Boston, MA
Boston Bitdown boots up for three days of chiptune – The Boston Globe
For this reason, Carballo and Battlemode multi-instrumentalist David “Biff” Jubinsky are feeling optimistic about the festival they’ve spent the last year organizing. This weekend’s Boston Bitdown includes over 50 musical and visual artists across five venues in Arlington and Somerville.
Most of the musical acts fit somewhere into the niche electronic genre of chiptune, which uses synthesized sounds created with the sound chips found in vintage gaming consoles. Some of the musicians work exclusively with console-based synthesizers and sequencer programs, while others mix the sounds with performance on live instruments or incorporate them into beats made with other audio software.
In the early days of the genre, “people would be like ‘oh, you can’t call yourself chiptune if you’re not actually using a Game Boy on stage,” said Mel Carubia, keytarist of Boston-based band Minusworld, which performs on Saturday. “But the umbrella has widened, and the Bitdown lineup itself is evidence of the expansiveness of the genre now.”
Carubia doesn’t describe Minusworld as chiptune, but their lyrics are often inspired by cultural icons of their youth in the ’80s and ’90s — “just a lot of things from the zeitgeist of when chiptune music was born” — and “the keytar replicates a lot of sounds you’d also find in an eight-bit emulator.” On top of that, Koji Kondo’s catchy looping themes for Mario and Zelda on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System were a major inspiration for them to learn piano as a child, they said.
“None of these songs are very long, but they grab into your consciousness, and you can’t shake them,” said Carubia, who holds a master‘s degree in music composition from Longy School of Music. “The thing I like about chiptune music is that it’s not just pure electronic music. It’s tied to an aesthetic that comes from a multi-sensory experience.”
Bronx-based chiptune artist Tyrese Hart performs as AmateurLSDJ. He was still a toddler when Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance SP, and his own device was a hand-me-down from his sister. However, after hearing Northern Irish artist Chipzel’s chiptune soundtrack to the game “Super Hexagon,” which was created with a Game Boy and the sequencer software Little Sound DJ, Hart, then a high school student, started exploring the musical possibilities of the handheld console.
Hart, who performs Saturday, is more accustomed to sharing his music on the internet than with live audiences. “I feel like I’m not as advanced in certain tech things,” he said. All the same, Jubinsky was floored when Battlemode shared a bill with AmateurLSDJ in Brooklyn.
”When he gets onstage, there’s no dancing or heavy movement … but his virtuosic chiptune is sonically insane! The music takes full control of audiences,” Jubinsky raved.
The organizers didn’t initially intend for the festival to be so big — “maybe half that,” Carballo said. Jubinsky’s work as the head of private events at Somerville’s Crystal Ballroom gave him inroads there, and the original plan was just for one day at that venue. But then, Carballo said, “it just kept going, and the response was so solid.”
Because of Carballo’s work with online radio station geekbeatradio as well as his stints booking music at Boston’s PAX East and Maryland’s MAGFest, the organizers were already in contact with chiptune artists around the world. Through Jubinsky’s Battlemode bandmate Kris Uzzell, who performs under the name Astro, they had a connection at Union Square’s The Jungle and nearby Warehouse XI. “All these opportunities were kind of there for us to take, and it seemed silly not to,” Carballo said.
Chiptune artists are “considered freaks in the electronic music scene, because we’re trying, almost deliberately in a way, to not do pop songs and stuff like that,” said Montreal-based musician Adélaïde Le Roux, who performs music with a SEGA Genesis console under the name Game Genie Sokolov. “People are kind of punk-ish.”
That hackerish DIY ethos allows for a “very good entry to music,” especially for those without formal musical training, said Le Roux, who performs Thursday. It also sets up a welcoming space for many flavors of queer and/or neurodivergent people, she continued. Le Roux, who came out as transgender in 2020, said she isn’t alone in having transitioned after entering the chiptune scene, and in the past two years, she has organized two charity compilations of chiptune music with proceeds going to organizations that support trans rights.
It’s a far cry from the years when it was “just a white boy scene,” said Carballo, who said chiptune played “one of the biggest parts” of his education on issues related to racial and gender diversity. “I had a lot to learn, growing up in Milton and Quincy. Chiptune really educated me on this, and took away any sort of confusion or doubts that I had about what all this meant. Now, these are just my friends.”
They “didn’t have to try very hard to book a diverse festival,” said Carballo. “That’s just the community reflecting who they are.”
Carballo “really cares for the artists, really tries to organize things for a genre of music that deserves some love and contains a lot of beautiful people,” said Le Roux. “It’s all thanks to Rob and the Boston chiptune community that we’ve managed to gather round, come together, celebrate one another.”
BOSTON BITDOWN
March 6-8. Various venues, Somerville and Arlington. www.bostonbitdown.com
A.Z. Madonna can be reached at az.madonna@globe.com. Follow her @knitandlisten.
The Boston Harborwalk, a 43-mile park and pedestrian pathway that stretches along the city’s coastline, will soon extend further north into Charlestown and beyond.
The city’s Planning Department this week approved putting the estimated $5.5 million project out for bids from contractors. The extension will connect to the existing Harborwalk and stretch along Terminal Street and the Little Mystic Channel.
“The new pathway will be beautifully landscaped and furnished with seating, shade shelters and exercise equipment,” said Planning Department Director of Real Estate Rebecca Tomasovic during the Boston Planning and Development Agency Board meeting on Thursday.
Tomasovic explained that currently, the land is unused and overgrown. Pedestrians in the area are limited to Terminal Street, which has no sidewalks and is used primarily as a truck route. The Harborwalk extension will allow safe pedestrian travel between Chelsea Street and the Charlestown Athletic Fields, she said.
Planning for the Boston Harborwalk began in the 1980s, according to its website. In addition to walkways, it includes green space, seating, informational signage, exhibit spaces, cafes and other amenities. When the Harborwalk is complete, it will stretch close to 50 miles between Chelsea Creek in East Boston and the Neponset River in Dorchester.
Beyond pedestrian safety and recreation, the Harborwalk is also part of the city’s planning for climate sustainability for the future.
A 2022 report from the Office of Climate Resilience recommended the Charlestown extension, as well as elevating the existing Harborwalk paths in the area, as the height protects against rising sea levels and flooding.
“The Harborwalk is both highly vulnerable to the impacts of sea-level rise and presents an opportunity to create a resilient coastal edge,” officials wrote in the report. “Redesigning the Harborwalk along the Little Mystic to incorporate coastal resilience infrastructures provides opportunities not only to reduce risks from flooding but also to enhance the benefits this amenity provides.”
In October, the city was awarded a $500,000 grant from MassTrails, a division of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The city also expects to use over $1 million from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in the form of mitigation funds from the nearby Encore Casino and $750,000 in private donations through the Mystic River Watershed Association.
The Milwaukee Bucks have struggled this season without their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. But against the Celtics, it was other veterans who stepped up, the old Bucks shined in a victory.
1. Bobby Portis Jr A+
The 30-year-old has struggled all season but against Boston, Bobby Portis was out if this world. Portis went for a season high 27 points on an absurd 84.6% from the floor. Portis knocked down 5 of his 6 three pointers and gathered 10 boards. Portis presence on the defensive end is always strong, but it was the offense tonight propelling the Bucks to the win.
2. Kyle Kuzma A+
The 30-year-old turned back the clock against the Celtics producing a season high 31 points and shooting 76% from the field. Kuzma anchored the Bucks comeback scoring 25 of his 31 points in the second and third quarters. The Bucks trailed by as many as 14 and ran it up to a 21-point lead late in the fourth.
3. Kevin Porter Jr. A+
Kevin Porter Jr. gathered his first triple double of the season with 18/10/13. The 25-year-old continues to be one of the few bright spots for Milwaukee in a career year. Porter was getting whatever he wanted offensively and created for his teammates at a high level. Most notably Kyle Kuzma who accounted for 7 of his assists.
On the darker side of things, Myles Turner was extinct on the offensive end yet again. Turner had four points and was one of six from the floor while only gathering 3 rebounds. Turner did however help the Bucks hold the Celtics to 13 third quarter points, swinging the momentum back in Milwaukee’s favor. But Turner still has to be better, and prove his worth. Turner played 0 minutes in the fourth quarter, a troubling trend we have seen throughout the season, although tonight didn’t call for his presence.
This was exactly the game the Bucks needed, a win against a top team in the East, but also a win without Giannis Antetokounmpo. While the win is a bright spot in a rather dull season, every win counts in their current sitaution. As more losses could make a Giannis trade more likely.
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Holiday deliveries are stacking up on Boston doorsteps and police warn that means porch pirate season is back.
In the past year, one in four Americans was a victim of package theft with losses averaging between $50 and $100 per incident, according data in a report on package thefts in 2025 from security.org.
December is the peak month for porch pirates, with households receiving 10 more packages on average at the end of the year than at the start, the report found. Additionally, those who live in apartments and condos are over three times as likely to have packages stolen than people in single-family homes.
The crimes are something Boston residents are no stranger to.
During the holiday season in 2024, South Boston was terrorized by an individual the Boston Police Department dubbed the “Tom Brady of Porch Pirates.”
A 34-year-old woman named Kerri Flynn was arrested in connection with the thieveries on Christmas Eve 2024, after a Boston police cadet saw her in South Boston holding two bags stuffed with unopened packages.
Prosecutors ultimately dismissed her charges related to the South Boston thefts, as she pleaded guilty to charges in two other larceny cases. Flynn was sentenced to a year of probation with conditions to remain drug-free with screens and undergo a substance abuse evaluation with treatment.
To avoid another season of stolen gifts, Boston police are urging residents to take precautions and released a video on the topic Thursday.
The department advises to track deliveries and be home — or ask a neighbor — to grab them, or use secure options like lockers or scheduled drop-offs. Police also say to install a doorbell camera and immediately report any missing items, regardless of price or size.
Carriers like Amazon, FedEx, UPS and USPS also have a few more pieces of advice, like requiring signatures for high-value items and to avoid leaving packages out overnight.
Amazon recommends using Lockers or Hub Counters and enabling Photo-on-Delivery, while UPS suggests signing up for My Choice to redirect packages to Access Points. USPS also offers “Informed Delivery” and options to hold for pickup — all tools that may keep holiday gifts from getting intercepted before they reach the tree.
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