I got so wrapped up in bank holiday shenanigans that I almost forgot to write this post. So you're goingto be sort changed by one tune this time but in the process I managed to find some material for the next one. Anyway, back onto the tunes, it's been a while since I've seen or mentioned Celadon City; me and he go way back by now, always providing a nice port of call whenever I needed some more wholesome electronics. This here remix is no exception to that rule, and with some additional touches from Dom Kilsby it has has me wanting to return to Stardew Valley.
And finally another bit from Funkstörung, this was actually one of my first introductions to them beyond the remix of Björk's All Is Full Of Love,and I loved it. I was deep into the IDM hole at that point, and Funkstörung's much more sedate approach to the often frantic genre's elements was refreshing to say the least, and it had vocal accompaniment too which is a rarity too. It's not for everyone, guest vocalist Enik's delivery is unconventional to say the least, but I think the combination of the sometimes stilted verses and stumbling beats live up to the title, and make for a unique atmosphere.
-Claude Van Foxbat
And finally another bit from Funkstörung, this was actually one of my first introductions to them beyond the remix of Björk's All Is Full Of Love,and I loved it. I was deep into the IDM hole at that point, and Funkstörung's much more sedate approach to the often frantic genre's elements was refreshing to say the least, and it had vocal accompaniment too which is a rarity too. It's not for everyone, guest vocalist Enik's delivery is unconventional to say the least, but I think the combination of the sometimes stilted verses and stumbling beats live up to the title, and make for a unique atmosphere.
-Claude Van Foxbat
Friday, 1 May 2015
Goodbye, Old Friend (Hello, New One) [Soundcloud players broken as of 2020)
After many years of continued service, my favourite underdog streamer Grooveshark has gone under. I used them for the monthly playlists on the sidebar, thanks to their no BS model of embedabble streamers available to all, with or without accounts. Also no audio ads too. But them days are gone and now I have to scour the archives and fix anywhere they were embedded. But let's not dwell on that too long because I have new tunes.
Doing the rounds on Reddit this morning, happened to see this post in Cyberpunk Music one of my favourite haunts. This guy's not too far from me surprisingly, and I'm digging a lot of what I hear on his soundcloud. In fact I think that these tunes and the little getaway for this weekend I have planned will be enough to get me out of this anti-creative funk I've been in. Before I go have another one of his tunes for your enjoyment.
-Claude Van Foxbat
Doing the rounds on Reddit this morning, happened to see this post in Cyberpunk Music one of my favourite haunts. This guy's not too far from me surprisingly, and I'm digging a lot of what I hear on his soundcloud. In fact I think that these tunes and the little getaway for this weekend I have planned will be enough to get me out of this anti-creative funk I've been in. Before I go have another one of his tunes for your enjoyment.
-Claude Van Foxbat
Monday, 27 January 2014
Score
Film scores and soundtracks often hold great composition or songs, and that's what this entire post is about. I've been going through my music and made a list of my favourite electronic scores/soundtracks.
Next is your friendly neighbourhood Hans Zimmer… with Junkie XL. I respect many of Zimmer's works, so hearing someone has remixed it made me worry a little. But, Junkie XL came through; after two minutes. My only quarrel with this track, is the two minute build-up. Great use of vocal samples and deranged strings.
As far as movies go, TRON: Legacy was really quite mediocre. I enjoy mixes of a large orchestra and electronic music, as shown by the last track. However, there are some points during the TRON: Legacy soundtrack that I feel the electronic sounds overpower the orchestra and throw the mood off. That doesn't occur in this track.
Time to back up a few decades. While I could have posted one of many Miami Vice themes, I chose this. I don't know exactly where in the show it appears, mainly because I don't watch it. Just cannot help but love the classics.
Rule number one.
Now we come to one of my biggest musical influences. The Nintendo 64. The thousands of hours I've spent playing to the same tracks, and they never get old. First up is a lovely piece from Perfect Dark. I just love the dark and gritty atmosphere. Rare games represent a good portion of my childhood.
One of my favourite tracks from one of my favourite tracks. Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 64. To me, it just has a nice cruising vibe to it. Every now and then, it reminds me of all those failed attempts to jump the track at the start.
An Italian running around pyramids and strange mutant turtles to timbale and sitar? Of course! Lethal Lava Land from Super Mario 64.
Lastly, we come back to movies, and to my personal favourite in the Rocky series. Rocky IV.
~Sulphites
One of my favourite movie scores.
However, it's not electronic, so I won't post it. But I do recommend it.
I'll start it with one of the most gritty, industrial and brilliantly produced soundscapes from 2012. While it went by relatively unnoticed, Dredd (2012) was actually not a half bad movie. The soundtrack reflects the atmosphere of a grainy post-apocalyptic mega-city well; particularly by crushing, decimating or otherwise obliterating the majority of sounds.
Next is your friendly neighbourhood Hans Zimmer… with Junkie XL. I respect many of Zimmer's works, so hearing someone has remixed it made me worry a little. But, Junkie XL came through; after two minutes. My only quarrel with this track, is the two minute build-up. Great use of vocal samples and deranged strings.
As far as movies go, TRON: Legacy was really quite mediocre. I enjoy mixes of a large orchestra and electronic music, as shown by the last track. However, there are some points during the TRON: Legacy soundtrack that I feel the electronic sounds overpower the orchestra and throw the mood off. That doesn't occur in this track.
Time to back up a few decades. While I could have posted one of many Miami Vice themes, I chose this. I don't know exactly where in the show it appears, mainly because I don't watch it. Just cannot help but love the classics.
Rule number one.
Now we come to one of my biggest musical influences. The Nintendo 64. The thousands of hours I've spent playing to the same tracks, and they never get old. First up is a lovely piece from Perfect Dark. I just love the dark and gritty atmosphere. Rare games represent a good portion of my childhood.
One of my favourite tracks from one of my favourite tracks. Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 64. To me, it just has a nice cruising vibe to it. Every now and then, it reminds me of all those failed attempts to jump the track at the start.
An Italian running around pyramids and strange mutant turtles to timbale and sitar? Of course! Lethal Lava Land from Super Mario 64.
Lastly, we come back to movies, and to my personal favourite in the Rocky series. Rocky IV.
~Sulphites
Sunday, 7 April 2013
A Glitch Is A Glitch
The forces of the internet collided the other day when beat crafter Flying Lotus spun a tune for cult cartoon Adventure Time.
The tune is a lovely return the the chiptune style that opened FlyLo's debut 1983 back in '06 with some elements from the Pattern + Grid World EP showing through at times. Its a free download from the mans soundcloud so check it out for sure! I apologise for the link, by my pc is down and embedding is pretty much impossible on a phone, regardless, enjoy!
What Time Is It?
- Claude Van Foxbat
The tune is a lovely return the the chiptune style that opened FlyLo's debut 1983 back in '06 with some elements from the Pattern + Grid World EP showing through at times. Its a free download from the mans soundcloud so check it out for sure! I apologise for the link, by my pc is down and embedding is pretty much impossible on a phone, regardless, enjoy!
What Time Is It?
- Claude Van Foxbat
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