Soundtracks

Game Music, Indie Music

Game Music Bundle 8 Now on Sale!

December 7, 2014 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Game Music Bundle 8 Now on Sale! Share this Game Music Bundle 8 Now on Sale!

The newest iteration of the Game Music Bundle from the fine folks at Loudr is now on sale for auditory consumption!

From now until December 18th, the Game Music Bundle 8 features 19 separate video game soundtracks for sale on different “levels” of purchase. The first level is unlocked with just $1 and offers five soundtracks, including:

* Gods Will Be Watching – fingerspit

* Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake – Disasterpeace

* Super Time Force – 6955

* The Sailor’s Dream (Original Soundtrack) – Jonathan Eng
* Zombies – Bignic

However, if you’re looking for the whole kit-n-caboodle, for $10 you can access the second level, which includes the five soundtracks mentioned above, plus:

* Dreamfall Chapters Reborn Original Soundtrack – Simon Poole

* Freedom Planet – GalaxyTrail

* FTL: Advanced Edition – Ben Prunty

* Gods Will Be Watching Alternative Soundtrack – fingerspit

* Hack N’ Slash – Paul O’Rourke

* Halfway – Gavin Harrison

* Izakaya Ōmen ~MINI~ – Maxo

* Lifeformed: Immerse – Lifeformed

* Lovely Planet – Calum Bowen

* Majestic Nights – Das_Fokks

* Monarch: Heroes of a New Age Original Soundtrack – Goomin Nam

* Spell Team Death Match – Bignic

* The Novelist – Kent Hudson

* Wanderlust Adventures – Chris Christodoulou

As mentioned above, the bundle is only on sale until December 18th, so be sure to pick it up for yourself or make it a great holiday gift for the game music lover in your life!

Game Music Bundle 8 – Loudr
Game Music

Grant Kirkhope Releases the Ultimate Banjo-Kazooie Album

October 7, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Grant Kirkhope Releases the Ultimate Banjo-Kazooie Album Share this

Back in April of 2013, the official Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack received a digital release on Grant Kirkhope’s Bandcamp page. If you are familiar with either the game or soundtrack, you’ll know that the music in the game changes dynamically. Depending on where you were in the game world, the instruments and music arrangement would change in real time. Unfortunately, many of these variations were not available on the official soundtrack. It seems that Grant Kirkhope has taken it upon himself to give fans access to those alternate versions and missing tracks with Banjo-Kazooie: Everything and the Kitchen Sink!

Every piece of music that was ever in the game is on this soundtrack. There are also a handful of unused bonus tracks included. Even quick jingles/cues like “Collect Jiggy” and “Collect All Jingos” are present on this album. This includes variations of the music for when you’re underwater, the variations of “Gruntilda’s Lair,” and the arrangements for the various seasons in the Click-Clock Wood level. This is an absolute must-have for the Banjo-Kazooie music purist. As if the collection of all of this previously unreleased content wasn’t enough, the album is available for a pay-what-you-want price. So if you are a big fan of the the original Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack, definitely check out Banjo-Kazooie: Everything and the Kitchen Sink!
Game Music

The Wonderful 101 Receives an Official Soundtrack

September 16, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on The Wonderful 101 Receives an Official Soundtrack Share this

Back in 2013, Platinum Games released The Wonderful 101 on the Nintendo WiiU. The game has earned itself a sizable following, which has continued to grow with the help of this past summer’s Mario Kart 8 game promotion. Now, just about a year after the game’s launch, The Wonderful 101 soundtrack has now received a full digital release!

The complete soundtrack contains over 120 tracks, which have all been remastered. It’s enough music to fill up five CDs. In addition to improved sound quality, there is also a new version of the title theme “The Won-Stoppable Wonderful 100,” which features an actual ending rather than having the music continuously loop.

The soundtrack is split into two volumes, which each cost $10. You can of course just buy the individual tracks that you like for $0.99 each, if you don’t want the entire soundtrack for your game music library. The Wonderful 101 OST Volume 1 and Volume 2 can currently be purchased on Sumthing.com and on iTunes.
Game Music

The Super Smash Bros. Soundtrack Will Be Available Through Club Nintendo

September 4, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this

The newest iteration in the Super Smash Bros. franchise will have an official soundtrack for Club Nintendo members. Nintendo is a company that has been notoriously stingy when it comes to releases of their game soundtracks. This is particularly true if you happen to live in North America. But with the release of Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS this fall and the WiiU version at a later date, Nintendo is promoting a special offer for North American and European fans. If you purchase and register both versions of the game, you will be eligible to receive a promotional two disc soundtrack.

Nintendo has released a few details about the two disc album, including contributing arrangers of the music. The list of composers is as extensive and as varied as the games that are represented in the Super Smash Bros. games. Composers include Yuzo Koshiro, Hideki Sakamoto, Yoko Shimomura, Mahito Yokota, and many more. Nintendo has also released some sample music from the soundtrack. The full track list has yet to be released, but definitely keep your eyes on the Club Nintendo site for future announcements.
Chip Music, Game Music, Japanese

Mega Man Soundtrack Volumes 1 – 10 Are Receiving a Western Release

August 6, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this

Fellow fans of Mega Man music, this will be a good year for us. Thanks to a deal with Sumthing Else Music Works and Capcom, there will be a digital release of the original Mega Man soundtracks in the west. Each volume consists of music from one of the Mega Man games, meaning that there will be individual digital soundtracks available for Mega Man 1-10. In addition to the NES versions of the music, the soundtrack volumes also include tracks from the PlayStation versions of the games.

The first four volumes are currently available, with the remaining six due to come out this year. Two volumes are planned to be released every month up through November of 2014. These volumes are based off of the 25th Anniversary “Rockcan” box set that was previously released in Japan. While it’s a shame that the west won’t have a physical release of the set, it’s nice to see that we will still be able to obtain the official digital soundtracks. The first four Mega Man soundtrack volumes can be purchased on Amazon, iTunes, and the Sumthing Else Music website.
Featured, Game Music, Indie Music

Music In Schools Bundle Looks to Raise Money for Music Education

June 6, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Music In Schools Bundle Looks to Raise Money for Music Education Share this

A new Humble Bundle has launched and is focused on providing funding for music education. Money raised from the Music In Schools Bundle will all go to the Alameda Music Project to provide music classes to underserved communities in Alameda, California. The Alameda Music Project is a free after school program that provides music education in a community where there previously has been no existing music program. The project offers the tuition-free music program to any child in grades K – 5 who wishes to participate.

The bundle includes videogame soundtracks, movie soundtracks, and a handful of games. The tiers on this bundle are a bit higher than what you’ll be used to seeing on the Bundle Store, but what you’re getting is quite a massive collection of music. The first tier at $20 will get you 15 albums and 2 games, while the $50 tier will get you an additional 52 albums and 4 more games. That’s a grand total of 67 albums and 6 games! It’s probably more music than you’ll know what to do with and 100% of the proceeds will go to the Alameda Music Project.

There are several game music artists contributing to this bundle including Ben Prunty, Zircon, Chris Rockwood, Jessica Curry, and Disasterpeace, just to name a few. The collection features the videogame music of FEZ, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, FTL, Mass Effect 3, Spelunky, and many more. This is an incredible collection of music and it’s all for a great cause. Be sure to check the Music In Schools Bundle out and spread the word.
Game Music, Reviews

Broken Age: Act 1 OST (Review)

January 29, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this Broken Age: Act 1 OST (Review)

Like many people, I was excited about the Double Fine kickstarter. The potential for creators like Tim Schafer to help revive the point-and-click adventure game genre was something I could get behind. After a few years of waiting, the Double Fine game titled Broken Age has had its first half released. As a backer I was able to play through an early copy and listen to the game’s soundtrack. For this game, Double Fine brought in game composer Peter McConnell. McConnell has previously worked with Tim Schafer on games like Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, and Brutal Legend. Since this is only Act 1 of Broken Age, this is technically only the first half of the soundtrack. When Act 2 comes out later this year, there will undoubtedly be more music and a second soundtrack.

Now because the main appeal to games like Broken Age are the story and the areas you explore, I feel a minor spoiler warning is due. With most of the soundtracks that I review, I like to take into account how the music relates and works within the game. The music can certainly stand alone and be critiqued for its own merits, but its interaction with the game is still an important aspect. Because of this, I will end up discussing certain sections of the game and that may spoil minor plot points or reveal parts of what you will experience in the game. I promise that this review will not contain any major plot spoilers or solutions to puzzles. However, there are inevitably things that may give hints or details about portions of the game. The very names of the album’s tracks can even give things away. So following the jump after this paragraph, I will be going into potential spoiler territory. Read on if you dare. (more…)