Vocal

Featured, Reviews

“The Drop That Contained The Sea” Also Contains My Heart (Review)

December 22, 2014 | Patrick Gann | 8 Comments Share this

Christopher Tin first captured the hearts of gamers with his much-loved opening theme for Civilization IV: “Baba Yetu.” Originally recorded for the game in 2004, it was re-recorded with the Soweto Gospel Choir in 2009 as the opening track to Christopher Tin’s song cycle and debut choral/orchestral album Calling All Dawns. With this release, Tin received not one but two Grammy awards, including one specifically for Baba Yetu. This was the first time that music written for a video game received a Grammy.

In other words, Christopher Tin is free to join fictional anchorman Ron Burgundy in saying, “I’m kind of a big deal.” But I suspect he’s too humble for that.

After doing some fun projects in the following years, Mr. Tin returned to the choral-orchestral work that made Calling All Dawns so great. No, sadly, none of the music in 2014’s The Drop That Contained The Sea is featured in a video game (yet). And seriously, why is this music not in Civilization V? But I digress.

This new album features ten tracks, following the tradition of CAD by having each song sung in a different language. We’ll explore this album’s in-depth themes and look deep into each track after the jump.

OH! And to tease you into reading this whole article: if you love Yasunori Mitsuda (Xenogears, Chrono Trigger/Cross) you’re going to love at least one of the songs on this album. We all owe more than we can say to the wonderful nation of Bulgaria. (more…)
Experimental, Reviews

Terms, Conditions, Higher Plains – Sitorimon’s Debut Album (Review)

November 9, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

The Terms & Conditions to Unconditional Love is the debut full-length album, and an intensely personal project, from Simon “Sitorimon” Smith.

I’ve known Smith, the blogger behind Higher Plain Music, for quite some time. We have similar tastes in music. We both love VGM, Celtic/World music, Tori Amos, Derek Webb and many others.

So when Smith told me he had his own album coming out, completely about and inspired by his former significant others, I was psyched.

I want to tell you what I think about this album. So join me after the jump for the Bandcamp embed and my thoughts on this 15-track vocal album from a fellow lover of … well … *good* music. (more…)
Featured, Indie Music, Reviews

Module: Imagineering: Amazing (Review)

March 21, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this Module: Imagineering: Amazing (Review)

This is the least surprising album review I’ll ever write.

You see, Jeramiah Ross (aka “Module”) composed this amazing game soundtrack 3 years ago. Remember Shatter? Yeah, that was awesome.

In 2012, Module finished his original album “Imagineering.” According to his statements in our most recent podcast, some of these songs have been bouncing around in Module’s mind (and computer) for as many as six years. Given time to mature, they’ve become something absolutely stunning.

We’ll highlight some of our favorite tracks, and why they’re our favorites, after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Final Fantasy XIII Gets More Vocal: Main Theme By Leona Lewis

November 18, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 67 Comments Share this

I thought it was already determined that Sayuri Sugawara was going to be responsible for the vocal themes for Final Fantasy XIII, but Square Enix apparently had something else in mind… at least for the West. They’ve recently announced that the Western release will feature a main theme titled “My Hands” by multi-platinum selling singer and songwriter Leona Lewis.

Funny enough, I had no idea who Leona Lewis was by name. I read in Square Enix’s press release that she was responsible for “Bleeding Love,” but I had no idea what that was until I checked it out on YouTube and recognized it immediately. Shows how much I keep up with pop music in the States!

Anyway, it’s unprecedented that Square Enix is replacing their Japanese theme song entirely in this way, and even more so that they’re not having a song created specifically for Final Fantasy XIII, and are rather going the route of anime and plugging already-existing material into the game. I have to say that this is a huge disappointment.

Oh, I guess they also announced the game’s release date for March 9, 2010 if you care about that sort of thing. Are you surprised by this announcement? Will you be taking a peek into Leona Lewis’s new album, ECHO, which features “My Hands” that’s out this week?

Read the official press release from Square Enix after the jump. (more…)
Japanese, Reviews

The Power of 5 Human Voices: Aura’s “Tocatta und Fuge” (Review)

September 19, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

Don’t know what Aura is? Well, let me educate you. Five Japanese ladies with amazing voices, some great classical music, and that’s about it. In all seriousness, I knew nothing about the group before their latest album, Toccata und Fuge showed up at our office, but I am quite happy to have been turned on to their work. As it turns out, Aura is a female a cappalla group from Japan that sings some amazingly impressive renditions of some of my favorite classical tunes, including pieces by J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi, to just throw a couple out there.

More specifcially, Aura is Mao Hatakeyama, Emi Harashima, Etsuko Sato, Kaorine Kikuchi, and Norikoi Hoshino. I can’t find out much more about them (information in English is considerably lacking), but based on what little I was able to discern from their official website, I see that Tocatta und Fuge is their fourth album, so they’ve been at it for awhile. Still, if you’re a fan of classical music, choral music, or just curious to see what what the human voice is capable of, you might want to look into their music.

Let us introduce you to Aura in our review of Tocatta und Fuge after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

From Hyper 2 Softer: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi Discusses His Newest Collection Set

July 9, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 5 Comments Share this

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi has been for almost 20 years now as one of SEGA’s most prolific and hardest working composers. He had his start in SEGA SOUND TEAM and its SST Band, and went on to compose music for many of SEGA’s most memorable arcade games. Possibly my most famous of these are DAYTONA USA, where Mitsuyoshi first came into video game fame for his catchy English vocals and fast tempo music. While this is by far his most famous work, he has been part of many other soundtracks of great fame, such as Shenmue, Space Channel 5 and Burning Rangers.

Now, he has released his second vocal collection CD, From Loud 2 Low Too, featuring his most famous vocal work in game music. Mitsuyoshi was generous enough to take the time to discuss his latest CD with us, so check out what he has to say.

Hit the jump for our interview. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Face to Faith: Sonic and the Black Knight Vocal Trax (Review)

May 13, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Face to Faith: Sonic and the Black Knight Vocal Trax (Review) Share this

A Sonic vocal album… normally I wouldn’t be thrilled about this one, but after checking out the Sonic and the Black Knight soundtrack, I was willing to give it a shot. While I’ve never been fond of the majority of vocal tracks in Sonic games of the past, as I found them to be way too over-the-top and cheesy for my tastes, this one actually got me.

Why? Well, for starters, I think this album takes itself a lot more seriously than previous efforts. I’ve actually come to like Crush 40, the band who performs Jun Senoue’s vocal compositions here, so I suppose that helps to. So, join Crush 40 and a number of other performers as they take you through the vocal tracks of Sonic and the Black Knight as well as a few unexpected bonuses.

Read our review of Face to Faith: Sonic and the Black Knight Vocal Trax after the jump. (more…)