WATCH it: Blip Fest 2007 DVD

The Blip Fest is basically the Mecca of electronic low-bit "chiptune" music. Held annually by collective group 8bitpeoples in New York City, artists from around the world converge and go wild, destroying braincells and eardrums alike using old home computers and hacked Nintendo systems. Basically it's my boyhood dream come to life, where playing a Gameboy makes a crowd of people go crazy, almost as if my secret childhood hobby of recording NES music onto cassette tapes to listen to on my headphones later has a sense of legitimacy now. Whoops, did I just type that out loud? Better distract you all with this video now...

Nullsleep // Blip Festival 2007: The Videos from 2 Player Productions on Vimeo.

Almost every artist uses some sort of creative implementation of now antiquated technology, predominantly Gameboys, Famicoms, and old Nintendo systems hacked to emulate sequenced music through their obsolete but oh-so-nostalgic sound chips. From solo acts to full on bands, they rock out on stage in front of an amazing light show with screens featuring glitched out motion graphics by visual artists inspired by broken NES cartridges.

Blip Fest 2007 was just about the best $15 I ever spent online. The production value is legit, definitely some very nice work by 2 Player Productions, everything is shot on some very nice cameras and the editing is superb. I still haven't even jumped into the special features, but the videos for Anamanaguchi, Virt, The Depreciation Guild, and Bit Shifter all made this DVD worth repeat viewing. Perhaps not for the easily motion sick or the epilleptic, but then again that's why they always put those warning labels in the instruction manuals next to the Nintendo Seal of Approval.

8bitpeoples - Blip Fest 2007
https://www.8bitpeoples.com/store/product/62