Starscream's Space-Age Chiptune Rock Opera
Posted by Joshua_Kopstein on Tuesday, Jul 27, 2010
2009 was a pretty good year for chip music. But here in New York, even with the impressive outpouring of material from chip artists around the world, few could help but be enveloped in the sublime brilliance of Starscream’s EP, Future, And It Doesn’t Work and its follow-up, The Space Years. Combining Damon Hardjowirogo’s mesmerizing Game Boy programming talents with George Stroud’s relentless percussion, the duo boasts a unique brand of moody 8-bit rock that narrates a tragic tale of space exploration and political turmoil.
Nothing is spelled out, but it goes down something like this: In the dawn of the space age, the Space Party rises ascends into the inner rungs of the American political system, carrying with it the promise of a brighter future in the heavens above a dying Earth. But not everything is as it seems, and sinister motives are revealed as the Space Party’s utopian dream is sent into a spiraling plummet towards frightening realizations and inescapable tragedy.
While their most recent release, The Space Years fleshes out this mythos to its fullest, the band’s first EP, Future, And It Doesn’t Work, acts as a kind of prologue to these events, chronicling the Space Party’s formative years. Originally released on New York’s premiere chiptunes netlabel, 8bitpeoples, the duo are now re-releasing the EP, along with a digital bonus disc of remixes from chiptune heavyweights such as Bit Shifter, Covox and Glomag.
If you’re in the mood for more chiptune rocking, don’t forget that Starscream allies Anamanaguchi are releasing new singles every two weeks for the rest of the summer.
About the author
Electronic musician and computer culture journalist. Contact: josh ◢at◣ motherboard ◐dot◑ tv
