Blending cutting-edge 8-bit music with Americana smarts, banjoist/programmer Bud Melvin is an unequivocal original, even among the sonic renegades of the Game Boy scene. Though bending Nintendo’s devices to unintended ends offers an inherently techno-political commentary, Melvin is something more:...
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Blending cutting-edge 8-bit music with Americana smarts, banjoist/programmer Bud Melvin is an unequivocal original, even among the sonic renegades of the Game Boy scene. Though bending Nintendo’s devices to unintended ends offers an inherently techno-political commentary, Melvin is something more: a good, old-fashioned songwriter. Discovering that the warm, staccato bleeps of a vintage handheld—sequenced with special software—were a perfect match for high, lonesome Scruggs-style fingerpicking, the Albuquerque-based musician invented a new vocabulary for himself and the world.
Clashing the suburban nostalgia of 8-bit with the rural nostalgia of bluegrass, Melvin produces music that sounds like a clear and pure present, a droll summation of the here and now. Recalling the subversive spirit of Devo with the irony-drenched baritone of an exotica crooner, Bud Melvin is novelty music for a world that has transcended normality.
A dynamic live performer, Melvin accompanies his banjo playing with sequenced Game Boys. A favorite on the chiptunes circuit, Melvin has headlined Blip Festivals from New York to Prague, and plays regularly with the influential 8bitpeoples crew (including favorites Nullsleep and Bit Shifter). He’s appeared on the DVD of Seth Gordon’s acclaimed King of Kong, as well as Reformat the Planet, Paul Owens’ Blipfest documentary. A compilation favorite, Melvin’s mondo cheeky “Bexxlaws” was a highlight of the Rock the Plastic Like A Man, a highly unauthorized response to Beck’s appropriation of 8-bit for his own remixes.
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