OSVOSTOTY 2015 – Ryan’s Picks

It has been an incredible year for game music, as well as film soundtracks. Early in the year I predicted a title I reviewed would make my list of best soundtracks of the year, it did. Another important factor for me was the question, since its release am I still listening to it? I can happily say that I still regularly listening to all of my choices.

2015 also delivered some of the best film soundtracks on CD from a number of record labels, and for me its truly been a year to remember. Come read about my my picks for “Game Soundtrack of the Year”, “Artist/Composer of the Year” and “Arrangement Album of the Year” and a couple notable releases.

Game Soundtrack of the Year – Ori and the Blind Forest by Gareth Coker

My pick for Game Soundtrack of the Year is Ori and The Blind Forest composed by Gareth Coker. I reviewed the soundtrack in detail earlier in the year and is just under 90 minutes of excellence.
The music in the above trailer is a mere taste of the beauty found in this emotional and touching work. If you haven’t heard it yet, take some time to check it out. Its my soundtrack of the year because I keep coming back to it again and again for its diversity of sound, and warmth. One day I hope to be able to play the game and get the full in game experience of the music. Until then the soundtrack will happily hold me over.

Artist/Composer of the Year – Jon Everist

Jon Everist really knocked it out of the park with the score he composed for Shadowrun: Hong Kong. After listening to the first few tracks, I was ecstatic to discover there was a limited CD release. You can read my review of the soundtrack here. I have listened to this music the most in 2015, and with each listen find new things I love about the music. Jon Everist has crafted a sonic landscape of a dark cyberpunk world, that I feel very comfortable in. It’s the kind of music where I can imagine living in that world – or at least think that I would feel right at home in. You can sample the soundtrack via bandcamp below and snag yourself a CD copy before they’re all gone, mine was 77/100. As I write this there are only 5 copies remaining. I can’t wait to hear what’s next from this talented composer.

Arrangement Album of the Year – To Far Away Times – Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross Arrangement Album – Yasunori Mitsuda

Patrick’s runner up is my choice for Arrangement Album of the Year. I reviewed the album upon its release earlier in the year, and have enjoyed listening it to it since at lease once a week. My favorite pieces are the instrumental tracks but I am growing fonder of the vocal tracks with each subsequent listen.

MUSIC PRODUCTION NOTABLE – BT’s Electronic Opus

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to BT’s Electronic Opus yet, I consider it to be the album of the year.  It is an expert fusion of electronic dance music (EDM) and symphony orchestra. I wrote a review of the physical CD release here, which I will be listening to for years to come.

ANIME NOTABLE – SeraSymphony’s Sailor Moon DiC Medley

SeraSymphony’s DiC Medley was a wonderful surprise for me this year. I watched Sailor Moon when it aired in the early 90’s and is one of the reasons I became a dedicated fan of Anime. The music for the series was composed by Bob Summers, and the songs for the series were sung by Jennifer Chi. Here in this video we get both combined in a medley just short of 10 minutes. The medley was performed at limited concerts, but I am just thrilled that it can be enjoyed on YouTube. You can learn more about the SeraSymphony at their website, they also have 5 videos posted on YouTube dedicated to each Japanese season of Sailor Moon.

FILM – NOTABLE

According to people close to me, the shark dance that I was doing with one hand over my head while I shifted from side to side chanting “Da-Dum Da-Dum Da-Dum” is not a thing. I googled it, they were right. I was “shark-dancing” after I had purchased all of the Jaws soundtracks released on CD this year by Intrada Records. I was huge fan of the Jaws films growing up and having the complete scores for all of the films is a dream come true. The sound quality is phenomenal and a small price to pay for the classic scores. I am still waiting for my copy of Intrada’s release of the score to the The Monkey King to come in the mail, it should give me some time to come up with some new dance moves.

I would love to hear what you think were the best releases of 2015. Please share your thoughts, and stick with OSV in 2016!