Brother Android - Black Gate EP

The talented Brother Android has returned with a brand new EP. "Black Gate" is an 11-minute continuous mix of moody, atmospheric chip music. While the melodies and songwriting aren't quite as excellent as last year's "In Death a Dream of Color", this short burst of creative energy is still worth checking out. Brother Android is one of all-time favorite chip artists, and his wintry 2010 album "October November December" was an impressive display of a thoughtful tone and mood. The new EP sounds kind of like a B-side from "In Death", and the bass-heavy middle song is a particular high point.

You can grab a free copy of "Black Gate" from BA's SoundCloud, and those who'd like to pay a little something for a higher bitrate should head on over to his BandCamp page.

https://soundcloud.com/brother-android/black-gate

http://brotherandroid.bandcamp.com/album/black-gate-ep

Xyce - Papillons

The very successful co-op between Cerror and Xylo, otherwise known as Roel Heerspink and Tom Offringa, continues with their latest album "Papillons". Besides boasting 16 tunes with the kind of happy, well-crafted pop that the duo is known for, the record also features two collaborations with Radix and Malmen. And if that wasn't enough, it's also available as a physical CD. I especially enjoyed the lovely first track, which, titled in French, translates to "Garden Fence". You can check out the album at the link below.

http://cheapbeatsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/papillons

EP Spotlight - Natural High by Baifan

I thought I'd introduce a new feature to the blog: EP spotlights. I'll be talking about some of my favorite chiptune EPs (extended plays), why they're great, and the talented artists who wrote them.

Let's begin with "Natural High" by Baifan. I've been enjoying this one for a while, and it still delivers afters years of listening. Baifan is a talented GameBoy musician hailing from Beijing, China, and his tunes are just excellent. The amount of effort that went into composing and mixing these songs comes shining through in his six-track debut. "Hello Everybody" is incredibly happy and poppy, with a fantastic melody in the middle. The cooing, beautifully simple female vocals are a nice touch as well. Fellow artist Aonami makes a lovely guest appearance with the shimmering, well-structured "70s Literary Youth". You might expect a song with a title like "The Fear Inside My Heart" to be pretty melancholy, but Baifan proves the listener wrong with this cheery dance track.

Throughout the 25-minute EP, Baifan shows himself to be a master of melody, song structure, and quality control. He might just be one of the best GameBoy musicians I've ever heard.

You can grab the digital version of "Natural High" from BandCamp or Amazon, and there's also physical CDs available from CD Baby. Check out the links below.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/BAIFAN

http://intikrec.bandcamp.com/album/baifan-natural-high

Preview - "The End of It All" (4mat)

The endlessly productive and uniquely talented 4mat (Matthew Simmonds) has just announced a brand new album called "The End of It All". With this follow-up to 2012's excellent "Sans Titre", Matt has promised that the new tunes will be "a bit different". The teaser track, showcased in a new trailer, does indeed sound pretty different, even when compared to the varied output that began with his first album "Decades". It'll be interesting to see where Simmonds goes from here.

Feryl - "Crossing"

My new EP is out. Pay what you want (no minimum). Stream/download over at BandCamp: http://feryl.bandcamp.com/album/crossing

1 Static Feelings

2 Back and Forth / Moving On

3 She Never Wrote Me Back

4 I Doubted Myself

5 Crossing

Danimal Cannon and Zef - "Parallel Processing"

GameBoy rockers Danimal Cannon and Zef have teamed up to produce an epic, driving album called "Parallel Processing". Filled with 8 lengthy and thoughtful tunes, many of which use two DMGs, it's definitely worth your time. Following Danimal Cannon's impressive debut "Roots" from 2011 and Zef's "Blackout" from 2012, I'd say this new record pushes them both forward in a good way. "Rhapsody" is a nicely progressive, melodic highlight. The collaboration between these guys ends up working very well, with plenty of hard-hitting composition to keep you moving. You can snatch it up over at BandCamp.

http://danimalcannon.bandcamp.com/album/parallel-processing

4mat - "Sans Titre"

4mat (Matt Simmonds) has had quite a productive year. His new album "Sans Titre" marks his fourth release this year, and it's another solid effort that continues to push the chiptune medium. It's quite something to compare 2010's "Decades" with these twelve new songs, which succeed in progressing Matt's style with polished, cool, and even experimental elements. Far surpassing the previous LP "Origins", the new release is fresh and thoughtful, with lovely production and great songwriting.

Highlights include the riveting "Popsnare" and very pretty "You're All I Have", the latter including some nice acoustic guitar sampling. Also, "Tropics" is a hard-driving banger with a cool drum beat and a sweet melody. Overall, "Sans Titre" is a solid return to form for 4mat, and there's not a bad track in the whole bunch. I highly recommend it, and it's one of my favorite albums of the year.

[You can check out the album here: http://4mat.bandcamp.com/album/sans-titre]