Pokemon

• Events, Game Music

  APPROACHING LIGHT SPEED: VIDEO GAMES LIVE LEVEL 6 (REVIEW)

  November 28, 2018 | Ryan Paquet | 1 Comment Share this APPROACHING LIGHT SPEED: VIDEO GAMES LIVE LEVEL 6 (REVIEW)

  

  Video Games Live has just released their latest album, Level 6 after yet another successful Kickstarter campaign. If you missed our reviews of the previous two albums you can read the reviews for both Level 4 and Level 5, which both earned high praise for the calibre of their arrangements and production value.

  The latest album boasts 12 tracks and includes an arrangement of the Classic Arcade Medley that’s been featured during live shows since the beginning. Read on for my full track by track review.

  (more…)

• Game Music

  Pre-Order Video Game Music Box Albums on Bandcamp

  July 31, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Pre-Order Video Game Music Box Albums on Bandcamp Share this Pre-Order Video Game Music Box Albums on Bandcamp

  

  So many of us in the video game and VGM scene are avid collectors of our favorite games and game soundtracks. Even the most manly fan would likely fork over a fair sum to own a dainty music box that played familiar tunes from the likes of Super Mario Bros. and Chrono Trigger. Unfortunately, mass-producing custom music boxes is not an industry many have gone into, and maybe some day we’ll see it tapped into like the video game music vinyl craze that’s been ongoing for the past year or two. Until then, Materia Collective and String Player Gamer have made up the difference by creating seven albums of classic video game music that have all been transcribed into charming music box covers.

  Video Game Music Box is a series of album that takes classic games such as Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda and turns their most beloved music tracks into renditions you’d hear straight out of a music box from the days of old. Each album grabs from music from either a select game or from several games across a particular franchise, and redubs them into simple music box chimes that seem to speak to the little kid in you, winding up our grandmother’s music boxes and listening to the melodies until it runs out. Thankfully with these albums, not only is winding them up not necessary, but unlike a standalone music box, you get more than just one tune.

  Each Video Game Music Box album is currently available for pre-order for $7 apiece and will release on August 14th. With any luck, it inspires some physical releases of video game music boxes sometime in the (hopefully near) future, because having a custom music box of Castlevania or Undertale music at your bedside would be about as delightful as it gets.

• Doujin, Game Music

  Pokémon Charity Album Harmony of a Champion Now Available

  December 27, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Pokémon Charity Album Harmony of a Champion Now Available Share this Pokémon Charity Album Harmony of a Champion Now Available

  

  It’s true that 2017 was a prolific year for at least two things: 1.) Video Game Anniversaries, and 2.) Materia Collective releases. These two things are not mutually exclusive, and as we wind the year down to a close, there’s still a few more albums the label has yet to gift the VGM community, including the recent release of the Pokémon tribute album Harmony of a Champion.

  A huge 9-track album dedicated to celebrating the music of Pokémon Red & Green, Harmony of a Champion is the brainchild of the Shinesparker community and the album creator Darren Kerwin. The album features the talents of several in the game music and arrangement scene, including Rozen (Sins of Hyrule), Laura Intravia (Video Games Live, Destiny), Spencer Bambrick (BestLuck), sound designer Gina Zdanowicz (BioShock 2, Just Cause 3) and more.

  “I hold the original generation of games in high regard for all of the wonderful memories and friendships that were born from playing them. Harmony of a Champion is an opportunity to experience the story of Red and his journey from a ten-year-old boy who grew up in Pallet Town to becoming a Pokémon Champion, through the inclusion of sound design across the album to add narrative and express the story more effectively.” – Darren Kerwin, album creator

  The added bonus is that Harmony of a Champion  is licensed with all profits being donated to Child’s Play Charity, providing an extra special little send-off to the year. Harmony of a Champion is currently available on Bandcamp, iTunes and streaming on Spotify. You can learn more on the Materia Collective website.

• Game Music

  Tommy Tallarico Confirms Video Games Live Level 6 Album Kickstarter for February 2018

  December 18, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Tommy Tallarico Confirms Video Games Live Level 6 Album Kickstarter for February 2018 Share this Tommy Tallarico Confirms Video Games Live Level 6 Album Kickstarter for February 2018

  

  On December 15, 2017, Tommy Tallarico  confirmed that the next Video Games Live Album is in the works. The confirmation was made on Twitter when he re-tweeted Franklin Richard’s tweet which we’ve copied below:

  Interestingly, it was also noted that the new album will feature the vocals of Jason Paige who is known for singing the original Pokémon theme song. Original Sound Version gave the last album, Level 5 a glowing review which you can read here if you missed it. I popped over to the Level 5 Kickstarter page this morning which revealed even more details:

  Yesterday we made our big announcement by confirming LEVEL 6 for 2018 and revealing that we have partnered with original Pokemon TV show “Gotta Catch Em All” singer Jason Paige to do a powerful updated extended symphonic rock version of the iconic masterpiece AND that Jason will be joining us on future tours!

  It was also revealed that I will be producing Jason’s next album which will focus on ALL rock/symphony/electronic recreations of the GREATEST pop-culture hits of the 80’s & 90’s! The setlist and album which will be picked entirely by the fans! Theme suggestions to include Pokemon (duh!), TMNT, Animaniacs, The Simpsons, Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, Duck Tales, Tiny Toons, Digimon, Scooby Doo, Full House, Spider-Man and MANY MANY more!

  Check out our interactive Facebook Live chat we had in which you’ll hear Jason do some hilarious on-the-spot singing and answering questions! Sorry about the muffled audio in the beginning! New phone… didn’t realize I had my finger over the mic! 🙂 Hope you’ll take part in LEVEL 6! Coming in February!!

  Tommy Tallarico

  I can only speculate what other games will be covered on the Level 6 album, but I have a strong feeling that Undertale, Earthbound/Mother and Katamari Damacy might be strong contenders. All three were included as possible stretch goal tracks for the last album and it wouldn’t surprise me if they made the cut this time. Personally I’ve expressed to Tommy Tallarico I’ve love to see Tim Follin’s Silver Surfer represented. And I have to say, Jason Paige’s new album in the works sounds radical dude.

  Is there a video game soundtrack you’d like to see on Video Games Live Level 6?

• Doujin, Game Music

  Materia Collective & Multiplayer Release SPIRIT VGM Charity Album

  October 5, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Materia Collective & Multiplayer Release SPIRIT VGM Charity Album Share this Materia Collective & Multiplayer Release SPIRIT VGM Charity Album

  

  Game music label Materia Collective along with Multiplayer charity organization have come together to help produce an entire EP of arranged and remixed video game music to help raise funds for aiding Hurricane Harvey victims, as well as draw attention to other recent victims of hurricanes in Florida and Puerto Rico.

  SPIRIT is a fully licensed EP features four tracks of arranged game music from UNDERTALE, Final Fantasy VII, Journey and Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire, with proceeds from sales going to Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation to assist with relief efforts. Game artists and arrangers Braxton Burks (Pokémon Reorchestrated), Laura Intravia (Video Games Live), StringPlayerGamer (Strings of Determination), Loudr co-founder Jesse Budington, Sean Schafianski (Video Game Music Reorchestrated), and others have donated their time in order to put the album together for the charity effort.

  We started working on SPIRIT almost immediately after Harvey, since many Materia Collective members are from Houston and wanted to contribute to the rebuilding process. There was a great outpouring of support in the immediate aftermath of this disaster; however, the need is ongoing, and we hope that our EP can contribute. In the time since we started this project, other hurricanes have affected other areas, including Florida, the Virgin Islands, and most recently, Puerto Rico. While all SPIRIT proceeds will go towards the Greater Houston Community Foundation, we also want to raise awareness for these other areas that badly need support. – Emily McMillian, Director

  The album is currently available on Bandcamp, iTunes and Spotify. Donation links for charities in other areas can be found on Bandcamp and Materia Collective’s official website.

• Doujin, Game Music

  Grimecraft and Gamechops Release Pokémon Bike Remix

  September 8, 2016 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Grimecraft and Gamechops Release Pokémon Bike Remix Share this Grimecraft and Gamechops Release Pokémon Bike Remix

  

  There’s been a lot of Gamechops material coming out lately, and a lot of Pokémon activity going on in the gaming world. It thus just makes sense that the two would eventually combine.

  For your viewing pleasure,  you can check out Grimecraft‘s interesting take on the Pokémon bike theme paired with footage from the games, cartoon series, and custom CG segments by Curse Gamepedia. (And an additional little musical shoutout at the very end.)

  The music comes from Grimecraft’s 2013 PokéEP, which you can grab for free over on his Bandcamp page.

• Events, Game Music

  Pokemon: Symphonic Evolutions Announces first UK Show

  September 17, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Pokemon: Symphonic Evolutions Announces first UK Show Share this Pokemon: Symphonic Evolutions Announces first UK Show

  

  Pokemon: Symphonic Evolutions — an audio/visual symphony performing orchestral arrangements of Pokemon themes — has been stopping at venues around the United States and Canada since last August. So it’s good news today for the rest of the world as The Pokemon Company has announced the first date “across the pond” for the UK. It’s also a good time to recap the rest of their international shows for our readers around the globe.

  The London premiere will take place on Sunday, December 20th at the Hammersmith Apollo theatre with Susie Benchasil Seiter conducting the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Before they reach the UK, though, the show has several stops planned for Mexico and Australia.

  Take a look at the table below for the upcoming international shows and check out the official site for more U.S. dates in 2016. You can also check out the Wikipedia page for Symphonic Evolutions to get an idea of which songs and which games you can expect to hear.

  10/21/15	Auditorio Telmex	Guadalajara, Mexico
  10/23/15	Arena Ciudad de Mexico	Mexico City, Mexico
  10/25/15	Arena Monterrey	Monterrey, Mexico
  11/13/15	Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre	Melbourne, Australia
  11/15/15	Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre	Perth, Australia
  11/17/15	Adelaide Festival Theatre	Adelaide, Australia
  11/20/15	Sydney Opera House	Sydney, Australia
  11/21/15	Sydney Opera House	Sydney, Australia
  11/21/15	Sydney Opera House	Sydney, Australia

		Previous Entries »

Covering and promoting discussion of composers and music with a focus on video games and other contemporary media entertainment

Join Us Online Or Log in

 Got tips? Get in touch Or Browse our Categories Game Music Music Production Gear Anime Demoscene Software Television Doujin Chip Music Indie Music Film Events Japanese Miscellaneous Experimental Featured Editorial Reviews Interviews