Aug.14.2010: 'INFINITE' CD Release Sept. 4 @ Middle East!
Hey all,
So apparently I don’t update this website nearly enough, as penance I have posted 3 Active Knowledge wallpapers to the new Art section. I’ll take fan art too, so feel free to e-mail me some of that if you feel so inclined. More importantly though is the fact that INFINITE will be released in physical disc form at CHIPTUNE X! It’s taking place on Saturday, 9/4 at the Middle East in Cambridge and will feature about 3-4 other CD releases at the same time! 8bit bEtty, misfitchris, Br1ght Pr1mate and more will be performing - YOU SHOULD BE THERE! :-D
Apr.10.2010: Pyramid Neon CD released!
After 3 years of waiting, I’ve finally been able to put together the physical release of my first album, Pyramid Neon! It can be purchased at my new store website, store.activeknowledgemusic.com for $10, or $6 for the MP3s. All proceeds from the album will be put toward the release of my second full-length album this summer! Of course, my music will still remain free of charge to download at listen.activeknowledgemusic.com, but your support is greatly appreciated. Thanks to everyone that has made this possible, you’re all the reason for everything I do! :-)
Cheers, -Chris
Apr.09.2010: CHIP-CON CANCELLED O NOES
Yeah, so much for that. There are still going to be fun shows in NYC for Memorial Day weekend, stay posted.
Apr.01.2010: CHIP-CON 2010!
Sooo… yeah - I’m playing the first Chip-Con in Queens, NYC on Memorial Day. Check out this incredible frickin’ lineup, which includes BOSTON8BIT’s Br1ght Pr1mate and VJ Beyonder!
Live performances by: ================= Trash80 Sabrepulse cTrix minusbaby Derris-Kharlan Albino Ghost Monkey Disasterpeace Rainbowdragoneyes OxygenStar Animal Style The J. Arthur Keenes Band Chromix Smiletron DeadBeatBlast Stagediver Active Knowledge BR1GHT PR1MATE Ro-Bear Natty E.S.C. Dauragon Note! The New Def
Viz: No Carrier Enso Paris Outpt VJ Beyonder
Mar.26.2010: Hiroyuki Iwatsuki tribute album released!
Hey everyone, earlier this year I contributed to a tribute album called IWADON - It was created in tribute of Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, who has composed soundtracks for various Natsume games for the past 20 years. My contribution is the final boss theme from the SNES game ‘Wild Guns’, you can find it on the site (link in the image above) by scrolling down and checking out page 4 in the artist listing. Look for the BOSTON8BIT logo!
Thanks go to Jeriaska and Genoboost from Game Music 4 All for all of their hard work in making this happen!
Mar.23.2010: Weekend Trip: New Wave/Pulsewave
New Wave Cafe, New Bedford MA
Pulsewave @ The Tank, NYC - Click photo for full set (Marjorie Becker, www.chiptography.com)
Mar.13.2010
Saturday, 3/20 The Tank, NYC 10 BUX - 3 ACTS
I’ll be playing Pulsewave with minusbaby and Zen Albatross next Saturday, with visual goodness provided by invaderbacca (Mike Goodman). I guarantee that this is going to be a complete blowout, come check it out if you’re in the area!
Jan.27.2010: JMPLive Presents: A Benefit for Haiti - 1/31, Middle East (downstairs)
Active Knowledge, BR1GHT PR1MATE, Code: Motion, Turtle Ambulance, Truman Peyote – in coordination with the Boston University Haitian Student Organization, Hug Don’t Hate and Sigma Chi (Boston Unversity), and Partners in Health – 18+ $7adv/$10dos – NOTE: 7pm doors - Tickets on Sale 1/28
This event is taking place at the Middle East downstairs, and from the looks of the Facebook event page, space will be limited. Come down and support a positive cause, we’re going to do what we can to help make a difference with Partners in Health - an organization that was already doing what they could to provide healthcare for the poor in Haiti before the awful events of the past couple of weeks. If you have any questions, or can’t attend but would still like to help, please feel free to contact me directly at chris@activeknowledgemusic.com - and thank you!
Jan.16.2010: Hey, it's me!
I just put up an article on BOSTON8BIT.com about coverage we received in the Boston Phoenix (available here), and the Boston Metro. The Metro article (by Linda Laban) was the result of an interview I did with her a while back, and it even has a spaceman picture of me in it! Totally a first for this guy, and I’m pretty happy about it. Don’t worry, my ego cannot overtake me! ;-)
I played a fantastic show at the New Wave Cafe in New Bedford, MA as part of Transient Authority’s gig they have over there. The crowd was incredibly receptive, and the bands that I played with were all fantastic. Attention Avoid was a guitarist and a drummer that actually reminded me of a friend’s act from a few years back (Hale). Stalemate had me concerned that our musical tastes wouldn’t line up, but those concerns disappeared after the first song. They had so much energy, and they kept it all throughout the night! Amputee Escape Artist actually consisted of a few guys that I went to college with back in the day, and their style absolutely lined up with mine. I want to call them a cross between Godspeed you Black Emperor!, Muse, newer Radiohead and a bunch of other awesome bands.
So anyway! This video is my performance of ‘Mission Force’, which was sprinkled with an impromptu dance sequence and an impromptu stage dancing partner. This was really one of the most fun shows I’ve played, and I can’t wait to get back down there!
This a room/board feed from the SCENE Party 2 show @ The Gulu Gulu Cafe in Salem, MA. Yeah! Big thanks to Scott Buchanan/SCENE, and Hugh Pyle for recording!
A wrap-up article I cranked out on BOSTON8BIT.com to summarize all the craziness from last week. What a blasty blast!
Dec.14.2009
‘Basic Training’ - This is a song from before I ever had the MIDINES around, figured I should start putting these out just for kicks. TRIVIA FUN TIP: I used to call myself “Wayne Gretzky Sound”.
Dec.14.2009: Tumblr -> Website via PHP
Alright, dork victory for the night - the main page of http://activeknowledgemusic.com is pulling from my tumblr feed. This keeps me from having to update an HTML page because I’m too busy/lazy to write a blog post system thinger. Easy to update = more news for you!
-Chris
Dec.14.2009
Mind Zone from the S.C.E.N.E. Party @ Gulu Gulu Cafe in Salem MA.
November 13, 2009
MON NOV 30 @ 8PM - Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave - Cambridge MA
FOUR ARTISTS, TWO PROJECTORS, ONE AWESOME NIGHT! Be there.
October 14, 2009
There are knife-demons I'd rather face in Jahannam than listen to Active Knowledge do the high part of "Careless Whisper." - Boston Phoenix's On The Download
Well it seems that the first Nintendo Music Thursday event hosted by BOSTON8BIT and FELT Boston turned out to be a great success! BR1GHT PR1MATE, Oxygenstar and myself all had a blast sharing our sounds, and from all I've heard there was a great time had by all. Check out the photos at BOSTON8BIT.com, the videos in the below playlist (I'm a few videos in), and our review in the Boston Phoenix! What a blasty blast!
More information soon on upcoming shows: 11/14 as Sentient Entity in Hyannis, 12/4 in Salem with Bubblegum Octopus and Computer at Sea, and possibly a 12/5 show in Hyannis with Bubblegum and BR1GHT PR1MATE!
Cheers! -Chris
September 20, 2009
So, I started the website BOSTON8BIT.com in mid-July to try and organize chiptune happenings in and around the city. The response has been incredibly positive, and as a result we have this incredible show coming up on October 8th. Much thanks go out to James and Lydia of BR1GHT PR1MATE for helping to make this a reality! :-)
FELT and Boston8Bit.com are teaming up to bring Chiptune music onto the Boston scene. Chiptune is a relatively obscure form of electro/rock/dance music that uses exclusively old video game hardware for a distinctive sound. Everything from Nintendos, Game Boys, Segas, and Commodore 64s are retrofitted into live performance synthesizers and used either solo or with live instruments and vocals. More of a method of performing music than a genre, a live Chiptune set can range from dance music to electro folk to pure art/noise music. Popular in the European, Japanese and Australian underground scenes, Chiptune concerts are still a rarity in the US outside of a few brave souls performing in NYC and Philadelphia basement clubs or house parties. On Thursday, October 8th, FELT will open its doors and let Chiptune in.
Thursday, October 8th @ FELT
533 Washington Street, Boston / www.feltmusicboston.com
Doors 8pm / $8 cover / 21+
featuring Oxygenstar, Active Knowledge, and Br1ght Pr1mate
Boston8Bit.com / www.boston8bit.com
A leading source for news, reviews and interviews on Chiptune music, Boston8Bit also holds monthly concert series featuring the best local, national and international Chiptune artists and brings the sweet bleep bloop sounds to your ears.
OxygenStar / www.oxygenstarpower.com
OxygenStar (ne Carl Peczynski) creates music by all means necessary. His live sets can include drums, electronics, the original N.E.S., old 90's MS-DOS computers, guitars, keyboards, a gigantic muppet afro, all of the above, none of the above, you name it. A star of the insular chiptune community "8-Bit Collective," his latest release "Thy Name is Adventure" is available on Cassette and digital download.
Active Knowledge / www.activeknowledgemusic.com
"It's not so much the preservation of youth, as the celebration of it," says Chris Mahoney, better known in creative circles as Active Knowledge. Firing notes through an original Nintendo Entertainment System, the Active Knowledge mixes vintage video game sounds with synchronized glitchy, spastic visuals. The idea is unadulterated fun, with a focus on the unadult. Active Knowledges debut album Pyramid Neon is available to download for free on his site.
Br1ght Pr1mate / www.brightprimate.bandcamp.com
Former Boston rock scene alum, Lydia and James (Fugitive Kind), combine forces for a new take on live electronic music. Using a unique blend of live vocals, acoustic instruments, gameboys and vintage electronics, Br1ght Pr1mate explores, bends and completely ignores the boundaries of Chiptune, Pop, Art, Electro, Rock, Jazz and Soul for a futuristic fusion that would be right at home on your favorite space ship.
For more information, hi-res photos or press passes please contact:
Laura Goldfarb, Red Boot Publicity / 617.407.7284 / Laura@redbootpublicity.com
August 22, 2009
YEAH! Had the most fun playing shows on 8/18 and 8/19 with the members of Bubblegum Octopus and Yatagarasu on 8/18-8/19. Check out the playlists below for video fun madness!
New track from a few days ago called Mind Zone, check it out here:
August 07, 2009
Tuckerow and myself played a combined show last night, followed by a set of our collaboration project called Sentient Entity. There were some fun, hazy pics taken that can be found in the PHOTO section.
August 01, 2009
New photos from the July 25th show featuring a Sentient Entity set are now on the PHOTO page. You can't see any of the visuals, but I assure you it was a blast of fun time.
