Track By Track: Credit 00 – Game Over
The arcade was once a safe haven for the youthful vagabond. Ironically, we were taught that we learnt little from time spent playing video games and their value was limited. However, there is now more people drawing upon the influence of the arcade and those colourful machines than perhaps was ever to be expected.
Last month saw the record label Uncanny Valley release their debut full length LP in the form of Credit 00's "Game Over". A record built up of inspiration from the arcade, the glitches and flutters of a youth spent amidst machines.
We caught up with him as he guides us through the album. Read below:
Level One
Clearly an introductory track, I sampled an entire level of the game Double Dragon and layered some beats and fx on top.
Colour: I find it hard to relate music to a certain colour because I think that there are way more nuances in sound than the visual colour spectrum offers, instead I will add an image of the admosphere that i have in mind to each track.
Season: Can't tell, it's always night in the arcade hall.
Inspiration: Arcade video game Street Fight Mystery, Gangster Rap.
Setting: Roland Tr – 606, Computer, full ashtray.
Game Over
It just started and it's already over. That's how life can go but there is always light at the end of the tunnel. This kind of melancholia feeling is a main inspiration for my music.
Colour: 50 shades of brown.
Season: Probably a foggy autumn day.
Inspiration: John Carpenter, Italian Horror Movie Soundtracks.
Setting: Car ride through the night.
Hit Fire to Respawn
I love tribal percussion music and I like to combine it with 808 beats and some spaced out sounds to get this electrified African vibe. This is also why I think „Ras G And The Afrikan Space Program“ is the best name for a music project, really jealous of that name.
Colour: Somthing really bright.
Season: Summer on Jupiter which is 3 years long.
Inspiration: Tribal rhythms, Dub, Trance.
Setting: The year 4017, my skeleton next to my 808 are discoverd in some archaeological excavation.
Breakers Revenge
This one is dedicated to all b-boys. I was musically socialised with the whole NY hip hop, zulu nation b-boy movement. The positivity within 80's Hip Hop music is something I really miss these days, so I thought I write some lyrics about world peace.
Colour: Rainbow.
Season: All seasons.
Inspiration: Babe ruth – the Mexican, Rock Steady Crew, Style Wars, Wild Style.
Setting: Boom Box, Linoleum mat
Dance Dance Revolution
I think this is the track I am most happy with on the album. I played it live a couple of times, always with 707 drums. However, during the final recording session I wasn't happy with the 707 anymore so I spent an entire day trying out different drums. I almost gave up but then found the „power“ drum kit on the boss Dr.660. I was raving immediately, shouting: dance to the electronic beat! And thought, yeah that's also cool vocals.
Colour: New beat neon.
Season: Cold war
Inspiration: front 242, ebm
Setting: Parking Lot in front of Boccaccio 1987 – doing drugs in the car.
Odyssey:
This is an old recording from 2010 or something, a long session recorded in one take which I cut last year.
Colour: Water colours.
Season: Winter under the arctic ice
Inspiration: Drexciya
Setting: Drexciyan deep sea dwellers on a neverending odyssey through the seven seas.
Insert Disc Two
Introduction of the second part of the album. This was an old unfinished track I rediscovered last year. I downloaded this amiga text to speech plug in which says computer and execute, that was just the bit needed to finish the track.
Colour: 8 bit
Season: No season
Inspiration: Funk, Dance Mania, Computers
Setting: tied to the screen
One Zero One
Most of the material for the album existed for some time already. Last year I recorded, arranged, edited evertyhing in one bulk. Arranging and editing aren't the most fun parts of making music, so I took time out after one days session and did this jam with just a Roland SH101 and JX3P. I didn't plan to make another track, it was just for relaxation but I liked the result and recorded it. I needed a techno 'ish' track on the album because I wanted to include all of my influences and musical styles which I play in my DJ Sets. I was thinking alot about how to throw in some techno and this was the way to do it: techno without beats. I mixed this with some Jeff Mills and DJ Qu already and it works perfectly.
Colour: No match found in spectrum
Season: Can't tell
Inspiration: Mono Junk – Channel B, binary code
Setting: Studio self – meditation
King of Monsters
I mentioned before that I wanted to include as many of my musical influences as possible on the album, so this is the nineties Dancehall, Jungle side of me. However, I didn't want to make another classic jungle or dancehall track, I always like to introduce some elements which aren't typical to the genre, in this case 707 drums. The vocal samples are from one of my old mixtapes of the kilimanjaro soundsystem.
Colour: Red, yellow and green
Season: Summer
Inspiration: Dancehall, Jungle
Setting: Soundsystem in the street, all lighters!
Jungle Hunt
Bit of the same concept as „hit Fire To Respawn“. Afro Percussion meets electronics.
Colour: Jungle forest soil colours.
Season: Monsoon season.
Inspiration: Drummers of Burundi, New Beat, Acid
Setting: Dynacord Echochord in the jungle.
Qusar
A lot of times I use recordings of my live sets as guidelines when I record tracks for a release, in this case the live recording was just right, so I didnt have to change anything. Live in … it also sounds cool in the tracklist description on an album.
Colour: Ultraviolet
Season: Cosmic summer.
Inspiration: Cosmic trance.
Setting: Earth gets eaten up by a massive black hole.
The Last March
This is another old track that was lurking around on my hard drive for ages. Perfect title for the last track on the album. This is am 808 marching rhythm.
Colour: Dark stuff.
Season: End time.
Inspiration: Military marches, war, armageddon.
Setting: Robot army marching in.
Buy the release HERE.
