Not sure when this became a thing, but the end result is surprisingly dope; far more than just novelty in our eyes. 8-bit Famicom versions of some of the most uniquely styled music ever created.
The wonderful recordings of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band covered more experimental ground than any of their contemporaries at the time, and most other live bands before and after. Always pushing new sounds, Captain Beefheart’s approach to all forms of musical influence crossed over from psych-rock and blues and went well in to the avant-garde. But for obvious reasons one sound they weren’t able to draw from through the sixties and seventies was the chip-tune stylings of nineties video game music.
Thankfully others have since taken on that task.
Not entirely sure who’s behind these versions, only that they were uploaded a few years back by username barismanco on youtube, who quotes the YMCK magical8bit plugin as his weapon of choice.
Four tracks in all, and if anything they actually compliment and add another dimension to the already bent structures of the songs. You have to think the Captain would be stoked with this.
And for anyone that doesn’t want to go in uninitiated and in need of an introduction to Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, A.V. Club posted a wicked primer last year: http://www.avclub.com/article/beginners-guide-weird-world-captain-beefheart-211210