Artist Decktonic, aka Christian Montoya, hovers over his sound machines, as neon-fantastic as his music sounds. Photo courtesy the artist; (CC-BY-NC) Ben Mason.
A generation of gaming has done something to our ears. It has primed listeners to appreciate the sound of digital instruments in raw form: dry and immediate, crisply-synchronized machine dance music. So, while I wouldn’t call the music of Decktonic “chip music” or “game music,” somehow it’s a modern take on each. It’s retro-futuristic, electro-techno unadorned with effects. And, hell, while Korg’s DS-10 running on Nintendo DS is far from a high-fidelity sound experience, there’s something irresistibly funky about its sound. Listening to the DS-10 dry in the hands of a creative musician can be a cure for the ear fatigue you suffer from the endless sameness of a lot of releases.
“Forgotten Machines” is a free download (available lossless), Creative Commons-licensed if you want to do your own remix.
And it comes with an aptly-geometric abstract video for the title track, too.
Artist Christian Montoya explains:
I’m writing today to share my newest album, Forgotten Machines, which I released this morning on 56kbps Records. It was made entirely with the KORG DS10+ software and it has a classic electro meets future techno style. You can think of it as a love letter to early synthesizers.
The description:
FORGOTTEN MACHINES is all about rediscovering old tools and using them to make new art. The story of FORGOTTEN MACHINES is told through the magic of ~dance music~ and was written with the intention of marrying early synth-pop with a future techno aesthetic. This marriage eventually produced a baby, thereafter called FORGOTTEN MACHINES and he is a love letter to classic synthesizers and ~dance music~ enthusiasts everywhere.
It really does sound like DS-10 to me – in fact, with an amount of character even the iOS apps, while great, lack.
I say, blip, blip – dirty nerdy.
Decktonic DJing Lomography Gallery Store, New York, speaking of things that are made of plastic and addictively fun. Courtesy the artist.