Japan

Chip Music, Game Music, Japanese

Massive 147-track Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Detailed

December 21, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Massive 147-track Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Detailed Share this

Another piece of Square Enix’s multi-year Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary celebration is drawing closer to release and there’s new musical details to be shared. Releasing January 24th, 2018 in Japan is “FINAL FANTASY 30th Anniversary Tracks 1987-2017“, a double Blu-ray, audio-visual anthology of 147 songs from the fifteen numbered entries in the series. Last week Square Enix revealed the full tracklist, conveniently organized by title, which you can dive into on their official site. And this week they posted a preview video showing off the visual treatment you can expect alongside all that music.

Another newly announced bonus of the Blu-ray bundle is that you’ll be able to copy MP3s of all the music off of the discs to a PC or wirelessly beam them to your phone, laptop, or other handheld devices. I feel like that’s an incredibly generous move for Square who could easily have put out a separate CD version for sale alongside the Blu-ray.

Sadly, this is another Japan-exclusive product but if you’re up to the challenge of international shipping you can pre-order the roughly $60 package from Square’s shop, Amazon Japan, or Play-Asia.
Events, Game Music, Japanese

Disney invites Concert Attendees to play along on 2018 Japan Tour

November 15, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Disney invites Concert Attendees to play along on 2018 Japan Tour Share this

Ever fancy taking to the stage at an orchestral game music concert to play your own instrument alongside the performers? That’s almost exactly the plan for the Brass Band Disney tour that will be performing across Japan between January and March of 2018.

At each of the ten scheduled shows the Siena Wind Orchestra, who you may know from their BRA★BRA Final Fantasy series, will play a selection of songs from Disney’s animated films, Star Wars, and Pirates of the Caribbean. For the finale, everyone in attendance is welcomed to join the stage or even play from the aisles for one of the most raucous performances these concert halls have ever held.

The communal composition isn’t a Disney standard like the “Mickey Mouse Club March” though, it’s the main theme from one of their most popular new properties, the mobile game Disney Tsum Tsum. Those planning to perform can grab the sheet music to practice and listen to a few baseball “cheer song” renditions of the theme from Disney’s site. Don’t worry if you can’t play an instrument, clapping and whistling are encouraged as well.

It’s a wild (and trusting) concept, having fans play alongside the orchestra, and I hope at least a glimpse of it gets out to YouTube once the tour starts. In the meantime, what game music do you think would benefit from a communal performance, umm, if any? Let us know in the comments.
Game Music, Japanese

Kirby 25th Anniversary CD, DVD, Blu-ray Announced for Japan

October 17, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | 1 Comment Share this

Of Nintendo’s longest running franchises Kirby is one of the youngest, playing little sibling to the likes of Mario, Zelda, and Metroid who all recently celebrated thirty years. Nevertheless, Nintendo is giving the pink puff an impressive 25th anniversary package in three colorful varieties on CD, DVD, and Blu-ray. All three versions of Kirby 25th Anniversary Orchestra Concert will be released in Japan on December 20th. Here’s the rundown on what’s included.

The 2-disc CD album features a recording of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra performing ‘The Kirby 25th Anniversary Concert” from July on Disc 1. Kirby Memorial Arrange makes up the second disc and contains live performances, vocal tracks, and other arrangements of Kirby themes that weren’t featured in the concert. Also included with the colorful packaging is a Kirby 25th anniversary pin badge with the whole thing on sale for about $30.

Stepping things up is the CD+DVD bundle that includes the 2-disc album and pin badge as well as a video recording of ‘The Kirby 25th Anniversary Concert” performance. There’s also some interview footage with long-time Kirby developers to reminisce on the series anniversary. This $70 bundle comes with an interchangeable case with three designs and a classy cover box to store the CD and DVD in.

Finally, there’s the $80 CD+Blu-ray edition that includes all the same footage from the DVD in higher quality, edited with direct feed footage of the gameplay that was projected behind the orchestra during the performance. The 2-disc album, pin badge, and classy cover box are all included with a unique design on the Blu-ray disc. It’s not a massive bonus but the big deal about the Blu-ray edition is that it will only be available to order online between November 8th and the 24th. After that it’ll be paying exorbitant prices to resellers.

If the price is too steep but you love the look of this 25th anniversary artwork, check out the official anniversary site. It’s in Japanese but you don’t need to read the language to bask in the adorable artwork and the mountain of character goods piling up in Japan. If you need a little musical accompaniment while browsing, check out the recently released tribute album Kirby25: A Chiptuned Retrospective.

Any Kirby fans planning on picking up the CD, DVD or Blu-ray? How about one of those LED humidifiers?
Events, Game Music, Japanese

The Video Game Orchestra, Live In Tokyo, To Be Their Biggest Show Yet

February 24, 2017 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

The Video Game Orchestra (or simply “The VGO” to the hip kids who follow their work) have taken their show on the road before … but never like this. Fans of the Boston-based orchestra, led by Shota Nakama, can start their drooling now: on March 25th, The VGO will be putting on a concert in Tokyo. The show is being promoted by Pony Canyon — which, if you didn’t know, is “big deal” territory, they are Japan’s equivalent of “Live Nation,” save that Pony Canyon has existed as publisher and promoter of entertainment products for far longer.

The 3/25 show will have music from almost all the major game publishers, including Konami, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, Sega, and more. We don’t know the full list of games yet, but here’s what we have so far:

CASTLEVANIA (series)
CYTUS
D4: DARK DREAMS DON’T DIE
DEEMO
FINAL FANTASY XV
GOD EATER 2: RAGE BURST
METAL GEAR SOLID (series)
SILENT HILL 2
SONIC (series)
TALES OF ZESTIRIA

On a personal/editorial note, I must urge the reader to consider the long-term value of this concert. To have a project with this many Japanese publishers sign on for a third-party entity (The VGO) to perform their work, in Japan, is a big deal. I have always advocated for collaboration among the game music artists and those who represent them, and whenever it happens, I can’t help but celebrate. This concert represents a big reason to celebrate.

Unfortunately, it isn’t something that I can celebrate … not in person. I won’t be able to attend the Tokyo show. But hey, maybe you can! The details for the show are found here: vgo.jp — and, if you want to purchase tickets, the website to do so offers information and instructions for ticket purchase in Japanese, English and Chinese! You’ll find that here!

And if anyone among our reader-base makes plans to attend the show, please let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear about your thoughts after the event.
Game Music

The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Concert Album Now Available

February 15, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | 1 Comment Share this

If you were waiting for the release of the Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Concert to come out to CD, wait no longer. Both the regular and limited edition of the tribute to 30 years of The Legend of Zelda releases today.

Recorded live this past October at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Theater by The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Taizo Takemoto (Press Start – Symphony of Games-), the 14-track album captures the musical essence of the Zelda games, featuring several classic tracks performed along with music from Wind Waker, Ocarina, Link Between Worlds, Skyward Sword, and Twilight Princess, with an encore of the Breath of the Wild theme.

The audio import of the album can now be purchased by several retailers in both the regular and limited edition (shown above), including Amazon and CDJapan.
Game Music

Final Symphony and Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo Coming From Laced Records

November 4, 2016 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Final Symphony and Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo Coming From Laced Records Share this

Laced Records, who has brought us excellent release of video game soundtracks including Shadow Warrior 2, Hotline Miami, and No Man’s Sky is now taking pre-orders for Final Symphony, and Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo. The albums will be released as Deluxe Triple Vinyls and Deluxe Double CD sets.

Final Symphony, which features music from Final Fantasy VI, VII, and X was previously released in digital and Blu-ray Audio formats. There was also a promotional LP release which only contained a few tracks. You can see the track listing below:

Disc 1

Fantasy Overture – Circle within a Circle within a Circle (4:08)

FINAL FANTASY VI – Symphonic Poem: Born with the Gift of Magic (18:08)

FINAL FANTASY X – Piano Concerto I. Zanarkand (8:18)

FINAL FANTASY X – Piano Concerto II. Inori (6:36)

FINAL FANTASY X – Piano Concerto III. Kessen (4:21)

Encore: FINAL FANTASY X. Suteki da ne (3:43)

Disc 2

FINAL FANTASY VII – Symphony in Three Movements I. Nibelheim Incident (13:43)

FINAL FANTASY VII – Symphony in Three Movements II. Words Drowned by Fireworks (13:38)

FINAL FANTASY VII – Symphony in Three Movements III. The Planet’s Crisis (14:07)

Encore: FINAL FANTASY VII. Continue? (4:36)

Encore: FINAL FANTASY Series. Fight, Fight, Fight! (3:18)

Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo has also been previously released in Japan and the EU in 2012. The program from this concert was recently performed in the UK as Symphonic Fantasies London, which was reviewed by Video Game Music Online’s Joe Hammond here. The track listing for the new release features a bonus track which is bolded below:

Disc 1

Fanfare Overture (3:09)

Fantasy I: Kingdom Hearts (15:53)

Fantasy II: Secret of Mana (18:54)

Disc 2

Fantasy III: Chrono Trigger / Chrono Cross (16:36)

Fantasy IV: Final Fantasy (18:37)

Encore: Final Boss Suite (7:41)

Bonus: Final Fantasy X. Suteki da ne (3:43)

You can see the see all the options over at Laced Records website, including some pretty cool art prints as well. I ordered the 2 album CD bundle because it’s such a good deal. At this time you can only pre-order the albums, which are expected to be released this December 2016.

Are you considering ordering these albums?
Events, Game Music, Japanese

Tokyo Game Music Show Kicks off Jan.23rd

January 20, 2016 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Tokyo Game Music Show Kicks off Jan.23rd Share this

If you happen to be in the Tokyo area this coming weekend and have 2,500 yen free, you might want to check out Tokyo Game Music Show 2016. Boasted as the premier game music fair for lovers of game music, the event celebrates its fourth year with an incredibly impressive list of game music composers both new and old that will be showcased as either performers or at their own booths designed to interact with game music fans. Among those exhibitors in attendance will be Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana), Masafumi Takada (No More Heroes), Yuu Miyake (Katamari Damacy) and a lot, lot more! (Full List under the cut.)

(more…)