Anamanaguchi

Nostalgia makes me feel good. I was recently recruited to make a mix for a Memorial Day party and in my searches for music I came upon a host of artists and songs that used to get a lot of play in my rotation years ago. Rediscovering these tracks ended up being a big distraction from my original duty but it was definitely rewarding.

The group that is the focus of this weeks post, however, succeeds in bringing out that big time nostalgia but with newly created music. Anamanaguchi, according to their website, "makes loud, fast music with a hacked NES from 1985". There really is no better way to describe it. Being a 26 year old kid who still remembers unwrapping his Nintendo on Christmas Eve, this music hits a sweet spot.

It started back in high school with the Minibosses who recreated songs from NES games like Contra and Castlevania with a full band ensemble. Anamanaguchi takes it one step further by literally playing a Nintendo but as an instrument rather than a gaming console. And unlike the Minibosses, Anamanaguchi's songs are all original compositions.

They recently released their second full length album "Dawn Metropolis". You can use the handy little tool below to check out some tracks from the album with 8-bit video accompaniment (definitely listen to Blackout City).



This stuff falls nicely into the guilty pleasure niche for me. I'm not going to blast it at parties or fire it up on a road trip, but, if I ever need to get out of a bad mood or just want to grin and bob my head a bit, Anananaguchi are the perfect medicine.

Here is a some unfortunately sub par video that will give you an idea of what the setup looks like.



If you didn't grow up playing Nintendo for hours on end then this stuff may not be your thing, but, if you're interested in more from Anamanaguchi check out these links:

Anamanaguchi's official Web site
Anamanaguchi on MySpace