So, being a musician, I’m always on the lookout for new styles as to keep music fresh and interesting to me. While listening to an episode of Chris’s Finding Japan Podcast www.findingjapan.com , it was recommended I check out this group called YMCK (www.ymck.net) What’s awesome about YMCK (yellow, magenta, cyan, key(black) – the colors used in early computer monitors, opposite of RGB system) is that they take sounds from the classic NES (for those of you who have rented out caves to live in as a child, NES = Nintendo Entertainment System ) All of the sounds are 8-bit, so they’re very rudimentary in waveform. In the Age of Things Becoming too Frickin’ Advanced, it’s nice to hear such electronic simplicity IMHO.

A description from their official website:

“YMCK is the 8bit pop unit formed by 3 persons. The most prominent feature of the band is the 8bit sound that reminds people old game consoles, which attracts the enthusiastic support from wide range of generations. The 1st album “Family music” released in 2004 made a big hit and made their popularity unassailable. Their unique style of live performances using 8bit pixel animation is also highly acclaimed. Their activities are not limited in Japan but also made successes in performing at international music festivals around the world: in Sweden, Netherlands, New York, Washington DC, Thailand, Korea and Taiwan, and CDs are released in United States, Thailand, and South Korea. Besides those things above, YMCK does a wide range of activities, such as remix works, video game sound tracks, DJ performances, development of 8bit sound plug-in software etc.” (http://www.ymck.net/english/profile/index.html)

These instruments, combined with the vocals from the group make for an electric experience (pun half-intended.) Since this clip has been on YouTube for a while without being taken off: I’ll assume it’s safe to link it. Enjoy!