CONTESTS: Create a promo video for the 2009 Blip Festival and get a free 3-day pass

The 2009 Blip Festival, the raddest gathering of 8bit and chiptune musicians, designers and enthusiasts, takes place next month, December 17-19. Today, the organizers of the festival have gone forward with a pretty excellent idea for a contest and prize-pack, what they're calling the "Blip Your Own Adventure" video competition. Filmmakers, videographers, animators, pretty much anyone interested in entering can do so by creating their own 60-second spot.

One select winner will have their video screened at the 2009 Blip Festival, with runners-up linked on the official Blip Festival website. The grand prize winner will also receive the following exciting prizes:

01 A Blip Festival 3-Day Pass
02 1 copy of Plogue Bidule, modular audio software
03 1 copy of Plogue Chipsounds, vintage 8bit-era sound chips emulator

Post your videos to the official Blip Festival Vimeo channel: http://www.vimeo.com/groups/26883, share on Facebook, or use Twitter with the hashtag #blip09 or just include @blipfestival in your tweet.

The rules:

01 Title must begin with “The Blip Festival 2009”
02 1 minute or less
03 No offensive material (use your best judgment, obviously)
04 Must contain dates of the festival and the following keywords: The Bell House, 8bitpeoples, The Tank and blipfestival.org
05 Viral spoofs highly encouraged

Enter now, and enter often. Contest ends December 11.

(mp3)    Twilight Electric - Chewing Gum

Godspeed!

CONTESTS: DJ/Rupture plays "One Step Beyond" at the AMNH

The FADER and the American Museum of Natural History are set to bring DJ/Rupture, Matt Shadetek, Jahdan Blakkamore, Maluca (Mad Decent's new signee), and Sonido Martines this month (this Friday, no less) for their museum takeover dance party One Step Beyond. Tickets are $25 but they include free reign of the museum for the night and a totally separate free entry if you want to come back and it all kicks off at 9pm. We've got a pair of free tickets if you're, you know, interested in the show, which you should be, since we spent all this time posting it and whatnot.

Here's how to win:

Using Twitter, re-tweet this message. Just copy and paste it and you'll be good to go:
RT @thecultureofme I wanna win free tix to @atAMNH for DJ/Rupture this Friday night!! Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/2WxXs5

Then, just make sure you're following us on Twitter. You should be already, but if you're not (weird), you can follow us by clicking here. Then you're all set. We'll run the contest UNTIL THURSDAY and the winning entry will get a notification from us.

(mp3)    DJ/Rupture - Reef: Baby Kites And Nokea

Godspeed!

CONTESTS: Remix Dot Allison and get your edit released officially

Last week we told you about and talked up our main avant fiend in the UK, Remdog, for his remix of this track "Cry", the latest single for melt-our-hearts UK pop darling Dot Allison. Today, we learn that Allison is actually smack dab in the middle of a contest for remixes of the single, unbeknownst to us completely with regard to the "why" of the Remdog treatment. Running from now until December 31, you can each try your hands at editing a version of the Room 7 1/2 track, upload it to Dot herself and the winner will be hand picked by acclaimed Scottish dance stalwarts Slam. Win the competition and you will have your own remix released with the album version and another original remix. You can download all the stems and read the rules and regulations now. Hop to it.

(mp3)    Dot Allison - New Religion

Godspeed!

CONTESTS: Win a vinyl copy of Calvin Harris's Ready For The Weekend

Calvin Harris just released this new clip for "Flashback", his new single (the third from his latest LP) out November 2, and it's a stuck-on-a-boat with tons of Polaroids and visions of past events of parties, drama, and oh yeah, lots and lots of girls--basically an extension of the party that doesn't seem to end. Calvin is, of course, right in the middle of the action, giving the viewer of wish-I-could've-been-there point-of-view of life in the easy lane. The single comes complete with remix treatments from Eric Prydz and David Guetta. To coincide with the video release and the now-two-weeks-old US release of Ready For The Weekend, we've got a vinyl copy of the album (how rad is that?) to give away.

Here's how to win:

Using Twitter, re-tweet this message. Just copy and paste it and you'll be good to go:
RT @thecultureofme I wanna win the vinyl of "Ready For The Weekend" from @calvinharris!! Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/3mTKI1

Then, just make sure you're following us on Twitter. You should be already, but if you're not (weird), you can follow us by clicking here. Then you're all set. We'll run the contest UNTIL WEDNESDAY and the winning entry will get a notification from us.

(mp3)    Calvin Harris - Stars Come Out

Godspeed!

CONTESTS: Win a tee shirt from Topman designed by Gallows

In a new monthly feature called "CTRL", Topman gets taken over by a different band, who curate the blog on their own, literally transforming the look, feel and goings-on of the Web site. This month, the takeover is charged to Gallows, the once-and-future saviors of British punk rock, who are live on the site now and have also set up a Topman-sponsored gig with Invasion, Shapes and Soni-Quella at the Flapper in Birmingham on October 29. Lags and Lee from the band sat down for an in-depth interview with CTRL and Lags even designed a limited-edition tee shirt for Topman, of which only 50 were made. And we've got one to give away.

Here's how to win.

Using Twitter, re-tweet this message. Just copy and paste it and you'll be good to go:
RT @thecultureofme I wanna win the Topman CTRL tee designed by Gallows!! Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/KdHAH

Then, just make sure you're following us on Twitter. You should be already, but if you're not (weird), you can follow us by clicking here. Then you're all set. We'll run the contest UNTIL FRIDAY and the winning entry will get a notification from us.

(mp3)    Gallows - In The Belly Of A Shark

Godspeed!

CONTESTS: Remix Circlesquare's "Hey You Guys" and have it released on !K7 Records

Enter the contest that pits you and the soaring electronic rocker Germans in Circlesquare for a remix collaboration, win and join the ranks of the bands previous remixers, like The Juan Maclean, Konrad Black, Lowfish, Mickey Moonlight, Matias Aguayo and the Valerie Collective's Russ Chimes and Anoraak. The winner of the contest will have their version of "Hey You Guys" released on !K7 Records and featured on Beatport.com Use the stems found right here to create your own "Hey You Guys" remix, then upload it to the site. All entries need to be submitted for judgment before November 2. The winning track will be chosen by the guys in Circlesquare themselves.

(mp3)    Circlesquare - Hey You Guys

Godspeed!

CONTESTS: Win a limited edition New Era cap designed by YACHT

Sure, Claire Evans and Jona Bechtolt aka YACHT don't seem much like the cap-wearing types, let alone the baseball cap sort. But when The Fader asked the Portland, Oregon electro wave duo--currently riding a tsunami-like wave of praise for their latest disc, See Mystery Lights--to design a hat for New Era, they took the challenge in stride, creating this extremely limited edition hat, complete with the standard YACHT symbols of triangles, hearts and anchors. And we've got one of them for you. The contest's open to anyone in the US.

Here's how to win.

Using Twitter, re-tweet this message. Just copy and paste it and you'll be good to go:
RT @thecultureofme I wanna win the rad-as-hell YACHT cap!! Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/nUUUJ

Then, just make sure you're following us on Twitter. You should be already, but if you're not (weird), you can follow us by clicking here. Then you're all set. We'll run the contest FOR ONE WEEK and the winning entry will get a notification from us. The only other rule, though, is that you have to promise that you'll take that sticker off the hat, because, well, seriously, we hate seeing that garbage still on caps.

(mp3)    YACHT - The Afterlife

Godspeed!

CONTESTS: Win a rad prize pack from "Where The Wild Things Are"

"Where The Wild Things Are", the Spike Jonze-directed interpretation of one of the most celebrated children's stories of all time from author Maurice Sendak, sees its official release in cinemas throughout the US on October 16. The motion picture's soundtrack, penned with original music from Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (d/b/a Karen O And The Kids), is actually out beforehand, dropping next Tuesday, September 29. We're sure you've seen the movie's trailer and heard the first song leaked from the album, "All Is Love", but we're super stoked to bring you guys this rad prize pack from the film that you can win without doing much of anything.

One lucky winner will receive:

01 One Carol character tote bag
02 One copy of the soundtrack on CD
03 An official "Where The Wild Things Are" paper crown
04 An iPod "Where The Wild Things Are" skin

Here's how to win:

Using Twitter, re-tweet this message. Just copy and paste it and you'll be good to go:
RT @thecultureofme I wanna win the rad "Where The Wild Things Are" prize pack!! Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/A5VO9

Then, just make sure you're following us on Twitter. You should be already, but if you're not (weird), you can follow us by clicking here. Then you're all set. We'll run the contest FOR ONE WEEK and the winning entry will get a notification from us.

(mp3)    Karen O And The Kids - All Is Love

(mp3)    Karen O - Hello Tomorrow

Godspeed!

CONTESTS: Win two tickets to LIFEbeat's pre-VMA bash

No joke, we love love love everything that LIFEbeat, the not-for-profit agency that utilizes the music industry domain of New York City to spread the word about AIDS awareness and STD prevention. We worked for them when we first moved to New York a long long time ago and we just get so stoked when we see anything that they're attached to. So when they sent us word that they're hosting a pre-MTV VMA party complete with performances from Kid Cudi, Phoenix and a DJ set from Clinton Sparks and would we be able to help spread the word, there was zero hesitation. We've come to an agreement with them and they've in fact let us put a contest up for two free tickets to the event, so there you have it. If you don't win, though, you should still totally go, because a) not only is it for the most amazing cause ever, but b) we're pretty sure it'll be swarming with amazing people.

Here's how to win:

Using Twitter, re-tweet this message. Just copy and paste it and you'll be good to go:
RT @thecultureofme I wanna win tix to @lifebeatdotorg's pre-VMA bash in NYC!! Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/3zv3kw

Then, just make sure you're following us on Twitter. You should be already, but if you're not (weird), you can follow us by clicking here. Then you're all set. We'll run the contest UNTIL THURSDAY and the winning entry will get a notification from us.

Details:

The 2009 Video Music Awards and Pepsi Present:
A Refreshing Night Of Music with DJ Clinton Sparks, Kid Cudi & Phoenix
A benefit for LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS

September 12, 2009
Doors at 9pm
Showtime: 9:45pm
610 W 56th St, NYC
ALL AGES
Advanced tickets: $40
Limited tickets available at the door: $50
VIP tickets available (in advance only): $150
To purchase tickets go to TICKETWEB.COM or call 866.468.7619
For more information, head over to LIFEbeat.org.

(mp3)    Phoenix – Lisztomania (Yuksek remix)

Godspeed!

CONTESTS: Band Of Skulls playing Mercury Lounge next week

We've been lax about posting about bluesy UK alternative rock group Band Of Skulls here on this site. To be honest, we're still not 100% keen on everything this band is doing/has done, but we're not willing to write the trio completely off. Just not our style to do that. We'll let them seriously attempt to wear our snarky guard down this coming Monday, as the band stops by Gotham on a date with Mercury Lounge this Monday, August 17. They're touring behind their just-released disc, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey. If you want in on the show with a pair of free tickets, just enter our contest by following the directions below.

Here's how you win:

Using Twitter, re-tweet this message. Just copy and paste it and you'll be good to go:
RT @thecultureofme I wanna win tix to Band Of Skulls in NYC!! Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/XT4Ki

Then, just make sure you're following us on Twitter. You should be already, but if you're not (weird), you can follow us by clicking here. Then you're all set. We'll run the contest UNTIL SUNDAY and the winning entry will get a notification from us.

(mp3)    Band Of Skulls - Blood

Godspeed!