Thrift-store electronics collide with dancefloor sensibilities as Blip Festival makes its long-awaited return to New York City. Produced by 8bitpeoples in association with The Tank and Live Nation, the Blip Festival 2012 finds Manhattan once again at the center of the chipmusic universe. From May 25-27, musicians and visualists from all corners of the globe assemble at the Gramercy Theatre to perform astonishing music & motion graphics, produced on & inspired by early-generation home computers and gaming consoles.

With six years and ten international editions under its belt, Blip Festival brings together shining examples of the global chipmusic underground -- performers conscripting devices like the Commodore 64, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Game Boy, and the Sega Genesis into the service of music spanning every conceivable style, with results that are shockingly futuristic. Rounding out the event's three nights of explosive live performances will be supplementary daytime programming including workshops, how-tos, presentations and screenings -- offering a glimpse into exactly how it's all achieved, and perhaps even inspiring some 2013 Blip Festival performers-to-be.

For those of you not heading out of town Memorial Day Weekend, the 2012 Blip Festival happens May 25 - 27 at the Gramercy Theatre. Tickets (individual or three-day passes) are on sale now. Full schedule is below.

In related news, Blip Fest regulars Starscream are changing (some might say transforming) their name to Infinity Shred. Starscream play their final show under the old name on Saturday (5/12) at Shea Stadium. Says the band:

Due to unfortunate legal circumstances this will be the last show we ever play as STARSCREAM! We'd rather turn this bad news in to a fun time though so let's have a great party! Our new name is INFINITY SHRED and this will also be the release party for our first EP under that name.

The show also features Idiot Glee, and the Strongbros Crew. They will then make their debut as Infinity Shred at the Blip Fest on Sunday, May 27.

Speaking of Idiot Glee, the Kentucky artist who is playing with Starscream Saturday is in town for more than just one show. As previously mentioned, he also plays Public Assembly tonight (5/11) with Nick Diamond of Islands/Unicorns.

Full Blip Festival schedule is below.

Continue reading "2012 Blip Festival schedule posted; Idiot Glee is here; Starscream playing Shea Stadium, changing name to Infinity Shred"

photos by Leia Jospe

Nullsleep

This year's Blip Festival was thrown at Eyebeam on New York City's West Side by a collective of chip musicians called 8bitpeoples, with help from NYC nonprofit The Tank.

Many of those who play chiptunes--music made through the sound chips of old video game hardware--have long resented the tight correlation between their music scene and video gamers. If that seems implausible at first, think of it this way: They're using the hardware as an instrument to create original electronic music that they hope everyone can enjoy, but the video gamey sound often leads to the misinterpretation that they're making "video game music", or that gamers are the only ones who can participate.

It seemed as if the surliness has relaxed. It's similar to the same kind of diversification that's been taking place in the gaming scene--the softening of divisions between types of players as the audience broadens--and this year's event welcomed gamers, musicians, hardware junkies interested in making new art with circuits, and music fans from the chip-savvy to the casual culturists. [Kotaku]

This year's Blip Festival took place from May 19-21 at Manhattan's Eyebeam. Pictures from all three days continue below...

Continue reading "Blip Fest 2011 in pics"

Peelander-Z at The Studio in January (more by Leia Jospe)

Welcome home Peelander-Z! The NYC band is finally home after an extended tour with Anamanaguchi that kicked off at SXSW and ended on April 30th. And though the tour is over, the band is ALREADY back out on the road, playing Newark, Delaware tonight and a hometown show back at The Studio at Webster Hall Saturday (5/7) with Hard Nips and Friends. Tickets for that one are still available (and, update: we're giving away a pair on Facebook).

Anamanaguchi has a new NYC show on their calendar too, which they say "is gonna be AWESOME. we're gonna have: JAMS // VISUALS // STROBES // UNICORNBROS DOING SECURITY // FURBIES // RAINBOWS // W33D420 // OK." Bowery Presents may have to give some of their staff a night off to make way for those UNICORNBROS, because Anamanaguchi are talking about a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on 7/22. Tickets are on sale.

You don't need to wait that link to see Anamanaguchi though. The band will play day one of this year's Blip Festival, the annual three day festival in celebration of "low-bit video games and home computers". This year's fest takes place at Manhattan's Eyebeam (540 West 21st Street) from May 19-21. Tickets are on sale with 3-day and 1-day options available. The full lineup is listed below. It includes Tristan Perich, Bit Shifter, Nullsleep, Starscream and many more.

Anamanaguchi, Starscream and Peelander-Z played a show together at the Studio at Webster Hall back in January. Check out the pics.

Hard Nips, who play with Peelander on Saturday, are also scheduled to support Quintron & Miss Pussycat with Super Nice Bros and X-ray Eyeballs on May 28th at 285 Kent. Friends, who also play with Peelander Saturday, play 285 Kent soon too, with Dan Deacon.

All tour dates, the Blip lineup and some videos below.

Continue reading "Blip Festival coming, Anamanguchi announce shows, Peelander-Z play one this weekend (dates)"

photos by Leia Jospe

Super Mash bros

Silent Barn will host a day of "music, comic books, video games and non institutional learning" SATURDAY (2/5) starting at 2PM. It's a multi-media event called OKEVERYTHING. The first part of the day is FREE and will kick off with discussion on video games and gaming design before shifting to comic book production. Right around 7PM is when the music will kick off, and when revellers will have to pay the $10 entrance fee to catch an 8-bit heavy lineup headlined by Anamanaguchi with The J. Arthur Keenes Band, Nullsleep, Starscream, and George & Jonathan.

Anamanaguchi recently supported Super Mash Brothers at Irving Plaza on January 22nd. Pictures from that show, and full details on the OKEVERYTHING show are below.

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi opened for Super Mash Brothers @ Irving Plaza (pics), playing video game & comic book party Saturday"

photos by Leia Jospe

"Unlike the heroes of "Tron: Legacy,'' the members of Anamanaguchi haven't gotten trapped inside a video game. But they did get to compose the score for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game,'' which is almost as appropriate. That's because Anamanaguchi plays "chiptune'' music - jumpy, bleepy rock that incorporates the rudimentary tones of such early eight-bit video-game systems as Game Boy and NES.

An American band with a fake-Japanese name, Anamanaguchi doesn't rely entirely on braying electronics. The group adds guitar, drums and bass to its instrumentals, yielding music that suggests a more trebly version of Trans Am, the D.C. trio that melds electro- and arena-rock." [Washington Post]

Anamanaguchi began a short tour at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on 1/6, and ended it last night (1/16) in Boston. On Friday night, 1/14, they made a stop at The Studio at Webster Hall with Peelander-Z and Starscream. More pictures, and a video, from that show, below...

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi scored the Scott Pilgrim game, played the Studio @ Webster Hall w/ Peelander-Z & Starscream (pics)"

Peelander-Z w/ Starscream at Santos in November (more by Andrew St. Clair)

The wild boys of Japanese-Comic-Punk of Peelander-Z will team up with FourLoko-guzzling boys of Anamanaguchi to play The Studio at Webster Hall on January 14th with Starscream. Tickets are still available or you can try your luck at winning one of two pairs! Details on how to win are below.

The show at The Studio at Webster Hall is the second-to-last date on an Anamanaguchi tour that kicks off TONIGHT at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn (1/6) with Lionshare & The So So Glos. Tickets for that show are still available too.

All tour dates, as well as the latest Peelander-Z video for the song "Taco Taco Tacos" (I can't make this stuff up), below...

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi kicking off tour tonight in Brooklyn (dates), playing Manhattan w/ Peelander-Z (win tix)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

"Second on the bill were, TsuShiMaMiRe. On tour supporting their new album entitled "Sex on the Beach," The trio from Japan, formed by Mari (guitar/vocals), Yayoi (bass) and Mizue (drums) balanced a high-wire dance mix of killer-dressed surf guitar riffs and funk driven grooves to the melodious delectation of the crowd. Their supreme musicianship was punctuated with energy and rapport that navigated any language barriers with sonic speed and graciousness." [Take Cover and Shoot]

That little blurb is from a review of another show on the tour that ended at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA last night. (11/21). One night earlier, Saturday night, Peelander-Z got to headline a tour stop in their hometown of NYC at Santos Party House. Naturally it was a blast. Starscream opened that show which is where the pictures in this post are from. More of them below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z, TsuShiMaMiRe & Starscream @ Santos Party House (pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Peelander-Z - E-I-E-I-O (MP3)

Peelander-Z at Death By Audio in July (more by Leia Jospe)

"Japanese action comic punks" Peelander-Z will be supporting the one and only Guitar Wolf at Santos THIS THURSDAY (9/23). Tickets are still on sale. The show is not one to be missed.

On November 20th the colorful group will return to the same exact NYC venue as a headliner, with support from Starscream, and Japanase girl group TsuShiMaMiRe who they'll be ending a month-long tour with. Tickets are also currently on sale for that 2nd NYC show.

TsuShiMaMiRe

"Food is a noticeable subject in [Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re's] lyrics. In the rap-rock title song from no-miso shortcake (brain shortcake), lead singer Mari invites the listener to eat her brain. In Kamaboco (Fish Cakes), all three girls play the roles of food ingredients in Japanese hotpot, with fish cakes (Mari) feeling rejected and lonely because she is never added to hotpot. In their very first single, American Hamburger, an upbeat pop song, the singer describes herself as fat and food-loving but beautiful; the first line is, "I'm a pig so I eat pork." (Actually, all three band members are usually quite svelte.)

Some of their most powerful songs address death and its inevitability. In Na-mellow (Nameru), the singer plays the role of the young daughter of a fisherman, who gradually realizes her father will never return from a fishing voyage. In Manhole, the singer speculates about where manholes in the street might lead to, perhaps to the land of the dead.

Another common theme is sex, which is frequently juxtaposed against the squeaky-clean stereotype of the innocent-looking Japanese girl. In the title song from Pregnant Fantasy, the unborn baby of a pregnant teenager asks why her mother will bear her when she is not wanted. In World Peace & BOU, the singer appears to be speculating that world peace can be brought about by a cartoon penis." [Wikipedia]

The US tour is in celebration of Peelander-Z's new LP P-TV-Z, out on September 28th. The LP features guest appearances from members of Riverboat Gamblers, The Octopus Project, Foot Patrol, Atash, and Black Joe Lewis' Honeybears horn section. Download the band's version of "Old MacDonald", "E-I-E-I-O", above. Dig on the new video for the same song, with some recent live clips, the full album tracklist and cover art, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Peelander-Z opening for Guitar Wolf before touring w/ TsuShiMaMiRe in support of a new album (MP3, video & dates) "

photos by Leia Jospe

Back in July Starscream and Fiasco shared an all-ages bill at Shea Staddium, just like they do tonight (9/3). More pictures from last time below...

Continue reading "Starscream & Fiasco played Shea (pics) & do again (tonight) "

photos by Leia Jospe

Anamanaguchi (who next play Death By Audio w/ Peelander-Z and Math The Band on July 3rd), Starscream and Fiasco shared a bill Friday night at Silent Barn. More pictures and a couple of videos from that show below...

Continue reading "Anamanaguchi, Starscream & Fiasco @ Silent Barn (pics,video)"

photos by Leia Jospe

Anamanaguchi

Ary Warnaar, guitarist for the New York chiptunes band Anamanaguchi, famously described 8-bit music as "the punk of electronic music."

It was hard to dispute that claim as Datapop 3.0 kicked off the first of its two nights Tuesday at the Highball. The third annual event celebrates 8-bit music -- a distinct brand of electronic music that's composed and performed through the use of old computer consoles from the 8-bit era of video games. Imagine techno performed entirely through samples culled from your dusty, trusty old Nintendo Entertainment System and you'll be in the right ballpark.

8-bit music may not have the rage -- or even the lyrics -- of punk music, but it does share the same sense of youthful innovation and wild, giddy abandon. Also like punk, it's the sort of thing that's likely to be appreciated only by those of or below a certain age -- if you're not young enough to recall just how fiendishly addictive the melodies in, say, "Mega Man 2" were, there's a solid chance 8-bit music might just sound like so many computerized bleeps and bloops to you. [Austin Statesman]

The 'celebration of 8-bit music" took place on March 16th & 17th at the Highball in Austin. Leia was there on the 2nd day which was also the first night of SXSW Music. More of her pictures from the show (and the full lineup) is below...

Continue reading "pics from Datapop 3 (a SXSW celebration of 8-bit music)"