Chiptunes VS Chiptunes

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Andrew

There has been some debate as to whether the chiptunes genre is any good.

The raver kids despise it. The gamer dorks adore it. Some say it’s boring, while some say it captures the essence of retro video games, giving new life to their sound cards.

Chiptunes is a style of music in which sounds are created by using retro video game sound chips. Hence, the chip in chiptunes.

Like any genre, samples can span across the board. Nobody is going to like every song from a band, but chiptunes is geared towards electronic music fans of any ilk. It is also an approach, beyond being a genre of music. This makes it a flexible genre, able to be used to multiple purposes.

As such, there is chiptunes music available for both the raver kids and the video game fans. Continue reading →

Unwoman

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Andrew

I’ve mentioned that I’m a sucker for covers. It’s no different with Uncovered, an album of covers by Unwoman, an amazing cellist singer-songwriter.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the down-to-earth singer-songwriter types like Jewel, Michelle Branch, or Vanessa Carlton, but Unwoman has a cello! String instruments are gorgeous! Whether it’s stand-up bass, viola, violin, or cello, it’s music to my ears.

Unwoman’s voice is a wondrous thing to hear, as opposed to some of the nasally voices I’m used to hearing from this genre of music. I don’t hear some pretentious “girl with too many feelings” when I listen to Uncovered, and I respect that. Continue reading →

Ravecore Masters vol. 1

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Andrew

I like to include a review of some sort of electronic and/or dance music every week.

Some of the electronic albums I’ve reviewed lacked diversity, something that compilation albums can typically offer more easily. In a genre built around making repetitive beats interesting, it must be difficult to make a full album and keep it entertaining.

The compilation I’m reviewing this week is Ravecore Masters vol. 1. I’ve honestly never heard of “ravecore” as a legitimate music genre. I know there are various kinds of music played at raves, but I didn’t know that such music had its own genre now. Perhaps it’s just called “ravecore” for aesthetic reasons. The name does sound nice. Continue reading →

Coph Nia

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Andrew

Coph Nia is a dark ambient and sometimes noise band from Sweden.

Their music tends to be a mix of dark ambient soundscapes and loud abrasive noise tracks. I chose Noise Shaper to review because it’s a free download and it also has a mixture of both musical habits of Coph Nia.

Coph Nia derives it’s name from Aleister Crowley’s Liber AL vel Legis Chapter III verse 72:

I am the Lord of the Double Wand of Power; the wand of the Force of Coph Nia—but my left hand is empty, for I have crushed an Universe; & nought remains.

Throughout the discography of Coph Nia you will notice references to Crowley’s work and other occult symbolism. Continue reading →

Super Ponybeat

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Andrew

Since Fall 2010, a resurgence of fandom for My Little Pony has been occurring. You could say it went viral, or just admit that the internet made it “cool” to like it.

This newest iteration of My Little Pony was created by the same person responsible for Flapjack and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Kids. This drew some people to watch it initially, since those shows have sizable followings of their own. However, once the internet took a hold of it there was no stopping My Little Pony.

Like anything the Internet takes a hold of and makes immensely popular, there’s going to be a gaggle of spin-offs. There’s going to be fan comics, fan fiction, t-shirts—and now we have music. Continue reading →

Starfucker

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Andrew

I’ve been in a mood lately that calls for relaxing music. Starfucker’s latest release Jupiter is relaxing, but nowhere near as downtempo as some music I’ve reviewed.

It’s also nowhere near as fast. Jupiter has a moderate enough tempo for its duration to be appealing in its entirety. As such, it makes for good listening while studying, cleaning, or working on the computer. There aren’t many surprises.

You can listen to the whole thing and forget you even pressed play. It’s solid, but forgettable. Continue reading →

Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Andrew

I haven’t listened to a lot of retro-sounding music, except when The Pipettes first came on the scene. I like Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes marginally better than I ever liked The Pipettes.

Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes have that doo-wop and blues feel to them, but in a more authentic way. They aren’t a pop group with doo-wop and blues influences, but the real deal, and not half bad.

Their current album, Baby Caught the Bus, isn’t the usual kind of music I listen to, so perhaps I’m infatuated with it due to the novelty. Something about it makes me want to dance. This kind of music was always meant to be catchy, but I’ve always found it less enjoyable than I should.

Baby Caught The Bus was released on Nov. 11, 2011 and it’s loaded with interesting songs. Continue reading →

Florrie

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Michael

Album Cover for Introduction, by Florrie I discovered Florrie’s music on Last.fm, while playing one of their similar artists radio stations. Usually when I listen to Last.fm radio, I’m also focused on something else, programming or writing or reading. I don’t give all of my attention to the songs that play on Last.fm radio, because typically either they are songs I’m already familiar with or they have no standout qualities. But sometimes a song I’ve never heard before grabs my attention. I have to stop what I’m doing and check out the song and album titles, see who the artist is, see if the track is available for legal download, and search the web for other info about the artist and their music. That’s exactly what happened when Call of the Wild by Florrie popped up on Last.fm radio a few weeks ago.

<a href="http://ownimusic.bandcamp.com/track/call-of-the-wild-by-florrie">Call of the Wild by Florrie by Florrie</a>

Continue reading →

Hal McGee – Contact Compilation 1

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Andrew

The album Contact Compilation 1 isn’t really comprised of tracks by Hal McGee. It’s a various artists compilation that he produced, the first of nine Contact Compilation Project volumes.

McGee has released a multitude of compilations, experiments, and his own work over the years. This compilation features 60 international artists and domestic artists making 60 second tracks.

Most of the tracks on the album are noise music. An occasional track may have semblances of melody, but most of them are strange “I don’t know what I’m hearing” stuff. I find a lot of it relaxing. Some of it is grating too, but most of it I’m just trying to figure out what strange sounds are coming from where. Continue reading →

Renard – Nice People

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Andrew

I had never sat down and listened to a full Renard album, but something just seemed attractive about an album titled Nice People.

I had heard some of his spin-off projects, but never anything from the DJ mastermind himself. I chose this one due to its description: “A selection of audio inspired by unforgettable times with unforgettable creatures.” I follow this guy on twitter and tumblr, so I figured I might understand some of the references.

I only understood one, and that’s Jokes Don’t Die So Easy. I’ll get to that later. Continue reading →

Mystic Sounds

A Spotlight on Music