Datasette 1530, by MOS-Man

Datasette 1530

by MOS-Man

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justin spicer “Interlinked” is a dark theme, wavering between cinematic grandiosity and video game monstrosity. It feels like an anthem that is meant for something greater, but its downscaled instrumentation keeps it in the palm of one’s hand: a controller in charge of creating a universe. Favorite track: Interlinked.

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Digital Album
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Includes video for SDI Directed-Energy Weapon.

Purchasable with gift card

$4 USD or more

You own this
Limited Edition Cassette
Cassette + Digital Album
Handmade limited cassette release.

Includes unlimited streaming of Datasette 1530 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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	1.	Phase Shifter 01:38
	2.	SDI Directed-Energy Weapon 04:48 video
	3.	Interlinked 03:30
	4.	Ghosts / Goblins 04:35
	5.	Lullaby for WOPR 02:36
	6.	Shards 00:52
	7.	Hidden Agenda 02:30

about

Inspired by an alternate timeline superimposed over our own 80s and 90s, MOS-Man envisions a dystopian world where the singularity happened shortly after the popularization of 8-bit home computers. Hacktivists fight government and corporate interests that wield emerging AI technology. Rouge sentient programs are released on the early internet threatening to subjugate the coming Information Age.

Recorded during the pandemic of 2020. Live improvisation and artificial life algorithms control vintage 8-bit synthesizers and hackable lo-fi groove boxes, creating a data-bent, video game-like soundscape filled with moments of wonder and dread. A nod to Chiptune and Warp's Artificial Intelligence compilations of the early 90s. It's the soundtrack to a corrupted C64 game that never was…

Hand printed limited edition cassette release (includes digital). Digital release with bonus video for SDI Directed-Energy Weapon.

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Reviews:

The work of MOS-Man presupposes the singularity happened during the 8-bit revolution. The idea of computerized plumbers and bulletin boards being and becoming corrupted by a pixelated dystopia is a crafty one indeed.

How it translates to the overarching story of Datasette 1530 is left to one’s imagination. However, the electronic hacking of the retrofuture MOS-Man provides is present throughout Datasette 1530. An angular work of granular synthesizer attacking basic melodies with an automated army of interrupting glitches, Datasette 1530 is an all-out assault on 8-bit-based music.

Despite its modest base, it nearly transcends its own woven story for something grander. “Interlinked” is a dark theme, wavering between cinematic grandiosity and video game monstrosity. It feels like an anthem that is meant for something greater, but its downscaled instrumentation keeps it in the palm of one’s hand: a controller in charge of creating a universe.

> Cerberus Vol.3(16), by Justin Spicer