Archive for the ‘Album Reviews’ Category

Clover Chain Reacts to: Knasibas – ‘CRY’

Posted by Clover

Knasibas has been my friend for awhile now, and I’ve been a fan of his music for even longer. In case you haven’t heard of him, he’s a chiptune/bitpop genius who has been featured on Tracked and Chiptunes = WIN compilations, along with releasing music independently since 2015. Inspired by the sugar rush of jpop, the writing in heavier rock/metal, the appeal of videogame music, and EDM sensibilities, Knasibas has a unique overall sound with distinct and memorable melodies.

So now that you know what to expect, I’m really excited to talk about his latest album ‘CRY’. This release has a lot of depth to it, but the great sense of style speaks for itself. It’s inviting, open and up-front, and I find that… comforting. So rather than try to talk about everything and how it works, I’ll be honing in on that sense of comfort, and figuring out why it stuck with me. Hope you like it!


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Glenntai Got: ‘Continue?’ by Blue Navi

Posted by Glenntai

Many of you may not be too familiar with Blue Navi. That might also change when you discover that they previously went under the moniker Ayoshutduff, who has been a seasoned veteran of many Chiptunes = WIN releases. With this EP, titled ‘Continue?’, we have a three-track collection of music finished since his previous, hefty album late last October. Like many artists expanding their level of versatility, Blue Navi decided to experiment with styles out of their comfort zone, and in this case we’ve been given some synthwave that carries a serious mood about it. If you’re looking for some solid music that isenjoyable both as active listening as much as background music, come see what this EP has to offer. (more…)

Chip Bit Sid Takes On: Portopak – ‘Bull Inside The Echo Chamber’

Posted by RicH

Hello everyone! Whilst I was extremely busy these past few weeks, I still managed to find the time to write about this small chiptune EP called, ‘Bull Inside the Echo Chamber’ by ‘Portopak’.  The last time he was featured on the ‘Chip Bit Sid’ blog, was two years ago, covering his album, ‘Monsters’ as I first started out. If you haven’t heard of him before, Portopak is a Pittsburgh based chiprock musician, and his style is a combination between chiptune and shoegaze music, using a lot of echo on both his guitar as well as his own vocals. ‘Bull Inside the Echo Chamber’ is a first for ‘Portopak’, as it’s his first song that’s actually included lyrics with his vocals, and I’m excited to explore it past the fold.

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The Unicorn Princess Royally Reviews ‘The Mountain Is Hollow’ and Interviews little-scale

Posted by The Unicorn Princess

Happy April, everyone!

This month on the Blog, I wanted to review a beautiful album written by Australia-based artist and technologist, little-scale. Created by using modular synthesizers, this album works with a niche form of sound design well known to those into various forms of synthesis. I had the opportunity to talk to little-scale this month and it was my mission to get their take on why moving from Gameboys to modular is so appealing, while sharing the specific modules used during the performance of this album.

The world of modular is super in depth, hectic, and beautifully chaotic. Pictured here is a Buchla 200e I grew to get to know and love a few years ago.

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Glenntai Got Em Português by The J. Arthur Keenes Band

Posted by Glenntai

Samba is a music genre that isn’t often heard in the realm of chipmusic. From chords with some complexity to rhythmic layers, I can understand this isn’t the easiest thing to tackle with very limited hardware. While still possible to really capture the spirit of the genre, it needs a wider range of sounds than ones typically provided in either hardware or software. Therefore, of all the artists out there, it makes perfect sense that The J. Arthur Keenes band would come along and provide us with a cover album of their favorite samba songs that’s warm and full of the same quality we’ve all known to expect and love. If you don’t know why that was an exciting statement, it’s time for you to click read more.

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Hoodie Highlights… Sam Mulligan!

Posted by President Hoodie

Hey y’all! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ It’s once again time for this month’s edition of my blog interview column, Hoodie Highlights!

April’s down-to-Earth chat features a talented singer/songwriter, chipmusician, knowledgeable curator, and all around swell guy. He’s also a lover of both sharks and donuts, so of course I’ve gotta talk to him. 

Everyone, welcome Sam Mulligan to The ChipWIN Blog!

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