Monday Mixer

This week I’m going to bring it back because I’m missing my Gameboy Color and when I get back home for break I’m definitely going to make a mess of my garage looking for it. Here’s an awesome feel-good mix of a bunch of 8bit, chiptune, chillwave music for you guys right when you need it. Maybe this will put you in the right mood when you go home this weekend and a bit of videogame nostalgia hits you.

1. Crying – “Vacation”

I was pleasantly surprised when I came across the group Crying, 1. because the name is a hilarious contradiction to their cheerful music and 2. that this band was able to successfully blend chiptune with regular vocals. Their lead singer has a voice that is very relaxed and turned down but it blends nicely with the fast paced 8bit.

2. Slime Girls – “Time Travel Lament”

What’s great about the chiptune scene that I’ve seen since I started getting into this genre is the amazing names. First Crying, now Slime Girls?! Hell yes. This is a bit more on the instrumental side, as opposed to Crying’s songs. Slime Girls is a band that can also pull off traditional rock and garage instruments with 8bit. “Time Travel Lament” doesn’t have much of that going on as it’s mostly electronic but I suggest checking out their album Vacation Wasteland to hear more of that.

3. Daft Punk – “Something About Us”

I couldn’t do an electronic playlist without some Daft Punk, some old Daft Punk at that. I put this in here mainly for the vocal part of this song; it’s a heavily auto-tuned, sort of eerie vocal, but the lyrics make it sweet again. There is also a killer bass in this song that owns the whole thing.

4. Gorillaz – “On Melancholy Hill”

Gorillaz surprisingly have a lot of songs that fit into this category but I chose the song with the most feel-good vibe to it. This song has the videogame feel that I love, with a sound that makes you feel like you’re traveling off on an epic adventure.

5. Anamanaguchi – “Airbrushed”

Speaking of a blend of 8bit and rock instruments, no one does it better than Anamanaguchi. They gained a lot of popularity with their crazy music video for “Meow” and even though their sound is changing a little bit, they still have some great chiptune music to share. Also if you’ve been on the WPGU website for a while, you might recognize this song from my very first Monday Mixer.

6. Crystal Castles – “Alice Practice”

I couldn’t not put Crystal Castles on this playlist since their first album from 2008 was almost entirely comprised of some sort of 8bit. A lot of their older work features a keyboard with Atari sound bits. Craziest concert I’ve ever been to was Crystal Castles, especially when they performed this song. I’m still not entirely sure what Alice is saying in this song, but it sounds cool anyway.

7. bo en – “Miss You”

This song holds a dear place in my heart, mainly because of the little boy speaking in the beginning; you can just tell he’s a cute kid. But besides that, this song has a perfect balance between calming and dancing aspects. It’s also really neat that bo en can make use of bird calls in a song and fluidly put them in the track.

8. Goodnight Cody – “A Walk Through The Trees”

I respect Goodnight Cody so much as an artist because he can incorporate downright silly and ridiculous sound bits into an awesome track that completely work in the song. He also has the perfect singing voice that oddly meshes well with this happy-go-lucky vibe. I also recommend “Home Run” featuring Spazzkid, which you can find on his SoundCloud; it is seriously another world wonder how he can make samples not only work, but downright catchy.

9. STRFKR – “Julius”

This song is more alternative, seeing that it’s coming from STRFKR, but the electronic intro is undoubtedly videogame reminiscent. This song is from their 2011 album Reptilian, definitely bringing it back.

About Emma Kelley

I'm a junior in Global Studies. If you can't find me at Kam's or sitting in a Starbucks watching Netflix, I'm most likely sitting in my room learning Ukulele tabs to top radio hits. Music is a passion of mine, and my nickname is "The Human Jukebox."

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