Welcome to 8-Bit Pop, if you haven't been formerly introduced. What happens here is geeky smart guys have wired Nintendos, Ataris, and other old school video game systems so that the blips and beeps that formed the childhood soundtrack of most people born in the 1980s can be manipulated as instruments. Championed by such 'next big thing' spotters like Malcolm McLaren and with this release, Astralwerks, the genre limiting itself as much as early video game music composers were, the chip tune sound has found it's way into even the most current modern electronic artists' work (Ferry Corsten's "Watch Out", for example). So what better music to play on these gadgets than that of Kraftwerk, to which music of the electronic culture owes as much to as it does Pac-Man.
Kraftwerk and 8-Bit fans will most likely enjoy this collection from front to back, fleshing out fantasizes of what it would be like to see Mario bounce mushrooms and turtles to the German purveyors' robotic compositions and their sometimes wonderment/sometimes alienated lyrical musings. Within its oddity context, there's not a bad track on the album. But for the casual Kraftwerk listener or those curious about the video game music morph, tracks to seek out are Glomag's "Pocket Calculator" and Nullsleep's "The Model." Both utilize all the good stuff of both the 8-bit chimey melodies and Kraftwerk's monotone soul. Other highlights are "Spacelab" by 8-Bit Weapon, which conjures up visions of the Doctor Who television series and then "Tanzmusik" by Herbert Weixelbaum, which should be a giant beacon to Alexey Pajitnov when he goes looking for someone to score the Tetris 2008 edition.
Good quirky stuff!