Valkyria Chronicles

Game Music, Indie Music

Humble Music Bundle Has Good Music, Pretends To Be Original

July 27, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 9 Comments Share this

The guys over at humblebundle.com are at it again, but this time with a music-only bundle. Now, we have a bone to pick with these guys, since their promotional material suggests that this is some sort of new/premier idea, to offer a bunch of music related to games and/or of interest to gamers. Anyone who knows the full backstory behind the creation of the Indie Game Music Bundle (gamemusicbundle.com) will either laugh or choke at the idea that this is the first big game music bundle, or that Rosen and crew only got this idea *now.*

But, laying aside that petty grievance, this bundle does have some really good stuff in it. There are a total of 6 albums here (if you pay extra to unlock everything). In my mind, the two coolest items here are Christopher Tin’s “Calling All Dawns” (Audi’s review here, our podcast interview with Tin here). Tin serves as a sort of front-man for this bundle, delivering a great video message to potential purchasers of the bundle. His flabbergasted response to the mere existence of Linux users is hilarious, and all in good fun. Considering Tin is a two-time grammy award winner (thanks to “Calling All Dawns” and, specifically, the new recording of the Civilization IV opening theme “Baba Yetu”), this album certainly deserves the headlining spot.

However, the bundle also includes an entirely new album. Sort of, anyway. It’s a digital-only “best of” album for Hitoshi Sakimoto’s Valkyria Chronicles music. This compilation album includes music from all three games, even with the third game being absent from the English-language market. Be sure to check out vgmdb’s listing of the album so you know which tracks are on the album (a total of 24 songs!). If you haven’t already imported some or all of these OSTs, that’s a mighty fine deal for some of Sakimoto’s best work in recent years.

Beyond that, the bundle also has a Jonathan Coulton “best of” album (Portal‘s Still Alive, and many others), MC Frontalot’s “Favoritism,” They Might Be Giant’s “album raises new thoughts and troubling questions,” and OK Go’s “Twelve Remixes of Four Songs.”

Great music for a good price. Seriously, if you don’t have “Calling All Dawns” already, that album alone is worth the price of entry, and I’d argue most any of the other albums are also worth the bundle “unlock” minimum (currently a little over $8). Enjoy!
Game Music, Reviews

Sakimoto Looks Good in Ivory: Valkyria Chronicles Piano Pieces (Review)

July 12, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Sakimoto Looks Good in Ivory: Valkyria Chronicles Piano Pieces (Review) Share this

It’s finally here! People have been excited for the Valkyria Chronicles Piano Pieces album ever since it was announced, and I think the surprise announcement that Australian pianist Casey Ormond would be responsible for the arrangements and performance of the album drew even more interest among fans. Hitoshi Sakimoto’s work on the Valkyria Chronicles series is regarded by fans as some of his best, so how would this young and relatively untested arranger and performer live up to everyone’s expectations?

We’ve covered the Valkyria franchise extensively here on OSV, so let’s dig into the first official arrangement album from Basiscape Records! (more…)
Anime, Featured, Game Music

The Secret World of an Orchestrator: Who is Nicole Brady?

May 19, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 7 Comments Share this

Maybe you’ve seen the name Nicole Brady and just can’t remember where. Maybe you’ve never seen it. Therein lays the conundrum. Orchestration is a pretty thankless job; all the work they pour in to help elevate the music they work on often gets credited to the original composer, and even most fans don’t give the role much thought.

At GDC 2011, however, I was able to catch up with Nicole Brady, who worked extensively with the Eminence Symphony Orchestra when it was first established as well as being Hitoshi Sakimoto’s go-to orchestrator for projects like the Valkyria Chronicles series, Romeo x Juliet, and others.

Find out who she is and why what she does is so important after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Valkyria Chronicles Series Piano Album Coming in June

May 3, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

We’ve actually been sitting on this one for awhile, as we hadn’t found a good opening to publish our customary liner notes interview with Hitoshi Sakimoto regarding his work on Valkyria Chronicles 3 until this morning. He mentions the album in his commentary, although Basiscape has since formally announced the album. The “Piano Pieces” album will feature 10 tracks from the game arranged and performed by pianist Casey Ormond.

After hearing the guitar arrangements from the Valkyria Chronicles 3 album, I was thinking some other arrangement albums could be a really good idea. The fact that Basiscape is tackling the series as a whole may mean that the series is going to cool down for awhile? In any case, I’m really excited about this album, and am looking forward to its release at the end of June. I just wish there were more than 10 tracks! Here’s hoping that they’re long ones.

Are you surprised by the announcement of this album or the performer involved? Any votes for which themes you’d like to hear most? Mine’s the Valkyria Chronicles 2 main theme, hands down.
Featured, Game Music

Valkyria Chronicles 3 Exclusive Liner Notes From Hitoshi Sakimoto

May 3, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Valkyria Chronicles 3 Exclusive Liner Notes From Hitoshi Sakimoto Share this

It’s that time again. We came up with the fun idea when the first Valkyria Chronicles was released to hybridize our review and interview into an exclusive English liner notes article. We did this again when Valkyria Chronicles 2 was released, and given how much I loved that score, I was excited by the prospects of doing this once again for Valkyria Chronicles 3.

Basiscape Records once again comes to the rescue, publishing the 2-disc soundtrack for the game. We have our impressions along with Hitoshi Sakmoto’s commentary on some of our favorite tracks and the album overall, so don’t miss out!

Hit the jump for our exclusive liner notes article. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Valkyria Chronicles 2 Exclusive Liner Notes From Hitoshi Sakimoto

September 9, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 6 Comments Share this

Well, as I always say, “Better late than never.” We know that while Valkyria Chronicles 2 was just released at the end of August in the United States, the game’s soundtrack (from Basiscape Records) was released all the way back in January of this year. Our review and exclusive liner notes article from the first Valkyria Chronicles was a big hit, so we thought it would be fun to follow it up with Hitoshi Sakimoto’s thoughts on the sequel.

Yes, I realize that we already published this review, but Sakimoto’s comments make a lot more sense in the context of my review, so if you’re simply interested in his comments, just jump to the boxed portions of the article after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Valkyria Chronicles 2 Soundtrack: Sakimoto Goes West (Reviews)

February 17, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

We’ve known for awhile that Hitoshi Sakimoto has been actively seeking out projects in the West. A couple years ago he joined Bob Rice’s artist representation firm, FBI, although we’ve yet to see him score a Western game. But wait ‘till you hear what he’s done with Valkyria Chronicles 2… you’ll think you’re hearing music for one of those World War II games, but that’s not to say it’s unoriginal.

I suppose you could say it’s similar in style to his original Valkyria Chronicles soundtrack, which we loved immensely, so much so that we asked Sakimoto to provide us with exclusive liner notes. This time it’s more military goodness, but with a much larger and refined sound. It’s still classic Sakimoto, but taken to an all new level.

Check out our review of the Senjou no Valkyria 2 Gallian Royal Military Academy Original Soundtrack after the jump! (more…)