We’re breaking radio silence to bring you a special bulletin: former RvD collaborator VJ Chromatouch has teamed up with Subcitizen to launch an extremely exciting new monthly venture known as 8Bit Lounge.

The event is a celebration of geek culture, taking in both classic and (relatively) modern gaming, chipcore, hardware hacking and much, much more. Chromatouch and Subcitizen will be manning the decks, providing music and visuals of a distinctly 8bit bent whilst the night will also feature a live circuit-bending demonstration by fizzPOP, multiplayer retro gaming, a Nanoloop session, an outdoor Wii tournament and all manner of other thoroughly good stuff… plus, apparently pro-celebrity Brum blogger Pete Ashton will be turning up at some point with his massive chipcore collection.

Best of all, entry is absolutely free! The night takes place in the Hare & Hounds back bar on Tuesday 1st September and every first Tuesday of the month thereafter. More details below, taken from their Facebook event page:

“A delightful evening of all things computer game and arcade oriented. From an array of consoles to play on including….
a snes with 5 player bomberman and all original controllers
an N64 with 4 player greatness like starfox 64
a gamecube with some great 4 player games like timesplitters 2

Chromatouch will be using old school consoles to control visuals on the night, including a nintendo ds that can be used to control visuals wirelessly through cellsds.

Hackspace will be doing demonstration and giving examples of circuit bending and hacked electronic toys etc. check the videos attatched for more examples of how this interesting underground art abuses the toys and electronics we know and love.

We are also looking to hold a Wii tournament in the courtyard, weather allowing.

Nanoloops: the famous nintendo game boy music writing software will be fully in place. Anyone that writes music in this format then please contact us. We are holding a competition to find the best nanoloops artist in birmingham. Bring it on!!

Music on the eve will be from Subcitizen and Chromatouch, so expect some classic pure electro, bboy style, computer game anthems, arcade classics, 8bit pop and electronica lo fi scribblings. All very good fun!!

free entry, this will take place in the back bar of the Hare and Hounds on Tuesday 1st August and every first Tuesday of the month thereafter.

We hope you can make it along as there are a host of other guests and exhibitors bringing items and distractions from the world of computer games, 8bit music and similar curios coming soon to this night.”

Radio silence resumed.

The post Enter the 8Bit Lounge first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.

Mechakitten- the long-mooted joint event between Robot vs Dinosaur and indiepop promotions outfit The Autumn Store– is finally on the horizon, taking place at Island Bar this Saturday!

The night features a rare headline performance from ex-Broadcast/Plone duo Seeland, plus motorik madness from London’s Arthur & Martha, electronic epics from previous RvD performer Arc Vel and a warm-up set of joyous, multi-vocaled indiepop from Derby-based five piece Mexican Kids at Home as well as DJs playing everything from Battles to Belle & Sebastian until the small hours!

Entry is £4, with a free badge on entry- no cheap admission for robots or dinosaurs this time around I’m afraid, although we may well make concessions for robotic cats? Doors open at 8:30 with the night running ’til late- more info can be found on our events page, and in somewhat confusing fashion we have not one but two facebook events for the night, which can be found here and here. See you there?

The post Mechakitten Approaches! first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.

Final reminder: we’re DJing tonight at BUSK, as part of their BOOST event. Entry is free, with the night running from 10:30 ’til 3am. More info can be found via their myspace, whilst BUSK itself can be found on Gough St opposite Island Bar. See you there?

The post DJing Tonight at BUSK first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.

RvD June performer Arc Vel has released an mp3 single entitled ‘Lin’ via new digital music emporium Indmill. The single features three amazing tracks including a brand new number called ‘Bed Sidde’, which quite frankly took my breath away on first listen. Sounding like Ryuichi Sakamoto gleefully hurling Tortoise‘s equipment down the stairs, find an excerpt on the release’s page if you’d like a sneak preview.

Costing just £1.25 45p for all three tracks (which come as 256kbps DRM-free mp3s, I hasten to add), what sets this apart from most other independent mp3 releases coming out as of late is that 90% of the proceeds go to child protection charity Kidscape. And, given that the music itself is of such incredible quality- mesmeric, delicate, yet punctuated by occasional bursts of raging intensity, like watching a beautiful thunderstorm- I urge everyone who reads this to lay down some cash and buy it. Anyone who considers less than the cost of a pack of gum as too much to pay for three amazing pieces of music, plus the chance to support not only a local musician of massive potential but also a very worthy cause indeed, should be thrown into a pit and drowned.

Anyway, enough talk of pit-based water-death: you can catch Arc Vel playing live at our forthcoming Mechakitten event, whilst he will also be manning the decks at the forthcoming (and highly recommended) Pivot gig at the Rainbow this Thursday.

The post Charitable Arc Vel MP3s first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.

…who came down to the last Robot vs Dinosaur! To those who couldn’t make it: you missed a double bill of crunch-tastic technomadness from Jade One and QXTC! You missed live visual jockeying from Chromatouch! And most of all, you also missed exceedingly good cake, and all the cake-related dual-birthday hilarity which invariably comes with it! Thanks to Meeno for cookin’ it up for us…

However, every silver lining: unfortunately we weren’t able to document the event in pictures in a particularly effective manner, meaning we have a paltry six photos from the night in our gallery. Yes, six. We spotted a few camera-wielding dinobots lurking about so if you cranked a few shots off then please get in touch via info [at] robotvsdinosaur.co.uk- we’ll be your best mates in the world ever if you might like to donate a few photos, or perhaps some interpretive abstract art.

Anyway, Robot vs Dinosaur will return to Island come Friday October 17th. We’ve got lots of funs in store, of which we will reveal sooner than you might think. À bientot!

The post Thanks to Everyone… first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.

Just a couple of days to go before the next Robot vs Dinosaur! Taking place upstairs at Island Bar this Friday (the 19th), we’ll have brain-baking live electronic madness from Jade One & QXTC plus visuals from Chromatouch, as well as DJs playing all manner of electrogoodness- check out our events page for the full scoop. Not only that, but This Is Tomorrow will be making a welcome return downstairs at Island too, manning the decks to provide a musical smorgasbord taking in everything from disco to alternative.

Entry is £3, or £1 if dressed as a robot or dinosaur! Doors open at 8:30! Free pin badge on entry! Huge cocktail selection available! Plus, since at least a couple of people will be celebrating their birthdays at RvD on Fri there may well also be some cake knocking about if you’re good…

The post RvD#8 Takes Place This Fri! first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Robot Vs Dinosaur will be back at Island on Friday September 19th, provided that the world doesn’t get destroyed by the Large Hadron Collider come this Wednesday (EDIT- didn’t happen in the end… how disappointing!). Sounding a little like Autechre and Mouse On Mars after having been smashed together at 99.99% of the speed of light, Brum’s own Jade One will be bringing his unique brand of mangled abstract techno to the party plus we’ll also have a repeat performance from recently-blogged Mancunian laptoptronicist QXTC, of whom the elephant-minded amongst you may remember kicking off the proceedings at our very first night back in Feb- has it really been so long?

And, as ever we’ll also be DJing an ultra-eclectic selection of epic proportions! Taking in everything from Hrvatski to Herbie Hancock, expect your noodly matter to have been consumed by a black hole or two come the small hours. Doors open at 8:30 with the night running ’til we’re too drunk to DJ properly, and as ever admission is a mere £3 or just £1 if dressed as a robot or a dinosaur! Find full details and a slightly more buff playlist over at our events page, and until then we’ve got some serious work to do…

The post RvD#8 Will Smash Yr Atoms first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.

Robot vs Dinosaur will be DJing as part of Brum-based creative media network Project X Presents‘ next event, entitled “Digital Dystopia”. Taking place on Saturday 13th September at newly-unveiled Birmingham club BUSK, the performance will further develop and explore the group’s remarkable “Omnimedia Experience” format, presenting a seamless flow of art, music and visuals via three stages.

As well as our good selves (well, one half to be specific- I’ve got a wedding to get to), the event also features a performance from former RvD highlight Arc Vel alongside a diverse range of artists and DJs of all genres including Marc Reck, Mixmaster Morris, Steve Loopz, Rich Batsford, Shana Tova, 360 and many more. Meanwhile, those of a slightly more experimental bent can expect to have their appetites sated by the many art installations, spoken word pieces and VJ performances on offer. Believe me when I say that the above description merely scratches the surface of what this event has to offer: the promoters ask you to “leave your expectations at the door” and, for once, I would pay heed to that advice.

Entry to the event costs £10, and doors open at 8:00pm with the night running ’til 3. Meanwhile, BUSK can be found on Gough Street, opposite Island Bar and the Alexandra theatre. For more info, please check out the Project X Presents website.

The post RvD vs PxP! first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.

Thanks to everyone who turned out to the last Robot Vs Dinosaur, after a slightly patchy Summer it was the best night we’ve had for quite some time- hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did! Special thanks are of course owed to Mike In Mono and Girljoy (pictured) for coming down and playing some blinding sets- if you liked Girljoy then buy her album immediately, and we’re also beginning an email campaign right here to try and pressure Mike into finishing his album as we really want to hear it! While we’re waiting though we’ll console ourselves with the superb ZX Spectrum Orchestra stuff currently available from Warm Circuit.

We’ve also got photos from the event up in our gallery, please do make sure to check them out. Thanks to Andy Bullock, Pete Hodgson and Stu Roland for contributing photos, you all did a bang-up job- and yet, at this point I have to express some disappointment. Island Bar was awash on the night with photographic equipment, there were digital cameras, phone cameras, lomographic cameras, even someone wielding an old game Boy camera and yet we’ve only received photos from the above-mentioned few. If you’ve got photos taken at any of our nights then please email them to us via info [at] robotvsdinosaur.co.uk and we’ll proudly feature them in our gallery (yep, replace the “[at]” with an “@”, unless you’re a spammer!).

Anyway! Keep your ear to the ground, we’ve got lots of stuff in the pipeline: Robot vs Dinosaur returns to Island Bar come Friday September 19th, plus there’s also a few other developments which we very much want to talk to you about shortly. More info very soon, we promise! Keep it salty…

The post RvD#7 In Pictures first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.

Consider this a warning: less than 48 hours to go now ’til Robot Vs Dinosaur stomps back to Island Bar come this Friday (the 15th)! As well as top-notch brain-blowing live electronic action from Mike In Mono & Girljoy, we’ll also be DJing everything from Manitoba to Merzbow- expect electronic music of all flavours, some of which you never even knew existed… We’ll also be giving out free pin badges on the door too- get ready to choose your allegiance!

Entry is £3 or £1 if dressed as a robot or a dinosaur, with doors opening at 8:30. Check out our events page if you need to know more, and we’ll see you on Friday. Drop us a comment if you’ve any last-minute requests…

The post Last Call For RvD#7! first appeared on Robot Vs Dinosaur.