iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Looking back now, I do feel it's a great release, and I believe we achieved that flow with the way it all sequenced up and matched the original. ptesquad.bandcamp.com/album/the-da... #chiptune

ptesquad.bandcamp.com

The Dark Side of the Moon - The 8-bit Album, by Pterodactyl Squad

9 track album

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

He graciously said yes, so that's why you see his name on the last track, but in the end I was just happy to see the back of the project. It was weird being the second chip TDSOTM, and I definitely felt ours could have been a bigger deal had it been first.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

I thought we'd engaged and bounced off the original well. But then something even more ironic happened - one of the tracks that got submitted utilised audio from Brad Smith's release so I had to go to Brad and get clearance to use this.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

For example, we had tracks like Money by sergeeo with the sound font from Sonic the Hedgehog's Casino Night Zone (very clever), alongside Game Boys, the Speak and Spell etc. Steve Jenkins from Telefuture did the art, which I, again, think is really clever.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Had I known someone else was working on it, I wouldn't have bothered with ours. It almost seemed pointless to carry on, but in the end I felt ours did offer something that the original didn't, i.e. variety in the styles and sounds.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

And it seemed to get picked up everywhere - I guess similar to what had happened with our Weezer release. The idea of chiptune tributes was still novel around 2010/11 and they seemed to really hit the zeitgeist. I was pretty dejected about it to be honest.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

People were working on their tracks, but I remember it taking longer than I'd anticipated. Then the funniest thing happened - someone else released their own chip version of TDSOTM and beat us to the punch! That person was Brad Smith with his MOON8 release.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

That's kind of complicated when you're planning to use different artists, but I thought that would be a selling point of the release too. So it was a little tricky getting the right artists on board and having them commit. Inevitably some people dropped out and needed to be replaced.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

I even wondered why it had never been done before. This one would be different to the Weezer tribute though, and it required more planning. I knew it needed to basically track to the original, in the same way that each song flowed into the next in one giant sequence.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

After the success of the Weezer tribute, we wondered what else we could do in the same vein and I was going through a big Pink Floyd phase at the time. Because of the nature of TDSOTM and all of its experimentation and textures, I knew it would make for a great chiptune tribute.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

As I continue my look back through all of our releases (with huge gaps between each post), let me tell you a funny story. It's about The Dark Side of the Moon - The 8-bit Album.

The Dark Side of the Moon - The 8-bit Album cover

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

We were so honoured to have Kageyama-san contribute a track to our Train Radio compilation in 2021. I believe it was the first music he'd released in a while. RIP to a chip hero.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

We got the sad news that Kageyama Masashi passed away. The composer of one of the most beautiful retro soundtracks of all time, Gimmick! I've listened to it so many times, and I have it on again right now.

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Anamanaguchi @anamanaguchi.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Here is a post that has all the tour dates that we are playing on it so you know when we are playing shows in the next few months. They start next week. It is great when people are at the shows so please come to them thank you.

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Anamanaguchi @anamanaguchi.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Guchi fans-we need your help See you on tour next week anamanaguchi.com 🫶

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Marshall Art @marshallart.band · 25/08/2025

I have been listening to Noisewaves all morning because of @ptesquad.bsky.social. First time I’ve listened to this in ages, and it holds up extremely well. noisewaves.bandcamp.com/album/what-c... Anyone know what Shawn and Ryan have been up to lately? @nickmaynard.bsky.social?

noisewaves.bandcamp.com

What Cannot Be Told (Deluxe Edition), by Noisewaves

16 track album

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

It was never mainstream but it did fit in with a lot of what was happening in the big indie and electronic scenes. I seem to remember Noisewaves doing some live shows around this time (with live drums?). I haven't spoken to Shawn in a very long time, I wonder what he's up to now.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Post rock/indie mixed with electronic stuff, those verbose song titles (e.g. Do I Look Like I Want To Play Volleyball?), one word but plural band names, and album art with lots of geometric shapes. I miss that era a lot. I feel like chiptune really had a moment then.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

In this case it was 2A03 chip stuff with guitars as the special ingredient. I'd say there are plenty of similarities to The Depreciation Guild here. Yeah, looking back from 2025, this EP really embodies a lot of what was happening and popular at the time.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

It was great to put out Noisewaves' self-titled debut in 2010. As I've said before, there were plenty of other labels doing straight up chip releases really well around this time, so I aimed to put out chiptune + something else, whenever the opportunity arose. #chiptune

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Btw I'm in Seoul right now surviving the summer. Drinks are key to this.

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Frank @heosphoros.net · 12/08/2025

If you're looking for a really cool and tenured #chiptune label, check out PTE Squad! They're taking in submissions as well!

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

As always, if you have something you're working on, get in touch.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

And if you're wondering what the future holds for the label, I do know of a small handful of releases in the pipeline. I just checked and it's been a year since the last thing we put out (from Corset Lore), so I'm hoping we can get something new out sooner rather than later.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

And I remember digging the unusual nature of this EP but wondering if others would, and it kind of surprised me when this one got a lot of downloads and nice feedback.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Plenty of the samples for this 5-track EP were taken from Atari 2600 carts and circuit bent toys - I always enjoyed handling stuff that wasn't from LSDj and the Nintendo chips.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

While these tracks were 'songs' I guess, there was an emphasis on sound and texture more than anything. And they do sound lovely and crisp even now, produced to perfection. I remember on Kev's MySpace page it used to read "Listen with good quality headphones".

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Today I'm thinking back to Short Attention Fan by Weave of K. which we released in February 2010. Weave of K. is Kevin Durr, who worked as a sound designer - still does I believe, check out A Sound Effect. This line of work definitely showed in his tunes.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I'm finally getting back on it, looking back through the label's releases. 5 months since my last post, but better late than never! Part of the problem was I lost my login for Bluesky when my laptop died 😂

Short Attention Fan by Weave of K. album cover. Abstract patterned roof against a blue sky.

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(T-T)b @ttb.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Our new song “Bug on the Ceiling” is out today! Beautiful Extension Cord is out next Friday on Disposable America. Available for preorder on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital. Art by Sami Martasian Engineered and mixed by Matt Schimelfenig Mastered by Bradford Krieger

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Lawrence has always had a real ear for melody and emotion - it's why I love his stuff. But more than anything he's just trying to paint a picture, with complete dedication to the concept. Perfect escapism.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

The energy mostly remains the same throughout the album, just like an authentic arcade soundtrack, although when you get to Third Challenger and Fourth Challenger, things seem to step up a gear.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

It was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to put out. Looking back it has a feel of the European synth composers like Harold Faltermeyer and Giorgio Moroder.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

It was another faux soundtrack, one for an arcade racing game idea he came up with. It's energising, and the kind of music that would drive you on to victory. But it's also kind of chill and relaxing at the same time. The minimalistic cover art lets you imagine your own visuals.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Unlike Tropicalesque, which was written for the NES 2A03 chip, this is where Lawrence started to experiment with softer-sounding, more varied samples. So this doesn't feel like your standard chiptune release - there's definitely a more custom sound palette drawing from various consoles and synths.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Emanon was the second release we put out by lpower in 2009, who I believe at this time was still going by his full name: Lawrence Power. And yes, that is his real name.

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Everyone chip-adjacent that I'm following on here seems to be in Japan 😂

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Next some Forteresse. They are the only modern BM band I can stand 🤘

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(T-T)b @ttb.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

We’re very excited to announce our new LP, Beautiful Extension Cord, out 4/4 on Disposable America! You can hear the first single “Hey, Creepshow” wherever you stream music. We have CDs, tapes, and vinyl available for preorder — check the link in our bio. Love, (T-T)b

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Pterodactyl Squad @ptesquad.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

If anyone has any demos or tracks for a potential release, HMU. Can't guarantee a release but always keen to help release things if they're a good fit.

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