Covers

Doujin, Game Music

Super Guitar Bros. Release Ocarina of Time Cover Album

February 23, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Super Guitar Bros. Release Ocarina of Time Cover Album Share this

The acoustic duo of Sam and Steve that make up the Super Guitar Bros. have finally released their album covering the majority of the soundtrack from the classic Nintendo 64 game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Hinted at both over their Twitch stream and at last year’s MAG Underground show, the finishing touches were put together on the album and it first debuted in its entirety on the main stage at this past MAGFest last month.

Titled simple Ocarina of Time, the album covers 25 tracks from game’s original music, all done in acoustic guitar and touches on all of the classic tunes from the game, including “Song of Storms”, “Gerudo Valley” and “Kakoriko Village”.

<a href="http://superguitarbros.bandcamp.com/album/ocarina-of-time">Ocarina of Time by Super Guitar Bros</a>

Pre-sales of the album were available at MAGFest, but the album is now live to purchase either as a digital album or as a physical CD on the duo’s Bandcamp.
Featured

Know Your MAG: Love Canon

December 31, 2013 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Know Your MAG: Love Canon Share this Know Your MAG: Love Canon

Some more “Know Your MAG” before the big shindig itself starts getting underway. We have to give our resident non-VG band some loving spotlight! Here’s what you need to know about Love Canon and why you should be in attendance for their debut at MAGFest 12.

Based out of Charlotteville Virginia, Love Canon is probably one of the most unique bands to grace the MAG venue in its 12 years. Firstly, they’re not video game related in any way, shape or form. The four-man ensemble of Jesse Harper (guitar/vocals), Adam Larrabee (banjo), Andy Thacker (mandolin) and Darrell Muller (bass/backing vocals) instead perform covers of 1980s pop songs. Songs like “Africa” by Toto and “She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby are their bread and butter. Secondly, if you didn’t notice in the band lineup, they perform said classic ’80s in bluegrass style.

That’s right; ’80s bluegrass. Because why the heck not?

You can probably guess now why, despite not being VG-oriented like most of MAGFest’s other performers, Love Canon has the exception. This unconventional-yet-interesting style mashup lends to a rather unique listening experience, and the band has gained a following for their blend of music and overall ability to generate a lot of fun energy. This should prove to be perfect when they perform at this year’s first ever MAGProm. Ever try dancing to ’80s bluegrass, because I’m sure you won’t be alone. They’ve released two full-length albums of their music and have toured around the country playing, so you may want to check out the rest of their discography in order to not let yourself get caught off-guard. Believe me, it’s worth a couple minutes-worth of listening at least.

Will this be the first of a new wave of non-VG music bands to grace the MAGFest stages in years to come? I guess we’ll have to wait and see! Love Canon will debut at MAGFest 12 at MAGProm on Thursday at midnight after the main stage concerts.
Japanese, Reviews

Tussie mussie: Kotaro Oshio’s First Cover Album (Review)

May 29, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this

We hopefully brought Kotaro Oshio’s amazing guitar skills to your attention last month with our review of You & Me. In his review, Tim mentioned Oshio’s then-upcoming album, Tussue mussie, which he described as Oshio’s first cover album, and that’s exactly what it is. Tussie mussie features some downright lovely guitar arrangements of pop standards from both Japan and the United States going all the way back to the 1960s.

So, which tracks are featured? How about “Lovin’ You” and “Time After Time?” Do those get you excited? Maybe not, but trust me when I say these arrangements are great. As for the remaining 8 tracks on the album, I’ll admit I’m not very familiar with them, but if anything, I enjoyed them even more for it.

Find out why that makes sense in our review of Tussie mussie after the jump. (more…)
Indie Music, Reviews

Beatdrop Releases Sizzling New EP: Burn Out (Review)

November 28, 2008 | David Hsu | 4 Comments Share this

In the midst of his busy life sipping Mai Tais and wooing the local Hawaiian females, Dain Olsen (aka Beatdrop) still manages to find the time to compose and produce music. And quite a lot of it, in fact, with four full studio albums under his belt so far, not to mention the dozens of video game music remixes posted on sites such as OverClocked ReMix.

His latest release and first EP features the title track “Burn Out,” a single from his upcoming album Revolution as well as a playable song in the recently released Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 for Xbox 360. Also in the package are 2 remixes of the track, 2 covers of other popular artists, and a B-side. All this for the amazing price of three easy payments of $0 – that’s right, the EP is completely free for download, although donations are always appreciated. Hit the jump for the tracklist and track-by-track impressions. (more…)