I must admit to a certain dislike for 8 bit music. In my opinion, it is comparable to playing Gene Krupa drum solos with one hand on wooden blocks. Occasionally though, as in all music, someone actually manages to make it into something exciting and worth listening to.

Take David Morneau’s dance score titled Abandoned Revolution. Morneau’s chosen instrument is a Nintendo Game Boy aided by a loop sequencer called Nanoloop. With this limited material he created a clever suite of compositons for Boris Willis’ multimedia work of the same name. After a Straussian introduction Space Invaders style, Morneau melds the simple Game Boy themes into catchy rhythms that keeps the listener’s interest. Stolen melodies from Strauss, Copeland, and others abound and blend effortlessly. “Martha Graham Cracker” is almost industrial while the sixth track “Abandoned Revolution” sounds like a chase scene involving Pacman and the Keystone Cops. Morneau’s own description of “Terry Riley vs. Donkey Kong” seems quite appropriate. This is a retro trip that even Mario will approve of.

The work is available as separate tracks in 192kbps MP3.

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