Original Work

Game Music

Rock Band 4 New Announced Tracks Include The Protomen

August 25, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Rock Band 4 New Announced Tracks Include The Protomen Share this

A few new tracks were dropped yesterday to be added to the current 60-some tracks currently bundled into the upcoming Rock Band 4 game. Among the likes of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Cake was an surprising inclusion of a band we’ve seen floating around the VGM scene for a while; The Protomen.

Best known to many within the game music cover scene as a band that is loosely based around the Mega Man franchise, they also sport a hefty amount of original concept albums, which seems to be what helped land them in Rock Band 4. The song featured, “Light Up The Night” is on their 2009 album Act II: The Father of Death. The album itself, while composed of original music, is meant to be a rock opera that tells the story of the relationship between Mega Man’s creator Doctor Light and his eventual nemesis Dr. Wily and how their relationship developed prior to Wily becoming a madman.

While not game music as we know it, it’s an interesting inclusion to something like Rock Band’s coveted lineup and perhaps could be a gateway for other game-inspired band inclusions in the future, outside of the modding scene.

Rock Band 4 is set to release for the PS4 and Xbox One on October 6th. If you want to learn more about The Protomen, check out our in-depth look at the band.
Featured, Reviews

“The Drop That Contained The Sea” Also Contains My Heart (Review)

December 22, 2014 | Patrick Gann | 8 Comments Share this

Christopher Tin first captured the hearts of gamers with his much-loved opening theme for Civilization IV: “Baba Yetu.” Originally recorded for the game in 2004, it was re-recorded with the Soweto Gospel Choir in 2009 as the opening track to Christopher Tin’s song cycle and debut choral/orchestral album Calling All Dawns. With this release, Tin received not one but two Grammy awards, including one specifically for Baba Yetu. This was the first time that music written for a video game received a Grammy.

In other words, Christopher Tin is free to join fictional anchorman Ron Burgundy in saying, “I’m kind of a big deal.” But I suspect he’s too humble for that.

After doing some fun projects in the following years, Mr. Tin returned to the choral-orchestral work that made Calling All Dawns so great. No, sadly, none of the music in 2014’s The Drop That Contained The Sea is featured in a video game (yet). And seriously, why is this music not in Civilization V? But I digress.

This new album features ten tracks, following the tradition of CAD by having each song sung in a different language. We’ll explore this album’s in-depth themes and look deep into each track after the jump.

OH! And to tease you into reading this whole article: if you love Yasunori Mitsuda (Xenogears, Chrono Trigger/Cross) you’re going to love at least one of the songs on this album. We all owe more than we can say to the wonderful nation of Bulgaria. (more…)
Miscellaneous, Reviews

A Warrior’s Odyssey, A Composer’s Journey (Review)

November 8, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on A Warrior’s Odyssey, A Composer’s Journey (Review) Share this

Purchase CD – Howlin’ Wolf Records
Purchase Digital – Amazon MP3 | iTunes

Bulgarian-born composer Penka Kouneva is a recent member of the game music community, but she’s been doing film and television score for much longer. Her game credits include co-composing Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands with Steve Jablonsky, doing arrangements for the Gears of War games and most recently arrangement for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. She also had an original composition featured on the charity album Play for Japan.

Recently, Ms. Kouneva released an original album that acts as a sort of homage to modern war-based FPS’s, RTS’s, etc. The album is entitled A Warrior’s Odyssey, and it serves as both an excellent demo album for Kouneva as a composer to send to game developers, and an excellent album for media score nuts to dig into.

After the jump, I’ll have more details on this lengthy, epic treat from one of Europe’s lesser-known musical prodigies, as well as some photos from the album’s recording sessions.

(more…)
Demoscene, Reviews

Synthetic Orchestra: “Originals Volume 1” (Review)

September 12, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

So I recently discovered a handy-dandy new label that specializes in getting indie and/or fanmade arrangements of VGM licensed and legally distributed: Joypad Records. They’ve published the music of violinist Lindsey Stirling (see: Skyrim Theme, iTunes) and they’re working with many other musicians to legally release more awesome fantastic VGM arrangements.

One artist in partnership with Joypad is Blake Robinson, who is better known as the one-man crew behind the Synthetic Orchestra. If you check out his covers, they are a variety of vanilla transcription and totally redone arrangements for a variety of classic VGM themes, put to a synth orchestra that’s mighty close to life-like (listen to it through your speakers from a distance while talking to someone else, and you’ll think it’s the real thing: only a close listen on headphones reveals otherwise).

I’ve been listening to Blake’s covers for awhile now, but what really impressed me is that he also has some fantastic original compositions. These compositions, compiled on a simply-titled “Originals Volume 1,” are the subject of the following review. Join me after the jump to learn more! (more…)
Indie Music, Japanese, Reviews

Electro-Nostalgic: baiyon’s “Like a School on Lunch Time” (Review)

August 21, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Electro-Nostalgic: baiyon’s “Like a School on Lunch Time” (Review) Share this

I remember when one of my best friends introduced me to “noise” as a genre. He started me off with Hanatarash(i), a 1980s group featuring this dude who went by the name “Eye.” This was some pretty hardcore stuff. All noise samples, no tonality whatsoever.

Since then, I’ve heard “noise” albums with different layers or levels of tonality mixed with the non-musical sounds. Many of them come from electronic artists. I was a big fan, for example, of Michael Bross’ “Subway Meditations” — nothing but hand-picked samples mixed in different ways.

After the jump, we’ll take a look at one of baiyon’s contributions to the genre with his 2006 album “Like a School on Lunch Time.” (more…)
Chip Music, Reviews

A Disasterpeace 2-for-1: Insterstellar Deorbit (Review)

June 8, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on A Disasterpeace 2-for-1: Insterstellar Deorbit (Review) Share this

Rich “Disasterpeace” Vreeland is a powerhouse and a true workhorse of a composer. As revealed on his vgmdb artist page, he manages to release four or more albums a year, an eclectic mix of original works and game soundtracks.

In 2011, two of his original works were “Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar” and “Deorbit.” The former is available on bandcamp for a $1 minimum (suggested price $5, or $10 for the CD version), and the latter is in the same state, though no CD version is offered (perhaps because it is a shorter work). “Deorbit” is something of a follow-up album to “Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar” as it has unreleased tracks originally planned for that album, though it is also a “catch-all” album in that it has other previously-unreleased tunes included.

After the jump, you’ll find the results of my critical ear versus these two albums, both of which were featured in the Indie Game Music Bundle 3. (more…)
Featured, Japanese, Reviews

Swimming in IMERUAT’s “Black Ocean” (Review)

May 7, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 17 Comments Share this

When we last spoke to Masashi Hamauzu, he expressed much excitement over his then-upcoming album with Mina, “Black Ocean.” Up to that time, all we’d been able to hear from them was the IMERUAT debut single, which featured 3 songs (all included on, and remastered for, “Black Ocean”).

With the full album in our hands (presently available CD-only in Japan and Europe), we’re ready to talk about the duo that made Final Fantasy XIII so beautiful and vibrant. After the jump, our review of IMERUAT’s “Black Ocean.” (more…)