YMCK, like fellow Japanese artists Omodaka and the older material of 99 Letters, pulls off a rare thing – being able to make music based primarily around 8-bit sounds and turning it into something beyond novelty. “Sesetsu Shite Usetsu Shite” could be goofy novelty in the hands of someone more interested in playing Mega Man…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCcEbye6wuU”] Tokyo Girls’ Style – “Kodō no Himitsu” When I originally wrote about Tokyo Girls’ Style’s “Kodō no Himitsu,” that geographically-accurate idol group getting only the slightest attention as I instead decided to praise chiptune outfit YMCK. Their NES-tastic remix still sounds plenty good, but as the year draws to an end and I look…
Here’s a group rarely written about on this blog that deserves way more attention (and, rightfully, has gotten it from places far more legitimate than here). YMCK make chiptune music, but instead of using 8-bit noises as a way to spazz out or as a crutch for nostalgia, they make unabashed J-Pop out of old…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHHu8j90oFQ”] 8-bit warriors YMCK join fellow Japanese group Lullatone in jumping on the iPhone app bandwagon. “YMCK Player” allows users to play a video-game-sounding keyboard and even improvise over songs already on your Apple product. The application…which will cost ya a mere 350 yen…also comes with a new YMCK jam. Oh you can listen to…
Yeah…I’ve been lazy about the whole “chiptune” thing. Thank goodness Japanzine boasts a much better work ethic than I do and they wrote up this awesome little chiptune guide. It focuses mostly on the Kyoto scene but also lists a few other notable artists including YMCK, pictured above. Read and learn, as I’m doing. Maybe…