Currently Listening

A glog about the ups and downs of the "album shuffle" function.
The Advantage- Elf-Titled                       & Anamanaguchi- Dawn Metropolis Yes, these is two albums by two different bands but hold on, it will all make sense soon. The Advantage, named after the ungainly arcade-style controller for the NES, are a quartet (featuring Hella drummer Spencer Seim). In the strictest sense, they’re a cover band, although what they cover are ‘songs’ from old videogames, e.g. themes from various iterations of Megaman, boss fights from Metroid, start screen compositions from Ducktails et. all. They’re a novelty, but an impressive one: it’s difficult to imagine keeping up with some of the baroque arpeggiations that were featured in the soundtracks to those games. But they do, with finesse. Seim’s drumming is irreproachable as always. The experience falls somewhere between awe, confusion, and nostalgia. Conversely, Anamanaguchi are members of the small but burgeoning genre of chiptune: musicians using the various sound-making apparatuses from gameboys and the like to create original compositions (which end up sounding like they came from videogames you forgot to play as a kid). While I personally cannot envision what an Anamanaguchi show would look or sound like, on record they’re sugarhigh, attention-deficit, and, well, a lot of fun. Listen to either of these enough, and your life just might level up. 

The Advantage- Elf-Titled

                      &

Anamanaguchi- Dawn Metropolis

Yes, these is two albums by two different bands but hold on, it will all make sense soon.

The Advantage, named after the ungainly arcade-style controller for the NES, are a quartet (featuring Hella drummer Spencer Seim). In the strictest sense, they’re a cover band, although what they cover are ‘songs’ from old videogames, e.g. themes from various iterations of Megaman, boss fights from Metroid, start screen compositions from Ducktails et. all. They’re a novelty, but an impressive one: it’s difficult to imagine keeping up with some of the baroque arpeggiations that were featured in the soundtracks to those games. But they do, with finesse. Seim’s drumming is irreproachable as always. The experience falls somewhere between awe, confusion, and nostalgia.

Conversely, Anamanaguchi are members of the small but burgeoning genre of chiptune: musicians using the various sound-making apparatuses from gameboys and the like to create original compositions (which end up sounding like they came from videogames you forgot to play as a kid). While I personally cannot envision what an Anamanaguchi show would look or sound like, on record they’re sugarhigh, attention-deficit, and, well, a lot of fun.

Listen to either of these enough, and your life just might level up. 

  1. bigallymcdeal reblogged this from currentlylistening and added:
    I’ve been to an Anamanaguchi show, and it’s fucking intense.
  2. currentlylistening posted this