Adventures Into Chiptune: FLOPPY

ByPatrick St. Michel

Original photo courtesy of m e r c e n a r i o on Flickr under Creative Commons

Even though I grew up obsessed over video games (I consider the Christmas where I get an N64 one of the highlights of my life), I have a really hard time getting into chiptune music. Chiptune (for those out of the loop, it’s music made mostly out of video game noises) boasts plenty of great artists – Adventure, Anamanaguchi – but also features music so nerdy and uninspired you start feeling embarrassed for the artist.

Japan apparently has a big chiptune scene (if Zac Bentz is to be trusted) and it would be unfair to ignore it due to an Atari-phobia. In this new infrequent feature, I’ll share a Japanese chiptune song with you and offer my thoughts. Now we’re playing with power!

———————————————

Some bands could really do well to play up the whole “shrouded in mystery” angle. So little information exists about FLOPPY online you almost give them points for being so discreet. Then you start up the video for the band’s “Everything” (from their new album Deus ex Machina and, after realizing this isn’t some Tim and Eric skit, take back all those points and then some. Who thought dressing up like R.O.B. would be a good idea? Mario references and LEGO people? And who left the iTunes visualizer on behind that dude’s face?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ookjZ8e0JEY&hl=en&fs=1&]

The actual sound of “Everything” comes off a lot better. The song’s busy allover with bleeps and bloops but they always move forward. Well, nearly all the noises…the laser-like sounds going on after the chorus just distract and come off as completely needless. The vocals, though digitized to hell, still sound surprisingly sincere and catchy. “Everything” runs out of ideas around the 2:40 mark and one can only take the sounds of an old Nintendo so long before the novelty wears off. Before then, however, “Everything” is a busy but never frantic tune.

Final Verdict: Not bad at all and kind of catchy for 8-bit noises. Doesn’t hold up on replays, though, and that video…geez, costs it a point. Final Score – 6 – Earthworm Jim

Similar Posts

  • Not Lethargic: Head On The Sofa

    ByPatrick St. Michel

    リニューアル後のタワーレコード渋谷店に遊びに行ってきました。２階がカフェで埋め尽くされていたりして、とても面白いですね。いろいろ試聴してて、新しいCDが欲しいなと思ったものの…一番安いのでも４曲入りのシングルで1000円だし…アルバムは2500円だし…この高価な価格設定がCDが売れなくなっている一番の原因ではないでしょうか。Head On The SofaのEPなんかは素晴らしい上にBandcampからタダでダウンロード可能ですし、今の時代多くのEPがMediaFireで無料で落とせます。 Head On The Sofaの新作Memai EPはギターが中心なものの、キャッチーなメロディーが好印象。一曲目の“Stay With Me”はシューゲイザー風の空間ギターにけだるそうなボーカルがフィーチャーされ、退屈になりがちなスタイルなものの、一直線な飽きのこない仕上がりになっています。一番注目すべきトラックは“Through Your Ways”なのですが、これはしゃっくりしてるかのような面白いリズムパターンが特徴的です。最初は不快に感じるかもしれませんが、慣れてくるとやみつきになりますよ。Dinosaur Jrのようなギターが印象的なインストの“Veranda”はギター少年にオススメ。すごく完成度の高いEPですし、Head On The Sofaは他にも作品を出しています。試聴（もちろん無料で）はこちらから。