Electronic

Doujin, Game Music

Diddy Kong Racing Gets EDM Tribute Album with Future Dance Land

November 29, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Diddy Kong Racing Gets EDM Tribute Album with Future Dance Land Share this

It’s been a prolific year for celebrating milestone anniversaries of classic video games. (1992 and 1997 truly were blessed years.) There’s also been no shortage of tribute albums dedicated to celebrating the music of said games either. Diddy Kong Racing is no exception to this treatment, as Materia Collective has released yet another in their already impressive video game library with Future Dance Land: An Electronic Tribute to Diddy Kong Racing.

Released in North America for the Nintendo 64 on November 24, 1997 and composed by the legendary David Wise, Diddy Kong Racing was Rare’s response to Nintendo’s Mario Kart. Album producer and arranger Nicholas Arden Day (aka Nikolyst) decided to pay homage to the game’s soundtrack by creating an electronic fusion album.

“Diddy Kong Racing contains some of my all-time favorite game music. I felt it was only fitting to combine these catchy tunes with EDM. Once I discovered the 20th anniversary of Diddy Kong Racing was approaching, the idea for this album was born.” – Nikolyst, Album Producer

<a href="http://materiacollective.bandcamp.com/album/future-dance-land-an-electronic-tribute-to-diddy-kong-racing">Future Dance Land: An Electronic Tribute to Diddy Kong Racing by Taylor Ambrosio Wood</a>

The album includes contributions from several artists over the 20 tracks, including Viking Guitar, John Weible, Jay Kim, former OSV editor Michael Hoffman and more, all done in a energetic, electronic mashup.

Future Dance Land: An Electronic Tribute to Diddy Kong Racing is available for download on Bandcamp, iTunes and streaming on Spotify. You can find out the full album credits on the album’s page at Materia Collective.
Game Music, Indie Music

Nova-111 OST is Now Available

September 1, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | 2 Comments Share this Nova-111 OST is Now Available

The turn-based indie adventure game Nova-111 was released on multiple platforms just a few days ago and now the soundtrack by Jack Menhorn is available for download. The soundtrack is an atmospheric electronic work designed to accompany the game’s sci-fi environment.

The Nova-111 OST is available on several platforms, including Amazon, Google, Loudr, and iTunes. Menhorn has also written up a blog post on the process of creating the sound effects and the interactive music for Nova-111 on Gamasutra and on his website. We’ll have a full review of the soundtrack here on OSV at a future date.
Game Music

Arrangement of the Week: Sub-Zero

June 19, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Arrangement of the Week: Sub-Zero Share this Arrangement of the Week: Sub-Zero

Welcome to our new series Arrangement of the Week. Every Friday we will take a quick look at an arrangement, remix, or cover of a videogame track. For the most part, we’re going to try to focus on some more obscure or lesser known creators for this series. We hope to share and examine a wide variety of genres, artists, and arrangement styles. With all that said, here’s this week’s track.

Our first Arrangement of the Week is “Sub-Zero” by artist Emunator. The selection is based off of the “Phendrana Drifts” track from Metroid Prime. The opening of the piece emulates the acoustic/synth hybrid sound of the original Metroid track. Ambient atmosphere effects can be heard in the back of the mix, and the piano plays the same material from the original soundtrack. However, about a minute and a half into the track, the piece transitions into something a little different.

At the 1’28” mark the piece launches into a chill dance version of the Metroid Prime tune. Many of the icy and glassy synth instruments from earlier remain, but a handful of upbeat dance beats and bass patterns kick in to give the music energy. I actually like that there’s not a big build up to the dance portion of this track. The transition is quick but smooth, and helped by the fact that the ambient/house portion is not much more intense than the mix’s previous section.

Another aspect that I enjoy about the track is the last section featuring Ergosonic on the acoustic guitar. This comes in after a wind down of the main dance mix. It’s a simple solo guitar part, with some of the atmosphere effect returning to help tie it into the rest of the arrangement. It’s a cool little surprise to the end of the track. Overall “Sub Zero” is a nice little arrangement of “Phendrana Drifts” that captures the tone of the original source material, while still transforming the track into an interesting house/electronic piece.

Are there any cool game music mixes, arrangements, or covers that you’ve heard this week? Let us know in the comment section below. You can listen to and download “Sub-Zero” on Emunator’s Soundcloud or at OC ReMix.
Game Music

Hyrule: Melodia Et Concordia Release to Celebrate 29 Years of Legend of Zelda

February 14, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Hyrule: Melodia Et Concordia Release to Celebrate 29 Years of Legend of Zelda Share this

It’s hard to believe that The Legend of Zelda series is only a year away from being three decades old, but one fan is getting a jump on the anniversary with the release of the electronica arrangement album, Hyrule: Melodia et Concordia.

The franchise began with the release of the first game on February 21st, 1986 to the Famicom Disk System and whose music has been echoing within the memories of game enthusiasts ever since. Hailing from Portugal, album creator and arranger Shiryu says this project has been a long time coming.

“This is my third collaboration with Meus Jogos DS and one that is way overdue because I love the music of Zelda and I often think how to best pay homage to it’s iconic themes. I hope you enjoy the finished product and that like me when making this tribute album, these bring you some really awesome memories. Thank you, Nintendo. Enjoy!“

– Shiryu via Bandcamp

The album, which focuses on electronic melodies and ambient cues, has been released to Bandcamp for four Euros (approx. $4.50 American dollars) for 15 tracks. A nice tribute to one of the most iconic franchising in gaming history.

Hyrule: Melodia et Concordia – Bandcamp

Shiryu Music – Website | Twitter
Anime, Reviews

Terror in Resonance Original Soundtracks (REVIEW)

February 11, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Terror in Resonance Original Soundtracks (REVIEW) Share this

A soundtrack that works outside the realm of anime, Terror in Resonance is a must listen for anyone who enjoys ambient music

(more…)
Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails OST (Review)

June 9, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails OST (Review) Share this

Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails is certainly an attention grabbing title. A Wii U digital exclusive, the game is an on rails arcade shooter developed by Dakko Dakko. You are tasked with rescuing cats scattered around various levels of a space lab, all while fighting mechanized mice themed enemies. The game has an old-school SNES aesthetic and draws some of its gameplay aspects from 2D shooters. It’s a unique indie title released on the small indie game market of the Wii U.

Scram Kitty takes place in a mechanical space setting, with lots of robots, conveyers, industrial hazards, and security lasers populating the levels. To help set the mood of the fast paced gameplay and levels, composer Samuel Baker was brought on to write the game’s music. So how does Baker go about creating the appropriate soundscape for this cat and mouse themed shoot’em up? Read on to find out. (more…)
Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Luftrausers OST (Review)

May 15, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Luftrausers OST (Review) Share this Luftrausers OST (Review)

A bullet hell arcade shooter set in a fictional post-WWII era world. There’s not one part of Luftrausers, as a game and a concept, that doesn’t make me smile. The game has an old-school Game Boy aesthetic, it can be played in brief sessions, and is both enjoyably fast paced and difficult. In this game, you play as a lone pilot fighting and destroying as many enemy combatants as possible. As you play, you unlock more parts that you can use to customize your vehicle. Each part has its special attributes that drastically change how you play. It’s the very type of game that we’ve come to expect from a developer like Vlambeer. Anyone familiar with their previous games, like Ridiculous Fishing and Super Crate Box, knows that they have a knack for making some excellent arcade style games. Luftrausers is no exception.

The soundtrack for Luftrausers was composed by electro-house artist KOZILEK, aka Jukio Kallio. Luftrausers is actually a sequel to the original Luftrauser game, a smaller scale version of the game that Rami Ismail ended up releasing for free. Luftrausers is a sequel in much the same way that Team Meat’s Super Meat Boy is a sequel to the original Meat Boy. The same basic concepts, but with the production value and complexity cranked up to eleven. KOZILEK wrote the soundtrack for the original Luftrauser, so he returns to bring his composing talents to this newer game. (more…)