Hey guys! Amazing news tod@y ffrom thhhe old-school b@lllerrrrs@@@@at_HY_Y_Y_PERDUB_W_WWCNASJCjn;wRI%*#Q)#%)IH%)##
shit.
fuck.
Ugh. Okay, wait. Let me try yanking this news post out of its slot, blowing on it really good, and then shoving it back in again…
Ah. There we go!
So like I was saying: hey guys! Amazing news from the old-school ballers at Hyperdub! The London label has just announced plans to release its own, carefully curated, brand new collection of “pioneering Japanese video game music!” Accordingly titled Diggin’ In The Carts, A Collection Of Pioneering Japanese Video Game Music , this epic, 34-track compilation will build upon the critically acclaimed Red Bull Music Academy documentary series of the same name, which chronicled “the history and global influence of this exciting early strain of electronic music” (watch that whole series over here).
Researched and curated by Diggin’ In The Carts writer and co-director Nick Dwyer — alongside Hyperdub’s own FINAL BOSS Kode9 — the collection offers a deep plunge into the rarely explored archives of “the chip era of Japanese video game music.” The included masterworks (which were often created by composers’ desperate and deliberate maxing out of the fascinatingly-limiting 8-bit and 16-bit systems of the 1980’s and 90’s) were originally featured on such globally renowned systems as the Famicom, Super Famicom, and PC-Engine, up through to some more recent popular Japanese home computer platforms such as the MSX, MSXturboR and the PC-8801 — and their standalone inclusion here on one mammoth album is meant to showcase these works NOT just as “music in the background of some old videogames,” but as the significant pieces of pioneering Japanese electronica that they are. (Case in point is Soshi Hosoi’s Steve Reich-influenced “Mister Diviner” from The Majhong Touhaiden, which you can sample down below.)
Diggin’ In The Carts also features artwork by renowned Japanese anime artist and Studio °4C founder Koji Morimoto, and the whole thing’s officially out November 17 on CD and digital (with a vinyl version to follow, according to the label). But you can start diggin’ in the wallet RIGHT NOW if you want to order it ahead of time from the Hyperdub Entertainment System.
Oh, and one last thing: the comp’s release also coincides with Red Bull’s upcoming Diggin’ In The Carts live event series, which “brings Japan’s leading composers of video game music together with a new generation of artists in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and beyond starting in October.” Check out those dates below…you know…after the *BEEP(S).*
Diggin In The Carts live dates:
10.22.17 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theatre
11.17.17 - Tokyo, Japan - Liquidroom
11.30.17 - London, UK - fabric
