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Chiptune Friday: Ethernet’s “Theme For the Water Shrine” Makes Me Want to Adventure and Possibly Defeat an Ancient Evil

Ethernet is a fitting alias for IDM and ambient electronic composer Tim Gray. It implies technological sterility, the anonymity of surfing the internet, and the swirling drunk of ether itself. That is to say, it describes Gray’s music well. His droning compositions are dense but rewarding. To take a break from finishing his forthcoming, untitled debut album, Gray’s been paying homage to some of his favorite gaming composers. “Theme For the Water Shrine” is not a SNES chiptune proper since it wasn’t composed using that system’s actual hardware. It does, however, evoke the same tranquil atmosphere that earned Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda (whose work inspired the song) their slavish cults.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

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