Another month, another blog post. In an attempt to not let this blog stagnate too badly I present to you a video from Supercommuter’s first live show in Seattle last month. Supercommuter is a band I originally became interested in since I’m a huge fan of the nerdcore band Optimus Rhyme, and vocalist Wheelie Cyberman was involved with this new project. Little did I know that their album would be one of my most favorite from last year, with months going by before the CD was finally ejected from my car stereo.
To say this is chiptune/electronic music with rapping would be a gross understatement. I’m constantly discovering and hearing new things in these songs even after listening to them dozens upon dozens of times. I’ve never been much of a fan of electronic music, but Supercommuter has made me approach it in new ways and I’ve been seeking out other chiptune artists to listen too. I’m particularly fascinated with what these talented individuals are doing with old Gameboys.
If you like what you hear stop by their website and buy Suppercommuter’s CD. It’s cheap, it’s awesome, and all proceeds go to the incredible Child’s Play charity.
I’ll have to look more into chiptunes. They sound like an expanded form of midi. I’ve been doing that sort of stuff for decades. I recall spending a fair bit of time converting sheet music into numbers to get the computer to play it.
Nowadays there’s programs such as Magicscore which allow you to write the sheet music then the program will play it back. I used it and some Audacity effects to create the theme music for The Blue Hot Gossip’s 13 Days of Halloween. Although I’m far from being a talented musician.
To add (because there is no edit), check out the retro look of
http://www.chiptune.com/
Wow, I totally love the layout of that website. Lots of good content there too. Thanks for sharing, I haven’t seen that one before!
Aaron,
Supercommuter
Thanks for the Supercommuter tip, I downloaded the CD and loved it, these guys are awesome.
Japan Trip
Also, I appreciate your Japan podcasts. My wife and I just got back from our first trip to Japan so it was great to hear your stories of your visit before we went. It’ll really helped us plan the trip and look out for the various things you mentioned, even the small things like grabbing a bite at Mosburger or buying a meal ticket at a restaurant.
Actually, our favorite fast food joint was Sukiya, pretty much every morning we would hit Sukiya and eat curry for breakfast (seriously, curry for breakfast is a great way to start your day) get out our maps and plan where to go and what to do.
It was funny to hit the streets at 4AM (thanks to the jet lag) and see the streets of central Tokyo humming with activity. Usually with drunk business men or twenty-somethings finally calling it a day after a night of gaming at the video arcades.
We’ve only been back for one week and we both Seriously miss Japan. Anyway, thank you for sharing your Japan experiences it really help us to enjoy our trip. If you are ever in Toronto, shoot us an e-mail and we’ll take you guys out for meal and show you guys around the city.
No problem! I’m glad you liked their CD. If might also dig
Stenobot’s new solo album. It’s stylistically different from Suppercommuter and I’ve been addicted to it for the last couple weeks. You can download it free from here:
http://www.crunchyco.com/music/stenobot/cr34/
I know exactly what you mean about missing Japan. I can’t wait
until we can get back there again one day.
I’m a curry junkie as well, and it’s fantastic anytime of day. Luckily there is a Japanese style Ramen place now an hour away from us in Ann Arbor, MI, and their curry katsu is very good. This wasn’t something I’d had until we went to Nikko on our trip in 2009. It’s an amazing dish.
I’m glad the podcast was helpful. Japan is so different from here
that you can find the smallest things to be the most exciting and
fascinating. I’m glad you guys had such an awesome trip!
I’ve been wanting to get up to Toronto for awhile so it just may
happen yet. As many times as I’ve been to Southern Ontario over the years I still need to try poutine. However I will be forever enamored with your ketchup flavored potato chips.
Thanks for the kind words!