“4h30” by Danger. Before you listen to this incredible track, you need to watch these 16-bit teaser videos the artist produced for his upcoming EP 09/17 2007 (that’s the actual title, not the date of its release):

I love Nerd Music’s analysis for why this 16-bit style, seems so much more enthralling compared to the glitzy and polished visuals in modern games:

“The rough and grimy look of early 90s beat-em-ups, Double Dragon and Streets of Rage, with its bright coloured, mohawked, and sexually-ambiguous baddies, in dank run-down urban environments, is one that doesn’t get much play anymore. Everything is too fucking slick now, from sharp high definition displays to 100% accurate digital music reproductions to every post-effect applied to every film and photograph to fix every mistake. It’s boring.

By contrast, those dirty beat-em-ups of the early 90s took their influence from the rough and weird gang-land punk films of the late 70s and early 80s, like The Warriors and Escape from New York, copied over and distorted on VHS with soundtracks on cassette and syndicated and broadcast over the airwaves to your wood-paneled giant TV with a UHF dial in your parents basement. Perfection wasn’t important, just being able to access the content was the goal. Nothing was as ubiquitous as it is now. The fringe shit took a lot of effort and doing to find.

That’s why chiptunes, and the recent trend of faux-80s retro, and cassette based underground drone releases, and lo-fi distorted disco and folk (Nite Jewel and Grouper) appeal so much. It isn’t just the nostalgic chic of the sound that they produce as much as it’s their embrace of the limits and imperfections of technology. It’s more human that way.”

The vinyl edition of Danger’s EP goes on sale this Monday, while record label Ekleroshock will release the digital version on February 1st. Grab this shit.

See also: Crucial chiptune links, videos

[Via Danger]

tags / danger / 4h30 / 0917 2007 / chiptunes / nerd music / 16-bit / ekleroshock / ec