Today marks the (digital) release of 「256 e.p.」, the first single from JulieHally who are a new duo backed by VORC Records. A full-length album is slated for release in early 2010. The above video demoes their second song L.E.D. Nation. You can also sample their opening track Casual at their HearJapan page, from which you can conveniently buy both songs for a measly 2.22$. So what we have here is an interesting combination of Julie's cute vocals laid on top of some carefully programmed 8bit tracks from none other than chiptune expert Hally. The songs were composed with a standard pop/rock mindset, no experimental stuff here. There's good energy and both songs are fairly memorable, which is impressive for a debut release.
But dig beneath the surface and you'll uncover some impressive hardcore experience. Hally of course is a well established Chiptune artist in Japan. He even came up with some custom Famicom equipment for his live performances. Seems the man is a total party animal too, judging by this touching male bonding story from Denmark (do I detect some bromance?). Now the other part of the equation is just as fascinating. We are indeed talking about the proud Samurai descendant Julie Watai (AKA SAMURAIGIRL) who appeared alongside DJ SHIMAMURA on last year's brutal JCore compilation 「真・凌辱HARDCORE ～エロスの饗宴～」. And yes, you're right, this is the same Julie Watai whose fantastic otaku photography book was released worldwide in 2006. So, uh... street cred? Yeah. It's everywhere.
But dig beneath the surface and you'll uncover some impressive hardcore experience. Hally of course is a well established Chiptune artist in Japan. He even came up with some custom Famicom equipment for his live performances. Seems the man is a total party animal too, judging by this touching male bonding story from Denmark (do I detect some bromance?). Now the other part of the equation is just as fascinating. We are indeed talking about the proud Samurai descendant Julie Watai (AKA SAMURAIGIRL) who appeared alongside DJ SHIMAMURA on last year's brutal JCore compilation 「真・凌辱HARDCORE ～エロスの饗宴～」. And yes, you're right, this is the same Julie Watai whose fantastic otaku photography book was released worldwide in 2006. So, uh... street cred? Yeah. It's everywhere.
Also from our friends @ VORC comes Saitone's two latest songs: Smooth Criminal and Thriller. Yup, these are indeed 8bit covers of some of MAIKURU JAKUSON's greatest hits. He's always enjoyed tremendous popularity in Japan, so these chiptune tributes are quite fitting. Regardless of what you think of the man, you should be able to enjoy these two songs on a purely artistic basis. It helps that Saitone, one of the founding members of VORC, is nothing short of a legend when it comes to stringing intricate series of crude beeps together. And hey, he'll even play them live.
Speaking of which, VORC record also wants you to know that on November 27th 2009, you can log on to DreamHack's Justin.tv channel for a FREE STREAM of JulieHally and Saitone performing live in Sweden. You may consult the event's schedule for more details, but JulieHally and Saitone go on at 11:30PM (11/26) and 12:30AM (11/27) respectively. That's Sweden time (CET+1) so use this handy website to convert to your own time zone (east coasters, we're talking 5:30PM here). Don't miss them!
Speaking of which, VORC record also wants you to know that on November 27th 2009, you can log on to DreamHack's Justin.tv channel for a FREE STREAM of JulieHally and Saitone performing live in Sweden. You may consult the event's schedule for more details, but JulieHally and Saitone go on at 11:30PM (11/26) and 12:30AM (11/27) respectively. That's Sweden time (CET+1) so use this handy website to convert to your own time zone (east coasters, we're talking 5:30PM here). Don't miss them!
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