A reader rightly chided me for omitting mention of YMCK in my Pictobits review last month. That's YMCK, the Japanese chiptunes artist who I'd previously not heard of. And that's Pictobits, the Tetris-looking DSi downloadable exclusive puzzle game from Skip Ltd and Nintendo. It is played like you are using the stylus as a pixel-collecting and pixel-drawing eyedropper, and it is designed with pure love for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The blocks you clear gradually illustrate beloved sprites from the NES era.

And the music... the soundtrack is comprised of remixes from YMCK of classic Nintendo songs. I couldn't find an official issuing of the soundtrack, but you can check out more samples of the music associated with the YouTube clip above.

Pictobits is available in the DSiWare shop for 500 Nintendo points or $5 USD. Not a bad price for 17 remixes of classic Nintendo tunes, to say nothing of the game that you play while listening to them.

What's That, Now?

Chiptune music – tunes made using hacked sound chips from video game hardware – is as well-known to many gamers who snap to the nostalgic bleeps and bloops as it is known to fans of creative electronica. Artists like Bit Shifter, Nullsleep, Minusbaby and many others are honored scions of the chip scene. It wasn't until an unassuming band of surprisingly young (early twenties!) fresh-faced boys began bringing intense rhythm and joyful tunes from an NES chip — coupled with whip-sharp rock — into Williamsburg's feverish indie music hub that something changed. A road for chiptunes music to reach a wider audience began to open up.

They're called Anamanaguchi, and bleeding-edge culture rag L Magazine has named them one of New York City's ‘8 Bands To Watch' for the year, along with other up-and-coming indie rock heard-ofs like Savoir Adore and The Beets. The L does call the chip integration "a gimmick," although you can't blame a more conventionally hip publication for being not-so-wise to the longstanding and broad chiptunes landscape. This includes the work of the 8bitpeoples collective and its 50-plus strong list of participating artists, many of whom play the celebrated Blip Festival every year.

The Chiptune Scene

Chiptune artists form a rich community. Some play NES chips, others play Game Boys, and some even play Atari STs and the like. Their performances are usually accompanied by artistic visuals – picture a performer playing frenetic, throbbing sounds on a hacked Game Boy wired up to a sound system in front of a projection screen lit up with a pulsewave of damaged pixels, and you've got the idea.

But this community's been historically something of a private one – although video game fans often easily recognize and immediately adhere to the retro sounds that comprise the sonic landscape, the majority of chiptune artists have always been strict about divorcing themselves from associations with simple video game nostalgia. They don't play "video game music," and they don't want you to assume they do.

When it comes to Anamanaguchi, The L says a they're "a band that should be heard by everyone, and not just devotees of a micro-genre." You may be getting the idea that there's something different about these kids. Rather than restricting themselves to the occasional chip-specific festival with other soundchip artists – although they play those, too – Anamanaguchi does shows at New York's coolest venues alongside a diverse range of popular rock, hip-hop and DJ acts, and the band – most of them still students – are fast becoming the talk of the town.

Who Are These Kids?

"We're using the 8-bit sounds as a piece of the picture instead of the whole thing," says Peter Berkman, who plays the band's lead guitar and does the majority of the songwriting and soundchip programming.

"It was definitely a deliberate decision, but not one that I made thinking I'd be able to 'get more fans' or something," he adds. "It all stems from having a really musical background, I think. In electronic music there are always artists who strive to be more technical than musical, and we're definitely the other way around."

In fact, Berkman's primary influences aren't chiptune artists at all, but bands like Weezer, Seattle-based emo pioneers Sunny Day Real Estate, and Omaha indie rockers Cursive. So what drew him to start messing around with NES soundchips? "Definitely the nostalgia aspect and the youthful simplicity of the sounds - it's a great, happy aesthetic," he says.

By adhering to the tenets of the chiptune scene while attracting a broader set of music fans with their upbeat rock sound, Anamanaguchi is forming an unlikely bridge between video game hardware and indie rock fans in New York.

"That's kind of the story of my life, being a bridge between a 'nerd' and 'cool'," concedes Berkman, who spent nearly an entire year of free time in high school with friends making Weezer covers on a four track, eating donuts and playing Mega Man X and Contra III. "I'm kind of like a weird hybrid between Steve Urkel and Will Smith."

"I was never the kind of kid who would go out drinking in high school, but I also wasn't the kind of kid who shut myself out from everybody else - I guess I was really lucky that I had an awesome core group of friends who all recognized how strange suburban life is," he says.

Beyond Nostalgia
Berkman says the minimalism inherent in programming soundchips helps composition come to the forefront. "8-bit music is almost like the 'punk rock' of electronic music, where everything has been getting so highly produced and complex that sometimes it's important to just go back to the basics and work with very simple building blocks," he says.

In that way, this musical migration toward lo-fi chiptune sounds as a rebellion against electronic music's high production values can be likened not only to punk rock, but to the increasing popularity of simple, pixel art platformers like Cave Story and Spelunky as an escape from the graphics-intensive, triple-A style that's become dominant in the video game scene.

But although the production of Anamanaguchi's music and that of other chiptune artists might have originally been motivated by a fondness for video game hardware, Berkman joins other chip artists in rejecting further associations with the game scene. "I grew up playing video games as much as the next Generation 2K-bro, but I view it as something that's separate from my music," he says. "I think it's also important to make the distinction that we aren't writing video game music — I'm thinking way more about [The Beach Boys'] Brian Wilson and old Rivers Cuomo [of Weezer] than Hip Tanaka — who rules, though — when I'm composing."

Other chip artists "sound literally nothing like video game music and no doubt get frustrated when people don't get past that," he says.

Bridging Separate Worlds

Berkman also maintains a fascination with what he calls "absurd things — bargain bin VHS tapes, public access TV shows" – and says the juxtaposition between the sounds of an old Nintendo and updated, upbeat rock music is "another one of those absurd, surreal things that shouldn't work, but totally does."

Indie rock show listings bible OhMyRockness, a home base for anyone and everyone who follows local music in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, agrees: "The music Anamanaguchi creates is not really meant to be a whimsical nod to our video game playing youth. First and foremost, they're about rocking you out, but they're also part of a larger experiment to make a big sound that rises above the limitations of the out-dated and limiting hardware the band uses."

Anamanaguchi has provided an example that helps other chiptune artists diversify their music, and helps music fans diversify their listening. Damon Hardjowirogo of local two-piece act Starscream says Anamanaguchi's Power Supply EP "acted as a gateway to the chip music scene … The original idea for the band was a two-piece of electric bass and drums," says Hardjowirogo. Now, he and his bandmate George Stroud both play Game Boys in addition to drums and bass (oh, and they wear Transformers masks).

Anamanaguchi's success, accessibility and all-around good cheer might be a good model for game fans looking to diversify their interests. "As a band though, we definitely have some cred in both worlds. We're very lucky in that we can play a show at Death By Audio in Brooklyn with a crazy hip hop group, and then fly over to Seattle and play PAX with The Minibosses. They're both worlds that I love, but balance is really the key. It's always important to log off of Reddit once in a while to get some fresh air with some hot, sweaty kids."

Leigh Alexander is Gamasutra's news director and authors the Sexy Videogameland blog. Her monthly column at Kotaku deals with cultural issues surrounding games and gamers. She can be reached at leighalexander1 AT gmail DOT com.

Photos by: Marjorie Becker

This is 8bitone, by Japanese devs Yudo, and it lets you arrange your own chiptune soundtracks on the fly. It's not a professional solution, of course, but hey, it's a program for your phone. And for that, it looks pretty good.

It'll be available on the App Store in June, but you can check out a preview in the clip below.

8Bitone [via GSW]

The computer generated cover of seminal 1959 jazz album Kind of Blue is still just a project. But it's a project with funding, thanks to the recently launched Kickstarter, a web service that lets creators find capital for unfunded ideas. (I'm hoping that Kickstarter will help some smaller, underfunded indie game developers bypass the money hurdle.)

Commissioning Kind of Bloop is creative man of the internet Andy Baio, who has tapped five accomplished chiptunists to cover the five Davis compositions. It's a fascinating project, one that's worth keeping an eye on.

If you'd like to listen to some examples of the readily available jazz-chiptune crossover, Baio has uncovered a handful of jazz classics redone in the 8-bit fashion.

Kind of Bloop: An 8-Bit Tribute to Miles Davis [Waxy.org]

With new jams like "Bubbles We Have Heard On Bobble" and "Have Yourself A Final Little Fantasy" we're not sure how you could resist. Or how you could hold on to your measly fifteen bucks, considering a donation of that amount will net you a physical copy — with snazzy artwork — in the coming weeks.

Go easy on those servers, kids. They look crushed.

8-Bit Jesus: Full Album Release [Doctor Octoroc]

Here is the album art and track listing for your viewing pleasure. I also uploaded 8 Bit Weapon's remix of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen to put you in the festive spirit.

Track Listing
8 Bit Weapon - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
ComputeHer - Deck the Halls
Leeni - Silent Night
8 Bit Weapon - Hanukkah
Bud Melvin - Toyland
Doctor Octoroc - We Three Kings
DJ Mike Haggar - The 8 Bits of Christmas
CCIVORY - Joy to the World
Melbot - O Christmas Tree
Unicorn Dream Attack - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Dauragon - Auld Lang Syne

God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman - 8 Bit Weapon Mix (MP3) [To Avoid Lag Try Saving The File]

Don't fight it, just download the nine blippy holiday jams, especially "Carol of the Belmonts" and "We Three Konami" if you know what's good for you. The good Doctor writes on his blog that the 8-Bit Jesus recordings seen here represent but half of the planned album. Oh goodie!

Maybe it's just the clever naming, but it does sound like he's nailed the beloved aural style of each and every game. Impressive. And merry!

8-Bit Jesus: New Christmas Chip-tune Album [Doctor Octoroc via Offworld]

Says the New York Times:

D.J. Scotch Egg is Shige Ishihara, a Japanese producer based in Brighton, England; his club specialty is gabber, a fast-and-hard, tooth-loosening kind of techno. A few years ago he got into making tracks with Nintendo Game Boy sounds, and on “Drumized” (Load) he sticks to the concept for a full album. (This is not to be confused with the microculture of bands like the NESKimos and the Advantage, who perform live versions of Nintendo game songs.) He takes the little sounds out of context — the junior researchers in my home tell me that the sound sources lean heavily toward Mario games — maneuvering and repeating them and pitch-shifting them into song. Sometimes he relies on the tiny blippy noises for percussion, but in places he uses a drummer as well, playing thrashing solos over the electronics.

What chiptune music still getting relegated to brief mentions in the New York Times playlist? Poor Malcolm McLaren, he's still wrong.
Folk in Death-Metal, Nintendo in Techno [New York Times]

Blip Festival, a four-day celebration of music made with vintage game systems, returns to New York City on Thursday with 40 artists and musicians from the US, Japan, Europe and South America.

"After last year's jaw-dropping lineup and unprecedented turnout, it became clear that there is a large and growing interest in this movement that shouldn't be ignored," said Mike Rosenthal, festival co-curator and The Tank's Managing Director. "By hosting this event, we not only nurture the scene, but also give New Yorkers a unique chance to experience a thriving international subculture."

Among the artists features will be the Ataris, the Commodore 64s, Bit Shifter and Nullsleep. I had a chance to chance to chat with a bunch of chip musicians, including Bit Shifter and Nullsleep, years ago when I wrote a feature about the music for the Rocky and MTV. It's a fascinating sub-culture of music and gaming.

If you're in the area I highly recommend stopping by to check it out. Tickets run $10 a day or $35 for the full festival pass. Full release after the jump.

Blip Festival

Old Videogame Gear, New Music: The Blip Festival 2007 Returns to NYC for Second Triumphant Year, Nov. 29 through Dec. 2

4-Day Festival Celebrates Chiptune Culture with 40 Artists and Musicians from around the World

Event Organized by The Tank and 8bitpeoples; Sponsored by Element Labs, Time Out Magazine, Make Magazine, Singha Beer, and Periscope Entertainment, with Additional Support from The Greenwall Foundation and New York State Council on the Arts

New York, NY, November 27, 2007—The Blip Festival 2007 (www.blipfestival.org), a four-day celebration of music and art made with vintage video game and home computing equipment, today announced its full schedule of events, screenings and workshops celebrating chiptune culture in all its many forms.

Presented by The Tank and 8bitpeoples and sponsored in part by Element Labs, Time Out Magazine, Make Magazine, Singha Beer, and Periscope Entertainment, with additional support from The Greenwall Foundation and New York State Council on the Arts, this year's extravaganza follows up on the success of 2006's inaugural outing with an even larger venue to showcase its roster of 40 artists and musicians from the US, Japan, Europe and South America - many appearing for the first time ever in the United States.

"After last year's jaw-dropping lineup and unprecedented turnout, it became clear that there is a large and growing interest in this movement that shouldn't be ignored," said Mike Rosenthal, festival co-curator and The Tank's Managing Director. "By hosting this event, we not only nurture the scene, but also give New Yorkers a unique chance to experience a thriving international subculture."

With nightly concerts, weekend screenings and workshops, and a group gallery show "B I T M A P: as good as new" presented in association with the festival at Williamsburg's vertexList Gallery, The Blip Festival 2007 brings together the biggest names in the field of low-bit art and music for an opportunity to be seen and heard in the epicenter of the creative world.

Among the featured artists who will be showcasing their skills on Game Boys, Ataris, Commodore 64s and other old school gear are Tokyo-based 6955, the Netherlands' Gijs Gieskes, and New York's very own Bit Shifter and Nullsleep. In addition, daytime workshops, held on Saturday and Sunday, December 1 & 2, include such topics as "Break the Circle and Become an Atari DJ" and "Pixel Pushing the PPU: An Introduction to NES Graphics."

The Blip Festival 2007 will also present the world premiere of 8-BIT Generation, a new documentary about low-bit art and chiptune music, and the influence videogame culture has had on an entire generation of artists. Directed by Lionel Brouet, who will be present at the screening and will introduce the film, 8-Bit Generation features punk godfather and former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, Role Model (Sweden) Lo-bat (Belgium), Relax Beat (France), and The Wild Strawberries (China).

Among the festival's related events, vertexList Gallery is presenting "B I T M A P: as good as new," a group exhibition celebrating the history of the digital image, the aesthetics of early computing, and early video-game consoles, featuring Cory Arcangel, Chris Ashley, Eteam, Kimberly Hart, Tom Moody, and many, many more.

On Wednesday, November 28, to get everyone ready for the 4-day extravaganza, The Tank will present a screening of 8 BIT (www.8bitmovie.com), a documentary about low-bit art and culture, which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art and was screened at last year's Blip Festival. For more information, including a complete schedule of events, visit: http://www.blipfestival.org/schedule.html.

EVENT INFORMATION:
Location: Eyebeam Atelier
540 W. 21st Street (Bet. 10th and 11th Avenues)
New York, NY 10011
Time: 8:00PM, nightly musical performances (Special daily exhibitions/showings. See festival website for more details. )
Tickets: Available at the door or online at www.blipfestival.org
Prices: $10/day, $35/festival pass

Chiptuner Alex Mauer has released his new album "Vegavox" in a genre appropriate format. His 8-bit album's worth of hits comes packed on an NES cart for extra authenticity. The chiptune phenomenon may be on its way out, but this creative effort demands to at least be heard in sample form.

Dude releases his new album on a NES cartridge [MusicThing, thanks Peanut!]

If you live in Savannah, Georgia best put down your Mint Julip and head on over to Telfair's Jepson Center for the Arts for a chance to catch chipsician Bubblyfish lay down her groovy GameBoy tunes.

I first heard about Bubblyfish a few years ago while researching a story for MTV's Overdrive. Since then Bubbly, aka Haeyoung Kim, who is trained as a classic pianist, has been featured in the documentary 8 Bit.

Tonight Bubblyfish will be teaming up with Savannah VJ and SCAD professor Alessandro Imperato for a free concert. The thing will kick off in the Neises Auditorium at 7 p.m.

If you go make sure to take pics and report back in, I'd love to hear how she's doing. I wonder if she'd be back in town in time to catch our party in Brooklyn? Brian Crecente

[Thanks to Seeker for the heads-up]

What is a Tetris?

Hard To Perceive
Easy to Destroy
Just Like Your Life!

From the Tetronominon Ex Mortis (often abbreviated as Tetrominon), as sung by cheery Japanese chiptunes band, YMCK! Florian Eckhardt