“People grew up immersed in this stuff – that 8-bit, blippy sound speaks to them on a deep level. It’s taking back a pure and total part of our childhood and turning it into something crazy and new” – Mike Rosenthal, artistic director, Blip Festival, NYC in XLR8R magazine, November 2006

A labor of love, many years in the making, Astralwerks is pleased to present a various artist covers compilation, featuring interpretations of classic Kraftwerk songs, arranged primarily on lo-bit handheld gaming devices, vintage video game consoles and obsolete 8 bit home computers, revered for the rich and distinctive sound of their lo-bit microchips. This video game-influenced branch of electronic music sometimes referred to as ‘chiptune’, ‘bitpop’ or just ‘8-bit’, has developed a flourishing international live scene, and is one of the first new genres of music to use the internet to its fullest advantage, with the advent of home-brewed synth cartridges and hacker influenced musical tools.

As one of the New York chip artists Glomag said in a 2004 Art Forum interview, "We've made Kraftwerk's phrase 'I'm the operator with my Pocket Calculator' more apt than ever”.

Conceived and compiled by long-time electronic artist and 8-bit composer Jeremy Kolosine (a.k.a. Receptors), the 8-BIT OPERATORS collection features some of the top 8-bit artists from North America, South America and Europe, a selection of the best musical innovators, and several of the inventors themselves.

TRACKLIST
01. Bacalao - The Robots (Die Roboter) - Switzerland
02. Glomag - Pocket Calculator - USA
03. Covox - Computer Love - Sweden
04. Role Model - Showroom Dummies - Sweden
05. Nullsleep - The Model - USA
06. David E. Sugar – Radioactivity - UK
07. Oliver Wittchow – Kristallo - Germany
08. 8-Bit Weapon – Spacelab - USA
09. firestARTer - Computer World (Computerwelt) - Germany
10. Neotericz - Electric Café - Argentina
11. Receptors – Trans-Europe Express - USA
12. Herbert Weixelbaum – Tanzmusik - Austria
13. Bubblyfish - It's More Fun To Compute - USA
14. Bit Shifter – Antenna - USA
15. gwEm and Counter Reset - The Man-Machine (Die Mensch-Maschine) - UK

Buy online :
iTunes click here
Amazon click here

// POCKET CALCULATOR 12" SINGLE //

A 12” single (and digital download equivalent) will precede the CD launch and will feature Glomag’s exclusive 8-Bit Operators' mega-mix version of “Pocket Calculator” (featuring 0x7f, Bit Shifter, Bubblyfish, firestARTer, Hey Kid Nice Robot, Ladybug, M-.-n, Nullsleep, Psilodump, Random, Sidabitball, and David E Sugar) plus an exclusive version of “The Robots” by L.A.’s 8-BIT.

BUY NOW at iTunes
Mega-mix version of “Pocket Calculator” - click here
"The Robots" - click here