Leeni

“Video Games” if it were composed for video games…well done. According to the write up, this version was made using two Nintendo Gameboys.

- Buzzfeed

It sounds both awesome and just like an actual video game.

A Seattle-based "chiptune" artist named Leeni must have put about a million hours of work into covering brooding indie starlet Lana Del Rey's massive internet single "Video Games" as both a song and a video. The song is a little truer to the original than the video is (for those of you out there keeping track of the relative accuracy of Lana Del Rey covers), but the whole thing is a lot more fun than the last public stab at animating Lana Del Rey: that bizarre Taiwanese animation of her career.

The audio cover of "Video Games" was made using two Game Boys, to get that unmistakable old-timey bleep-bloop video game tone, and the video cover was put together using footage from mostly Barbie (but also The Legend of Zelda, Outrun, and Lunar Pool) video games.

So check out the clip of an animated Del Rey (a.k.a. Barbie) driving past palm trees, dancing in a home disco with a close friend, dancing next to huge musical notes and doing a bunch of other fun stuff below!

- Fuse.TV

Soulful songstress Lana Del Rey made a splash last year with her single "Video Games", a song that repeated the term 'video games' several times, causing many gamers to fall instantly in love despite the games in question being used as an example of how routine her once passionate relationship had become. The video was lovely, but it lacked a certain something: Actual video games.
Chiptune artist Leeni has crafted a gorgeous cover of "Video Games" that not only sounds much better than the original tune, its video contains real honest-to-goodness video game footage. Let's watch!


Leeni compiled the music video for her version of "Video Games" using clips she felt mimicked the feel of the original music video. I think she did a fabulous job, even if she was forced to use Barbie game cut scenes.

I've been following chiptune for a while now and this is the first time I've heard of Leeni, which isn't surprising considering the sheer amount of artists out there. After listening to some of the other tracks on her website, I'm quite sure I will never forget her.

If you'd like to hear more from Leeni (you should), her latest EP, Headphones On Your Heart, is currently on sale at Bandcamp, with 100 percent of the proceeds going towards The Jed Foundation's Love is Louder campaign and other suicide prevention programs.

Great music for a good cause? Sure beats playing video games and ignoring Lana Del Rey. - Kotaku

Perhaps we are enchanted and comforted by 8-bit music as a result of spending our childhoods trying to save The Princess or mastering Tetris (as though it was just an addictively good game rather than a Russian intelligence test), or perhaps some 8-bit music is just enchanting all on its own. Seattle-based Leeni is the epitome of 8-bit enchantment on 8-Bit Heart, her second full-length album. Her 80's Nintendo Game Boy serves as a musical instrument on every song, but Leeni doesn't rely on electronic gimmicks in her song composition; she instead uses her lush, gorgeous voice, Stephen Merrit-like lyrics and her skills at playing acoustic guitar and the ukulele to enchant us.

Leeni's lyrical wit really shows itself in "Perfection Interrupted," a string of cheeky insults, such as; "You're like a sitcom's lame substitute for vulgarity/You're like a b-rate actor's lack of sincerity."

The only potential problem with 8-Bit Heart is that it has two speeds; slow and fast, and her faster songs might alienate people who don't want to feel like Samus Aran in Metroid II combining a spin-jump with a Screw Attack. But on her slower songs her composition and vocal abilities are so haunting that someone who has never even seen a video game (if such a person exists) could fall for her music on these merits alone.

Leeni tours extensively in the Northwest and has been a top finalist in NW Source's "People's Pick" for the last two years. She is currently unsigned but this could change quickly if Stephen Colbert has any say in the matter. Leeni is, after all, touting herself as "Colbert Girl" and running a MySpace campaign for his presidency. - The Fader

A girl after my own heart, Leeni is a 26-year old who spent much of her child­hood firmly planted in front of the Nin­tendo. Influ­enced by 8-bit artists on MySpace as well as clas­sics like The Bea­t­les and Elias Smith, Leeni’s music is an enjoy­able blend of the Gameboy’s famil­iar square synth sounds, her own voice and instru­men­ta­tion, and clever song­writ­ing. With youth­ful, har­monic vocals lay­ered on top of those unmis­tak­able 8-bit bleeps and blops, Leeni’s music sounds rather like your Game­boy had a lovechild with that nerdy cho­rus girl you knew back in high school.

I dis­cov­ered Leeni’s music quite by acci­dent, brows­ing through ran­dom J-Pop selec­tions on Spo­tify, and some­how link-hopping my way to Leeni’s page via “Related Artists” links. (By the way, if you’re not using Spo­tify yet, you’re miss­ing out on a truly amaz­ing music expe­ri­ence. Per­haps I’ll write a sep­a­rate post about it soon. You can read my thoughts on Spo­tify here.) “Head­phones On Your Heart” was the first track I lis­tened to, and imme­di­ately fell in love.

Have a listen:


Leeni already has two albums under her belt, each with a dis­tinct sound. The first, 8 Bit Heart, is like an upbeat, happy-go-lucky romp through a bright, col­or­ful Nin­tendo game. Her sec­ond album, Labyrinth is much darker and more down­tempo (think Super Mario Bros. under­world or Leg­end of Zelda dun­geon music) but still an enjoy­able listen.



Sure, there’s lots of other 8-bit artists out there, but Leeni has a unique musi­cal and lyri­cal style all her own. Most of the 8-bit music I’ve heard ranges from juve­nile to obnox­ious; fun but for­get­table retro-tunes that pan­der to your Nin­ten­dostal­gia. Leeni is dif­fer­ent and def­i­nitely worth a listen. - Shez Crafti blog

What do you get when you give a singer-songwriter type a GameBoy?

All of us music AND gaming nerds know it means something awesome.

Leeni is another one of those rare examples where we were contacted by a band via myspace - fully understood to be a place awash in a sea of mediocrity - but the music turns out to be really excellent. Leeni is a great example of lo-fi electronics wedded to quality songwriting and a solid voice, as her most recent, self-released album 8 Bit Heart demonstrates.

The record is a pretty big departure, sonically speaking, from her earlier work, which is much more straightforward voice + guitar-based. Leeni established herself this way as a part of the indie scene in Seattle, where she lives. But her musical talents (she's been singing and playing instruments since she was a little kid) are such that she was able to take up a new instrument - in this case, a GameBoy with software to use it as a synthesizer - and use it to craft some really great songs. If you like this track, also check out "Raw Footage" and "Headphones on Your Heart".

You can buy 8 Bit Heart from CD Baby, and I believe it will be available on iTunes soon too. Check her myspace page to hear more songs and see what gigs she has lined up. - Music For Robots

Leeni’s music takes you into another dimension, perhaps one with only two dimensions, depending where your video nostalgia begins and the real world ends. Leeni's 8-bit world is so believable that you’d swear you were listening to Princess Peach crooning into a 4-track and awaiting the valiant Mario and Luigi. Of course, she’s not just a princess helplessly pining away, she’s writing in her diary and playing records in her room that’s decorated with New Order and Shangri-La’s posters.

The 8-bit sounds are grade school kitsch and are an unusual counterpoint to Leeni's soulful, gentle, airy, and even mystical voice. Her words, though, are straightforward, thoughtful, heartfelt, and clever. “Raw Footage” is a bouncy, romantic tale that switches between first and third person. It's as transitioning between dreams and reality are a conduit to a higher state, as if bliss can be achieved with a combination of both dimensions.

One of the many charming lyrics pleas, “Why can’t life be edited down and set to music?” “Perfection Interrupted” also uses film metaphors but this time to sing of someone’s shortcomings. It furthers the effect that Leeni truly lives in an 8-bit world, seeing her process human qualities in metaphors that never step outside of a television.

Leeni could do one show at Comic Con and start a cult with the fervor of Trekies, but she’d probably prefer the local coffee shop or record convention. Who thinks about fans and success when you’re trapped inside a two dimensional castle?
- Impose Magazine

With her sophomore album 8 Bit Heart (celebrated at tonight’s CD-release party), indie darling Leeni ventures from guitar and piano to the chirping computer tones of the original Nintendo Game Boy. For Leeni, exploring a new instrument for her music was the muse for reinventing herself as a songwriter. Why sample the likes of the Super Mario soundtrack? “With the square and triangle oscillator synths for 8-bit music, it was part nostalgia, part tragic adorableness,” Leeni explains. The resulting sound of 8 Bit Heart is a hypnotic mix of happy hardcore and playful industrial, accompanied by entrancing female robot vocals. The real reason for its instant appeal, however, lies in the depths of your amygdala, which no doubt recalls all those snappy, innocent sounds you rocked your thumbs to back in the day while storming Koopa’s castle. What’s the next level for Leeni? “I’m already working on writing my next album, which is also 8-bit, but a slightly different flavor. While 8 Bit Heart is like Mario Bros. meets the Postal Service, my next venture will be like Zelda meets Nine Inch Nails.” - Seattle Weekly

Leeni is a Seattle-based chiptune musician who uses synths, drum machines and vocals over her Gameboy creations. She has been performing chiptune music since 2006 across the US, including the International Blipfest in NYC, the Iam8bit art opening in LA and the VGXPO in Portland, Oregon. To date she has produced 3 albums: “8-bit Heart” (2007), “Labyrinth”(2008) and “The Only Now”(2011).
The video above is an animation by James Franzen for the track ‘Nothing in Between’ which involves Leeni getting summoned into the 8-Bit Heart game world. She finally gets to leave reality behind and jump into an almost dream-like world. But who, or what, has summoned her there?
In an e-mail interview, Leeni said she decided to try her hand at Game Boy music because it took her back to her childhood.

“I was attracted by the sound. The purity of it. The nostalgia,” she said. “I used to sit at home and play my Nintendo as a kid, so those square synth sounds are somewhat soothing to me.”
“I’ve long been a fan of electronic music but never knew quite how to make it. It wasn’t until I had some downtime at a day job that I seriously began investigating what it was about electronic music that I liked so much. I found a trend in the music that I like, and it all tended towards the raw 8-bit sounds.”
Check out some tracks below and be sure to pick up the albums from the links below - Pixel-Issue.net

Seattle-bred 8-bit electro-dance artist Leeni is about as charming as her name sounds. With three full-length albums to her catalog, Stephen Colbert’s surprising endorsement of Leeni as his official “Colbert Girl” during his 2009 presidential run in (Google it) and the summer swells of Toro Y Moi and Baths chillwave hitting our shores, the Kat Dennings-Betty-Boop-Beep-Boop hybrid’s off-beat on-MIDI sound is more relevant than ever.

Using only an old Gameboy, sequencer and drum machine, Leeni’s able to craft simple glitchy borderline clunky songs that are more enchanting than a Pacman meets Pacgirl interlude. Balanced against her breathy ethereal vocals (think Robyn or Chinatown’s own Aly Ishikuni of ALT/AIR), it comes as no surprise then that Leeni’s able to make each album exponentially more complex and danceable than the next–all without the frustration of having to whack a Nintendo cartridge against her leg to make it work, or in this case, sing. As virtual beat after beat trickles down like Tetris blocks song after song, Leeni’s gift lies in maneuvering them into familiar places on the physical dance floor.

Her latest, The Only Now, is a nine-track album that should translate well on stage since it’s dripping in synth and bass-heavy percussion. Standouts include “N.Y.M.” and “Spotless Mind,” though the most <3333 worthy be “Awake,” which we’ll consider to be the equivalent of a “Boss Stage” track here. She?s sure to mix it up with previous albums like Labyrinth, which takes it cues from gothic games like The Legend of Zelda and Castlevania, so feel free to get lost in the disco arcade of Leeni’s sonic mazes.

By mixing up mainland artists like Leeni with other under-the-radar local acts, the wizards at Jet Setter continue to keep Broadcast at an exciting, innovative and balanced edge over other produced gig sets in Honolulu; this will easily be the weekly live music event to keep your eye on all fall. Just make sure you have enough lives. –Matthew DeKneef

Nextdoor, 43 N. Hotel St., Thu., 9/22, 10pm–1am, [leeni.bandcamp.com], [jetsetterhnl.com] - Honolulu Weekly

Like a relentless swarm of Space Invaders, retro videogame graphics have marched into music videos over the past decade.

Directors, never immune to the nostalgic allure of the pixel, have injected bold, blocky 8-bit imagery into the videos of all kinds of songs. The videogame-inspired visuals seem an especially appropriate accompaniment for chiptune music, itself spawned from an aural fascination with retro games.

With more and more filmmakers adopting the visual vibe of old-school videogames, it’s time to pay tribute to some of the most creative 8-bit videos. Here are the 11 best videos (so far) that borrow from the videogame aesthetic.

Above:

“Underworld” by Leeni
It’s impossible to explore 8-bit music videos without at least dabbling in the world of chiptunes — music crafted in the style of, and often with the same computer hardware of, old-school games. Chiptune songstress Leeni’s clip for “Underworld” plays like a videogame stage show. Stick around for the eye-popping pixel light show towards the end.
- Wired Magazine

Today we're happy to announce the winner of last year's Beaterator and MySpace Records Challenge. After the first round of entries, Rockstar Games selected 26 bands/artists to go head-to-head against each other in the final voting phase. Each entrant were allowed to submit an original song of their own, and a song made with Beaterator PSP.

The public then voted along with Rockstar, who made their decisions based on the Beaterator produced song. So, without further a due, the winner, who walks away with $5,000 in cash is...

Leeni, with the song Night Courtship. Check it out below: - Beaterator.ign.com

A fantastic way to start the week: chiptune musician Leeni describes her latest album 'Labyrinth' as "Danny Elfman, Elliott Smith and Bjork [collaborating] on the soundtrack to Castlevania or Zelda" and has marked its debut with this 8-bit mole-man kabuki video for 'Underworld' by Niina Koivusalo and Ville Konttinen.

There's much more to be had -- chippy Thom Yorke covers, even -- via her 8bitcollective page and home site.

[Leeni.us, via the increasingly excellent Attract Mode] - Offworld

I was first introduced to Leeni's unique style of video game music at the recent 2008 "I Am 8-Bit" opening reception in Los Angeles. As I was wandering through the ultra-crowded gallery, looking at some of the best video game inspired artwork, I couldn't help but wonder who was performing the retro-styled gaming tunes blasting on the speakers. When I made my way to the other end of the gallery, I found Leeni standing there, playing her live set... on a Game Boy.

For those unfamiliar with the chiptunes scene, it's basically a style of music where all the sounds are generated using some kind of video game equipment. If you're wondering what the sound is like, all you have to do is play just about any classic Nintendo Entertainment System game and you'll have a pretty good idea. Now, while I'm a big fan of chiptunes (especially acts like 8 Bit Weapon), it's certainly not something for everybody. But that's where Leeni comes in.

Leeni doesn't just perform instrumental chiptunes (though she's perfectly capable of it), she seamlessly blends them together with her mellow voice. Her vocals aren't too overpowering, they're just the right balance for all the bleeps and bloops coming out of her Game Boy. Only Leeni can make square waves sound romantic.

If you're new to the chiptunes scene and looking for a great way to ease into it, I highly recommend picking up her "8 Bit Heart" album. You won't be disappointed with what you hear, because she's found a nice way to make this style of music very accessible for just about anyone. And at the very least, you'll have some great new tunes to listen to while playing your favorite classic 8-bit games.

Overall rating: WholeWholeWholeWhole
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best) - I-Mockery

Simple yet sumptuous, Leeni's pop melodies flow across your skin like
aloe, seeping in and changing you in the subtlest of ways. Her voice,
soft and breathy, sighs lyrics that turn around and bite you when you
least expect it. By turns obsessive and morbid, yearning and hopeful,
sad and resigned, Leeni's words float on shimmering tunes with echoes
of everything from the Beatles to the Magnetic Fields, but all these
influences are distilled into something distinctly Leeni-esque.
The production of her cd is cheap and a little dirty, but that only makes
the songs more potent, the way a picture that's been crumpled then
smoothed out can stick in your memory far longer than a crisp, clean image. This is the soundtrack for a movie that David Lynch has yet to make. - Bret Fetzer, reviewer for the Stranger and Amazon.com

Leeni was voted as a top finalist in NW Source's People's Picks 2006 for Best Unsigned Artist.

View Results here:
http://www.nwsource.com/peoplespicks/2006/winners/?lid=509135&section=entertainment - NW Source

http://www.nwsource.com/peoplespicks/2007/winners/?section=entertainment&lid=527748 - NW Source

LEENI
Dotminatrix, or How to Let the Inner 8-Bit Out

During downtime at a day job, New Hampshire-born Leeni rediscovered her love of eight-bit sounds and, to her surprise, a whole community of eight-bit musicians, both locally and as far away as Japan. Thus came the idea for *8 Bit Heart, an album of original music composed and performed exclusively using a Nintendo GameBoy and its Nanoloop sound-editing cartridge, then topped with Leeni’s own vocals in a unique marriage of digital surface and emotional depth.

“There’s something nostalgic and quirky about it,” Leeni says. “I grew up playing *Super Mario Bros. and *The Legend of Zelda. I like the wheeze and the square synth sounds, and I like the white noise.”

In 2005, Leeni self-released *Are We There Yet?, which featured sparse guitar and her largely whispered, almost childlike voice. Beautifully understated, the sounds nevertheless left her eager to expand her sonic repertoire. “It all started by playing out,” she urges, recollecting her days of taking the stage armed only with an acoustic guitar. “I was constantly grouped with this clump of women like Phoebe from *Friends. I didn’t feel that confident about that, so for a span of four to six months, I never played with the same instrumentation twice. With every new instrument I tried, I wrote a new song.”

When it comes to performance, this chanteuse is also a chameleon, having worked with Seattle’s Jet City Improv comedy troupe (as “The Ramadan Phenomenon”) and performing made-to-order celebrity impersonations: from Cher and Britney Spears to a stripping gorilla and George Bush in drag. “I love doing Britney,” Leeni admits. “She’s the ‘artist’ of my generation. She’s my age, and I’m going to grow old with her.”

Despite her penchant for bold performance, *8 Bit Heart (due in early January) retains the bald-faced vulnerability of Leeni’s earlier original work. “As you grow up, you try to leave who you were,” she insists, “but I try to embrace who I was in the selection of what I choose to perform. Sincerity is the absolute, number-one thing in music for me. If I can’t be sold on what I’m doing, why would anyone else?”

Seattle Sound magazine
December, 2006
http://www.seattlesoundmag.com

- Seattle Sound Magazine

Posted by STEVEN SAWADA

Leeni— the local raven-haired songstress has quietly built up a loyal following through the coffee shop/pub circuit. Shattering the solo-female singer-songwriter archetype by employing a variety of instruments and a dark lyrical slant, everything about her sound screams huge potential. Her delicate brand of weary, melodic indie-pop resonates with a very familiar and formulaic structure (put simply, the influences cited in her bio are very evident in her music). BUT I only say this because at times I sense a desire to go beyond the confines of simple indie-rock. Maybe if she teamed up with a brash, gung-ho producer, or tapped into more diverse influences, she could break some serious ground amongst the electro-nu-folk landscape. But as it stands, her pre-programmed lo-fi beats, creative vocal effects, ukulele plucking and masterful Omnichord work already brilliantly enhance her hauntingly pretty voice. I count myself as a big fan. Even though I desire more, I still can’t help be deeply enraptured by her live performances. Catch her Sunday, 9PM, May 28th at Rendezvous with Erin Stewart, Voxy and Kpop. To really pique your interests, I have to draw comparisons to Susanna and the Magical Orchestra. - Line Out: The Stranger Music Blog

Here's a recent segment featuring Leeni on Nancy Guppy's "City A-go-go"

http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=3040611 - The Seattle Channel

Until today I knew nothing about 8-bit music. I didn't wake up this morning planing to tunnel into my closet looking for my old Game Boy, but there I was, cursing the ice skate that bonked me on the head while holding the little box with corroded batteries inside. Alas.

Being a ardent devotee of most things vintage, I was planning only on writing about Leeni's alluring voice and splendid ukulele playing, which makes me think of my Dad's 78 record collection. Leeni's authentic and beautiful song "Over and Over" whispers out of my speakers and into my shadow, following me around arranging my demeanor into that of a heavy lidded house cat. Certainly any song about sleeping the day away will get me to purr.

I thought about ignoring the 8-bit stuff on her page but I always try to be open minded, despite my snobbish comportment. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Her same dreamy gorgeous croon floats on top of the simple but cleverly used computer beeps and trills, and transfixes the listener with the urge to seek out Leeni and immediately propose marriage. I still don't know anything about 8-bit music, but anyone else out there thinking about producing it would do well to listen to Leeni's new record when it comes out.

I command you to go to her myspace http://www.myspace.com/leenimusic and listen. Now!
- Sonic Veronica