Low-Fi, High-Tech: Is Chip Music The New Punk?

Technology has officially invaded pop music, and the results have been, well, bland. Endless digital remixes and computer-generated backing instrumentals have created an entire catalog of dull, generic, lifeless songs by artists who really ought to know better. But a new do-it-yourself movement known as “chip music,” vaguely remniescent of 1970s punk, has emerged from the shadow of the technology beast, employing high-tech but low-fidelity “instruments,” such as old Nintendo GameBoys, to create music which reeks of contempt for the mainstream music industry. “The essence of chip music is in reverse engineering an electronic interface – whether it’s a Game Boy or a computer’s sound chip – and subverting its original design.”