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Jona Neace has been DJing for 15 years, sharing the bill with renowned acts like Dieselboy, Reid Speed, Grooverider, Roy Davis Jr., DJ Rush, Tony Rohr and more, and he's played notable festivals like Burning Man and Coachella. We're happy to have him a part of the subVariant crew, and he's given us an exclusive minimal techno mix called "The Luxury of Breathing" featuring tracks by artists like Mihalis Safras, Autistic, Camea, and Elon. Download or stream it from here, check out Jona's bio & mixes, and stay tuned for more awesomeness in the works.
From experimental blips to industrial and drum ‘n’ bass flavored bangers, to saccharine unabashed pop tendencies, Bit Shifter is a dynamic live presence, pushing as much output from his custom setup featuring Nintendo Game Boys outfitted with homebrewed cartridges and perhaps the maximum emotional output capable from eight puny bits of power. -NEW CITY CHICAGO ("Preview: 8bit Halloween featuring Bit Shifter/AI Lounge")
If an evening of off-the-radar music is up your alley, then our pick for one of Halloween weekend's most interesting events will pique your interest. 8bit Halloween at AI Lounge hosts one of the world's premiere 8bit electronic musicians, Josh Davis aka Bit Shifter. Playing his entire set out of a pair of Nintendo Game Boys, Davis pushes the boundaries of sonic experimentation. - CHICAGOIST ("Halloweek in Music")
Our friend + previous Dorkbot Chicago presenter Liz Revision is organizing an 8bit Halloween ft. Bit Shifter here in CHICAGO. DORKBOT CHICAGO. ("8bit Halloween ft. Bit Shifter CHICAGO")
*EDITOR'S PICK - Going.com
It’s all in celebration of a Halloweeen party Saturday night in Chicago, headlined by Josh Davis (BitShifter). Party ringleader Liz joins Josh on behalf of subVariant to represent the IDM-glitch-minimal-tech-house side of things, and Mr. Automatic (Front 312) and Onefiftyone (Chicago Workshop) will be joining in. If you’re in Chicago, this looks like the place to spend your Saturday.--CREATE DIGITAL MUSIC ("Happy Halloween: Exclusive Free Liz Revision Mix, Party in Chicago with Bit Shifter")
Shout-outs to our sponsoring friends:
Music Industry Workshop [The area's largest music industry training facility w/ Certified Ableton Trainers]
Transistor [Art | Electronics | Music | Books | awesome store on the north side]
Mac Specialist [Premier Apple Macintosh computer specialist with sales, service, training, consulting, networking and internet access in the Chicagoland area]
Fractalspin [The ultimate online geek boutique / techcessories destination]
Dreamdaze [Live visuals / electronic music]
Kumar McMillan / FarmDev [nerdery^64 / music]
Skewerz [Wicker Park - Hawaiian Fusion]
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.
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.
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.
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
Thanks to everyone who came out and either got art-nerdy or got their DnB on to Tara Grunwald towards the end of the night! Check out the pix from Regroup 1.
Thanks to everyone who came out and got into the rave node! Photos are here and videos are here. See you soon!
More videos
Get ready to re-live the heydey of electronic music in Chicago with Raver Rewind 2000 on Saturday September 19 at Ai Lounge. Four Chicago-based DJs who've experienced the scene firsthand back in the day will be playing records only from 1992-2000 for an authentic soundrack. Contemporary instruments like laptops, digital DJ gear, Monomes / APC, Lemurs are specifically prohibited as well.
What's not prohibited is getting into the "raver spirit" by dressing the part--phat pants, bright colors, ravey t-shirts, and bringing some PLUR and good vibes. For some of us who were there in the scene, it will be a night heavy on nostalgia, and will bring back the joy of hearing classic tracks that we remember fondly. For the newer recruits into the contemporary electronic music scene, it will be educational to hear the tracks, trends and products of available technology that influenced the kind of music being made today.
SPECIAL GUEST: Cesario Magnifique (Italso / electro / disco)
DOWNLOAD Cesario Magnifique's 1-hour mix: "Warp (Rave Mix)"
Popkan (Textone, subVariant) will focus heavily on old school house; Gianna Hardt (Forte Productions, ForTheMammas), a promoter uniquely familiar with of underground parties idolized and was influenced by DJs like Larry Heard, Farley Jackmaster Funk, and Julian Jumpin Perez. Tim Kasper (House of Godz) will bring his collection of vintage techno to throw down. Liz Revision (subVariant) hosts. Arrive early to nosh on Ai Restaurant’s AMAZING Japanese food & killer sushi. Valet is available for $10 all night. 358 W. Ontario, Chicago, 10pm-2am. 21+
"Pirate Party" was the third in the Artificial Intelligence series presented by subVariant at Ai Lounge in Chicago's Loop. subVariant’s Artificial Intelligence showcase is a series of concept parties that aim to merge art, design, humor, and fun into a dance music scene that often takes itself too seriously, while still maintaining the high level of musical quality and experimentation the company is known for and continuing to support the local electronic music community.
So, "Pirate Party" didn't mean just dress like a pirate and get three-sheets-to-thar-wind on rum (although, we can't lie...there was a bit of that in effect as well on Saturday)...it was an invitation for local artists to hand in the work they wanted to share, for free, on the subVariant site, and be promoted and featured in the local press, music blogs, social networks and the like. Sort of like The Pirate Bay, but totally legal since everyone who handed in music has the right to distibute the works (yes, there is a mighty huge .torrent link at the bottom too...please seed!) (And please note the Creative Commons distribution below it...we may all distribute at will but if you want to commercially use or modify any of these workds you gotta contact the artist in question).
Secondly, it's completely non-curated. Unlike a traditional record label that screens for quality, taste, appropriateness and style, we did nothing of the sort. We're just helping everyone "pirate" interesting electronic music + art within a local community and also globally through the powr of thar intartr0nz YARR.
This was an extension of the Demo Swap nights presented by Modsquare, an online IDM magazine that was part of the subVariant family. There was a $7 cover, but if you brought in 10 demos to share, you got in free, as long as you left with at least 10 different demos from other people. Interesting collaborations were made, cool people were connected, and we the subV / modS peeps were happy that we got the normally anti-social musicnerd crew to actually come out IRL and have a good time instead of being snarky behind a keyboard. ;-)
So here you go, download as much as you can. I've enjoyed experiencing all these creative works, whether they be bangin' techno dance-sets, or calm reflections on the natural visual beauty we've been blessed with as humans on planet Earth. All of it for free. Yay.
-Liz Revision / Quantazelle <3
| Antiphase - "Contributions" [.zip] |
 | DJ Natural Born Chiller - Demo [.zip] |
 | Dreamlogicc: "Audio, Video, Images" [.zip] |
 | Droopy: "Broken Phone" [.zip] |
 | John A. Booth: Photography [.zip] |
 | Johnny Armstong: Limited Edition Mix for subVariant [.zip] |
 | Kawa: Live Mix CD Disco Bus [.zip] |
 | Liz Revision: "DJ Mixes" [.zip] |
 | Metrofunk: "Valley of the Bassine" [.zip] |
From the article:
In 2008, Liz’s Ramp Chicago had a successful run of monthly techno events in the basement of Debonair Social Club. She decided that resurrecting the subVariant label would provide more opportunities to produce events with an interactive twist. She says, “I did a lot of searching to find alternative venues…to get a bigger space that would bring in more people, in order to have the caliber of talent I’m interested in bringing.” For its label re-launch, subVariant will host Berlin-based producer and DJ InsideOut at Vision Nightclub. The NYC ex-pat and co-owner of minimal techno label Clink Recordings will headline with local DJs Hernan Sanchez, Gianna Hardt and McLean-Knight (as Liz Revision) supporting.
Click on the images to view larger versions.
