pointe by sm0hm

1 × GBC + LSDj (lsdsng files included with download)

sm0hm is the long-lost chiptune alias of Sweden-based Ess Mattisson, whose past work includes releases on mp3death, hexawe and DataDoor, as well as product design and software development at Elektron and Fors.

His debut release on 8bitpeoples is a homecoming of sorts. As an LSDJ user since the mid-2000s, he has long been fascinated with the technical and aesthetic aspects of chip music and drawn inspiration from trackers to inform his subsequent professional work on synthesizers.

The tracks on pointe push the Game Boy into the territory of heavier club sounds, leveraging its raw lo-fi character to great effect, in stark contrast to the hyper-glossy production prevalent today. There is a clear continuation here of a lineage that includes x|k’s Nestek and Outra — sounds conjured from old tech that refuses to be labeled obsolete, as it relentlessly pushes further into the future.

hitting registers at high velocity