PAX 2010 CHIPTUNE MUSIC ROCKS MAGFEST JAMSPACE SeanBad at PAX. Watch in HD!

SeanBad @ MAGFEST

It was only a matter of time before the Penny Arcade Expo, gave music fans an alternative to the headlining musical acts at the popular gamer convention. Though these artists may not grace the main concert stage with the likes of Jonathan Coulton, Protomen, or Anamanaguchi, the electronic beats, and nostalgic sounds of classic gaming, performed by a single person armed with a Nintendo Game Boy, is certainly a musical experience not to be missed.

It seems like only last year that chiptune artists were outsiders to the PAX masses, playing impromptu performances on the steps of the Washington State Convention Center, denied entry maybe, but surrounded by curious onlookers as they jammed to 8-bit sounds. Maybe there wasn't enough interest in electronic dance music in the past, to accommodate these musicians inside the expo, but oh how things have changed.

Certainly, for a chiptune DJ, there is no 5-piece band to fill up a stage, nor geek laden rap lyrics, or folk rock music for the audience to sing along to. However, this year is an entirely different story for chiptune music at PAX Prime, thanks to Jamspace, a venue for anyone who plays an instrument to perform, and MAGfest Music, and Gaming Festival, bringing together such a great group of musicians.

Now PAX goers can get their electro chiptune fix, with lots of flashing lights in a dance party environment. The great thing about Jamspace is that you can walk into the room at any time of the day during the convention and hear some great music. I didn't know what to expect when I first entered the room, but an artist by the name of SeanBad was rocking the crowd.

I made this video from footage taken the day SeanBad performed. It features the track 'Kiwis,' a remix of the Live Animal track.

Keep your eyes and ears on SeanBad, he could play at Blipfest one day alongside Nullsleep, Bitshifter, and the other 8bitpeoples.

PAX 2010 - 'Kiwis' - (SeanBad Remix) Jamspace MAGFest (HD) from Albert Art on Vimeo.

More Seanbad --

Facebook SeanBad

http://8bc.org/members/SeanBad/

http://soundcloud.com/seanbad/clusterfuk

I kinda wish I was in New York, kinda, not really.

Ba humbug!!! Movies to look forward to.

Not only did I miss Blipfest last week, but now I'm gonna be missing out on the premiere of 'The Sky Crawlers', the latest animated film by Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii. The film is screening at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, on December 12th, and for all those animation fans out there in New York, the event is quite the occasion. I've known about this film for a while since first hearing about it earlier in the year and have been looking forward another Japanese animated feature to come along and blow me away.

If any of youse readers out there happen to be in New York, please please, try and get tickets to the screening, and blog about it...

You know what, surprisingly it's already playing in Los Angeles at the Los feliz 3 Cinemas. I guess I'll be watching it over the Holiday's since I'll be down there, like every year. Don't need to go to New York after all. Yayy!

Suckage - Canceling my trip to Blipfest 2008 and NYC

Boo fuckin' hooo, I'm gonna be regretting this decision all through 2009.

Blipfest is only 1 week away, but rather than blog about my excitement about the upcoming international chiptune music festival, I'm gonna have to say that I'm canceling my trip to NYC due to bad timing. Sucks, soooooo bad. I was really, REALLY looking forward to going to Blipfest and visiting the Big Apple, but because I'm committed to doing an upcoming art show in December here in Vancouver, I need all the time I can get to finish up the artwork which means skipping out on Blipfest (Dec 4-7).

No more Bubblyfish, no more Nullsleep, no more Bitshifter. No more Katz's Delicatessen, no more Kidrobot NYC, no more Flight Club. No more KCDC, no more Animazing, no more Upper Playground. For now at least.

There's so much that I wanted to see in NYC, that missing out on this trip has me kinda bummed, but whatever, there's always next year. Gah, why does Blipfest have to be in December? And why does this art show have to happen 5 days before xmas?!

Luckily, I can still get a refund on my ticket.

Getting in the way of my trip to Blipfest is the Artist Perspective, 'Seeing is Believing' group art show which is on Dec.20th. I'll be busy the weeks prior getting my shit together to display. If you're in Vancouver Dec 20th, definitely come and check it out. Cover is 10 bucks but it's not just art! There will be food, DJ's, Bands, and break dancing; The Sweatshop is a really cool venue, it's a skate shop! I'll be putting up some NEW custom toys, and paintings. It's gonna look awesome, and much bigger than the Third Store show. Other artists will be selling designer tees, jewelery, and photography.

It may not be Blipfest, but it's somethin!

Join the facebook event, and mark it on your calender. It's gonna be a party!

Venue: The Sweatshop 1945 E. Hastings St. Date: December 20, 2008. Doors open @ 7p Cover: $10

Pitchfork Extends Reformat the Planet; Additional Week

One MORE week.

In my never ending quest to convince people to watch Reformat the Planet, I'm going out of my way to promote the movie. I just feel that I have to. I'm not a marketing plant I swear, nor am I making any money from this, but what are blogs for if the blogger can't plug his or her interests in an effort to share them with other like-minded people?

Pitchfork.tv has decided to extend streaming the entire film for one more week.

Watch it or Die!

Now, if only Blipfest would announce the lineup and pass registration info!!

Blipfest - Reformat the Planet, on Pitchfork.tv

8.15-8.21 For one week, and one week only!

Today Pitchfork.tv did one of the greatest things that I've ever since them do in the short time that they've been around. Available for One Week Only, free for online viewing in it's entirety is "Blipfest: Reformat the Planet", the documentary on Chiptune music and culture by 2 Player Productions, which in my opinion is the best, most comprehensive resource that covers the Chiptune music scene. This my friends, is a cause for celebration.

The thing is, it's only available for ONE week, so head on over to Pitchfork.tv to see what the excitement is all about. If you haven't seen it, and have been curious about music made with Gameboys, now you can!

It came as a complete surprise to me, after having not seen the film since the Game Developers Conference back in 2007, so I found myself distracted all day long at work watching it over again. I was literally sitting at my computer when I got word of this Pitchfork exclusive, and as I watched it, I couldn't help but Geek Out. I instantly updated my Twitter, and facebook statuses to reflect my enthusiasm for this. You see, I plan on attending Blipfest 2008 in December, so seeing scenes from the fest got me totally stoked about attending the event. No one else in the room was as enthusiastic as me, and believe it or not I work at a video game company. I guess Chiptune is an acquired taste even for gamers, and employees of game studios.

I've always been somewhat frustrated with the fact that Chiptune music on the west coast of North America doesn't seem to be too prevalent. Certainly there are Chiptune artists in LA, and San Francisco, but other than that I don't think it has reached other cities on the west, definitely not Vancouver. New York is where it's at, and I've been missing many exciting events going on this summer. If ever I move to New York, I'd be all up in this party scene.

I began to think of the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle which is fast approaching at the end of August as a place that would be a perfect to showcase this music. The massive gamer/geek expo features musical acts, none of which are Chiptune artists. There's rappers, and electro pop acts with songs that deal with familiar gamer themes, and covers of game songs, but for Chiptune itself, that's where its lacking. I remember I emailed the folks at Penny Arcade sometime ago, regarding their lack of interest in inviting chiptune acts, but I received no reply.

*EDIT So apparently this year's PAX will be getting a Screening of Reformat the Planet, along with a performance by Anamanaguchi. I will definitely try and make it to those. So should you! Though Anamanaguchi rocks, I'd prefer if it were Bitshifter, Glomag, Nullsleep, Covox or Bubblyfish representing at PAX.

What will it take for Chiptune to gain a larger audience and presence at gamer events? Just because chiptune artists don't necessarily perform Megaman songs, and other fan service, doesn't mean the art itself isn't relevant to game culture.

Here's hoping this Pitchfork exposure gets Chiptune the recognition it deserves.