MARIO IST KRIEG

Anyobody remember way, way, way back this morning when Brother Seanford put up his second post about music from the Commodore 64 computer gaming system? Or how 'bout the first one? Anyone? No?
Well, the Commodore 64 system has always seemed somewhat alien to me. The first time I lived in a household with a functioning computer was around 2004, and as much as I enjoy the music, I remain completely ignorant of the actual Commodore experience. I assume I missed out on some sweet games and stuff but really, I don't know. I have zero frame of personal reference to fall back on here.

In a way, the C64 game system occupies the same part of my brain where ultra-kvlt one-man bedroom black metal bands live--A dark, obscure region where things seem cooler the less you know about them. Such is the true nature of the chronic music collector and/or gamer. The grass is always greener on the B side, right? But obscurity does not necessarily equal listenability. Bands like Nyogthaeblisz, Abominable Putridity, or Gorugoth might be fun to speculate about due to their relative weirdness and inaccessabilty, but when push comes to shove, their music just ain't that great. Sometimes, you just need a cold beer and Master of Puppets.

So let's retrace the logic here: Commodore 64 = Nyogthaeblisz. OK, cool.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Master of Puppets of video game music:

A bootleg 2 CD recording containing no less than 116 of your favorite NES theme songs, from the classics (Rygar, Punch Out, Metroid, Contra) to the strange and forgotten (Golvellius, Cobra Triangle, Guardian Legend, Gradius, Clu-Clu Land). This collection comprises approximately one (1) metric fuckton of killer jams, almost 2 and a half hours of 8-bit goodness all in one place. 100% worth it for mere novelty/nostalgia value, but upon closer listening, complex polyphonic compositions like "Gumshoe, Stage 1", "Kid Icarus, World 2", "Wonder Boy 3, The Last Dungeon", and "Rush'N Attack, Stage 1" will keep you coming back like a crack rock salt lick.
Fuck, this is almost as good as listening to Bill Cosby talk about shooting heroin.
Almost.

Download HERE

But wait, there's more!

All this talk about one-man kvlt bedroom black metal and sweet 8-bit Nintendo music reminds me: You guys should really check out XEXYZ. This Illinois band is comprised of one dude named Rev, and succumbs to all the pratfalls of lo-fi BM--tinny guitars, flappity drums, questionable recording quality, Varg-y screeching--but there's a catch... All this shitty noise is played over the top of some of your favorite NES themes (again, Rygar and Metroid are present). So yeah, this is goofy as fuck, but oddly catchy too. 2006's Primeval Mountain was the only thing Xexyz ever released. You need it.

Download HERE
Purchase the 2008 re-issue (w/ one extra track) HERE
Metallum/Last.FM