Pieces of 8-bit

We all loved playing video games as kids, hence the name Street Writer.. I have a ps2 but don't play it much, and I've still got my Snes from back in the day but I don't play it at all, mainly because I don't have time to but also I have emualtors for a lot of the old consoles on my mac, so when I do get the time I can play them on here. Not the same though really. I could play Street Fighter, GoldenEye, Mario Kart and Pro Evo all day though, no matter how busy I am. I do still take an interest in video game music.. I played in Manchester earlier this month at a rave called 'Monday Murkage' (hold tight David Lewis, big boy promoter-500 students out on a Monday night areyoudumb?) so the next day I went down to Picadilly Records on Oldham St and found this gem:

It's got a lot of the old intro sounds for game makers like Konami, Acclaim, Capcom etc and a heavy section of GTA San Andreas dialogue which is too jokes.

The first tune I can ever remember is this, this game got completely rinsed! Probably the first game I completed.

SUPER MARIO LAND 3 : WORLD 1



The best tune ever made on 8-bit for a video game has to be the intro theme from Streets Of Rage 2.

STREETS OF RAGE 2 INTRO



My first encounter with this music outside of it's original context was probably the 1999 New York anthem 'Super Brooklyn', which straight samples Super Mario. It was a groundbreaking idea at the time to rap over a computer game sample, it never got officially released because the sample was unable to clear.

COCOA BROVAS - SUPER BROOKLYN



Then a few years later, around 2005 my mate Alex Bok Bok played me a song which got me into a lot of new music, and again it was the 8-bit synth samples that grabbed my attention. It was actually the first Diplo record I bought. I got it on white label prior to it's release, that just has a stamp of a diplodocus on the label and 'DIPLO' written in the tiniest letters in biro on the other side. To me it’s like Miami Bass passed through a mega drive in Brazil then sent to Jamaica to be finished.

DIPLO FT. SANDRA MELODY & VYBZ KARTEL - DIPLO RHYTHM



About a year ago, dub virus infecta Kode 9 put out a real head-turning release on his Hyperdub label from Japanese gameboy musician Quarta 330. it featured an 8-bit remix of Kode 9's classic '9 Samurai' and this crazy dub tune made on Nanoloop. This probably came out around the same time as 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake's 'Ayo Technology' which is a good example of 8-bit filtering into pop music.

QUARTA 330 - SUNSET DUB



More recently RAMP Recordings have put out a sick 12" from Zomby. Side A is 'Liquid Dancehall' but it's really, as usual with a lot of UKG records, all about the B-side.

ZOMBY - STRANGE FRUIT



This style is getting more popular, I'm hearing it a lot in new music, it definately evokes nostalgia, but at the same time sounds good in a new way. All about the 8-bit!

HEY PIZANOS!!

Fight Night

GL Tron

It's sick.

I love Tron anyway, it's one of my favourite films visually, and to be honest was a bit skeptical at first about this game, as most Tron games I've played have tended to be a bit naff, but this one is heavy.. Its a game for the Mac created by Andreas Umbach, It can be played as a 1 player, or as a multi-player with up to 4 players. You can assign the controls to different areas of your keyboard so everyone can play with space. There are 2 simple controls, right and left. You can also control the camera angle of the game by moving the touch-pad or mouse on your mac.. BAD.


The aim of the game is to be the last player riding. (The original Tron music is used as the soundtrack for the game as well by the way, zoop zoop)


It reminds me a lot of 'Snake 2' from the old Nokia phones, the one on the later models like (i think) the 8310 (the little red and black one) and the 'Matrix Phone'

But yeah anyway you can download it here if you have a MAC