We didn’t announce nominees for this category, but we decided that in simplifying our categories, we might have simplified too much. We skipped over a category that’s very important to us: fan arrange / doujin.
So, after the jump, we’ll tell you what our three favorite fan arrange albums of 2012 were.
DJ Cutman’s new label/collective “GameChops” has broken a lot of new ground, and frankly, we’re loving it. With the help of Joypad Records, they’re getting all their music properly licensed as well, so that’s a bonus. Now, while many people will look to albums like The TriForce of Bass as the best album in the fan-made dance/remix category for 2012, OSV decided to give the nod to the sometimes-overlooked Goombette, by Doni. It’s $5 at Bandcamp and it features five excellent dance/electronica arrangements from Super Mario RPG and the Paper Mario series. Don’t miss this one! Goombette goes bronze, woo! Congrats Doni and everyone at GameChops!
Grant “Stemage” Henry is best known for founding the band “Metroid Metal” and making it one of the most successful groups of its kind. But this year he worked with other arrangers on a special project specific to the arcade / NES classic Marble Madness. The album, Where Good Marbles Go To Die, earns the silver. Be sure to check out this album. It’s absolutely wild and all kinds of genius.
The gold medal, our winner for best fan arrange album, is The OneUps’ latest album, Intergalactic Continuum. Here, we find Mustin and crew continuing their journey through the outer realms of stellar funk. It’s even bigger and better than “Redux.” Professional recording, unique arrangements (the kind of thing you really can’t hear anywhere else in the VGM scene), and some great track choices. We dig this album. It’s the kind of album that changes your vocabulary, and then we all start using words like “dig.”
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See all of our OSTOSTOTY 2012 winners here:
Best In-Game Soundtrack
Best Sound Design
Best Arrange Album
Best Re-Issue Soundtrack
Best Other Album
NES Jams by Shnabubula was amazing, check that out!