Hey there, all you ChipWINners! Rather than do a typical album review this time around, I thought I’d try something new and showcase some of the freshest talent in the scene. Very recently, an individual known only as OISHII (Oishii Chan on Facebook) was added to the ChipWIN group, and posted a few of their pieces, which were met with an extremely positive reaction from the community. While there are only four tracks on their SoundCloud at the moment, each one is polished, sweet, and energetic in its own way. Let’s hop right to it, and check out these delightfully delectable songs!

We’ll start off by checking out ‘UP UP MT. CAKE’. The song begins modestly, and its initially cute and simple tone belies a complex, frantic flurry of notes. The track is extremely evocative of the Kirby series, and given the tags for the track and Kirby samples used, it’s quite obvious this was the intent of the artist. Organic percussion provides another layer of depth to this song with a complex yet catchy melody and intensifies it; for example, at the 0:46 mark, cymbal crashes during a chromatic, arpeggiated climb combined with xylophone accents make for an exciting transition back to the main melody. The track closes with a yawn – this song is quite explosive and energetic in nature – and ‘UP UP MT. CAKE’ quiets down, ending with a slight drop in tempo and a baroque-sounding phrase.

ICE CREAM GROWS ON TREES by OISHII Next up, we’ll be looking at ‘ICE CREAM GROWS ON TREES’. Continuing OISHII’s established style, the track opens quietly with subtle referencing to the Kirby series in its chordwork; it becomes clear to the listener that this is going to be a typical thematic element for this artist’s music. A snare roll denotes the preface to the song’s main melody, and combined with descending sixteenth notes, it makes for an exciting transition. The majority of ‘ICE CREAM GROWS ON TREES’ is a series of permutations to the initial melody, and as a result, the whole song feels like one continuous improvisation. These changes occur between a number of different voices; while the focus of the song is on the main melody, the tone and voicing of said melody does not remain constant, which is impressive especially from a compositional standpoint.

PIZZA PLAZA by OISHII ‘PIZZA PLAZA’ yet again follows OISHII’s quiet and relaxed opening, this time opting for a classic-sounding staccato octave commonly heard in chipmusic. ‘PIZZA PLAZA’ has a significantly jazzier, triplet-oriented sound when compared to this artist’s other songs while still maintaining the same overall vibe. The track rolls through a sweet chorus and verse and seems to hint that it’s going to loop at the 0:43 mark, as it returns to the chorus albeit with a percussive transition this time around. However, OISHII throws first-time listeners for a bit of a loop by introducing a new voice and a phenomenal solo that sounds improvised, featuring a LOT of highly appreciated note slides. Two voices perform this segment simultaneously but play an octave apart; this creates quite a lovely sounding tone.

ONIGIRI FREEWAY by OISHII OISHII’s most recent song, ‘ONIGIRI FREEWAY’, is also their longest endeavor, still clocking in at a short, jam-packed 2:51. OISHII does an incredible job at cramming huge amounts of detail into their songs in such a small period of time, and this song is no exception, being the most complex of them all for certain. The song opens with vocal sampling, an alarm clock ticking away, and a quiet triangle bass with square bends backing this brief intro. Early on in this piece, it’s apparent that the pacing of this track is going to be extremely fast-paced and frantic; square note runs harmonize well with the main melody just before the transition to the chorus of ‘ONIGIRI FREEWAY’, and the remainder of the song is loaded with sixteenth notes. The track is absolutely frenetic in nature and doesn’t seem as though it’ll slow down for anything, but it comes to a screeching halt at 1:49 with regards to volume and instrument content. It only gives the listener a second to catch their breath before catapulting them back into its chorus at full-force. After looping the chorus once, the song halts suddenly; the sheer energy and complexity of ‘ONIGIRI FREEWAY’ are simply incredible, and this is by far the most impressive track composed by OISHII.

All of these savory songs are available for free at a pay-what-you-want price, and I would highly recommend tossing a little bit OISHII’s way as a show of gratitude for this EP of sorts. This Argentinian chipmusic newcomer has already proven that they mean business, and I – and many others – eagerly await OISHII’s next song (or batch)!

OISHII

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