Three years since his debut release, legendary Nintendo composer and chiptune maestro is back with his second album ‘Domingo’

In 1980, armed only with a degree in electronic engineering and an unlimited imagination Chip Tanaka set off as Nintendo’s in-house composer for 8 and 16 bit video games. Best known for his soundtracks in the classic games: Metroid, Earthbound and Super Mario Land, he has also written music for anime and TV and developed sound hardware for NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and Game Boy. Tanaka was one of the key musicians that was featured in the mini-documentary series of influential Japanese game composers, ‘Diggin' In The Carts’.

Featuring a colorful and quirky album cover, Tanaka released his debut album ‘Django’ under the music label Sporadic Vacuum in November 2017. His music is full of unpredictable sounds, largely influenced by reggae and dub, it has somehow blended in with the unique sound of Nintendo and rich chiptune stylings.

His new release, ‘Domingo’ is composed of 11 conceptual pieces, each reminiscent of his childhood and the environment that surrounded him. The key theme being nostalgia for people and places that shaped him; imagery of the sea, night, space and retro computers. In his own words, “it is my own requiem of memory by creating the sensation of making something alive”. The new album includes a letter from Tanaka and a mysterious original sound source.

Support the album on Bandcamp or stream it on Spotify.

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