#lwlvl

Low-Level 2016: The Sights Of Sounds, Part 3

Presenting the second and final night of Low-Level 2016, as captured by unquestionably the chipscene's most prolific and accomplished documentarian, Marjorie Becker. In case you missed the pre-party, there’s this, and if you also missed night one, there’s that.

Oh, and for anyone wanting more, be sure to swing by her Flickr page…

Low-Level 2016: The Sights Of Sounds, Part 2

As previously noted, instead of struggling to choose the right words to properly explain how awesome Low-Level was, Marjorie Becker has been gracious enough to allow her Chiptography to do all the talking for me.

Though I also said the concentration would be solely on chiptuners, yet I couldn’t help but highlight the games, including Super Russian Roulette, Line Wobbler, and everything contained with the Death By Audio Arcade.

Mostly cuz the pics that Marjorie took on that end are so God damn gorgeous. Anyhow, here we have night one of Low-Level 2016…

Low-Level 2016: The Sights Of Sounds, Part 1

The Low-Level Festival. Finally got the chance to check it out. And the verdict? Well, as it pertains to the fusion of lo-bit music and the indie arcade, a recipe that New York City is no stranger to (hell, I was once a chef around these parts myself, and even brought the formula to Seattle for a couple of years)… let’s just say the bar has been officially raised.

Again, to make it as crystal clear as possible: Low-Level is the new gold standard that anyone who wishes to throw an indie game/chiptune party in the Big Apple must strive to meet. It was that damn good.

Of the two primary halves of the two-day festival, I’ll be addressing the interactive portion… primarily the Death By Audio Arcade… at a later point. But very soon, you’ll see! Instead, I want to concentrate on the tunes, yet that doesn’t mean I’ll be providing my full rundown of the musical acts either.

Because, via feedback received from Blip Fest coverage over the years, I have been politely (as well as not so politely) told that I lack the chops to properly assess chiptunes. So in an effort to do myself and everyone else a favor, I will instead hold my tongue and simply present imagery of the men and women who can tear the roof off with just a Game Boy or the like.

Now, I like to consider myself a somewhat decent photographer, though I’m not particularly skilled in capturing the true essence of said 8bit maestros either. But you know who is? Why the aforementioned Charles Peterson (or Jenny Lens) of chiptunes photography, Marjorie Becker! Who has been documenting the New York chip scene for ten years now.

First we have the scene at the Low-Level pre-party. Parts two and three will be from the festival proper…

It’s finally here!!! @lwlvl​‘s main event starts tonight and we’re so excited!!! We’ll be there to dance with y’all, and we’re not attending empty-handed. Our good friend vaporstack designed us a sweet business card, and we decorated the back with some of our favourite photos that @ugly-machine​ took over the course of six years. We’ll have these out around the venue in the hopes of making some new friends, and if you’re already our friend please feel free to grab a few so you can share them with YOUR friends. Plus just like... check out all the fun memories from over the years.

Low-Level Is Here To Salvage The Heaping Mess That This Summer In New York City Has Become

Don’t know about you, but this summer, much like this whole year, hasn’t turned out the way I was hoping it would. As mentioned already, I can’t make it to PAX Prime later this month, though one will still be able to find me, my virtual self at least. At the Indie Megabooth no less!

Still, I wish my actual self could be there in Seattle, especially since I had to skip Boston and PAX East for largely stupid reasons. Back to the subject of summer in the city; I also couldn’t attend the Brick Theater’s Game Play Festival, mostly due to the fact that it didn’t even happen this year. Oh, and on a non-video game note, being stuck in NYC for the remainder of August at least means that I can attend SummerSlam, but that’s not happening either.

Yet there remains ONE last opportunity to make the summer of ’16, dare I say, actually awesome? This weekend is the Low-Level Festival. It’s version 2.0 and I’m super psyched to be going at last; had to miss the previous installment purely due to not being around. It’s also exactly what I need to brighten my spirits and move my ass… especially since another beloved summertime tradition is sorely missed, that being the Blip Festival.

The entire line-up can be fond here. And in addition to rad music, you’ve got rad games; am super duper looking forward to (re)playing hometown faves like Particle Mace, Powerboat Italia '88, and Star Versus, the Death By Audio Arcade versions to be exact. Along with Super Russian Roulette! Am assuming it’ll be the same version that Kickstarter backers are either playing already or soon will be.

Technically Low-Level is a two day affair, though there’s the pre-party tonight, which I’m also particularly hyped for, mostly for the chance to ask cTrix how Dr Abrasive’s efforts towards a Saturn flash card for the masses is coming along...

8.19.16 ~ LIVE at LWLVL Festival in NYC ~

Two days of lo-bit music, art & interactive work.

More Info ➠ http://lwlvl.com