April 3rd, 2012 marks a momentous day for me. It’s the launch of my not-for-profit internet record label GameChops. Over the last few years of DJing VGM and making beats I’ve met a lot of great people and learned a tremendous amount about production, performance, and making music a greater part of my life. With GameChops, I hope to give back to this vibrant, supportive scene.

I love hearing bits of original game music in new productions. Chiptune samples are my favorites, I don’t care if it’s a funk tune or a rap track, you throw a Nintendo or a raw sawtooth wave in there and I am hooked. It was this irrational love of game sounds that got me started as Dj CUTMAN; I was working as a hiphop engineer and I made my first video game beats while hanging out in the studio after recording sessions.

The debut release for GameChops is none other than Benjamin Briggs, veteran OCRemixer and budding digital DJ. The release is an EP inspired by Diddy Kong Racing aptly titled Bootleg Circuit. Thsip reductions cleverly utilize in-game samples to create a five track electro-house marathon worthy of any street race or game party. Grab the release on GameChops.

Head over to GameChops.com to check out all the releases. Please support this project by adding GameChops on Facebook. Here’s to much more music.

-C

I found some awesome MIDI arrangements last night and decided to stay up and make them into chiptune using YMCK’s Magic 8BIT plug-in, some EQ, lfo and delay. I really held back with these, no samples, just keeping the chiptunes as clean as I can get them. Enjoy,

A flawless fusion of incredible piano arrangement and Famitracker NES programming, Shnabubula’s new release from Ubiktune is not to be missed. With tunes from games like Zelda, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Contra, and MegaMan, what’s not to like?

Grab the album on Ubiktune or on Bandcamp!

The third volume in an on-going Chiptune and Chipmusic mix series, CHIPTOPIA is now available for free download and stream via Soundcloud. Featuring music by some of chiptune’s finest writers and musicians, including Sabrepulse, Electric Children, and FantomenK, Chiptopia is a welcome departure from the harsh and dark nature of today’s dance music.

Started back in the summer of 2011, Chiptopia seeks to represent a time and place where music is flourishing. A variety of sounds, styles and formats, I imagine Chiptopia to be a place that supports music and art to the fullest. This mix takes the listener on a journey through such a place, crafting a feeling of moving from venue to venue, hearing the complimenting elements of each song and artist, ultimately painting a picture of a night out in a musical Utopia.

Chiptopia is influenced heavily by my experiences in Ithaca, New York, the place where I first began studying electronic music production and DJing.

Featuring music by Sabrepulse, Electric Children, Trey Frey, FantomenK, Fighter X, Bitshifter, Coova and little-scale, Ookami, Prom Wolf, Roboctopus, Byzanite, Icarus Kid, Misfit Chris, Doomcloud, Inverse Phase, Teleidofusion, Je M’appelle, and Knife City, with additional samples from Skip Sandwich DX and Anamanaguchi

Cover art by M.L. Hope

A full tracklist is available here

Described as an “Mega Man music orgy festival,” producer and composer Benjamin Briggs brings us a four track EP of snake-like proportions. Woah, that reads weird.

Ben Briggs, who I remixed about a month back, is an awesome dude with boundless talent. With production chops and musical ingenuity, Ben Briggs weaves a engaging, exciting, and downright fun soundscape in each of his tracks.

He writes: Four Mega Man remixes, as byproducts of DarkeSword’s awesome Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet, a weekly team-based song-combining competition. It includes, in order, all four of my tracks that were submitted as entries in the Gauntlet. My character theme was Snake Man throughout the competition, so each song includes his theme, and a damn good theme it is.

Damn right. The album is available for free via Bandcamp with an option to donate via paypal. Follow Ben Briggs on Twitter, Facebook, and Soundcloud.

I have some big huge gigablaster post of announcements and releases today so without further delay lets get to it!

GAMECHOPS VOLUME 2, the follow up beat-tape to Volume 1 (originally debuted at MAGFest 9) GameChpos Vol. 2 is now available, FOR FREE. This is largely due to those who supported me at conventions and live shows, but it is ultimately my way of saying thank you to all the game composers from the past three decades who made the music we grew up (and continue to grow) with. GameChops Volume 2 features instrumentals from a myriad of games, from revered series like Final Fantasy to unlikely anthems from Ducktales. Some of the tracks have been previously released and others are brand new, all mastered for a full sound, full volume record. Listen, share and enjoy GameChops Vol. 2.

CHIPTOPIA, the new installment of my ChipTuneMusic mix series will be released 2/12/12, and will feature a mini-mix by a world renown Chiptune performer. A contrast from the dark and brutal tracks of Dubtropolis, Chiptopia tells a tale of an 8-bit utopia, where there is music every night, every act gets a free meal, and there is not a hater in the sight. Is this place real, or just a myth? You decide on 2/12/12.

Listen to a preview on Soundcloud.

I CAN HAS THIS DANCE, a remix of producer Benjamin Briggs’ track is now mastered and is available for free download via Soundcloud! I have been a long-time fan of Ben’s work with Overclocked Remix, especially his Super Meat Boy remix. This is a remix of one of Ben’s original tracks, taken in a Chiptune/House direction with inspiration from Deadmau5 and Daft Punk. I met Ben in person at MAGFest, where he saved my life multiple times in the hectic preparation for the epic DJ Showdown.

LIVE@MAGX, my live chiptune, electro and dubstep DJ set from MAGFest X will be available on 1/24/12, as a free downloadable mix from Soundcloud.

If you can’t wait, come out to GREEN HILL ZONE in NYC for an encore performance.