Japan

Game Music, Japanese

Sega Band Crush 40 Release New Original Album

May 13, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Sega Band Crush 40 Release New Original Album Share this

Despite Sega having downsized and largely pulled out of the gaming market, that hasn’t stopped their boys in Crush 40 from making new music. The band just released the newest album, “2 Nights to Remember” on Amazon Japan.

Crush 40 is the band created by Sega and fronted by composer Jun Senoue (Sonic Games, Shadow the Hedgehog) on guitar and Johnny Gioeli as vocalist, originally for the release of the game NASCAR Arcade, and has contributed to the soundtracks of several Sonic titles, including main themes for Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 and songs for Sonic Heroes and Sonic and the Black Knight. This new original album follows the release of their 2012 album “Live!” and contains four newly-record studio tracks, as well as several live-performance tracks from the “Live!” album and various Sonic themes.

You can purchase the album on Amazon Japan for about 2,381 yen (or $19.95 dollars plus tax). You can also check out some previews on their website.

Crush 40 – Website | Twitter | 2 Nights 2 Remember
Chip Music, Demoscene

Look At The Beach, Have A Seat: Equilibrium Releases On Ubiktune

April 28, 2011 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this

You remember that time you were in boy-scouts and that guy was kinda creepy and looked at you all funny? What was up with that? Anyway, Ubiktune is a chiptune label that has been around since 2006 that has grown larger and larger by each release, showcasing some of the finest compilation of chiptune music by gathering the greatest name and doing fantastic concept albums. Literally, talent from around the world have now taken notice of the young label, and partaken in the fantastic releases.

The latest release is surely one that keeps their reputation on top of the mountain. Equilibrium features 9 talented NES chip music artists, including FearofDark, Rushjet as well as surasshu who together create a soothing soundscape of tranquility, peace and a melodic balance inspired by the sea side and docks of Japan. The songs are ripe with inspiration and full of atmosphere, making use of ingenious sound effects to create a setting rarely heard from chiptunes, let alone NES based. The art was done by the fantastic junkboy. And as always, the release is completely free, so there is no excuse not to support this fine cast of musicians and chill out.

Get the release at Ubiktune
Game Music

Press Start -Symphony of Games- 2010 Announced

May 1, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

Press Start -Symphony of Games- is coming again this year, making it their fifth annual show. Shota had a blast at the 2009 performance, and if past set lists are any indication, we should be hearing a number of brand new arrangements this year. The concert will be held on September 11, 2010.

While details thus far are pretty scarce, we do know that the there’s a poll on the official Press Start website allowing visitors to pick which pieces from past shows will be making a return. I hope not too many, as the whole point is to hear some new music! We’ll report more details on this event as they become available.

Any guesses as to what they’re going to include this year? Do you have a wish list ready?

[Thanks Crystal!]
Game Music

40 of Japan’s Top Game Composers Form Mega Alliance: Video Game Sound Creator’s Alliance

October 5, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 9 Comments Share this

Big news from Japan. It seems as though the majority of freelance game music composers from Japan have teamed up to form the Video Game Sound Creator’s Alliance. As to what that is exactly, I have no idea, but their membership list is quite impressive, including composers such as Hiroki Kikuta, Akari Kaida, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yasunori Mitsuda, Michiru Yamane, and about 30 others. The group was founded by Yuji Takenouchi, and our good friend hally is actually listed as the group’s executive adviser.

Pretty awesome, but let’s see what they end up doing. It sounds like the GANG of Japan if you ask me. Wonder if we’re going to see Nobuo Uematsu pop on this list any time soon! While the official site is still under construction, I recommend heading over and checking it out. It’s set to launch on October 19, 2009.

Hit the jump for the fully translated list of members courtesy of Square Enix Music Online. (more…)
Game Music

Preview Square Enix’s Upcoming Games: Square Enix Music Sampler CD Vol. 4 From TGS09

September 28, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Photo ©2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.

We took a look at the Square Enix Music Sampler CD Vol. 3 last year after TGS, and this year’s volume looks like it’s breaking even more ground with music from Four Warriors of Light -Final Fantasy Gaiden-, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, the Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts 2nd Album CD (all extremely long titles), and Final Fantasy XIII. There are also some bonuses here that don’t really show off what’s coming from Square Enix, but are rather a nice little treat for fans including a TGS 2007 trailer track from Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess and music from The World Ends With You.

As usual, however, if you weren’t in Japan for TGS, you’re likely going to have a difficult time finding this one. The Sampler discs are typically given away with every purchase at the Square Enix Music Store, and seemingly disappear after the show. It’s a shame, too, because this one looks like it’s a pretty awesome collection of tunes.

Watch for our review of the disc in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, hit the jump to see the full track listing. (more…)
Game Music

Noisycroak’s First Game Composer Roundtable Discussion -Complete English Transcript-

August 15, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this

While many of you may have missed the news, the guys over at Noisycroak in Japan (who you may recall from our coverage of Castlevania Judgment) recently hosted a composer roundtable to answer fan-submitted questions and discuss a wide range of topics involving the game music industry in Japan. Composer and studio head Hideki Sakamoto hosted the unprecedented event, which our own Chris Ling attended along with a number of Famitsu staff, and the results were pretty amazing.

What we have here is Chris’s English translation of the massive transcript that Noisycroak posted in to their website (in Japanese) a few weeks ago. Yes, a complete English transcript of all 17,000+ words! I’m definitely grateful to Chris for doing this for us, as well as to Sakamoto-san at Noisycroak for putting this together, Mitsuyoshi-san for coordinating Chris’s attendance, and to all the participants for taking part in this event and for letting us post the English-language transcript here for your reading pleasure.

While it’s quite long, there’s a lot of great stuff here. Nobuyoshi Sano is particularly hilarious, and it’s funny reading how Sakamoto-san was constantly trying to keep everyone on track (with mixed results). I found some of the discussion towards the end about game music concerts and “young” heroes to be interesting, but let us know what you think!

Read the entire transcript of the event after the jump. (more…)