Level Necklace

The bubble in the level moves around as much as you do! This is a favorite piece of jewelry even for those “non-jewelry” people. $66.00

Floppy Disc Necklaces
Here’s a cool way to show off your love of things nerdy and retro. This cool necklace features a pendant made from a floppy disc hub. There are two versions, one with a regular chain and clasp, and another with ball chain.

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

These cool, strechy Wristlings^TM by Liz Revision aren’t just adorable wrist-adornment, they are also helping out a good cause. A portion of the proceeds are donated to Expanding Your Horizons, a nonprofit that holds conferences to nurture girls’ interest in science and math courses to encourage them to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Neuron Tie

Transformer Tie

Plaguesley Tie

Check out these cool new ties from Cyberoptix. Impress the bio teacher, neurologist, psychiatrist or chemically enhanced lovely person in your life with the Neuron Tie. The electric pole has come alive and it’s root-like, cord plugs are about to grab anything is it’s path in the Transformer Tie. The Black Plague causing bacterium, Yersinia Pestis has begun to invade the Land of Traditional Paisley, thus forming the mutant strain, Plaguesley.

Pac-Man Candy
Ah, Pac-Man, you were my gateway drug. When I was in preschool my mom would take me along to her bowling league meetings every week and plop me down on a bar stool in front of Pac-Man where I would obsessively guide him through the maze, chomping away at yummy dots. Next up it was Haunted Mansion on the C64 and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on the Apple IIe in my early school years, and then Super Mario Bros. and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? on NES in my junior high years. High school found me in front of a 486 playing games I downloaded from BBSs, namely Wolfenstein 3d and Doom. In college I would giggle at the Unix game Hunt the Wumpus and then promptly switch into graphics mode for Descent, Duke Nukem, and Quake 2 on the LAN. At some point I bought a Dreamcast to play Tony Hawk 2, Ecco the Dolphin, Soul Calibur, and Rez. Post-college I remember switching gears from freelance graphic design projects to play Hitman 2 and the Myst series. These days I’m busy with work, music and DJing, but I’ve occasionally been known to spend a bit of time in Kingdom of Loathing. So, Pac-Man started my game-association memories. Now you can fondly recall the 80s and your own game-based personal timeline with either Pac-Man lemon, Blue Ghost raspberry, or Red Ghost cherry candy.

Super Mario Bros. Starman Candy
This floaty, mouthless little guy would provide the protagonists in Super Mario Brothers with a brief bout of invincibility. We can’t promise the sweet candy inside will do the same for you, but he still makes pretty cute case for candy.

And when you’ve accumulated all available candy into your person, you can use the metal tin to store small, equally cute, or useful things.

Zelda Peppermints
Check it out! It’s Link’s shield from The Legend of Zelda, but it’s filled with peppermints. While it won’t protect you from Molblin, Darknuts, Gibdos, Goriya, Keese, or Lanmola, it will definitely protect your friends. From being overwhelmed by your Ganon-flooring breath, that is. There’s 100 pretty strong mints in here (a few steps below Altoids) to last you a fairly long time, too.

Playstation Portable (PSP) Sours

Here’s a cool way to make your candy portable: PSP Sours. They’re available in Red (Sour Cherry) or Blue (Sour Raspberry). And, when you’ve devoured all the candy you can use the tin to hold game cartridges, memory cards, fancy foreign coins, or be a creative package to send your PSP-addicted significant other a love letter.

If you send us a cool photo of you wearing or otherwise engaging with something you got at Fractalspin and we post it, we’ll send you a coupon for 30% off. Email submissions to fractalspin1337@gmail.com along with any relevant info you want to share.

Here is Bethany Shorb of Cyberopix wearing a Diode Necklace by Zelle. I love her dramatic “languidly pondering which glassware to use for my next top-secret experiment” pose. Bethany designs super neat silkscreened ties that don’t suck. Go check her out.

Here’s a great Science Fair Project-inspired Valentine’s Day card. Nerdy and LOL!

Angela Dav unlocked the most stuff in our Geek Gifts Application on Facebook and won herself a box packed full of Fractalspin gear. She even put it on display for all the internets to see! Congrats, Angela!