Don't Call It 8-Bit: Shirobon

It is finally happening. I have waited many years since I heard my first 8-bit tracks by Nullsleep and Trash80, to see this so called 8-bit artists collaborate with electro producers or make the transition themselves (No, Huoratron and Crystal Castles DON'T COUNT). Shirobon's (and Richard Wilkins) Obliterate cannot be called a chiptune, nor can it be played straight from the 8-bit soundcard of the old-school gameboy. This track is a banger, hits hard and can fight its way into the hardest of electro playlists. Just hit play and don't think for a second your are about to hear the music for a Megaman game, you are about to hear some hard electro... that is of course with the right dosage of sick 8-bit leads.

Richard Wilkins vs Shirobon - Obliterate by Shirobon

And a little bonus:

Check out Shirobon's acid track. This shit brings to mind one of the most recent Boys Noize compilations.
Brainless by Shirobon

Do You Want Some 8-bit With That?

I think 8-bit music can be the shit, and I think it is very impressive how people can compose on only four channels per Game Boy cartridge and with the most boring interface you can imagine. But there is a reason why 99% of the stuff posted here is not a magical bleep filled track, and that is because we love bass and firmly believe that drums are meant to hit a wide range of frequencies, specially low ones. So far, most 8-bit music that has come my way has been produced by purist who even at times avoid the help of modern software. That, I believe, has kept the genre obscure. Imagine what would come out of a combination of the 8-bit leads and bleepy goodness and electro drums and bass-lines that hit the low ends fully and in a way that 8-bit drums (crashes mainly) simply can't.

The outcome I believe sounds pretty much like this Sabrepulse track, which I HIGHLY recommend.

Close To Me by sabrepulse

If you like what you hear hit the Sabrepulse tag at the end of the post.

Something else that gets the idea, although not as right as the previous track, is this Shirobon Remix. This UK producer has also been mentioned on this blog in earlier posts. Enjoy.

Sulumi - Machine it (Shirobon Remix) by Shirobon

Chilled but not Frozen

A summer day is only as good as its night, and with all the heat rolling out, not everyone is going to feel like going buck wild as the sun sets. I've got some phenomenal mellow tracks to help calm you down before you get hyped out of your mind for this weekend (Specifically EDC). First off I've got a great remix by none other than Ed Banger's Mr. Flash that is just a testament of the Frenchman's ability to produce. So many switches from airy to upbeat to mellow and then back again, all while keeping the song seamless. Then Germany's D.I.M. dropped a remix of Demon's "I Think", a melancholy track that D.I.M. takes even deeper and adds his own fidget touch to keep it interesting. And I've heard a lot of remixes of Kavinsky's "Nightcall", and most of them fall short, usually attempting to become the next Danger. However, recently mentioned 8-bit producer Shirobon has done the exact opposite, departing away from his 8-bit roots, speeding up the sample, adding some hard basslines, and still keeping that Kavinisky vibe rolling through the whole track. I highly recommend you grab these tracks and maybe a drink. It's almost the weekend.

Darwin Deez - Up in the Clouds (Mr. Flash Remix) (320 kbps)*
Demon - I Think (D.I.M. Remix) (160 kbps)
Kavinsky - Nightcall (Shirobon Remix) (320 kbps)***

Bonus Banger:

And here's something to pre-game to.
By no means better than the genuine idol, L.A.'s Religion adds some heavy distortion on Boys Noize & Erol Alkan's almost flawless track. Wait 2 minutes in for the drop.
Erol Alkan ft. Boys Noize - Avalanche (Religion Remix) (320 kbps)

Breaching The Gap Between 8-Bit and Electro

The title says it all, we finally see those kids toying around with their Gameboys and making chiptune tracks slowly incorporating their 8-bit sound into electro tracks (or is it electro sounds into their 8-bit tracks?) and throwing DJ sets (evidence). Anyways the line has been stepped over, crossed, blurred, ignored and even removed and it sounds great. Hey you! yes you the guy thinking: 'nah, I know 8bit I won't waste my time', THIS WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND. (If you are an avid 8bit fan, then this is not news to you).

Shirobon, from North London and under 20 years of age, is one of three UK residents putting out tracks that are not necessarily in the hearts of 8-bit purists, but simply take skeptics by surprise. Can you really hate this track? Are You Human is the fifth track of his most recent EP Golden Apples (2010).

Shirobon-Are You Human (Bonus Track) (320kbps)**

Henry Homesweet, also from the UK, well better if you hear for yourself, he is also getting there and I am putting up only a few tracks so you don't feel like it is way too much music to go through to care. The video is great, but particularly interesting between min 1 and 2.



Also check this track: Henry Homesweet-Until I Sleep (224kbps)*-------Huoratron anybody? nice use of vocals.

And yes, the third guy I was talking about is Sabrepulse from Scotland. How big this guy is is a puzzle to me. He seems to be big enough to have hundreds of thousands of hits on myspace and to tour asia, but small enough to play a set in the outskirts of Olympia, WA (thank you to Dr.Dads for having us in his basement, where we saw Sabrepulse with maybe 10 other people). All his music is up on myspace for download so if you get curious go for it.

Sabrepulse-Phalanx (320kbps)-----skip to min 1:40 if you don't think you can stand too much 8-bit.
Sabrepulse-Black Dragon (128kbps)
Sabrepulse-Outbrk (320kbps)

blipblipblipblip:

Don't say you don't like 8-bit if you like this song by Swedish duo and 2/3 of Swedish House Mafia, Buy Now:

Buy Now-Body Crash (JFK Edit) (320kbps)**