Original Music


I used to write music in middle and high school using the name Exploding Jellyfish. I released a number of albums of primarily-instrumental music during that time, using a combination of music programs including Acid, FL Studio, and Impulse Tracker. However, since then I haven't felt quite as inventive so I pivoted over to chiptune covers. Maybe I'll return to original music someday, but until then, here's the Exploding Jellyfish back catalog - including some never-before-heard content, for any of you longtime fans from the old days.
Creative Commons LicenseThe Exploding Jellyfish collection is now licensed as Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA), so in other words do whatever you want with these as long as you give credit (and release any remixes/covers under the same license).


Command Line and Conquer
Released on 2006/12/31
This is where it all began. A number of these songs even had lyrics, featuring the out of tune, teenage voice of yours truly. I quickly realized that was not the direction I wanted to take things.
In the interest of national security, for this release all songs that previously had lyrics have been replaced with reconstructed instrumentals. Nobody needs to hear that crap, including myself.

Fun facts about Command Line and Conquer:
  • The crossed out tracks above consisted entirely of spoken word instead of music, and have been excluded. Maybe I'll post a transcript.
  • The More Epic Quest of the Less Clashing Instruments is the oldest song on this album, having been created in November 2005. It was actually supposed to be called "Attacking the Base" but I renamed it after how disappointingly bad I thought the OPL2 remix (The Epic Quest of the Clashing Instruments) sounded.
  • The actual idea to create a whole album of music came in the fall of 2006, as a result of Kittens With Lasers. There was a contest on a forum I was on to create a song using that name as a starting point, and it kinda just snowballed from there.
Short, Seductive, and Stupid
Released on 2007/02/16
Short, Seductive, and Stupid is a mini-album of instrumentals, and part of the 2007 RPM Challenge, a challenge to make a whole album in one month. Its songs range from OPL2 chiptunes to "abuse of FL Studio presets".

Fun facts about Short, Seductive, and Stupid:
  • As far as my records show, I completed this in only 14 days. I could've used the rest of the time to refine it more, but hey... I actually finished something on time!
Return of the Apocalypse
Released on 2007/09/16
My instrumental exploits continued with a full-length, 15 track epic. Through the music it tells a very loosely tied together story about the world ending and a guy who goes to sit on a hilltop to watch the apocalypse unfold. This is the only album I have ever tried to sell: I sold a whopping three copies via CafePress... and only made $4 in profit. Being a musician will certainly pay the bills!

Fun facts about Return of the Apocalypse:
  • I don't even own a copy of the physical version I sold.
  • End of the World Resort & Spa was the basis for a later MIDI version of the same song called Modern Motion, which I contributed to the soundtrack of the open-source game OpenTTD!
  • Sandy Groove was a little bit too inspired by beek's chiptune song Ocean Resort. Whoops.
W00T!
Released on 2007/12/31
A collection of "chiptune" remixes of songs from the previous year, plus all-new intro and outro tracks. It's all fake-bit stuff using a Game Boy soundfont.

Fun facts about W00T!:
  • The Game Boy pictured in the album cover is my actual Game Boy Pocket, the very first non-computer game system I owned. (But the screen contents are Photoshopped in)
Miscellaneous Songs
Random stuff that never ended up on an album. Some of it is unreleased or unfinished, but I thought it was interesting or silly enough to share.
  • 00 (2008)
    • Meant for the soundtrack of a game that never came to be.

  • Ambient Scene (2008)
    • Self-explanatory.

  • Depressing Tune (2007)
    • Generic sad tune.

  • Fight!!! (2008)
    • I think this was for someone's Flash game, but I can't remember what game or who made it.

  • Hi! (2008)
    • There was once a contest to make a theme song for the Wii Homebrew Channel. This is an extended version of my submission. It didn't win.

  • IMMA CHARGIN MA FAKE GUITAR (2006)
    • Messing with the FL Slayer plugin.

  • Kittens With Lasers - Original Version (2006)
    • An earlier version of Kittens With Lasers, before I decided it was too slow.

  • Life in a Discarded Cell Phone (2008)
    • One of the few songs that was finalized for EJ's nonexistent 2008 album.

  • LW (2006)
    • Not sure what that stood for but it's another sad sounding song.

  • Owned! (2006)
    • Do people even say "You just got owned" any more?

  • Predictions (2007)
    • Was meant to be a song about making absurd predictions about people's futures.

  • Project29 (2007)
    • Unfinished and mysterious sounding. Never got a proper name.

  • Project58c (2007)
    • Upbeat, dreamlike song. Not finished, ends abruptly.

  • Project61 (2007)
    • Chord progressions slowly building up.

  • Records (2008)
    • Huh, this sounds a bit like one of the songs from Lego Island, but not exactly.

  • Return of the Apocalypse - Original Version (2007)
    • An earlier version of the song with a completely different style. Can you spot where I quoted this version on the final album?

  • Shaky Camera (2008)
    • Remember that late 2000s trend of found footage movies with shaky camera work? This song is based on that.

  • Sneaking About (2006)
    • Meant for a (very original) game codenamed "Space Dude".

  • Sokoban (2008)
    • Named because it made me think of pushing boxes around in a warehouse.

  • Sometimes It Amazes Me (2007)
    • What amazed me back then, I no longer know.

  • Super Cheesy Piano Chord Fun QX 7 Turbo Special Edition (2006)
    • Uninspired piano chord improv.

  • The Building Blocks of Failure (2008)
    • I dunno what to say about this one except it definitely has that failure vibe.

  • The Global Warming Song (2007)
    • I guess now I would've called it The Climate Change Song. It's a product of the times.