El Shaddai

• Game Music, Reviews

  Sounding Very SQEXY: Square Enix Music Sampler CD 2011 Vol. 6 (Review)

  October 5, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this Sounding Very SQEXY: Square Enix Music Sampler CD 2011 Vol. 6 (Review)

  

  Okay, first they strayed from their SQ series naming conventions with SQ Chips, and now they’ve added the date to their title for this year’s TGS sampler CD. But anal rant aside, it’s that time of year again, and while we’ve posted about some of the surprises on the sampler, we now have it in-hand for a formal review.

  While the tracks here are once again snippets of the full-length versions that will later be featured on their respective final releases, I think this disc gives fans a lot to look forward to over the next year.

  Hit the jump for more. (more…)

• Game Music

  Big Surprises on Square Enix’s Tokyo Game Show Sampler CD

  September 16, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Big Surprises on Square Enix’s Tokyo Game Show Sampler CD Share this Big Surprises on Square Enix’s Tokyo Game Show Sampler CD

  

  It’s actually kind of strange that Square Enix is forgoing making announcements about some of their upcoming albums by sneaking them onto this sampler CD without much fanfare. As it turns out, the sampler CD will feature tracks from Final Fantasy XIII-2, the newly announced (and incredibly beautiful) Bravely Default, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy (essentially confirming that a soundtrack release is in the works), and Final Fantasy XI -PLUS-.

  In terms of arrangement albums, there’s a track from Cafe SQ and Re:Birth / Seiken Densetsu, but most interestingly tracks from Piano Collections I – II – III (it’s actually happening, and I’m throwing credit Patrick’s way for pushing the idea on Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi last year) and Elshaddai & The Astrals are featured. It looks like the arrangement album for El Shaddai is not only in the works, but will also be published by Square Enix. The only thing missing is a track from the NieR piano album!

  We’re looking forward to getting our hands on the disc, and will have impressions soon, but in the meantime, which releases are you looking forward to the most? Are you surprised that Square Enix allowed these titles to be announced via a sampler CD rather than a more formal method?

  [via VGMdb]

• Featured, Game Music

  SDCC 2011: Square Enix Music Interview with Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi

  August 8, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this SDCC 2011: Square Enix Music Interview with Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi

  
  [Above: Akio Shiraishi (left) and Izumi Tsukushi (right)]

  It’s that time of year again, and we’re here with our most anticipated feature of San Diego Comic Con. This year’s interview with Square Enix’s product licensing division head Izumi Tsukushi and music licensing division promotion’s manager Akio Shiraishi marks our fourth annual sit-down with the two (see 2008, 2009, and 2010), and while we’ve been slowly trickling out tidbits from the interview of the past couple weeks, we’ve got the transcript here in its entirety with more information for your enjoyment.

  We talk about many of the releases over the past year as well as some upcoming releases. We also follow-up on questions from previous years which offer some surprising answers. Anyone interested in that Piano Collections Final Fantasy I-III CD we suggested last year?

  Find out what the two had to say about this and more after the jump. (more…)

• Game Music

  SDCC 2011: El Shaddai Arrange Album in the Works

  July 25, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this SDCC 2011: El Shaddai Arrange Album in the Works

  

  With the North American release of El Shaddai right around the corner, Ignition UTV decided to throw a launch party this past weekend at Comic Con 2011 in San Diego. At the lively event that featured music, previews of the game, exclusive swag, and of course lots of alcohol, designer Sawaki Takeyasu was on hand to speak a bit about the game. We had the chance to ask him about some rumblings we’d heard about an arrangement album for the game’s soundtrack, and he confirmed that this was in fact in the works.

  When I tried to pry for more details, I was told that the project is still in the works, and that composer Masato Kouda would be heading up the album. Multiple artists will apparently be featured, but I for one am curious as to how they’ll go about arranging an orchestral soundtrack that was so ethereal and atmospheric without a lot of catchy melodies to reinterpret. I’m still excited about it though!

  What do you think of the prospect of an El Shaddai arrange album? Are you looking forward to the game early next month?

• Game Music, Reviews

  A Religious Experience: El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron (Review)

  April 27, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 6 Comments Share this A Religious Experience: El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron (Review)

  

  I think a lot of you are with me in being incredibly excited for this game. The announcement from Ignition Entertainment came out of nowhere, and I along with many others immediately fell in love with the beautiful graphical style of the game, and were curious who’d be handling the score.

  As it turns out, Masato Kouda of Monster Hunter fame heads up composition duties along with fellow DESIGN WAVE composer Kento Hasegawa, both of whom worked together at Capcom. Even more surprising, however, was the news that Square Enix would be publishing the soundtrack for the game. Is this a sign that the Square Enix label might be moving into more than just publishing internal soundtrack releases?

  Let’s worry about that later. For now, let’s dig into the El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron soundtrack! (more…)

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