chiptune » froglix radio

Mar 122011

Patrons of Punk re-embraced a re-post of an article written a few weeks back…before the meltdown…about a band from Phoenix called Moovalya. I felt a bit bad as it was our technical difficulties that caused the article to disappear for a bit. More post-hardcore punk followed on Tuesday with Thurdeen’s review of Sleep City’s debut EP entitled Still Breathing. News of The Joy Formidable’s Spring Tour landed on the front page mid-week as the band begins final preparations to support their debut album entitled The Big Roar which is due to drop early next week…March 14th to be exact. We also got some good news out of the Criminal Records camp when we learned that The Exits were, in fact, still very much alive and heading back into the studio to record some new stuff. I’m not sure who pissed Thurdeen off this week but it’s clear that he has been dialing up the punk to get in touch with his inner angry child. The theme continues with his review of Kesshin, a french al-rock/punk band from France whose new EP entitled For Too Long Now has us all quite smitten. The music of Byzanite closes out the week for us as we learn that chiptune is not actually created by chipmunks (sorry Alvin) but by a step-sequencer hooked up to a GameBoy. What? Exactly. But ’tis good my friends so check it out.

- Drago

Taking Me To School

Byzanite, chiptune, electronica, featured artists, hardcore, reviews, trance, United Kingdom, unsigned, Wales 2 Responses »

Mar 112011

artist: Byzanite
genre: electronica, chiptune, trance
label: unsigned

Oh music, I am your eager pupil and you rarely disappoint me. Today I learned about a genre I’d never heard of. It’s called chiptune and one of its practitioners is Ben Paulsen, from Wales, who goes by the musical name Byzanite! On his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/byzanite), Ben says chiptune is also referred to as 8-bit/80′s game music and is “music that is made on a step-sequencer running on a games console, preferably a console from the 80′s. In the most common case, it’s a GameBoy.” Okay, let me get this straight, he’s making music on a Nintendo Game Boy? I couldn’t even get past level 4 on Mario Brothers and he’s turning out tunes with his? I’m intrigued, but what’s it sound like?

You won’t find much in the way of vocals, but Byzanite creates dance-ready anthems like “Enigma,” with its relentless pulse, chiming electronics and ray-gun sounding effects. “Panic Attack!” struck me as what a thunderstorm in hell would sound like. “Homebase” features pauses and starts, yet never stops coming. The thing I took away from Byzanite’s music was how cool it sounded when played loudly and how impressive the movements and sequences were. The songs may not hit you immediately, but additional listenings bring the rewards. Byzanite’s music is layered, a bit hypnotic and definitely exciting. Plus, he seems like a good guy, as he writes on his myspace page: “if you wanna know how i make my music, or you just want some help in making your own music, don’t be afraid to message or comment me…i will get back to you as fast as i can: YOU WILL NOT BE IGNORED!” Honestly, it’s hard to ignore music as creative as this. If you like electronica, seek out Byzanite.

- Thurdeen