Hello everyone, HVSC Update 24 is available for you to download just in time for the festive period. After the quick release last time, this update gave us time to concentrate more on the quality aspect of HVSC. As well as adding over six hundred new SIDs this update, we've fixed several of your favourites and ensured a lot of credit correctness and internal fixing to ensure that HVSC is in tip-top condition. After this update, the collection should contain 14,809 SID files. This update features (all approximates): 630 new SIDs 21 fixed/better rips 4 repeats/bad rips eliminated 587 SID credit fixes Main Artists Featured In This Update: 20CC Patrick Peters (Audial Arts) Ronny Pasch (Audial Arts) DRAX Moppe 4-Mat Adrock and Deadeye Amorphis (Spike) Anvil Arne Ass It Dwayne Bakewell Beat Machine Bzyk Cleve Cubehead Diamond Eclipse Glover Gregfeel Harlequin Input Jadawin Konrįd Kiss Ksin Little SID Mahoney Megmyx Mermaid Music System Sascha Nagie Orcan PFK PseudoGrafx PVCF Rage Ray Riot Shy Sniper Steel Tragic Error Twynn Wacek Walt and many more... So what else is new in this update then? ---------------------------------------- Again like last time, we've included more composers who are new to HVSC, and some of their work is very interesting. Do please take the time to check them out. There's also all but one of the competition entries from the recent X2000 party. The winner's entry is not yet available as he claimed back his work disk after the tune was judged. Once we obtain this, it shall be in the next available HVSC Update for you to enjoy. And there's a few surprises in this update. See if you can spot them, and smile when you do :) --------------------- Email address changes --------------------- Please note that to improve communications and hopefully efficiency regarding HVSC, I've slightly changed my email address for all HVSC correspondence to be sent to me. Please now send your emails to Also, subscribing and unsubscribing to this Update Announcement mailing list is a little easier. There are links on the main HVSC page to do so, and the addresses are: - subscribe - unsubscribe The new addresses are effective and will work without any problems. -------------------- Zombie Nation latest -------------------- As you'll know by now, Zombie Nation's "Kernkraft 400" track covered the "Stardust" tune from David Whittaker's Lazy Jones C64 soundtrack. (see /Whittaker_David/Lazy_Jones.sid #21 in HVSC). After the single reached number 2 in the UK charts, it courted considerable press interest about its C64 influences. C64 music fan Mark Butler informed me of a Radio 1 DJ discussing the track: "Jamie Theakston had this thing on Radio 1, "where did zombie nation come from" and someone wrote in and told him about the lazy jones connection. They must have downloaded sidplay because they played the track on the radio!. Anyway Jamie admitted to being a 8-bit computer buff so I mailed him some info about the HVSC and emulators in general. Hopefully we might have a celebrity in the scene :-)" It also got press coverage in the main UK music weekly magazine, New Musical Express (NME): OK COMPUTER! ZOMBIE NATION's UK record label has admitted the summer club smash 'KERNKRAFT 400' contains elements of music from a COMMODORE C64 computer game. The Ministry of Sound owned label Data has confirmed that the main riff, which forms the crux of the track, is borrowed from the '80s Commodore C64 game 'Lazy Jones'. In a brief statement, the label said: "Mr Zombie, aka Splank, has had to pay an undisclosed amount to David Whittaker, the programmer who wrote the original." The track within the game boasts the sub-title 'Stardust', and was one of the many tracks that Whittaker composed for C64 games throughout the '80s. The URL for the story is here: http://www.nme.com/NME/External/News/News_Story/0,1004,9126,00.html I think just about covers everything. ----------------------- C64 remix site launched ----------------------- Although this site has been in beta for a time, I have waited until the site has gone public before informing you of it. http://remix.kwed.org/ is now officially launched and is fast becoming the site to visit if you wish to download any remixes of C64 tunes as MP3 files. Many of the people in the remix scene regularly post their work to here (due to the fact uploads are more than welcome) and the site is well laid out and easy to use. What's also very useful is that you can listen to the original SID whilst you browsing the site so you are able to compare it to the remixed tune in question. It is _the_ guide to C64 remixes so please do check it out. A lot of remixers also post to the email group [c64rmx] announcing their new mixes. You may wish to subscribe so that you are kept informed also. http://remix.kwed.org/ - the Def Guide to C64 remakes http://www.egroups.com/group/c64rmx/ - [c64rmx] email list ------------------------------ Martin Galway on the BBC Micro ------------------------------ Martin Galway informed me via Chris Abbott (he of BIT fame) recently that he made the music for several games for the BBC Micro. He actually started on the BBC before being asked at Ocean what he knew about the C64. The rest is history. If you wish to locate them, then here's the URLs for the games and the emulators, I am sure some of you would be interested to hear MG's tunes on another format. http://bbc.nvg.org/ - BBC Micro heaven :) http://members.aol.com/mikebuk/beebem/ - BeebEM emulator http://www.stairwaytohell.com/ - BBC games a plenty! http://www.stairwaytohell.com/bbcgames/games/CRAZEERD.ZIP (Crazee Rider) http://bbc.nvg.org/sw/Imagine/HyperSports-disk.zip (Hypersports) http://bbc.nvg.org/sw/Superior/StrykersRun.zip (Stryker's Run) ---------------------------- Ex-C64 musician in dance hit ---------------------------- It came to light recently that an ex-C64 musician, Anders Ųland (Zonix) has made himself a hit in the Danish pop charts. His dance act are called Barcode Brothers, so if you do get the chance, check them out here: http://www.barcodebrothers.com/ Their album is called "Swipe Me" (quite apt considering) or "Aflęs Mig" to give it the correct Danish name, and "Flute" is the most recent single. There's samples in Real Audio. (word of note: the site is in Danish, so if you are looking for the Real Audio, select "Diskografi" and click on the song titles.) ------------------------- Enjoy the new update, and all the SIDs within it, and may I thank everyone for their continuing help and contributions - it makes administering the collection a much nicer and easier hobby to do, thanks! :) So have a Merry Christmas, Ględelig Jul, God Jul, Fröhe Weinachten, Vrolijk Kerstfeest, Joyeux Noėl, Kellemes Karįcsonyi Ünnepeket, Glešileg Jól, Hyvää Joulua, Buon Natale, Wesolych Swiat, Feliz Navidad, and an enjoyable time listening to SID music in whatever language you may speak. Kind regards Warren Pilkington.