8bit Halloween ft. Game Boy musician Bit Shifter (Event Over)

One of the premiere Game Boy-wielding 8Bit electronic musicians in the world is Josh Davis aka Bit Shifter, and subVariant and Front 312 are excited to have him perform at Ai Lounge on Halloween. Having played over 100 live shows armed with only two Nintendo Game Boys, and two home-brew aftermarket music programs, he has a dedicated following and has been known to ignite dance floors with his high energy live performances.

Tom Loftus of MSNBC.com says of Bit Shifter’s live performance, “[B]y the time Davis jumped to his rave-up 'Parapersona Crash,' the walls started to shake and what little hesitation the audience may have had over dancing to a kiddy toy's 'bleeps' and 'bloops' vanished.

Josh Davis says of the 8bit sound, “This is a really distinctive sound-set that anyone of our generation will have most likely been exposed to during childhood and as a consequence of that it became hardwired into our aesthetic sensibilities….but it was always off limits creatively. So, people who grew up with 8bit and 16bit video game consoles--if they were musicians, they were able to dabble in just about anything else."

subVariant is a Chicago-based record label and events production company known for its both its innovative electronic music releases and creative packaging, as well as its edgy and boundary-pushing live events and music showcases.  Front 312 has been promoting an eclectic night in Chicago for over a year featuring house, electro, new wave and industrial at Liar’s Club. Together they bring their diverse crowds to experience Halloween in a cool downtown location with an excellent lineup seen nowhere else in the city for Halloween.

Liz Revision of subVariant spins minimal tech-house, glitch, and IDM, Mr. Automatic from Front 312 brings electro, new wave, and acid house, and Onefiftyone from Chicago Workgroup plays nudisco.

Bit Shifter explores high-energy, low-bit music composed and performed on a Nintendo Game Boy. The result is an unapologetically fun foray into an evocative and distinctive soundset, executed on a console generally misperceived as being technically limited. Made possibly by two home-brew Game Boy musicmaking programs Nanoloop and Little Sound DJ, Bit Shifter's music adopts and subverts the playfulness inherent in the familiar Game Boy soundset, repurposing it into the service of novel idioms. Based in New York City, Bit Shifter has performed over one hundred shows worldwide, having recently circumnavigated the planet in a 20-date world tour with fellow chiptune compatriot Nullsleep.

Tickets are $20 at the door, $15 presale at http://www.fractalspin.com/bitshifter, or $17 day of with an RSVP to http://chicago.going.com/bitshifter.

The first 30 people with presale tickets will get a free treat bag featuring cool stuff from local businesses and online shops.

Ai Lounge is at 358 W. Ontario, Downtown Chicago. Late night sushi menu, $10 Valet.