Nullsleep

Chip Music

Anamanaguchi, G&J, And More Play A Sweaty Show At Silent Barn

February 8, 2011 | Joshua Kopstein | Comments Off on Anamanaguchi, G&J, And More Play A Sweaty Show At Silent Barn Share this

Photos by Emi Spicer & Marjorie Becker

Layers of rock-hard ice continued to freeze over the cold pavement of Wyckoff Avenue in New York City’s northeastern borough of Queens last Saturday night. But unbeknownst to many of the sleepy street’s residents, an environment entirely opposite had briefly come into being at Silent Barn, the area’s premiere DIY music hideaway. The air was visibly thick as a rowdy all-ages crowd piled into the graffiti-filled concert/living space which also serves as the permanent home of NYC indie arcade Babycastles.

Glasses fogged up, a window shattered and a giant cyborg teddy bear crowd-surfed as local chiptune rockers Anamanaguchi, along with an unprecedented lineup that included Nullsleep, Starscream, George & Jonathan and the J. Arthur Keenes Band turned the Ridgewood venue into a sweat-slicked bedlam of unrestrained, microprocessor-powered hysteria.

See the full write-up, plus a boat load of photos on Motherboard.
Chip Music

IGF Games & Chiptune Concerts At NYC Indie Arcade This Month

November 17, 2010 | Joshua Kopstein | 1 Comment Share this

For fans of indie videogames, the hottest new spot in the five boroughs of New York City this year has no doubt been the Babycastles indie arcade on 42nd Street in Manhattan. Opened in early October, the space has quickly become the de facto center of indie game culture on the east coast, decked out every two weeks with new games, art and custom-painted arcade cabinets from developers and artists around the globe, as well as performances from chiptune acts like Nullsleep and George & Jonathan (You can see highlights from the last event, curated by Matt ‘Fort90’ Hawkins and Attract Mode’s Adam Robezzoli here).

This Thursday marks the opening of Babycastles’ Independent Games Festival exhibit, which will feature a new arcade selection of IGF-nominated games, including Monaco, Super Meat Boy, Envirobear2000 and more, curated by the festival’s chairman, Brandon Boyer. The opening ceremony, which happens this Thursday, Nov 18th, will have musical performances from 000000Swan and Minusbaby, while the closing ceremony on Nov 27th will feature music by Neil Voss (composer of Tetrisphere), Knife City (solo project of Luke Silas of Anamanaguchi) and oft-mentioned OSV chip music favorite Starscream.

Both events are absolutely free, and Babycastles is planning a new indie game lineup and concert every two weeks from now till the end of the year. Make sure to keep an eye on their Facebook page for the latest updates, and peek below to see some photo highlights from the previous event.

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Chip Music

Nullsleep Collapsed Desires Tour Recordings Now Online

June 30, 2010 | Joshua Kopstein | 1 Comment Share this

World-renowned chiptune artist Nullsleep has returned to New York after scouring the countryside with post-cyberpunk industrial dance-noise during his earth-shattering Collapsed Desires U.S. tour. After overloading synapses in eight cities from coast to coast, Null is offering recordings of the performances from each tour stop on his Bandcamp website. Each city has a different setlist and can be had as a digital download for $8. Nullsleep has been offering free music for over a decade via the 8bitpeoples netlabel. If you like what you hear, go to his website and donate to support future efforts.

Download: Nullsleep – Collapsed Desires Tour Recordings
Chip Music, Game Music

Bit.Trip Void Soundtrack Now Available

May 16, 2010 | Joshua Kopstein | Comments Off on Bit.Trip Void Soundtrack Now Available Share this Bit.Trip Void Soundtrack Now Available

In order to herald the arrival of their next title, Bit.Trip Runner,which releases in North American territories today, the rad folks over at Gaijin Games have released the soundtrack to Bit.Trip Void, last year’s addition to their ongoing series of retro-style chiptune rhythm games. Just like the series’ previous soundtrack, it features two songs from a guest chiptune artist. This time around it’s Nullsleep with ‘Valentine Final’ and ‘Galaxy Tonite.’

The album is 10 tracks long, and you get the whole thing for $6 on CD Baby. Keep in mind you can still pick up the other two Bit.Trip albums, Beat and Core, which feature chip music from Bit Shifter and Bubblyfish, at the same place. Also, don’t forget to catch Nullsleep when he goes on tour this Spring.

Buy: Bit.Trip Void Original Soundtrack
Chip Music

Nullsleep ‘Collapsed Desires’ Tour Goes Coast-To-Coast This Spring

April 27, 2010 | Joshua Kopstein | Comments Off on Nullsleep ‘Collapsed Desires’ Tour Goes Coast-To-Coast This Spring Share this

Blip Festival veteran and 8bitpeoples co-founder Nullsleep has just announced his ‘Collapsed Desires‘ Spring tour. Starting on May 19th, New York City’s supreme daemon of datamancery will spread his cybernetic wings once more, covering cities across the nation in a thick blanket of darkness and data corruption.

The tour begins in Chicago and will make stops in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nashville, Austin, Philadelphia and NYC. Null will be pairing up with tons of other chiptune acts along the way, including Saskrotch, Rainbowdragoneyes, IAYD, Starscream and more. Check Nullsleep ‘s website for full details.
Chip Music

Get Your Bleep On: Blip Festival 2009 Recordings Online At Free Music Archive

January 27, 2010 | Joshua Kopstein | 1 Comment Share this

For three chilly days in the frigid month of December, the 4th Annual Blip Festival brought an energizing warmth to The Bell House in Brooklyn, NY; and with it, a massive international gathering of artists, musicians and fans, all celebrating their passion for the purity and power of lo-fi visuals and sound. Anyone who attended will tell you that there is no substitute for being smack dab in the middle of the largest chipmusic event in the entire world. But there is hope yet for the poor souls who couldn’t make it, because the fine folks over at The Free Music Archive are providing us with the next best thing: High-quality live recordings of 11 performances from Blip Festival 2009, with more on the way.

Originally broadcasted live on the air by local independent radio station WFMU, this extensive collection now available on Free Music Archive features the complete recorded performances of nearly a dozen Blip Festival artists, including Nullsleep, Bit Shifter, minusbaby, Je Deviens DJ En Trois Jours, Chromix, Trash Can Man, Psilodump and much more. Now you can re-live your favorite Blip moments, share them with family, friends and foes, or simply keep yourself sated until Blip Fest ’10.

Were you part of the exuberant rabble that attended this year’s Blip Festival? Which were your favorite acts? Share your most memorable Blip Fest experience in the comments below.

[Photo by Benjamin Mason]
Chip Music

Blip Festival Europe 2009: A Chiptune Journey

July 29, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 6 Comments Share this

About one week ago I was casually sitting back with my good friend Wizwars on Skype, talking about myself as usual. It was an ordinary Sunday, with nothing big on the horizon, and hopefully, for the first time in a while, I was going to have a slow, relaxing week. However as the night went on, and all the topics that relate to yours truly were already covered, Wizwars finally had a chance to speak and inform me of something that would completely change my plans of having a slow week

Blipfest, the world’s biggest chiptune event was coming to Europe, and they were going to be here the following Friday. I was completely shocked and probably jumped back a couple of feet before I was able to collect myself and gets some oxygen into my system. Being a huge fan of chip tunes, I had to be there, and with less than 5 days to make sure of that, I immediately got to work. The destination was Aalborg, Denmark, and Friday morning, 24th of July, I was on my way.

Read more about my journey to Blipfest after the jump! (more…)