Whilst I Was Gone, Part 1

I've been away for a few weeks! As such, in an attempt to stay relevant, I've decided to review 10 releases that came out since I've been away. Below are the first five, from DESUMATE, Smiletron, Dark Oyster, xyce and EGR, and over the weekend I'll be bringing you another five. Hope you've all been well, and enjoy!

DESUMATE-SELFTITLED - [06/06/2013]

Having started releasing EPs January of this year, DESUMATE is a bit late to the chipthrash party. Moreover, as the genre has surpassed its peak of popularity, the releases of last year from titans such as Kool Skull and shitbird have long cemented a certain bar of quality to be aspired to and judged against.

DESUMATE is, overall, almost a definition of chipthrash. Focus on drums, dissonant warbling melodies, glissandos into the deepest recesses of pitch and capital letters. However, whilst DESUMATE does get a lot right, for instance the drums are frequently brilliant, especially on ‘COMBO BREAKER’, he’s yet to achieve full effectiveness through his apparent inability to sense when boredom might set in. The three tracks total nine minutes, but the release would be far harder hitting if it were cut down to five. ‘MAXIMUM THRASH’ and ‘GRANNY BASHER’ just never seem to end, made further painful by the truly disgusting melodic instruments.

Overall, whilst the drums are outstanding (the beats on ‘GRANNY BASHER’ are truly remarkable too), the release falls flat due to a trait all too familiar for new chip composers; a lack of eclecticism. Some focus and meticulous attention to detail and DESUMATE’s next release could quite easily reach the bar of quality set by his forefathers, or, if the quality of track ‘COMBO BREAKER’ is anything to go by, even surpass them.

Favourite track: COMBO BREAKER

SMILETRON- APOLLO - [01/06/2013]

Prolific rarely holds as much meaning as it does when being applied to Smiletron. Known as much for his frequent and quality output as the chilled EDM expanses within these expulsions, Smiletron has become a staple figure in the chip scene. With so many releases under his belt and the recent announcement of dissolution, is this a fitting tribute, as one of his last exports, to his vibrant career?

Apollo’ is nothing revolutionary, though that never felt like the point of his work. The first thing you’ll notice is familiarity. ‘High quality chilled chip-tinged EDM jams are the manifesto, and it’s one he’s been preaching for years. As such, by now not a second feels forced; it’s like music flows from Smiletron’s fingertips at the will of his psyche. He manages the ludicrous task of making electronic music sound genuinely organic.

The title track is gorgeous; the familiar mixture of memorable micro-melodies and huge beats over warm analog tones settles the atmosphere quickly. ‘Eclipse’ follows a familiar pattern, and ‘Yours’ mixes an 80s vibe with modern day EDM and some relaxed breakbeats. The three tracks coast along without force; sometimes with too little force in fact (moments of ‘Eclipse’ are SO dynamically flat the song almost disappears if you’re not paying attention). That tiny qualm aside, this is another fantastic Smiletron, another notch in his great discography. At least when he leaves us there’ll be a surplus of tracks to remember him by.

Favourite track: Yours

Dark Oyster-Wizard EP - [15/06/2013]

The words ‘LSDJ’ and ‘debut release’, when put together, strike fear into my heart. With that dangerous combination usually comes an excess of connotations; badly produced, blandly written, and weakly melodic, all wrapped together in a sound as thin as a squashed cracker. Luckily Dark Oyster raised a middle finger to this norm.

Relief washed over me within the first seconds of ‘Something is Amiss Pt. 1’. The melodies throughout this entire release are, honestly, gorgeous. ‘Something is…’ creeps along like a cut from Infinity Shred, ‘Short Break’ has so much melodic swagger KODEK would be jealous and ‘Let’s Go To The Graffiti Festival’, mixes beautiful croons with Russian melodies to form what the offspring of a Solarbear and Dorothy’s Magic Bag collaboration would sound like.

It’s not all plain sailing of course. Final track ‘The Machine’ is expendable, some of the instrument choices, most of note the sliding instrument in the opening track, are weakly conceived, and sometimes staccato is used in such abundance the pace slows to a stuttering halt. That being said, if this is a debut, there can only be bigger on the horizon. I predict we have another Auxcide on our hands.

Favourite track: Let’s Go To The Graffiti Festival

xyce- papillions - [08/06/2013]

Cheapbeats, the Tokyo based label/ event organiser, recently released their third offering, xyce’s ‘papillions’. Xyce are an amalgamation of Dutch chiptuners xylo and cerror, and this is their 5th release to date. Picking up where their previous works left off, ‘papillons’ continues the xyce tradition of using Atari, Amiga and old PC sounds to create demoscene styled chiptune with a huge focus on melody, whilst delving slightly into multiple other genres.

The first thing that jumps out from ‘papillions’ is the melodies throughout are absolutely fantastic. ‘avonture au japon’ sounds like a beach personified in audio, the motif for ‘ombres’ is pure sublime, as are the arps that speak it, and ‘grecque’ sounds like hyperactive plush; marshmallow dripping from speakers.  Also, the demoscene theme expands to include collaborations with demosceners Radix and Malmen. Malmen’s contribution takes place on the title track, with twinkling instruments and melancholy in abundance. The Radix collaboration ‘rainbow dash!’  is the albums real highlight however, towering over surrounding tracks with a ferocious sense of dynamics and melodies, dipping into modern house and EDM with unrepentant ease.

Such a focus on melody comes at a price however. The notion of dynamics and timbre are often glazed over, and as such a few tracks, like ‘samedi’, ‘bequille’ and ‘feuilles’, stumble by inoffensively and forgettably. Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t bad tracks, they just get lost in the crowd. Less a detriment on xyce’s composing as on their awareness of effective album structure.

That being said, with tracks like the aforementioned ‘rainbow dash!’ and the Miami-house and polka swag-rife ‘subsonique deux’, xyce have another hugely successful release under their belt. Whilst it doesn’t sound like their definitive statement quite yet, it is still another example of chiptune’s continuing statements of quality. And when their definitive statement does come, and it will, we can be assured we’ll have the European 4mat fully realised.

Favourite track: rainbow dash! 

EGR- DeathMurderGo - [04/06/2013]

EGR, aka Arnie Holder, is the owner of Datathrash Recordings, THE home of chipthrash. When he releases something the chipscene should take notice; this man played a huge part in shaping one of the scenes most recent stylistic explosions. He’s chipthrash’s godfather, if you will. He also doesn’t release much, so his few expulsions should be lapped up with haste, and his most recent, ‘DeathMurderGo’, is by far his most destructively brutal.

‘DeathMurderGo’ was recorded through a microphoned practice amp and sounds as such. Raw as fuck. If Kurt Ballou produced a chiptune album, this is what it would sound like, a bludgeoning mixture of aggression, understated groove and noise-distorting walls of sound. ‘Death’s beats hit like a charging bison, ‘Go’ sounds like the death of an albatross and ‘Murder’ blends the two atmospheres into a forebodingly swaggering cement mixer of noise and violence.

The production really is perfect for this release. Whilst it may not be for everyone, anyone even remotely interested in noise or chipthrash genres will find themselves captivated by the concrete slabs of produced perfection (through nonchalance). Whilst moments of ‘Murder’ and ‘Go’ could do with being opened up a bit (they tend to dissipate into pure sound experiments, but that might be a bad thing), this is still a fantastic release. I think, for the good of chiptune, we should collectively sign a petition stating EGR must write a full-length. We deserve it, and he has clearly got the talent for it.

Favourite track: Death

Week #23| Smiletron - TRINITY

Week 23 and we have a great track to kick start your summer. So crank your speakers and enjoy this excellent track from Smiletron!
Grab it here!

WT: What was your first contact with the chiptune scene?

Smiletron:  I guess the first exposure to chipmusic I would have had would have to have been... about seven years ago now, through the now-mostly-defunct 8bitcollective. It gave me the opportunity to explore a world of music I had never known of before. Basic waveforms, archaic technology, focus on compositional prowess... It sucked me in. I had the chance to exchange knowledge and techniques with other artists, as well as provided an output where I could get external opinions on the music I was writing.

As far as the first chipmusic people to run across in life's travels... Probably Goatslacker! He showed me a number of things while I was homeless down in Florida four or five years ago. I owe him much gratitude.

WT: What influences go into creating your music stylistically?

S: Well, as far as influences for techniques... My musical peers have shown me so many tips and tricks. I have to say thanks to so many artists, but notably Trey Frey, Misfit Chris, IAYD, and Henry Homesweet have taught me a lot about writing music with their music. As far as influences outside of chip music... Gotta give it up to... Vibrasphere, Boards of Canada, a lot of assorted trance and dnb... I don't know, I feel that everything I listen to has the opportunity to teach me something new!

In regards to theme and imagery, however; I can safely say that the roots of both my music these days and the imagery accompanying it are rooted in sacred geometry, shaped by my own personal journey.

Simple shapes, perfect angles, symmetry; the math of the universe and of my own soul expressed as best as I am able. I guess it's an exploration of both inner and outer universes, and a chronicle of things that I’ve experienced.

WT: In terms of both gear and compositional technique, what goes into creating a Smiletron release?

S: Well, that's a lot easier asked than answered! 

In terms of gear, I have used everything from LSDJ, Trippy-H, Nanoloop, MSSIAH, and other old systems; however, over the course of my wanderings I’ve had a lot of my old stuff lost or damaged, or simply just sold it off to further the journey. In lieu of that, I've built up a pretty sizable collection of sampler fodder from archaic systems, as well as just about anything else I can get my hands on... Whether it's been gathered from friends, the internet, or synthesized and recorded myself. Currently it's at about 200,000 files, about 35 gigs worth... A veritable universe of sound just waiting to happen. These days, I put all my stuff together in Logic because of its super clean interface and powerful sampler options. For live stuff, I separate everything down to 8 tracks, cut everything down to workable sections, bounce them out at full quality, and import them into Ableton. Ableton's great because it provides a low-latency, really accessible way to manipulate audio in a live setting; I wouldn't really write anything with it though...

As far as compositional technique, whoo... It's gotten a bit complicated as of late. All the way back to the very beginning of SMILETRON, each record could be described as a type of sigil: a piece of art or a symbol imbued with a conscious intent. After deciding on a purpose, a more focused idea begins to take shape. Once I can hear some inkling of music in the back of my mind, a frame is made: a few loops, some drum sections, a few samples, anything to give some kind of base from which to work off of. Once there some kind of listenable 8-bar loop, it slowly grows and changes into a 16-bar loop, then two 16-bar loops, then 4 different sections, etc. It just kind of grows organically depending on what each specific track needs. Every song is written in this same expanding-loops method. Often times there are sections of audio that are run through algorithmic sequencing, producing a re-organization of audio within a specifiable set of parameters. It really allows projects to take on a life of their own, as there is this idea of a song writing itself after a certain point: every time it plays through it will have a tiny amount of variation within the specified set of parameters. Past that... Figuring out how to actually transcribe the musical ideas in your head to a piano roll and effects chain is probably the hardest part. Just takes a lot of practice, really...

Sound design is definitely where I feel I have the most opportunity to flex both intelligence and creativity, visualizing the way sound is created and then moved through a room, and then the way it affects the listener... It's cool stuff! I could get lost in it for a really long time. The fundamental nature of the universe is one of tones and frequencies, and I find that creating fantastic sounds is one of the best ways for me to explore that for myself.

Once the majority of a song's compositional structure is done, it's just a matter of fine tuning everything... perfecting the visual aspects of everything, automating all the effects, imaging and mastering, you know... General post-production stuff! It's all a lot of fun.

WT: You talked about playing live, do you do this often? If so, what have been some of the more notable gigs you’ve played?

S: I play out a little bit! I tend to enjoy just wandering rather than touring, but I do often find myself playing for people. 8static always shows me a good time. Headlining BRKfest last year was an immensely moving moment to me. I think the most incredible party though has to go to Blipfest '12's afterparty, MINT JAMS 2K12... Ctrix, Sabrepulse, Doomcloud, Knife City, Smiletron, and the EINDBASS guys at 285 kent down by the water in NYC, sweat raining from the ceiling, amazing people, insane tunes; I'll never forget that night.

It's kind of weird to be thinking about finishing up SMILETRON. There are only two official shows left... Both unannounced as of yet, but both promise to be unforgettable.

WT: What’s has causing you to end Smiletron?

S: After more than 20 records and almost 7 years, I'm suppose I'm just ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. It's been a great story to live out, but every good story has an end, and I am writing the end of this one... Not to worry though, the end of any journey is simply an opportunity for a new one to begin. I aim to continue writing music forever... but I am an old, tired soul and I just need to rest! I'll begin a new journey under the name Tri Angles as soon as the time is right. :)

WT: Seeing as the end is nigh, what would you say has been your highlight so far?

S: I've met a lot of wonderful people and played a lot of amazing shows with incredible people, but man, I have never felt anything like the feeling of playing my heart out to my friends a couple of weeks ago in Music City. I had just come back from a much-too-extended journey this spring... Ended up being gone way longer than I ever meant to... Anyways, poured every ounce of my soul into that performance. Seeing everyone right there on the same wavelength with me was perfect. I'll never forget it.

WT: And finally, any big send-offs planned to say goodbye to Smiletron, a new release or show?

S: Three releases, two shows, one magical summer. ;)