Early video gaming console developers must have had no idea that, twenty years later, a ragtag group of musicians would begin hacking their creations to produce a wacky genre known as chiptune. Often driven by nostalgia for the heyday of pixelated Mario and Luigi, this loose association of bands and producers creates a dizzying variety of music using the same stable of 8bit sounds, from Sabrepulse’s breakcore to Bubblyfish’s ambient dreamscapes to Hayzee’s chip-hop. Or, as 20 year-old Pete Berkman, the brainchild behind NYC-based group Anamanaguchi explains, “The whole idea is like back to the basics, everybody using the same sounds that are totally minimal and trying to make something that sounds bigger than the Game Boy or bigger than the Nintendo.” Read More »