Anamanaguchi – Jet Pack Blues, Sunset Hues (Vimeo)

Let me tell you something. It’s past midnight and I have to work tomorrow. I should be asleep. But then I heard this.

I was doing my final trawl through my feeds, when I came across this delightful article about chiptunes music on Kotaku, one of my favourite blogs. What I heard from these guys has woken me up entirely, enough that I feel the need to update this blog RIGHT NOW to tell you all about it.

It’s a pretty simple concept that’s been around for a while – use retro 80’s video gaming machines to make bleep/bloop music. YMCK have done much the same thing for a while now. The stuff I’m hearing from Anamanaguchi (the best band name since Dananananackroyd, incidentally) is just a cut above, though. It’s not just video game music, it’s not a novelty – it’s something more.

There’s a temptation with this sort of thing to let the bleeps take over, but this is way more high energy than I’m used to hearing from the chiptunes. There’s a real pop sensibility buried in the heart of it, and you can hear the Weezer influence through and through. Since when did you need lyrics to have a good time?

The fact that the album, Dawn Metropolis, is currently freely available on one of the web’s most influential private music trackers can only be helping the cause. However, the fact that it’s fantastic music well made will do more than that for it’s popularity. I haven’t heard anything as vital as this in some time.

Music that keeps you awake at night – it’s what I live for.