One of the premiere Game Boy-wielding 8Bit electronic musicians in the world is Josh Davis aka Bit Shifter, and subVariant and Front 312 are excited to have him perform at Ai Lounge on Halloween. Having played over 100 live shows armed with only two Nintendo Game Boys, and two home-brew aftermarket music programs, he has a dedicated following and has been known to ignite dance floors with his high energy live performances.

Bitshifter-”The World Has Turned and Left Me Here” (Weezer cover) by quantazelle

Tom Loftus of MSNBC.com says of Bit Shifter’s performance,“[B]y the time Davis jumped to his rave-up ‘Parapersona Crash,’ the walls started to shake and what little hesitation the audience may have had over dancing to a kiddy toy’s ‘bleeps’ and ‘bloops’ vanished.”

“We booked him …and I still think it’s the most people that have been in the Tank at one time–hundreds and hundreds of people…” says Mike Rosenthal, Artistic Director of The Tank in NYC. “ Bitshifter just rocked the place–just blew us all away.”

Josh Davis says of the 8bit sound, “This is a really distinctive sound-set that anyone of our generation will have most likely been exposed to during childhood and as a consequence of that it became hardwired into our aesthetic sensibilities….but it was always off-limits creatively. So, people who grew up with 8bit and 16bit video game consoles–if they were musicians, they were able to dabble in just about *anything* else….”

Liz Revision of subVariant will open by digitally spinning minimal tech-house, glitch, and IDM; Mr. Automatic from Front 312 brings electro, new wave, and acid house; and Onefiftyone from Chicago Workgroup plays nudisco.

Bit Shifter explores high-energy, low-bit music composed and performed on a Nintendo Game Boy. The result is an unapologetically fun foray into an evocative and distinctive sound-set, executed on a console generally misperceived as being technically limited. Made possibly by two home-brew Game Boy music-making programs, Nanoloop and Little Sound DJ, Bit Shifter’s music adopts and subverts the playfulness inherent in the familiar Game Boy sound-set, repurposing it into the service of novel idioms. Based in New York City, Bit Shifter has performed over one hundred shows worldwide, having recently circumnavigated the planet in a 20-date world tour with fellow chiptune compatriot Nullsleep.

subVariant is a Chicago-based record label and events production company known for its both its innovative electronic music releases and creative packaging, as well as its edgy and boundary-pushing live events and music showcases.  Front 312 has been promoting an eclectic night in Chicago for over a year featuring house, electro, new wave and industrial at Liar’s Club, although individually its members have been churning away in various underground electronic realms, and have collected a diverse group of dedicated followers. Together subV and 312 bring their diverse crowds together to experience Halloween in a cool downtown location with an excellent, creative and diverse lineup unique in Chicago for Halloween.

Tickets are $20 at the door, $15 presale at http://www.fractalspin.com/bitshifter, or $17 day off with an RSVP to http://chicago.going.com/bitshifter.

The first 30 people with presale tickets will get a free surprise treat bag featuring cool stuff from local businesses and online shops.

MySpace Playlist at MixPod.com

Ai Lounge is at 358 W. Ontario, Downtown Chicago. The night runs from 10pm – 3am. A late night sushi menu is also available, as is $10 valet parking.

Bit Shifter interview

AUDIO: “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here” vocal track from Bitshifter (Weezer Cover)
http://subvariant.com/media/Bitshifter-04TheWorldHasTurnedAndLeftMeHere.mp3

AUDIO: “Activation Theme” by Bitshifter (Original Instrumental)
http://www.8bitpeoples.com/mp3/get/370/8bp059-02-bit_shifter-activation_theme.mp3

VIDEO: “Bitshifter Interview”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BifjWTFAvMU

TEXT: “Interview with Bitshifter” (Longer, more technical interview)
http://www.chaoscontrol.com/?article=bitshifter

GOING (DISCOUNT LINK): http://chicago.going.com/bitshifter
PRESALE TIX: http://www.fractalspin.com/bitshifter

subVariant: http://www.subvariant.com
Liz Revision: http://www.lizrevision.com

Were you one of those kids who had a next door neighbor who had that sweet corvette PowerWheel and were too woefully poor to have one yourself? We were those kids, and we decided to do something about it….20 years later.

We decided to modify and race PowerWheels, We do it for the glory, for the daring dreamy dream of that tasty elixir known as childhood that we’ll never have again cause we have day jobs and don’t weigh 70 pounds anymore. (Fatty)

We also want to play Mario Kart in real life without all those pesky pixels.

The PowerWheel Racing Series (PPPWRS) presents to the world an event for the ages.

On August 15th 6 teams will gather to win the prized PowerWheel Cup an award so prestigious I just decided to make it up five minutes ago to sound impressive.

PowerWheels Grand Prix, Logan Square

Adam Jensen closing out the party to a bunch of wild screaming dancers

Photos from the Exception AM / ER Release Party

Thanks to everyone who came out and got crazy at the Exception AM & Exception ER release party in Chicago. Liz Revision played a DJ set of tracks off of both releases early in the night and slowly eased the crowd into the party vibe that would take hold during Andrew Kevin’s set, further ramp up during Sevron’s set of mostly-house, and then get crazy during Adam Jensen’s (Silentcorp) killer performance that closed out the night, but not before we had breakdancing. Yes, breakdancing. You couldn’t have asked for a better crowd or better sets from the DJs.

Thanks also to the talented producers who contributed tracks to the “Music to relieve your hangover” concept–you guys kick ass.