Review Summary: A Game Boy at a rave.
As a gigantic fan of the 8-bit gaming era, I have always been
fascinated with the concept of old-school video game music. When
playing video games back in the NES and Game Boy days, gameplay was
always THE most important thing to engross a player, but I was always
impressed by what could be achieved with such primitive, restricting
music technology. Due to limitations in video game sound chips at the
time, music of the 8-bit gaming area was forced to think outside the
box in order to get its point across, and always placed heavy
importance on strong melodies and stripped-down structures, leading to
some of the catchiest music I’ve ever laid ears on. Luke Silas, under
the moniker of Knife City, with a hacked Game Boy in hand, embraces
these limitations and restrictions, and plots to take it one step
further: creating a collection of modern dance music with just bleeps,
bloops and blips.
For me, simplicity in music has always been key, which is why I’ve
been intrigued by 8-bit music in the first place: it forces the artist
to create a work of art with a diminished tool box. One of the most
impressive things about Knife City right away is that he is very
familiar with every single sound that the Game Boy can produce, and
spares no hesitation to display it in full force. “Hunting” kicks off
with a swelling crescendo before hopping along with a strong, sturdy
beat with swirling chip-tune sounds, before turning into a full-on
rave party with crispy thumps, fluttering notes and retro gurgles.
This isn’t
quite your typical Mega Man or Super Mario
soundtrack, and there’s certainly a lot of fun in listening to
something that is somewhat familiar, and yet, completely different
from what you’re used to.
The next track, “Slam Dunk Lifestyle”, along with “Braid”, are easily
the two best songs of the bunch, simply because they really do sound
like 8-bit versions of contemporary dance hits. “Slam Dunk Life Style”
is a slower, groovier track, that really displays all the quirky
sounds and noises that the Game Boy has to offer. “Braid” is more of a
straight-forward, shorter track, but goes for the throat with volumes
swells and off-kilter walls of sound. I certainly never thought that
the Game Boy could produce anything this nasty and sinister, but,
again, Knife City really ramps of the creativity when using this old
technology. Lastly, rounding out the EP are two other, more
traditional sounding efforts. “Bad News” certainly sounds something
like I would find within an NES game, while “Just Trash” is certainly
the most progressive of the bunch, collapsing into a buzzsaw-like
breakdown before ending with more off-beat, weaving, flickering
noises.
When we think of creating music, or just any piece art in general,
there’s a lot of focus on innovation and building upon what came
before it. Does this break barriers and norms, or does it just do the
same old thing? And because of this, I feel this is what makes Knife
City so unique and charming: by creating something completely unique
from something that is heavily restrictive, something so complex from
something so simple, he makes his debut EP something really special.
Even if you were mildly interested in video game music of the era, or
are just looking for something new, I strongly recommend you check out
Knife City, just because I guarantee that you haven’t heard anything
like it before.
