baiyon

Game Music, Indie Music, Japanese

Artist and Composer Baiyon Officially Joins Q-Games

April 18, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Artist and Composer Baiyon Officially Joins Q-Games Share this

Today I learned: Japanese composer and multimedia artist, Baiyon, wasn’t already an employee of Q-Games. After years of friendships and collaborations with the Kyoto based game studio Baiyon has officially joined the full time staff as a Creative Producer. He initially worked with Q-Games as art and sound director on the studio’s trippy plant-former, PixelJunk Eden, in 2008. He then returned for PixelJunk 4am in 2012, helping the studio create a player-controlled music synthesizer and visualizer. In between he contributed music to LittleBigPlanet 2 and more recently provided music and art for indie titles Panoramical and Fotonica.

“For nearly 15 years I’ve acted as a freelance artist, but now I’m taking on the challenge of being a Creative Producer at Q-Games,” Baiyon says of the new position. “I’ve had the privilege of collaboration with many other artists and studios from around the world and accumulating the experience and knowledge that comes with that, but was starting to feel that fully utilizing those as just one person had become difficult. I felt like I needed a place that I could call home in order to do things right.”

No projects were announced with the news but as Q-Games’ latest title, The Tomorrow Children, nears completion Baiyon will most likely be fully involved in whatever comes next. Today I also learned that we’ve got loads of Baiyon coverage right here at OSV! Patrick dedicated a whole week to him back in 2012 so if you’re interested in what might come next from Q-Games, have a look at some of our fine featured posts.

What would you like to see Baiyon and Q-Games do next? The studio has been all over the place from top-down racers to side-on shooters, tower defense and soup capitalism simulators. How about a MOBA?
Game Music, Indie Music

C418 Surprise Launches New Album, 148

December 21, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on C418 Surprise Launches New Album, 148 Share this C418 Surprise Launches New Album, 148

C418, the German composer best known for creating the soundscapes of Minecraft, has stealth/surprise launched his first new album in nearly two years, titled 148. Included in the 19 tracks are original vocal works, Minecraft remixes that had only been heard at live shows and collaborations with some darlings of the indie game scene. In the works since 2011, C418 explains the surprise release as an effort to move ahead and to re-confirm that, yes, he’s still making music.

“It just has been plaguing me for too long. I think that you can’t be happy with anything if you’ve stared at it too close for too long. Which is why I decided to stealth release it without any announcement. I’ve had incredibly unproductive years recently, and a lot of it had to do with being burnt out and partly being somewhat depressed. This album didn’t really help my psyche either. By releasing this, right now, I hope I can get to a clean slate and start beginning work on new stuff. And, of course, maybe it stops making everyone worried that I stopped composing altogether.”

<a href="http://c418.bandcamp.com/album/148">148 by C418</a>

He goes on to describe the album as “highly energetic and full of house and Drum & Bass tunes”. Sampling it this morning I can say it’s definitely more upbeat than Minecraft and the collaborations between Disasterpeace, Baiyon, Big Giant Circles and Laura Shigihara add variety to the overall sound. 148 is available now from Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, or Google Play.
Featured, Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Back for more with FZ: Side Z (Review)

July 4, 2013 | Richard McDonald | 1 Comment Share this Back for more with FZ: Side Z (Review)

I suspect that when Disasterpeace started this remix project he got more of a response than he bargained for. Considering the popularity of FEZ and the high praise the music received, I’m not surprised that a remix project ended up spanning two “virtual” discs. FZ: Side Z is the second remix album based on the music from FEZ and released shortly after FZ: Side F. It follows along the same tradition with a multitude of remixes, a mix of DJs, performers and game composers; and, once again, it contains a huge variety of styles and genres, exceeding the previous album by seven tracks.

For my thoughts on the album, and links to purchase this bad boy, follow along after the jump! (more…)
Experimental, Japanese

Let baiyons Be baiyons

August 25, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Let baiyons Be baiyons Share this Let baiyons Be baiyons

That was supposed to be a pun.

This marks the end of “baiyon week.” We hope you enjoyed it, learned more about this particular artist, and perhaps scouted out a few more tunes for your musical library.

But we didn’t get to everything baiyon has ever done. So we just wanted to point out here that baiyon does have plenty of other work out there, if you’re willing to look for it. Some of those items include:

Evening Glow of a River – an EP released around the same time as In The Collaborations 04, you get the title track (10 minutes long), a remix of the track by photographer/musician/producer Eamonn Doyle, and a B-Side “Lupe.” For my money, “Lupe” is the better track.

Dejerabi – a techno/electronica/Arab-ethnic single from Ryoma Sasaki. Buy it, and you get the B-Side (baiyon’s remix of Dejerabi) too.

Vibes Against Vibes (Vol. 1) | (Vol. 2) – Almost everyone that worked with baiyon on the various “In The Collaborations” singles, and plenty more, release their own singles on these two “various artists” collaborations. Vol.1 has two tracks where baiyon collaborates with another artist, and Vol.2 has a baiyon solo track.

Have any more hot baiyon leads? Feel free to leave them in the comments section! Thanks again … and now, let’s go clubbin’! (Seriously, I gotta go to a decent club sometime … just, please, no designer drugs … )
Game Music, Reviews

Do it LIVE with DariusBurst! DBAC Live in O-East (Review)

August 23, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Do it LIVE with DariusBurst! DBAC Live in O-East (Review) Share this

DARIUSBURST ANOTHER CHRONICLE Live in O-EAST -revolt- must have been amazing to actually see live. But, for those of us who couldn’t attend the show featuring the music of this extremely talented team, the event was recorded and published as an album via Enterbrain.

I wanted to write about this album for awhile now, and because baiyon’s contribution from WONDER WORLD is used in the show, I have my excuse. So, after the jump, my review of DBAC Live in O-East! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Arrange Your Face Off! DariusBurst Remix Wonder World (Review)

August 23, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

Available at: CDJapan | Play-Asia

I have much love for Zuntata (OGR et al). And for shmup fans, Zuntata equals Darius. The latest game in the long-running series, a revival of sorts, was DariusBurst. The OST was released in January 2010, and then, only a few months later, a mammoth album dropped.

That album was DariusBurst Remix WONDER WORLD. The album had two discs, and they were themed. Disc one: “Breath of a living thing,” were more acoustic arrangements. Disc two: “Breath of a machine,” much more on the electronic/synthesized side of music.

A total of 22 tracks, 11 tracks per disc, each handled with special care from talented, well-known VGM personalities. How could it possibly be bad? Here’s a hint: it can’t be. This album is filled with yummy-in-my-tummy goodness.

For more details, including an in-depth look at the track arranged by baiyon (this is baiyon week, after all!), join us after the jump. And stop back later tonight for a review of yet another DariusBurst album! (more…)
Experimental, Japanese

More Insight for “Like a School on Lunch Time”

August 22, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on More Insight for “Like a School on Lunch Time” Share this

Last night I had a chat with baiyon via twitter about his 2006 album “Like a School on Lunch Time.” I learned some cool things that I wanted to share with you. For example, the video above is a music video that covers two songs from the album and features incredible visuals by catchpulse. The footage is of the elementary school baiyon attended in his youth. In fact, that’s also where a lot of the sound samples come from.

Yes, baiyon revisited his school to get some field recordings. He told me that of the musicians that use this technique, he was most inspired by Aki Onda’s Cassette Memories series. As I mentioned in the album’s review, I’d heard the technique used prominently on Michael Bross’ Subway Meditations.

Finally, for those of you that can read Japanese (or who are okay with a rough translation provided by google), you’ll want to check out this 2006 interview with baiyon from Jet Set. It provides more background and insight on that full-length album; a little something to help you appreciate it more.