uylf002
maxo
dawn / noon / dusk / mdnt
downloads
grab the whole release as a .zip file here
or download individual songs below
dawn ep
noon ep
dusk ep
mdnt ep
grab the whole release as a .zip file here
this release is under Creative Commons license:
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
liner notes
we love 8-bit and chiptunes. if you do too, there are quite a few chiptune netlabels out there, where you can get your fix any day of the week.
maxo is in a category by himself, though. this is 8-bit made equally for the brain and the feet. more importantly for our purposes, this is 8-bit uylf-style. these 12 songs roar by in a pixellated frenzy. although wordless, they tantalize with more hooky riffs and melodies than any top-40 station could cram into a workday. the songs on these 4 eps feature earworms within earworms, and their replayability is the kicker: we've had them on a near-constant loop since april.
we were first drawn to maxo's music when we noticed he listed faraquet as one of his influences on another website. faraquet? as in d.c.'s intricate, hooky math-rock faraquet? yes, indeed, that faraquet. and maxo more than does the namedrop justice.
as evidenced by their titles and the awesome cover art (designed by maxo), these 4 eps are loosely themed around the times of day they are named for.
naturally enough, dawn ep opens the set, with tunes that are equally blippy, groovy and showtunesque. get used to how quickly these fly by; they're here for a good time - not a long time! oh, and that main hook on Summer Weather is completely irresistible.
the noon ep is where things get a little intense and scary, with a metal influence on the arrangements and some of the more out-there time signatures. pay close attention, there are more ideas in each song than on most albums. our personal favourite moment is the middle-section of Hyper Death Hornet.
dusk is when people start getting ready for their night on the town, and the correponding dusk ep here mirrors the same onset of party spirit, from the jackin' Bob Dylan Seduces A Palm Tree through the quasi-postrock of Weathertron to the menacing shuffle of Starmaztor.
mdnt ep revisits the complexity of the noon ep, but in more laidback fashion. Bizarro Manor is the obvious hit single here, but maxo's brilliance is evident all over the place. even MMX, which for much of its runtime seems to make little musical sense traditionally, is jam-packed with good ideas and head-nodding rhythms.
we've never been to nyc, but we like to imagine that they have clubs playing music like this... that somewhere in a trendy nightspot-peppered neighbourhood, there are flashing lights and throbbing speakers in a club with a cutesy name like "8-bit circus," and they have maxo's music turned up to 11. everybody on the floor . . .
comments
Tobermory
LOVE IT! This is a brilliant set of EPs
2010-06-09 12:04:58
Echo Voodoo
Dynamic and full of energy. 'Bizarro Manor' is my favourite, I think, but there's lots of interesting stuff. Nice concept, too, with the 4 linked EPs instead of labeling it as a single album.
2010-06-09 18:17:54
maxo
Thanks so much you guys!
2010-06-09 23:58:34
James L
just the most brilliant release ever from Maxo. good work.
2010-06-10 09:35:01
steffan
Dear lord, this is a masterpiece.
2010-06-10 12:07:40
Tobermory
Anyone else think this seems highly, highly underrated for a free album out a week ago? I think I'm addicted to it from start to finish. Must've listened to it a dozen times already. Exceptional.
2010-06-16 05:15:21
Josh
Holy crap! This is some of the best chiptune music I've heard ever. UYLF is 2 for 2 in kicking ass! Way to go maxo!
2010-06-16 19:59:24
Daniel Wallbank
Dude. I am not a fan of chiptune, in any way, but these are awesome. They transcend the instrumentation due to the sheer mastery of the music. Excellently crafted. If more chiptune sounded like this, I'd listen. It reminds me of those formative years when I would listen to the layers of the music in Sonic The Hedgehog.
2010-06-25 17:35:58
Michael Zhonga
"Summer Weather" is incredibly catchy; my favorite on the release!
2010-06-30 00:02:31
EF
Wowee! Totally agree with Tobermory, I hope lots of people have been enjoying this. I'd never heard of chiptune before, and I often struggle to maintain interest in music without vocals, but there's so much going on here that before I knew it I'd listened all the way through. Awesome from start to finish.
2010-07-03 03:21:59
fErndale
far outtttt. I feel like I missed half of what was going on but that's good cuz I'll listen again that way.
2010-08-29 16:23:10
maxo
you guys are the beeeeessst! thanks so much!
2010-09-15 00:54:40
vom
definitely at the very top-end of the chiptune stuff I've heard - that first track blows me away every time, there's so much going on! makes my lazer penis twitch.
2010-09-19 06:25:26