Ground Kontrol Presents

Supported By Local Sleeper Cells
capitalSTEPS * Air Fortress * Operation Mission * SER1AL KRUSHER

03 June 2006 10PM 21+ $8

TICKETS ON SALE NOW * 120 MAX CAPACITY * RESIST OR DIE

Ground Kontrol is proud to present the only Pacific Northwest stop of the INTERNATIONAL CHIPTUNE RESISTANCE, an unprecedented global tour featuring low-bit tactical specialists Bit Shifter and Nullsleep.

Equipped solely with Nintendo Game Boys and NES consoles, this two-man cell operates as a highly dangerous mobile chiptune assault unit. Deployment date: May 2006; mission objective: total chiptune conquest; and a mission trajectory encircling the entire world, with more than 20 strike points throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.

The familiar beeps, clicks, and tones of obsolete game hardware, repurposed into arresting laser-guided melodies and low-res, hard-hitting precision rhythms -- all delivered at high volume from standard-issue handhelds and home gaming consoles. The machines are small, the sound is gigantic, the scope is worldwide, the advance is unstoppable. Prepare your defenses.

BIT SHIFTER (New York City)

Bit Shifter explores high-energy, low-bit music composed and performed on the Nintendo Game Boy, in service of a sound both beat-heavy and melodic. The result is a subversive foray into a distinctive soundset, all executed on a console misperceived as being technically limited. Tagged by Rolling Stone as a "Game Boy hero," Bit Shifter released his debut CD Life's A Bit Shifter (555 Recordings) in 2004 to wide acclaim, with a more recent follow-up in the Information Chase EP (8bitpeoples). Bit Shifter's music adopts an innocently familiar soundset, redirecting it into the service of novel and visceral new idioms, all on a pocket-sized console. The result: giant sounds from small machines.

Hexadecimal Genome (MP3)

Bad Surge (MP3)

NULLSLEEP (New York City)

Nullsleep performs using Game Boys and NES consoles to create conceptually unique music that blends subversive hardware hacking with powerful melodic pop. His constant push for new ways to force the most out of yesterday's machines and the unparalleled romantic chiptune intensity he brings to the stage have gained him notice everywhere from Wired to Vogue. Whether thrashing away on a keyboard hooked up to a Game Boy like an electric guitar or rocking hacked NES cartridges, Nullsleep consistently demonstrates his passion for pushing the limits of both the hardware and the heart.

Her Lazer Light Eyes (MP3)

Galaxy Tonite (MP3)

Promotional Materials

Poster (PDF, 1.1MB)