Howdy again, chiptune buckaroos!
Buckaroo Bran here to jaw ‘atcha one last time about our Wild West themed compilation, ‘A Fistful of Chiptunes‘! Got not one, two, but three wily writers in cahoots today to serve up the full review of this badass buncha tunes! On the horse first, it’s Pixel Guy! Yeehaw!
‘A Fistful of Chiptunes’ is loosed from the corral! Saddle up on it here:
https://chiptuneswin.bandcamp.com/album/a-fistful-of-chiptunes
As some of y’all may well know about me by now, I’m a huge fan of spaghetti western movies. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve watching these iconic films with my Dad or one of my Grandfathers. That said, while I sincerely love the flicks themselves, it’s their soundtracks that gripped and inspired me more than anything else, with Ennio Morricone ranking foremost in my mind among their composers.
That makes it all the more fitting that, today, on Mr. Morricone’s birthday, I’m announcing our latest themed compilation influenced by that very style!
Hold on to your horses….
🤖 Edit: ‘Robots Always WIN’ is LIVE!! Nab it here. 🤖
After many years of hosting the release parties for various ChipWIN compilations, our friends at geekbeatradio are happy to finally have the opportunity to curate and release one of their own! Namely, the Expansion Release for ‘Chiptunes = WIN: Volume 8‘, aptly titled ‘Robots Always WIN’!
Last month I talked about chiptunes4autism, a group founded by Gustuf ‘Asperkraken’ Young, which holds events and puts together music compilation albums for charity causes. These aren’t the only charity compilations I’ve discovered through Gustuf’s work, however. ‘Lavender’ by pprincess records is an absolute treasure I discovered through browsing his Bandcamp fan collection. Not only does this release feature a stellar 7-and-a-half minute Asperkraken synth odyssey, but as a whole it’s one of the most unique compilation listening experiences I’ve heard – transporting you to a world where lengthy electronica mood pieces are followed by short and serendipitous acoustic guitar. One track is a mellow lo-fi hypnosis (‘Miss You’), another is an energetic and sudden pop punk jam (‘Hate Triangle’). The latter refers to god as a “landlord”, and the way it does so is quite funny. Also, all of the proceeds from this album go towards clean water in Flint, Michigan. It’s enlightening hearing all of these tunes in the same space. There are a lot of gems in there, so, well, um, please check it out.
I’ll be getting a little personal now. This is my last article for The ChipWIN Blog, and I do want to make it count, but it’s… hard to write about. A lot of things are difficult to explain, even for a writer. Music helps me do that.
What’s up, avid chip blog readers! Ya boy Rhyphte here. If you’ve come this far, you already know what to expect. I’m excited to report that the last ten tracks are at least as badass as the ones you’ve already read about and I’m pumped to dive into this final set with you. Let’s take a look at what we’ve got going on here!
As I’m sure you’ve no doubt noticed in and around ChipWIN-Land™ as of late, we’ve been promoting the tomato lovin’ heck out of the latest entry to our summer Volume compilation. Quite appropriate for us to do I reckon, as it is a brand new ChipWIN compilation, and also, incredibly fabulous! ♪♫♬ (ˇ_ˇ”) ƪ(˘⌣˘)┐ ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ ┌(˘⌣˘)ʃ ♬♫♪
That said, the chiptune side of Volume 8 isn’t the only part worthy of extended promo and celebration. The art contest entries this year are equally tomato-tastic (literally: including a 🍅 somewhere in the work was an entry requirement), and you can feast your eyes upon their collective splendor via the following slideshow.
To discover more amazing works from the artists (and hey, maybe ping ’em for an art commission for your own projects and/or enjoyment!), dive into the links section underneath the artwork. Enjoy! (ﾉﾟ0ﾟ)ﾉᵒᵐᵍ ＿〆(。。)
(more…)