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Game Music

37 Years in the Making: Nobuo Uematsu’s “Coconut Castaway”

September 3, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Several months ago Nobuo Uematsu released the first single from his upcoming 10 Stories solo album titled “Here Comes Conga Boy.” It was a great track, and he promised in our extensive interview with him back in July that the second single, “Coconut Castway,” would be released by the end of August. He was true to his word, as it’s now available on the iTunes Store worldwide!

The most interesting thing about this release is that it written when Uematsu was only 12 years old. Pretty amazing, really. It sports a similar style to “Here Comes Conga Boy” with its whimsical musical backing and high-pitched female vocals. It sports a distinctly “tropical” vibe, however, with playful guitars and upbeat percussion. There’s even this odd, polka-esque breakdown about midway through with some pretty startling effects on the vocals, but the piece works its way back up to its happy self before all is said and done.

It’s available on iTunes now, so I recommend checking it out. I’d say I like “Here Comes Conga Boy” better, but its a huge treat to hear music that Nobuo Uematsu created when he was only a kid.

Hit the jump for the official press release from Dog Ear Records with a special comment from Uematsu himself. (more…)
Game Music

Hiroki Ogawa and Nobuo Uematsu Talk Dog Ear Records, Chaos Ensues

September 3, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 7 Comments Share this

So, here’s part two of the massive interview that took place on Saturday, July 18 before the Distant Worlds show in San Francisco (part one is here). While we had intended to talk to Hiroki “wappa” Ogawa about Dog Ear Records, we quickly discovered that Uematsu’s integral role in the company meant a joint interview, and more tangents and crazy questions.

Wonder who all works at Dog Ear Records? We have that. Curious about what Dog Ear Records has up its sleeves? How about a Famicom piano album by KALAYCILAR pianist Keita Egusa, a full-length Cellythm album, and a “best of” collection featuring Uematsu-san’s music? Have you ever wondered what Koichi Sugiyama thinks of Uematsu’s music? That’s here too.

Join us for another round of questioning with Nobuo Uematsu and Hiroki Ogawa of Dog Ear Records after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Of Mustaches and Men: A Circus of an Interview with Nobuo Uematsu

July 23, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 14 Comments Share this

Talk about an experience of a lifetime. I was super jealous when 1UP.com did their “One Day With Nobuo Uematsu” video interview last year, but I am confident when I say that Shota and I had an even better day with Nobuo Uematsu in San Francisco this past Saturday. He was in town for the Distant Worlds concert, of course, and man, it was a truly epic experience.

Aside from our lengthy interview that features some pretty bizarre questions, we saw Uematsu-san get assaulted (not really) by fans on the street who wanted his autograph, and learned that hey, contrary to popular believe, his English is pretty amazing. In fact, we almost didn’t even need Shota on hand, as I would often ask my question in English, and Uematsu-san would immediately respond in Japanese, and even English at times. Despite being called a “stalker” on numerous occasions by Uematsu, I I was quite content when the day was over, and we hope you enjoy the end result. Oh, and there’s more to come, so be on the lookout in the coming days and weeks!

Hear the answers to your burning questions about Uematsu’s legendary mustache along with many other things you never knew you wanted to know after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Miscellaneous, Reviews

Blurring the Lines with Cellythm: Those Who Distorted (Review)

July 15, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

We told you about this album a couple of months ago, and after hearing it, I’m still confused as to how this album came into existence. Who would have thought it possible to feature the music of Final Fantasy, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, and Edward William Elgar all on one disc? Sounds like some sort of cosmic accident, but I guess that’s the purpose.

For those who are unaware, Cellythm is a cello quartet made up of three beautiful ladies and one… lad, we’ll say. And if the list of artists featured on the album doesn’t sound strange enough to you, the arrangements of the Final Fantasy material are based on The Black Mages’ arrangements of the original source material… and now I’m confused.

Try not to get your brain all distorted in our review of Cellythm’s Those Who Distorted after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Stories: It’s The Beginning of Some New and Excitingly Different Stories

May 29, 2009 | Don Kotowski | 2 Comments Share this

Did you know that 2009 marks Nobuo Uematsu’s 50th year on the planet? Well, in honor of his 50th birthday, he’s decided to publish a solo album entitled 10 Stories. However, unlike a traditional release, he’ll be releasing songs from the album every two to three months until Spring 2010 arrives. At this time, the full album will be available for purchase, with an English version as well. So what will this album be about? Well, all the music and lyrics are written by Uematsu himself and is performed by NOBIYO and the Dog Ears and it aims to bring happiness to a wide range of ages via experimental ways.

Check out details about the first single after the break! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Pretend You Were There: THE BLACK MAGES III Darkness and Starlight LIVE DVD (Review)

May 22, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

We told you about this release back in March, and we’ve finally had the opportunity to absorb everything contained within this DVD. I can’t tell you how bad I wanted to fly over to Japan for this concert, as I really dug THE BLACK MAGES III Darkness and Starlight. I know not everyone agrees, but I liked the synthy approach of this album compared to past Black Mages albums.

What you’ll find here is the concert in its entirety, including the MC segments, along with a special behind the scenes look at the preparation that went into the show and a promotional Neo EXDEATH music video, all of which will make great additions to your collection. This is admittedly my first time seeing the band up close as I’ve never watched their other DVD releases, so it was definitely a new experience for me.

Hit the jump to read our review of the Darkness and Starlight LIVE DVD from their concert back on August 8, 2008. (more…)
Game Music

Dog Ear, I think you got some Cello in my Black Mages!

March 16, 2009 | Michael Schiciano | 2 Comments Share this

Dog Ear Records is at it again. Fans of The Black Mages might want to pay attention later this month, as March 25th will see two new releases from the Japanese label. One of these items is a DVD of a live concert performance of The Black Mage’s third album, Darkness and Starlight. The other release set for the same day will be a CD based mini album entitled Those Who Distorted, performed the cello quartet Cellythm (Kazumi Ando, Takaya Anada, Yoko Ohta, and Yumi Shimazu).

Those Who Distorted is apparently rock themed, and set to have six tracks, half of which are arranged from the rock arrangements previously performed by The Black Mages (“Those Who Fight Further,” “Battle Theme” (FFVI), “Clash on the Big Bridge”), with the remaining tracks devoted to arrangements of other works (“Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin, “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles, and “Land of Hope and Glory” by Edward Elgar). While it’s not uncommon to have come across string based arrangements of both pop/rock and video game music, this makes for a rather interesting existence where we have arrangements based on rock arrangements of video game music.

Those Who Distorted is currently set to sell for 1800 Yen (roughly 18$ USD), and samples can be found on Dog Ear’s page for the album here. A preview for the Darkness and Starlight Live DVD can be found here. Both pages are Japanese only, but it’s easy enough to get the info one needs easily from them.

Are you looking forward to either of these releases? Are you happy to see rock classics and The Black Mages together at last?