Nintendocore

Last updated

Nintendocore [note 1] is a broadly defined style of music that most commonly fuses chiptune and video game music with hardcore punk and/or heavy metal. The genre is sometimes considered a direct subgenre of post-hardcore [10] and a fusion genre between metalcore and chiptune. [11] The genre originated in the early 2000s and peaked around the late 2000s [12] with bands like Horse the Band, The Advantage, Math the Band, An Albatross, The NESkimos and Minibosses pioneering the genre.

Contents

Characteristics

Nintendocore frequently features the use of electric guitars, drum kits, and typical rock instrumentation alongside synthesizers, chiptune, 8-bit sounds, and electronically produced beats. [1] [3] [13] It originated primarily from hardcore punk and heavy metal, [14] [3] [15] and subgenres of those styles such as post-hardcore, [13] [16] metalcore, [16] and screamo. [3] [17] Artists in the genre have also incorporated elements of electro, [3] noise, [18] noise rock, [1] [19] and post-rock. [16] [18] Nintendocore groups vary stylistically and come from a wide array of influences. Horse the Band combines metalcore, heavy metal, thrash metal, and post-hardcore with post-rock passages. [3] [16] [17] "The Black Hole" from Horse the Band's third album, The Mechanical Hand , is an example of Nintendocore, featuring screamed vocals, heavy "Nintendo riffs," and "sound effects from numerous games." [20] Math the Band includes electro and dance-punk styles. [21] Minibosses use Kyuss-inspired heavy metal riffing, [22] and The Advantage is associated with styles such as noise rock and post-rock. [23] The Depreciation Guild was an indie band that incorporated 8-bit sounds, video game music, and elements of shoegaze. [24]

Some bands feature singing, such as The Depreciation Guild, whose frontman Kurt Feldman provides "ethereal" and "tender vocals," [24] and The Megas, who write lyrics that mirror video game storylines. [25] Others, such as Horse the Band and Math the Band, add screamed vocals into the mix. [3] [4] [16] [17] [26] But yet other groups are strictly instrumental, such as Minibosses, [22] and The Advantage. [1] [18] While otherwise diverse, all Nintendocore groups "use specific instruments to mimic the sounds of Nintendo games." [13]

History

Horse the Band was an early pioneer of Nintendocore and the originator of the term, which frontman Nathan Winneke coined as a joke. [3] [16] According to The A.V. Club, the group's "contorted roars, metal-core hysterics, esoteric video game references, and crusty 8-bit-style synth became inextricably linked to the nebulous genre." [16]

Nintendocore pioneers The Advantage performing in Japan in 2010. The Advantage Band Japan 2010.jpg
Nintendocore pioneers The Advantage performing in Japan in 2010.

Another Nintendocore pioneer is The Advantage, [27] whom The New York Times praises as one of the groups who brought video game music into the mainstream modern music spotlight. [2] The Advantage is an instrumental rock band formed by two students attending Nevada Union High School. [2] Spencer Seim first heard the original two band members play at a 1999 Nevada Union High School talent show, beginning his musical career, and continued to lead the group forward after high school. [2] The group "plays nothing but music from the original Nintendo console games." [2] By creating rock cover versions of video game sound tracks, they have "brought legitimacy to a style of music dubbed Nintendocore." [1]

The Minibosses at Penny Arcade Expo 2005 (now PAX). The Minibosses.jpg
The Minibosses at Penny Arcade Expo 2005 (now PAX).

The Phoenix-based rock group, Minibosses, "[is] one of the most well-established bands in the Nintendocore genre, with an impressive roster of covers including Contra , Double Dragon , Excitebike ," and covers of other video game themes. [25] Minibosses is known as one of the primary representatives of Nintendo rock, [28] performing at various video game expositions. [25] In addition to covers, the band has also produced original work. [25] The Harvard Crimson refers to Minibosses as "sworn rivals" of The NESkimos, [1] another Nintendocore practitioner. [25]

The 2007 debut album by The Depreciation Guild, In Her Gentle Jaws, has been referred to as Nintendocore by Pitchfork Media. The website wrote that "In Her Gentle Jaws sticks its neck out further than Nintendocore staples like The Advantage or Minibosses", and that the album's instrumental title track "could plausibly come from an NES cartridge." [24]

In 2016, a group of artists, under the Nintendocore Lives label, released a compilation album, Smash 64, themed after the original Super Smash Bros. game, in an attempt to revitalize the genre. [29]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Always intentionally spelled capitalized.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardcore punk</span> Aggressive and fast subgenre of punk rock

Hardcore punk is a punk rock subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington, D.C., and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically charged lyrics".

A number of heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At times, heavy metal genres may overlap or are difficult to distinguish, but they can be identified by a number of traits. They may differ in terms of instrumentation, tempo, song structure, vocal style, lyrics, guitar playing style, drumming style, and so on.

Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual transgression".

Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, that originated in the late 1980s. Metalcore is noted for its use of breakdowns, which are slow, intense passages conducive to moshing, while other defining instrumentation includes heavy and percussive pedal point guitar riffs and double bass drumming. Vocalists in the genre typically perform screaming; more popular bands often combine this with the use of standard singing, usually during the bridge or chorus of a song. However, the death growl is also a popular technique within the genre.

Mathcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk and metalcore influenced by post-hardcore, extreme metal and math rock that developed during the 1990s. Bands in the genre emphasize complex and fluctuant rhythms through the use of irregular time signatures, polymeters, syncopations and tempo changes. Early mathcore lyrics were addressed from a realistic worldview and with a pessimistic, defiant, resentful or sarcastic point of view.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deathcore</span> Fusion of death metal and metalcore genres

Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with metalcore/hardcore elements seen in the 1990s, deathcore itself emerged in the early 2000s and gained prominence beginning in the mid-2000s within the southwestern United States, especially Arizona and inland southern California, which are home to many notable bands and various festivals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horse the Band</span> American metalcore band

Horse the Band is an American metalcore band from Lake Forest, California, who are best known for their 8-bit video game-influenced sound combined with metalcore. Frontman Nathan Winneke once jokingly described their sound as "Nintendocore", although the band have gone to lengths to distance themselves from the label, reiterating that this merely describes the sound, not the substance.

The Advantage is an American rock band from Sacramento, California that formed in 1998 and specialises in doing covers of music from old NES games, also known as Nintendocore. The band is named after the NES joystick controller of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronics in rock music</span> Use of electronic instruments in rock music

The use of electronic music technology in rock music coincided with the practical availability of electronic musical instruments and the genre's emergence as a distinct style. Rock music has been highly dependent on technological developments, particularly the invention and refinement of the synthesizer, the development of the MIDI digital format and computer technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Fight Dragons</span> American rock band

I Fight Dragons is an American chiptune-based rock band from Chicago. Their music is a combination of rock with chiptune, featuring electronic sounds made using Nintendo Game Boys and Nintendo Entertainment Systems, a genre also known as Nintendocore. To date they have released four full-length albums: 2011's KABOOM!, which came out on Photo Finish / Atlantic Records, 2014's The Near Future, which they self-released after raising over $100,000 on Kickstarter through their "Project Atma" project, 2019's Canon Eyes, and 2021's Side Quests: B-Sides and Rarities. They have also released two EPs, 2009's Cool Is Just a Number and 2010's Welcome to the Breakdown. Their music has been featured on Nintendo Video as well as on the WWE, and they wrote and performed the theme song for ABC's The Goldbergs. They have toured the US with MC Chris and Whole Wheat Bread in 2009, 3OH!3, Cobra Starship, and Travie McCoy in 2010, The Protomen in 2011, and they were on the entire 2012 and 2014 Vans Warped Tours. They went on their first national headlining tour, "The War of Cyborg Liberation Tour", with openers MC Lars and Skyfox in 2012. From 2010 until 2012 they were signed to Photo Finish / Atlantic Records, but in fall 2012 they won their release from the label. Since 2014, they have toured sporadically as well as playing annual headlining shows at Chicago's Lincoln Hall. Frontman Brian Mazzaferri attended Glenbrook South High School with Fall Out Boy lead vocalist and guitarist Patrick Stump.

Electronic metal may refer to:

Bitpop is a type of electronic music and subgenre of chiptune music, where at least part of the music is made using the sound chips of old 8-bit computers and video game consoles.

Powerglove is an American instrumental power metal cover band. They are known to play metal cover versions of classic video game themes. The band is named after the Power Glove, a NES controller accessory.

Electronicore is a fusion genre of metalcore music with elements of various electronic music genres, often including trance, electronica, and dubstep.

<i>Kaboom!</i> (album) 2011 studio album by I Fight Dragons

KABOOM! is the debut studio album by American chiptune-based rock band I Fight Dragons, released in 2011 by Photo Finish Records. When the band won their release from the record label, they started offering it for free on their site. This has, however, been replaced with the band's newest album, Canon Eyes.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Payne, Will B. (2006-02-14). "Nintendo Rock: Nostalgia or Sound of the Future". The Harvard Crimson . Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Weingarten, Marc (29 April 2004). "Resurrecting the Riffs, A Nintendo Rock Band". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wright (2010-12-09). "Subgenre(s) of the Week: Nintendocore (feat. Holiday Pop)". The Quest. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 Yun, Elizabeth (4 January 2011). "Math the Band Strive to 'Take Fun Seriously' Exclusive Video". Spinner.com . AOL. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  5. ↑ Raj, Josh (28 April 2012). "Nerdcore: I Fight Dragons". nerdsontherocks.com. Retrieved December 18, 2020. The type of music is called "Nerdcore" sometimes "Nintendocore." Basically, this is a genre of music that takes today's rock music and adding in chiptune, the few note songs from classic video games, and creating a very unique style.
  6. ↑ "11 of the weirdest metal subgenres". 30 March 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021– via Louder.
  7. ↑ Moses, Jeff (2015-06-16). "Minibosses Celebrate 15 Years of Gaming-Centric Music". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
  8. ↑ "The Most Intolerable Fan Bases in Music | Dallas Observer" . Retrieved January 5, 2021– via Dallas Observer.
  9. ↑ "New 8-bit metalcore album revives nintendocore with brutal N64 theme—listen". July 17, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2021– via Alternative Press.
  10. ↑ "HORSE the Band Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic .
  11. ↑ "New 8-bit metalcore album revives nintendocore with brutal N64 theme—listen". Alternative Press . 17 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "Google Trends". Google Trends. Archived from the original on 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  13. 1 2 3 Loftus, Johnny. "HORSE the Band". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  14. ↑ Sutherland, Sam (December 2006). "Horse the Band - Pizza EP". Exclaim! . Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  15. ↑ Turull, Alisha (6 October 2009). "New Releases: Lita Ford, the Fall of Troy, Horse the band, Immortal, Inhale Exhale". Noisecreep . AOL . Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Horse The Band, Super 8 Bit Brothers, Endless Hallway, and Oceana". The A.V. Club . The Onion. 8 November 2010. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 Loftus, Johnny. "R. Borlax [Bonus Tracks]". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  18. 1 2 3 Loftus, Johnny. "The Mechanical Hand". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  19. ↑ Leahey, Andrew. "A Natural Death". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  20. ↑ Weber, Scott (Site moderator). "Horse the Band - The Mechanical Hand". AbsolutePunk . Retrieved 2011-05-07.{{cite web}}: External link in |first= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ Trivett, Ben (21 October 2010). "Math the Band Play Blistering Set at CMJ -- Exclusive Photos". Spinner.com . AOL. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  22. 1 2 Borges, Mario Mesquita. "Minibosses". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  23. ↑ Trivett, Ben (21 October 2010). "Math the Band Play Blistering Set at CMJ -- Exclusive Photos". Spinner.com . AOL. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  24. 1 2 3 Moerder, Adam (Staff member). "The Depreciation Guild - In Her Gentle Jaws". Pitchfork Media . Retrieved 2011-05-09.{{cite web}}: External link in |first= (help)
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 Bayer, Jonah (2009-03-05). "Like Video Games? You'll Love Nintendocore". Gibson Guitar Corporation. Archived from the original on 2009-05-11. Retrieved 2011-03-15.
  26. ↑ Synyard, Dave (September 2007). "Horse the Band - A Natural Death". Exclaim! . Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  27. ↑ Hughes, Josiah (August 2008). "Hella guitarist Spencer Seim releases solo album as sBACH". Exclaim! . Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  28. ↑ Rene Gutel (August 26, 2004). "The Rise of Nintendo Rock". Tempe, Arizona. NPR. KJZZ 91.5. Archived from the original on September 3, 2004. Retrieved 10 April 2011.{{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
  29. ↑ "New 8-bit metalcore album revives nintendocore with brutal N64 theme—listen - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. 2016-07-17. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.