The OneUps have just released their seventh studio album, appropriately titled “Part Seven”. The OneUps are a video game music cover band that performs arrangements of a wide variety of music, oftentimes in variations of jazz and rock styles. Their latest album, released just prior to this past MAGFest last month, continues this trend with new covers in a funk rock style. It includes a nice selection of songs, including some fairly familiar ones and some less so. Read on for the full review.
If you hadn’t heard, game band The OneUps recently debuted their newest album, Part Seven featuring arrangements from F-Zero, Earthbound, Megaman 2 and more. Done in their signature mashup of smooth jazz-funk-rock fusion, this marks their seventh studio release. (If you couldn’t tell.)
Physical copies of the 11-track album were released at MAGFest last week, and digital format was supposed to be released at the same time but complication lead to a delay until today. Part Seven has now been released for purchase on Loudr, with releases to iTunes and Spotify soon to follow.
Songs off the new album were performed live at this past MAGFest 2016 via the MAGFest Youtube channel. Worth the check out for a preview of their new music.
The OneUps – Part Seven | Twitter | Facebook
Ah, the kung fu flick. That amazing period in the 1970’s when a revolution in Chinese cinema barged its way into America. Over the decades it’s congealed in the global consciousness to also include funk, blaxsploitation and hip hop characteristics. It is from this muddled soup that several games have sipped their inspiration and one of the latest is Kings of Kung Fu. The setup is clever with Hollywood stuntman, Red Ronin (the game’s Sho’nuff stand-in), holding a fighting tournament amongst his fellow stuntfolk for a starring role. It’s a great conceit to bring lookalikes from the history of kung fu together in a one-on-one fighter. After the jump I’ll dig into the funkiest part of the game, it’s soundtrack.
Prepare to press Z or R twice for this next group performing at MAGFest 13. Do A Barrel Roll! is a group of seven self described warrior-musicians. Their music style is a playful mixture of funk, metal, and acoustic arrangements of game tunes, and they will often blend these genres on a single track or make surprising switches midway through any given piece. For example, the track “Can’t Let You Groove That, Star Funk!,” off their latest album Boss Rush, features a blend of rock and synth instruments, but also includes trumpet, violin, and acoustic guitar solos. The result is a unique sound to their arrangements that makes them easily distinguishable from other game music cover bands.
Many of the pieces that Do A Barrel Roll! arrange come from well known game series like Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, and of course Star Fox. They also perform a handful of less frequently covered tunes from games like Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart. Do A Barrel Roll! also likes to incorporate sound samples from the games that they are covering, adding some extra nostalgic flavor to the arrangements. One of their performance trademarks for live events has included inviting members of the audience to play games while they perform on stage. There’s nothing quite like playing a round of Mario Kart while a live band plays the music.
Do A Barrel Roll’s approach to performing and their eclectic blending of music genres gives the group a sound and style all their own. Definitely check out their albums on Bandcamp, if you haven’t already. This year they will be performing as part of the supporting bands line-up at MAGFest 13 on Sunday at 3:30 on the main stage. Be sure to check them out and the other bands’ performing times on the MAGFest 13 Schedule.
MAGFest has been getting pretty diverse with its performers throughout the years, going from rock and metal to classical and jazz, and this Know Your MAG helps showcase a little bit more in the form of the soul/funk/blues fusion of the Super Soul Bros.
Hailing from the Bay Area, the band consists of several talented musicians: Robbie Benson (keys), Brian Sheu (guitar), Alfredo Vega (drums), Chris Haman (percussion / drums), Frederick Paclibon (bass), Luke Borello (bass), Bernard Sapitola (trumpet), Lionel Briones (alto sax), Alex Popoff (tenor sax), Christian Manzana (trombone) & Matt Michielin (trumpet). Starting in 2011 as the brainchild of Robbie Benson and slowly building up as they went, the band intrigrated more members into their ranks, until a fully-fledged video game band was formed and started making a name for themselves across San Jose venues and surrounding areas.
Dealing in game music with a hardy helping of soul (as well as blues, jazz, funk, rock and more), the Super Soul Bros. performed recently at Game Over: San Jose and have a incredible amount of style in their music, yet an incredible casual feel to their performance (much like fellow jazz/funk band The One Ups). Their most recent album, “Live at San Pedro Square” features a combination of NES and Sega Genesis tunes in true blues fashion.
If you’re looking for some smooth grooves with a bit of bite to them, then be sure to catch Super Soul Bros. at MAGFest 13 in just a few weeks! If you can’t wait that long, be sure to grab their albums on Bandcamp!
It’s that time of the year when creepy music is what’s blaring on everyone’s stereos, be it from games, movies, television or what have you. Halloween is perfect for that niche portion of those who love all manner of spooky and scary to really indulge in the excessive amounts of what the season has to offer. What equally great about this time of year is that you usually get at least one new album from a band or group that focuses squarely on horror and scary-themed music, and The One Ups have decided to be the forerunner this season with Songs for the Recently Deceased.
This album features an assortment of tunes from a variety of games that are either fully immersed into the spooky and the horrific, or select stages that sport a creepy feel and fall into the category. It’s not just your Resident Evils and your Silent Hills, either; though they do make appearances. And of course, everything sports that smooth and chill tone that The One Ups are known for dishing out in high quality. So sit back, relax and let your brain switch to the mellow macabre.
We at OSV have probably written more about The OneUps than any other VGM-based band. Rather than list all the articles individually, I recommend you just search our tag for The OneUps.
This jazz band turned funk band has been doing some really special and important work in the world of VGM arrangements. So many bands go for straight up rock arrangements, or some variation of rock. With a very similar band setup, The OneUps manage to drop the driving beats and go for funky, swing-like grooves in almost all of their songs. Their albums have improved in quality from year to year, with the recent “Intergalactic” albums showcasing a sound unlike anything we’d heard before.
The band’s lead, Mustin, recently opened “Mustin Enterprises” in place of the old OneUp Studios. What this means for the future of the band, we’re still not sure, but we’re hoping to get more details at MAGFest after their Thursday night performance!
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