Tommy Tallarico

Game Music, Television

GROOVY! The Music of the Earthworm Jim Cartoon

May 19, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on GROOVY! The Music of the Earthworm Jim Cartoon Share this

As many of you may know, the music for the Earthworm Jim video game was composed by Tommy Tallarico, as was it’s sequel Earthworm Jim 2. The music for the cartoon series however contained completely new and original music by composer William Anderson. The theme song, according to Mr. Anderson’s website is his personal favorite and part of the reason is that he wrote and PERFORMED the piece himself. The song itself is brilliant, fun, and reveals the very simple origin story of the character. Watching it again and seeing Psy-crow use a conductor’s baton just made me want to sing along. The opening was uploaded to YouTube by user Sjahut.

William Anderson has also composed the music for some classic animated series including the second seasons of the 1990’s Marvel Fantastic Four/Iron Man cartoons series, Biker Mice From Mars, X-Men Evolution, and My Little Pony which has become hugely successful. The score of the Earthworm Jim cartoon was light symphonic melodies, and regularly featured instrumental versions of the theme song when Jim took action against the episode’s protagonist of the week including his green evil twin, Evil The Cat, Professor with a Monkey for a Head, and the Evil Queen (with her extended title changing almost every episode).

So have yourself a little Earthworm Jim sing a long, and you can also do Karaoke with a lyric free version of the theme by listening to the End Credits thanks to YouTube user James Smith.

The series is available for purchase on Amazon, and if you’ve never seen it you can sample the wonderful hilarity of it in this compilation EAT DIRT! catchphrases assembled by YouTube user brokensoul 8930. I think the show captured the essence of the character, thanks to Dan Castellaneta’s voice talent (Homer Simpson). This brief article ends my examination of the music in cartoons based on video games for the time being. Now EAT DIRT! You gigantic fans of video game music!
Game Music, Reviews

LIGHTNING STRIKES AGAIN: Video Games Live Level 4 (Review)

March 16, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | 5 Comments Share this

The album Video Games Live Level 4 is the result of a second Kickstarter campaign run by Tommy Tallarico that was successfully funded on November 28, 2014. The album was released digitally to funders on February 18, 2014, and physical copies are shipping out in April 2015. I was able to pick up a physical copy at their recent show in Ottawa, Canada. The album offers 12 tracks that are of excellent quality and offers a new take on some classic video game themes. If you haven’t already picked up this album, hopefully my review will make your decision easier.

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Events, Game Music

Still Alive: Video Games Live March 8 2015 Ottawa Canada (Review)

March 10, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | 1 Comment Share this

Video Games Live returned to Canada’s capital Ottawa for its third performance on March 8, 2015 and performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Choir. I attended with family who had their first Video Games Live experience and loved every minute. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was happy to hear the performance of a few tracks that were part of Video Games Live Level 4 kickstarter that was successfully funded this past November.

The show continues to follow a formula of blending video clips of video game culture and humor in-between songs, breaking the norms of the traditional orchestra with loud cheering and clapping at anytime, and audience participation through the costume contest and on stage gaming sessions. The phrase: “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” seems to be a phrase that applies to Video Games Live.

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Chip Music, Game Music, Indie Music

MAGFest 12: Recap

January 15, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this MAGFest 12: Recap

A new year has begun and with it another MAGFest down in National Harbor, Maryland. This was my second year attending the annual Music and Game Festival. There’s always a ton of things to do, from attending panels to rocking out at the concerts. Now that I’ve had a chance to recover from the trip and gather my thoughts, it’s time for a recap of some of what I experienced at MAGFest 12.

Most of the panels I attended were focused on music. The first of these was the “Write Your Own Nintendo Music,” hosted by Brendan “Inverse Phase” Becker. His talk focused on the tools that he uses for creating 8-bit/chiptune tracks for his music projects. He explained the methods in which music on the Gameboy and Nintendo Entertainment System was generated and what the musical and technological limitations for each were. Since this year’s MAGFest was Zelda themed, he included a demonstration of 8-bit music writing by reconstructing the “Dungeon Theme” from The Legend of Zelda.

Brenden “Inverse Phase” Becker

Two of the other music panels that I attended were hosted by game composer Tommy Tallarico. He’s probably best known for his soundtracks for Earthworm Jim and his work as the head of Video Games Live. The first panel “Video Games Live: Behind the Scenes” focused on his work with the orchestra program that he tours with around the world. Tallarico spent a majority of the time telling the audience stories about his experiences performing videogame music and revealed some of his upcoming arrangements for the orchestra. (more…)
Game Music

VIDEO GAMES LIVE: LEVEL 3 needs your support!

September 5, 2013 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

We really dug VIDEO GAMES LIVE: LEVEL 1 and LEVEL 2, and while both albums had big record industry backing, concert co-creator and composer Tommy Tallarico is trying to bring LEVEL 3 to fans with Kickstarter.

Why take to Kickstarter for a third volume when the first two were industry-supported? That’s because LEVEL 3 caters to hardcore game music fans, featuring music from titles like Shadow of the Colossus, Mega Man 2, and Beyond Good & Evil, which don’t have the mainstream recognition of titles like Halo, Mario, and God of War.

With a week left for the campaign, VGL is getting closer to its goal, but it’s not quite there yet. That’s where you can help. They’re looking for a final push to take them over the top, and in addition to the impending album, the backer rewards for this campaign are pretty awesome (how about lunch with the Blizzard Entertainment audio team and a tour of the facilities?). I just pledged, and encourage game music fans out there to do the same so I can get my Shadow of the Colossus on. Oh, and there will be a remix by electronic artist BT as well (I really am excited about this!).

Chime in and let us know what you think of the effort. Will you be supporting this?
Game Music, Reviews

A Fitting Tribute – Play for Japan: The Album (Review)

July 14, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

There has been a lot of talk about the Play for Japan album, a project spearheaded by Grasshopper Manufacture’s Akira Yamaoka. The album was devised by Yamaoka to raise funds for the victims of the horrific earthquake and ensuing tsunami that struck Japan in March of this year, and to help him with this effort, he recruited many of the top game composers from within Japan and abroad.

In fact, I’d say this is the most impressive artist list ever assembled, surpassing even Otomedius and the Premium Arrange album series by far. But does the music live up to the names associated with the project?

Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Play for Japan: An East Meets West Charity Album

May 26, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

We’ve mentioned a number of ways to help the people of Japan recover from the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that occurred in March 2011. As it turns out, Akira Yamaoka has come up with yet another way, bringing together some of the top game composers from Japan and the West along with artist Yoshitaka Amano for what is sure to be an amazing project. Artists will contribute original pieces of music, and 100% of proceeds from the album will be donated to the Red Cross in Japan.

So, who’s all involved? They’re all listed in the press release after the jump, but to highlight a few, Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Koji Kondo, Mitsuto Suzuki, and Hip Tanaka from Japan, and Bear McCreary, Chance Thomas, Inon Zur, and Tommy Tallarico from the US. I find it interesting to see names like Koji Kondo and Mitsuto Suzuki given that they’re still in-house members of game development studios in Japan, but I’m excited about hearing their contributions.

See the press release with the full listing (including track titles) after the jump, and visit the album’s website for more details and biographies for those involved. Are you surprised by any of the names that appear, and are you looking forward to the album? (more…)