Register Now!

Media

  • scanner scanner
  • scanner screengrab
  • modern materialist the modern
    materialist
  • video 61 frames
    per second
  • video the remote
    island
  • date machine date
    machine

Photo

  • slice slice with
    giovanni
    cervantes
  • paper airplane crush paper
    airplane crush
  • autumn blog autumn
  • chase chase
  • rose &amp olive rose & olive
Scanner
Your daily cup of WTF?
ScreenGrab
The Hooksexup Film Blog
Slice
Each month a new artist; each image a new angle. This month: Giovanni Cervantes.
ScreenGrab
The Hooksexup Film Blog
Autumn
A fashionable L.A. photo editor exploring all manner of hyper-sexual girls down south.
The Modern Materialist
Almost everything you want.
Paper Airplane Crush
A San Francisco photographer on the eternal search for the girls of summer.
Rose & Olive
Houston neighbors pull back the curtains and expose each other's lives.
chase
The creator of Supercult.com poses his pretty posse.
The Remote Island
Hooksexup's TV blog.
61 Frames Per Second
Smarter gaming.
Date Machine
Putting your baggage to good use.

61 Frames Per Second

Chiptune Friday: Crystal Castles

Posted by Cole Stryker

 

Derek said I could hijack his 'Chiptune Friday' feature on the condition that we brand this very special double-dose edition, "IndepenDANCE Day", so that's what I'ma do.

Crystal Castles hate videogames, and roll their eyes at journalists who attempt to lump them in with other bands who make either video game music, or music with game electronics. They use a keyboard equipped with an Atari 5200 sound chip to create their relentless sound. They have acheived notoriety in the chiptune world not so much for their music, but for a well documented plagiarism controversy.

Last weekend I went to the UK's annual Glastonbury Festival. The highlight of the weekend was a short set by the Crystal Castles, a chiptune dance duo from Brooklyn. Vocalist Alice Glass, who looked as though her tiny body was just dug up from a grave, almost immediately launched herself into the crowd, which resulted in hand-wringing from a bunch of goateed AV dudes who were worried about her mic chord. They finally persuaded her to return to the stage, where she climbed the lighting truss. After twenty minutes of mayhem, the AV guys got their cargo shorts in a bunch and pulled the plug. It was the only moment of unbridaled rock 'n roll energy the festival had to offer, and it was awesome.  


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

Werthog said:

Hate to break it to you, since I love the site, Chiptune Friday, and everything, but Crystal Castles apparently hates making their own chiptunes, too, along with crediting the people they stole them from. Check out the first story here: https://8bitpeoples.com/

July 5, 2008 12:20 PM

in

Archives

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


Send tips to


Tags

VIDEO GAMES


partners