Zen Albatross

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Next week I’ll be playing two shows during the 2012 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. These lineups are absolutely stacked with amazing performers, thanks in large part to friend and monobomb compatriot crashfaster, so if you’re in town for the conference, be sure to check them out:

8bitSF presents POW: Indie Music & Developers Collide
Tuesday, March 6th @ 8:00pm
Tickets: http://www.dnalounge.com/ calendar/2012/03-06.html
$8 advance/$12 door/$5 with GDC Badge
21+

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/151961534920931/

In honor of the 2012 Game Developer’s Conference, 8bitSF [http://8bitsf.com/] is proud to present POW, a celebration of the indie spirit. POW is a colossal night of sound + vision, and features performances by some of the best acts in both gaming and chip music as well as demo tables and presentations by indie developers Polytron [http://polytroncorporation.com] (FEZ), Muteki Corporation [http://mutekicorp.com/] (Dragon Fantasy), Open Emotion Studios [http:// www.openemotionstudios.com/] (Revoltin’ Youth), Yobble
[http://yobble.me/] (Air Guitar) and more!

Live Performances by:

VIRT aka Jake Kaufman [http://virt.bandcamp.com/] (Retro City Rampage, Bloodrayne: Betrayal)

Freaky DNA aka Leonard J. Paul [http://videogameaudio.com/] (Retro City Rampage, NBA Jam 2010)

Disasterpeace [http://disasterpeace.com/] (FEZ)

minusbaby [http://minusbaby.com/] (BIT.TRIP FATE, Phone Story)

crashfaster [http:// crashfaster.bandcamp.com/] (Dragon Fantasy)

The Glowing Stars [http:// theglowingstars.bandcamp.co m/]

Zen Albatross [http://zenalbatross.net/]

A Rival [http:// blog.planetskill.com/]

8-BIT DOPE: GDC Edition
Friday, March 9th @ 9PM
MIST Ultra Club
316 11th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

$12 At the door $9 w/ GDC pass

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/349686438394918/

The return of our big GDC underground party. Some the hottest 8-BIT acts from SF and around the world, mixed with thick, aggressive electro, enhanced by eye melting light & pop visuals. Hosted by DOPE, crashfaster and 8bitSF.

featuring performances by…

Trash80 (8bitpeoples, LA) - Dreamy melodies & driving dance anthems

minusbaby (monobomb, NYC) - Equatorial beats, ass-rattling bass and progressive grooves

crashfaster (monobomb, SF) - High-energy electro pop layered with moody robotic vocals

dj medic (DOPE, SF) - Nu-disco to electro to giant robots, a tight mix of pop, flow and education

Zen Albatross (monobomb, NYC) - Infectious beats and marching, apocalyptic sonic destruction

E.N. Cowell (monobomb, SF) - Dirty, teeth-rattling electro house filtered to crunchy perfection

Space Town Savior (SD) - Massive, trance-inspired, dance floor smashers

Starpause (hexawe, SF) - Manical IDM beats meet lo-fi electro sleaze in a robot porno

Lighting and Visuals by FUTURE WEAPONS and VJ duplesiX

For a taste of what these kids are bringing to your ears, check out our rundown:
http://dope415.com/8-bit-dope-the-revenge-of-chipscene

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[NYC] 2.3.12 // BinAural Visual @ Vaudeville Park - n0izmkr + Invaderbacca, paris + outpt, Zen Albatross + Chromacle

I’ll be doing an audiovisual drone/noise performance this Friday at Vaudeville Park in Brooklyn. This will be all-new, mostly improvised material in collaboration with SaraBee on cello and Chromacle on visuals. Details below:

##
I/O Chip Music
presents

BinAural Visual
@ Vaudeville Park
February 3 2011
730pm
$7

n0izmkr + invaderbacca
http://nicolecarrollmusic.com/
http://invaderbacca.tumblr.com/

n0izmkr performs structured improvisational noise sets, incorporating circuit bent instruments, handmade synthesizers, custom midi controllers, environmental samples, and a contact mic orchestra. invaderbacca sees the colors that nobody sees. his approach to visualizing the sounds surrounding him is almost sonic itself in nature, whether he’s creating frenetic glitchnes sets or his own spasmodic video blasts.

outpt + paris
http://outptandparis.com/

outpt+paris present drum & space: an audio/visual performance telling the story of a future space traveller as she looks to trade the safety of her home world for the furthest regions of the universe. the set is a high energy mix of analog beats, digitized vocals, and coordinated visuals.

zen albatross + chromacle
http://zenalbatross.net/

zen albatross creates colossal obelisks of sound using antiquated computer consoles. for this performance, tape loops and improvised electronics expand and disintegrate the usual rhythmic constructs into a surreal stream of carefully sustained drones and noise. the set will be accompanied by sarabee on cello and chromacle on visuals.

Vaudeville Park
26 Bushwick Ave
(corner of Bushwick and Devoe St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

L train to Graham Ave
Google Map: http://brk.to/o9a
RSVP
vaudevillepark.org
##

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http://zenalbatross.net/ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ███████ ██ #SOPA ███ #PIPA ████████ ██████████ █████ ██████ ███████ ███ ███████████████

██████████████████████████████████

#SOPABlackout

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Post-MAGFest Recap + Taking Game Boy Orders

We’re all still coming down from MAGFest last weekend and as expected, this year was the best it’s ever been. All the chip concerts exceeded expectations, and I was especially pleased to see the legendary Jake “Virt” Kaufman — pink hair, glowsticks and all — back on stage after a few years of MIA. Seeing Nobuo Uematsu and his band Earthbound Papas was also a life-altering experience. Original Sound Version did a nice recap of all this and more with photos, and Chip Music Chronicle caught pretty much everything on video.

Also great was the surprising amount of interest in modded Game Boys. Stock is nearly wiped clean for the moment, but due to the demand I’ve decided to begin accepting orders via email until I can get some sort of online shop set up. If you’re not the soldering type and are interested in backlit/prosounded DMG’s, don’t hesitate to contact me with requests.

See you at MAGFest X+1.

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» MAGFest Time Is Here

MAGFest is an event I’ve had the pleasure of attending annually for the better part of the past 5 years. For those unfamiliar, here’s the dark of it: 4 days of non-stop, round-the-clock concerts, games, panels and partying inside of a giant hotel / convention center in the D.C. area. Accent on the partying.

While I usually steer clear of videogame cover bands and “fan” events in general, there’s some key differences that continue to make MAGFest worthy of my time, and yours. Now in its 10th year, it is one of the few long-running events of its type that is built from the ground up with a shoestring budget and zero corporate sponsorship. As a result MAGFest is diverse and open-minded — more of a community-oriented DIY music meetup / game space / rowdy hotel party than a “convention” — and has built its reputation on being exactly what it was intended to be.

Recently, the formula has helped bring about a number of big changes: Namely, moving to a much larger space (by necessity, as last year’s attendance went beyond max capacity) and attracting big-time videogame industry composers and developers. In the past they’ve had folks like Secret of Mana composer Hiroki Kikuta and simulation games pioneer Sid Meier. This year, they’ve managed to bag Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu and his new band, Earthbound Papas.

My involvement this year includes a 2-day showcase of chip musicians and visual artists featuring Jake “Virt” Kaufman, Danimal Cannon, Knife City, Disasterpeace & more. I’ll also have a few of these guys for sale in vendor area:

Come by and say hello if you’re making your way down to D.C. this weekend, or follow Original Sound Version for live updates.

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I’ve been added as a last-minute special guest to this already insane Black Friday lineup in Rochester, NY w/ revengineers, Noisewaves & knife city. WNY/Rochester: Do not miss this.

///////////////////////////

RSVP

[11.25.11] ROCHESTER CHIP 1 YR ANNIVERSARY
@ The Bug Jar
219 Monroe Ave, Rochester NY
9 PM - 12 AM
18+

$7 (21+) / $9 (20-)

Rochester Chip’s ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW! 12 shows under our belt, and plenty more to come. Celebrate a year of bringing some of the best chip acts around to Rochester with us.

KNIFE CITY (NY)
Luke Silas, known by many as the drummer for ANAMANAGUCHI, is bringing us his unique brand of catchy Game Boy jams. Impossible to not dance to. For fans of dubstep/electro!

https://8bc.org/members/likeluke/

NOISEWAVES (MI)
This Michigan-based duo creates atmospheric and sprawling post-rock jams with the help of their trusty NES.

http://noisewaves.bandcamp.com/

REVENGINEERS (NY)
Hometown heroes. They’ve been described as mid-90’s with Game Boys. We’ll let you decide.

http://revengineers.tumblr.com/

MNT DST (NY)
Rochester’s most popular new electronic act, and brainchild of stand-up dude Christopher Heath. Features former members of Science vs. Witchcraft.

ZEN ALBATROSS (JUST ADDED!!!!)
Truly epic. Electronic audio destruction via dual Gameboys.

http://music.zenalbatross.net/

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UPDATE: Free bonus show in San Jose on Wednesday, 9/21 with crashfaster and Wizwars • More info here

Returning to San Francisco this month to devastate more West Coast ear drums at Pulsewave SF. Lineup is absolutely killer, not to be missed.

▁▟ ♫▐▀▀█▄▄▌♫ ▙▁
##################

RSVP on Facebook

Thursday, September 22nd

DNA Lounge
375 Eleventh Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

Doors at 7:00PM
Show at 8:00PM

ALL AGES

Advance: $12
Door: $16

PulsewaveSF returns with one of our biggest lineups yet! Chip Music will rain down upon DNA Lounge!
ALL AGES!

$12 advance tickets
$15 at the door

Covox (Stockholm)

Bud Melvin (New Mexico)

Zen Albatross (Brooklyn)

Wizwars (Los Angeles)

DJ Doctor Popular

Visuals by

George & Starpause

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A new music series is starting up in Brooklyn this Thursday courtesy of our friends at Cheese ‘n Beer. CNB: Spectrum will use chip music as a base for an expanded exploration of NYC’s electronic music fringe.

To commemorate I’ll be premiering some new material, accompanied by visuals from No Carrier and sets from rhinostrich, DaPantz and Chipocrite.

And it’s free. Save your money and buy back some of that medical coverage the government is taking away from you.

Or just buy a beer. Whatever.

######################
Thursday, August 4th 2011

Brooklyn Fireproof East
119 Ingraham Street (L to Morgan Ave)
Brooklyn NY

9 PM
FREE (21+)
RSVP

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» Blip Festival 2011: Full Set Now Available On Free Music Archive

The full Zen Albatross set from Blip Festival 2011 is now available for streaming and download at Free Music Archive. Board recordings of all the acts will be posted over the next week so keep checking back. There’s also a fair amount available right now.

Many, many thanks to our friends at WFMU and FMA for recording and hosting these.

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