Looking at a several different EP's today, starting off with something old and by that I mean looking at two bands that I am familiar with first off being Mae who released two different EP's the first one being (m)orning. Mae returned to their concept style musical roots in 2009 after releasing the rather bland album “Singularity” in 2007. The idea in 2009 was to release a new song every month for a dollar and proceeds going to two different charities. Then those songs would be used to make three different EP's titled (m)orning, (a)fternoon, and (e)vening, although the final EP was delayed were taking a look at the first two EP's. It's good to have Mae experimenting again they don't work as well with a normal album release, case in point their strongest release was 2005 “The Everglow”. (m)orning is a eight song EP that delivers on what Mae does best catchy guitar hooks that are complement by well worked in piano pieces and fun lyrics. Check out A Melody, The Memory, The House that Fire Built, and The Fisherman Song, the entire EP can be bought for 7 dollars on Itunes so it's well worth it.
(a)fternoon is very similar to the first EP in that it has eight tracks, three of which are instrumental. What I like a lot about Mae and most of their songs are that they generally are very laid back and just fun to sit and listen to in the background. That's not to say that the music isn't engaging far from that, but with the instrumental tracks they have a real nice earth sound to them that makes so peaceful to hear. The two singles that I would say to check out would be In Pieces, and Over & Over, but if you enjoyed (m)orning you'll probably like (a)fternoon as well.
I am just going to get this out of the way, the 2005 release “Plans” was one of the better records this decade, it's solid from the beginning to end. There have been many a nights spent by the fire-pit listening to that entire album from beginning to end, and I was hoping that their new EP “The Open Door” would capture that same feeling. This six song EP features songs that were originally recorded as the 2008 “Narrow Stairs” but didn't make the album, which makes senses cause the songs don't really fit the mold of what that record was. Narrow Stairs never felt this soft or personal, sure the use of acoustic guitar has always been there but these songs have that sing along quality that makes them so fun to listen to. I would suggest My Mirror Speaks and I Was Once A Loyal Lover to start out with, both give you the highs (more electric guitars) to the lower acoustic sounds.
I was first expose to chip-tunes music indirectly (varies YouTube clips, games, etc) over the years thanks in part to my vast love of video games and hunger for new music. While I had never heard the term Chip-tunes until a recent article on Kotaku by Leigh Alexander really told me what exactly chip-tunes music was. Chip-tunes music features synthesized sounds coming from a computer chip, in most cases generally a video game system like NES, Gameboy, SNES, etc. The first album I am looking at is Anamanaguchi (that's a mouthful) 2009 EP “Dawn Metropolis”. For an album with literally no vocals included it's just a fun record to listen to, part of that being the nostalgic I probably feel remembering all these old sounds. But that said the actual guitar and drum beats that play over the synthesized beats are really good, although at times I feel that the guitar and drums are drowned out a bit. Jetpack Blues, Sunset Hues is my favorite track on the EP, it's got a nice opening to it and the chorus line has some of the better guitar riffs, after that Blackout City and the title track are also worth a listen, the Itunes store actually has this EP if you want to check it out along with the debut from 2006. Here's a great video about the band beginning and a little bit about
I fight Dragons is an another Chip-tunes band that like Anamanaguchi features band members playing powerpads, NES zappers, Powergloves, Rock Band guitars, gameboys, and your regular guitars, bass, and drums, but one main difference is that their song feature lyrics. Their debut Cool is Just a Number is a great pop/rock record that more then a gimmick of old NES sound effects. All five songs from this album are just so much fun to listen, they also perform a great live show that explains really well what their music is and how everything comes together. I would highly recommend Heads Up, Hearts Down, The Faster The Treadmill, and With you as song to at least listen to, you can get most of the album for free just for being a part of their mailing list and often times they release free song via mailing list. I Fight Dragons also did a video showing their practice space and a bit more about each instrument (or controller) and how they work.
Lastly looking a (free) tribute to the great Weezer, featuring fourteen different songs from some of the best Chip-tunes artist of today. Some of the covers have chip-tunes synthesized sound with traditional guitar riffs with vocals, some feature no vocals at all, it really comes down to how each particular artist wanted to play the song. Both Anamanaguchi and I Fight Dragons make an appearance here with covers of Holiday and Why Bother? I really enjoy the mix that Bit Shifter did on the song “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here” along with “Hash Pipe” by Seal of Quality. If you enjoy Weezer at all you should give the songs a listen at least and best of all it won't cost ya a thing.
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