The Black Mages

• Game Music

  On The Street With Nobuo Uematsu

  May 25, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on On The Street With Nobuo Uematsu Share this On The Street With Nobuo Uematsu

  

  So, this article has been sitting in our backend here at OSV for nearly a year. After Shota and I sat down for our extensive interview with Nobuo Uematsu and Hiroki Ogawa after the Distant Worlds concert in San Francisco, I prepared a list of items that fell outside of the recorded interview. It’s taken awhile to get it approved by all parties, and unfortunately a lot of it had to be cut, but I’m glad to finally get it out into the world!

  While we have some random bits of information about how Nobuo Uematsu’s music plays into his everyday life, we also have a story about his celebrity status in the United States.  It’s brief, but I thought fans of Uematsu might find it interesting.  It’s definitely in line with some the wacky stuff we uncovered in our interviews.

  So what happened on the streets of San Francisco? Find out after the jump. (more…)

• Game Music

  Of Mustaches and Men: A Circus of an Interview with Nobuo Uematsu

  July 23, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 14 Comments Share this Of Mustaches and Men: A Circus of an Interview with Nobuo Uematsu

  

  Talk about an experience of a lifetime. I was super jealous when 1UP.com did their “One Day With Nobuo Uematsu” video interview last year, but I am confident when I say that Shota and I had an even better day with Nobuo Uematsu in San Francisco this past Saturday. He was in town for the Distant Worlds concert, of course, and man, it was a truly epic experience.

  Aside from our lengthy interview that features some pretty bizarre questions, we saw Uematsu-san get assaulted (not really) by fans on the street who wanted his autograph, and learned that hey, contrary to popular believe, his English is pretty amazing. In fact, we almost didn’t even need Shota on hand, as I would often ask my question in English, and Uematsu-san would immediately respond in Japanese, and even English at times. Despite being called a “stalker” on numerous occasions by Uematsu, I I was quite content when the day was over, and we hope you enjoy the end result.  Oh, and there’s more to come, so be on the lookout in the coming days and weeks!

  Hear the answers to your burning questions about Uematsu’s legendary mustache along with many other things you never knew you wanted to know after the jump! (more…)

• Game Music, Reviews

  Pretend You Were There: THE BLACK MAGES III Darkness and Starlight LIVE DVD (Review)

  May 22, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this Pretend You Were There: THE BLACK MAGES III Darkness and Starlight LIVE DVD (Review)

  

  We told you about this release back in March, and we’ve finally had the opportunity to absorb everything contained within this DVD. I can’t tell you how bad I wanted to fly over to Japan for this concert, as I really dug THE BLACK MAGES III Darkness and Starlight. I know not everyone agrees, but I liked the synthy approach of this album compared to past Black Mages albums.

  What you’ll find here is the concert in its entirety, including the MC segments, along with a special behind the scenes look at the preparation that went into the show and a promotional Neo EXDEATH music video, all of which will make great additions to your collection. This is admittedly my first time seeing the band up close as I’ve never watched their other DVD releases, so it was definitely a new experience for me.

  Hit the jump to read our review of the Darkness and Starlight LIVE DVD from their concert back on August 8, 2008. (more…)

• Game Music

  Dog Ear, I think you got some Cello in my Black Mages!

  March 16, 2009 | Michael Schiciano | 2 Comments Share this Dog Ear, I think you got some Cello in my Black Mages!

  

  Dog Ear Records is at it again. Fans of The Black Mages might want to pay attention later this month, as March 25th will see two new releases from the Japanese label. One of these items is a DVD of a live concert performance of The Black Mage’s third album, Darkness and Starlight. The other release set for the same day will be a CD based mini album entitled Those Who Distorted, performed the cello quartet Cellythm (Kazumi Ando, Takaya Anada, Yoko Ohta, and Yumi Shimazu).

  Those Who Distorted is apparently rock themed, and set to have six tracks, half of which are arranged from the rock arrangements previously performed by The Black Mages (“Those Who Fight Further,” “Battle Theme” (FFVI), “Clash on the Big Bridge”), with the remaining tracks devoted to arrangements of other works (“Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin, “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles, and “Land of Hope and Glory” by Edward Elgar). While it’s not uncommon to have come across string based arrangements of both pop/rock and video game music, this makes for a rather interesting existence where we have arrangements based on rock arrangements of video game music.

  Those Who Distorted is currently set to sell for 1800 Yen (roughly 18$ USD), and samples can be found on Dog Ear’s page for the album here. A preview for the Darkness and Starlight Live DVD can be found here. Both pages are Japanese only, but it’s easy enough to get the info one needs easily from them.

  Are you looking forward to either of these releases? Are you happy to see rock classics and The Black Mages together at last?

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