“Whether I’m writing an original or remixing something from a video game, my inspirations never change. My music listening history is one big collage, and I try to pull on all of that.”

- Dain Olsen, OC ReMix Interview

June 21, 2008

Fairfax, VA — OverClocked ReMix today published an interview with OC ReMixer & Dance Dance Revolution musician Dain “Beatdrop” Olsen, in addition to posting a brand new ReMix of his from the soundtrack to Capcom’s Mega Man X3 for the SNES. Dain talks about the creation of his latest mix, his approach to mixing game music, and his involvement with Konami’s DDR competition, which landed him a spot on the soundtrack to Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2.

The interview is available online at:

http://www.ocremix.org/info/ReMixer_Interview:_Beatdrop_%28Dain_Olsen%29

Mega Man X3 ‘Revolutions’ is available for streaming and free download at:

http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01727/

About OverClocked ReMix

Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation, and interpretation of video game music. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring hundreds of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

“A good tune is a good tune. That’s basically it! If a melody can stand the test of time when it’s being played with a one channel sine wave, then it can stand being a fully orchestrated piece of music. I guess really it’s substance over style.”

- Tim Wright, OC ReMix Interview

June 5, 2008

Fairfax, VA — OverClocked ReMix today published its first video game composer interview, with pioneering British VGM composer Tim “CoLD SToRAGE” Wright. Wright helped usher electronica into professional game scores with his work on the landmark racing title Wipeout, released in 1995 by Psygnosis for the then-emerging Sony PlayStation. The interview touches on other career highlights such as Wright’s days composing for the Commodore Amiga, his development of popular music creation programs eJay and MUSIC (a.k.a. MTV Music Generator), and his upcoming original album, CoLD SToRAGE HD, which functions as an unofficial soundtrack to Sony’s latest title in the Wipeout franchise, Wipeout HD for the PlayStation 3.

The interview is available online at http://www.ocremix.org/info/Composer_Interview:_CoLD_SToRAGE_%28Tim_Wright%29.

Conducted by site staff, OC ReMix interviews cover major aspects of a composer’s career, featuring targeted questions unique to each subject, as well a standard list of questions that specifically delve into a musician’s formative years, creative inspirations, and views on the current state of the game music industry. This unique format presents both a contemporary look at a composer’s recent activities as well as more comprehensive questions about the nature of video game music composition.

About OverClocked ReMix

Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation, and interpretation of video game music. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring hundreds of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

Links

• Composer Interview: CoLD SToRAGE (Tim Wright)
• OC ReMix interviews
• Tim Wright Composer Profile at OC ReMix
• The Official CoLD SToRAGE Website
• Purchase the albums of CoLD SToRAGE
• Wright’s company, Tantrumedia Multimedia Solutions
• CoLD SToRAGE @ MySpace

Works featured in this post:

• Gokinjo Bouken Tai (SNES)
• Kidou Senshi Z Gundam: Away to the Newtype (SNES)
• Mystic Ark (SNES)
• Shien’s Revenge (SNES)
• Wonder Project J: Mechanical Boy Pino (SNES)
• Wonder Project J2: Josette of Corlo Forest (SNES)

full list of works

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mori worked at a company called Mint, which did sound development for video games. Thus, in addition to composing for some games, he also adapted music for the SNES sound driver developed by Mint. Two such games, Bounty Sword and Lennus II: Fuuin no Shito (Lennus II: Apostles of the Seals, Japan-only sequel to Paladin’s Quest), were composed by veteran game and anime composer Kouhei Tanaka, and actually have rather decent orchestral soundtracks. The over fourteen minute staff roll from Lennus II is particularly impressive.

But I guess maybe I should go on with Mori’s own compositions?

“Land Exploration”
Kidou Senshi Z Gundam: Away to the Newtype (SNES)

“bon voyage! ~ Come On! To the Skies! Medley”
arranged from Wonder Project J2: Josette of Corlo Forest (N64)

“Mountain”
Gokinjo Bouken Tai (SNES)

I could devote an entire post just to Gokinjo Bouken Tai’s soundtrack, one of the very best the SNES has to offer, but I’ll limit myself to one more track. Mori’s battle themes stand out to me as some of the best done by any composer, with the normal battle theme from GBT leading them all with its jazz stylings and madcap energy.

“Battle”
Gokinjo Bouken Tai (SNES)

“Bad Dream”
Shien’s Revenge (SNES)
co-composed with Tsukushi Sasaki

Overall, Mori’s battle theme work shines brightest in Mystic Ark, the Japan-only sequel to The 7th Saga. Mystic Ark is one of three games Mori composed to receive a soundtrack release, but unfortunately the album is marred by a defect, a hiss in the left channel audio.

“Hey! Don’t Attack Me!”
Mystic Ark (SNES)

“Your Fighting Eyes Are Always Beautiful”
Mystic Ark (SNES)

“Are You the True Form of Darkness?”
Mystic Ark (SNES)

I suppose it’s rather cliché to leave the ending themes for last, but this is a post in memory of one of my all-time favorites, so I’m going to get as sappy as I want to.

“Ending”
Shien’s Revenge (SNES)
co-composed with Tsukushi Sasaki

“Ending”
Wonder Project J: Mechanical Boy Pino (SNES)

If you’re at all into video games and music, this will be the place to be this upcoming year. There’s so many fun things to do, you’ll wonder where your weekend went! Video game composers like Howard Drossin (with several Sonic titles to his credit) and Jake “virt” Kaufman (Contra 4 and TMNT on the DS) will be around. And Friday and Saturday nights are filled with concerts from video game bands! The Advantage, Minibosses, and NESkimos have all performed there in the past. This year’s lineup of bands will be out soon, including some familiar names from OCR.

The best part is that even after all of that, you haven’t even experienced half of the event! You can hit the video room and watch game movies and cartoons, buy stuff from the people in the marketplace, go to video game panels and discussions (including our own OC ReMix bash), or just play games the whole time. There’s over 10,000 square feet of just console, PC, and even arcade games, and it doesn’t close AT ALL during the entire duration of the event. If you want to play Rock Band on a stage for hours on end with José the Bronx Rican, you can! Or if you wanna challenge James Rolfe, the Angry Video Game Nerd, go ahead and call him OUT!

Here’s what me and some other folks had to say about last year’s MAGFest:
* http://www.vgfrequency.com/magfest-6-from-alexandria-va-13-day-1-report/
* http://www.destructoid.com/magfest-vi-highlights-65679.phtml
* http://revver.com/video/625357/magfest-vi/
* http://www.megatonik.com/2007/12/18/we-rock-hard-we-play-hard-magfest-cometh/
* http://gamemusic4all.blogspot.com/2008/01/magfest-vi-wrapup.html

Now that you want to go, lemme mention the important stuff:
- It’s in Alexandria, VA, in a 5-star Hilton, which is a quick ride from DC (Reagan National Airport).
- It’s Thursday-Sunday, Jan 1-4, 2009. If you’re not free on New Year’s Day, you can come Friday and not miss too much.
- Like many good things, it costs money. But $40 isn’t too bad for all weekend!

And here are a few links for you:
* Their site: http://magfest.org/
* The info on the hotel and directions: http://magfest.org/info/
* The preregistration page: http://courtwright.org/magfest/preregistration

Preregister for MAGFest soon to make sure you’re there! Their hotel is already accepting room reservations, and they even got the rates down for us that aren’t so lucky in the money department. It’s only $99 a night to stay at the hotel MAGFest is in, and come on, it looks like the Citadel! Split it with a few friends and that price goes down VERY fast. If you’re already sold on it, call them up and reserve a room at 703-845-1010 any time of day (they’re a hotel, ya know).

Let them know MAGFest and OC ReMix sent you (and make sure to be at the OC ReMix panel), and we’ll see you there!

Larry “Liontamer” Oji
Head Submissions Evaluator, OverClocked ReMix
Creator, VG Frequency
http://www.ocremix.org
http://www.vgfrequency.com

Composers Christian Marcussen, Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan were joined by audio lead Graeme Norgate for an all-encompassing look at the creative process behind the game’s soundtrack. Norgate mentioned that if you’d like to see a soundtrack release, you can help by beating down Ubisoft’s door, so be sure to let the company know if you like what you hear!

I’m actually attendee #3 this year. Not bad, considering that MAGFest pulls in thousands of people each year. Don’t be stupid. If you like gaming or music, or, dare I say, gaming AND music, you’d be foolish to miss out. Pre-register now to get in on the action. Here’s the deal from Brendan himself:

Hey gamer dudes and ladies,

Just wanted to give a heads up that tons of guests have confirmed their attendance for MAGFest 7, and you should too! Things are shaping up nicely, and we’re even at the same hotel this time!

This new years you can chill with people like game bands like Select Start and Armcannon, game video personalities like the Angry Video Game Nerd, X-Strike Studios, or PBC Productions, game musicians, programmers, and sound guys, and more. If that wasn’t enough, you’ll get two nights of game concerts in our usual style with tons of bands, and of course 24/7 gaming.

If you can’t make it for the first, don’t worry! None of the concerts are scheduled for Thursday — it’s our warmup day — so you won’t miss anything if you’re too hung over, have to work, or just can’t make it down until Friday. We do have some special stuff in the works for New Year’s Eve, though, so if you plan to come down early, you’re in for a few treats.

You can preregister on our website: http://magfest.org/

If you’re coming in a group or you’d like to sell as a dealer, the prereg page has all the info.

Be sure to check out our new gaming radio station, too! We’re playing tons of game music on shuffle out of our personal collections and we’ve linked some of the albums to our pals at http://vgmdb.net/ who have superb information on game-related CDs and music.

Game on!

Indeed, if all goes according to schedule, Mustin and OneUp Studios will have everything for the upcoming 2-disc album produced, packaged and ready to go.

So if you missed them last year, no worries. If you’re not sure whether you’re gonna plunk down for the double CD at PAX when you get to Seattle, just check out their performance and see if you’re convinced. No pun intended, they’re planning to hit you twice as hard for Penny Arcade Expo 2008!

Alongside Shawn last night were Dominic Cerquetti, housethegrate and Kirby Pufocia to round out the TSS lineup. The 10-track album features what Shawn claims to be the first-ever live performance of Mega Man III’s “Hardman Stage”, along with other eclectic cuts like Gauntlet, U.N. Squadron, Moon Crystal, Faxanadu and Journey to Silius. When you have time, go out of your way to grab this and all the other live music available from TSS!

Containing eight brand new tracks crafted exclusively for DJ Green Lantern’s “Liberty City Invasion” radio show on the in-game radio station “The Beat,” as well as eight new songs directly inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV, The Evil Genius DJ Green Lantern has created an epic urban soundtrack. This special album release features an incredible lineup of hip-hop, reggae and R&B superstars including heavyweights Busta Rhymes, Wyclef, Fat Joe, Styles P and Fabolous as well as up-and-coming artists Mavado, Uncle Murder and Future Green Entertainment’s own Johnny Polygon, Qadir and more.

Singles include “Where’s My Money” from Busta Rhymes and “Nickname” from the brand new artist Qadir. The perfect summer anthem “I’m So Fly,” featuring Fat Joe and Fabolous is inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV and while included on the album is not in the game.

“The Grand Theft Auto games have always featured stunning soundtracks and the amount of eclectic music in Grand Theft Auto IV goes above and beyond anything we have been able to do before” said Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games, “DJ Green Lantern’s contributions give the soundtrack a true New York flavor and we’re excited to be releasing his full album to fans.”

“From making mixtapes, to being on the radio, to touring with the biggest artists on the planet, and then for the biggest video game title to solicit me to create exclusive music is something most people could only dream about, it’s like a graduation,” said Green. “Rockstar Games understood what I bring to the table as far as not just presenting music, but creating music.”

Green Lantern originally came to prominence in the mixtape scene by consistently featuring exclusive self-produced music with hip-hop superstars like Eminem, Jay-Z, The Beastie Boys, Mike Shinoda’s Fort Minor, D-Block, Busta Rhymes, Mobb Deep and many more. This led to an acclaimed career as a proper music producer in his own right which has yielded such Billboard hits as “Number One Spot” by Ludacris and “In The Ghetto” by Busta Rhymes featuring Rick James as well as the street hits Akon “Ghetto” feat. Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac, Uncle Murda’s “Bullet, Bullet,” and many more. Green Lantern can be heard every week nationally on his Sirius Satellite Radio show.

The Evil Genius Green Lantern makes his official production album debut with the release of Liberty City Invasion: Music From and Inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV. It will be available at all major digital retailers on May 20th with a physical release coming soon.

Grand Theft Auto IV is currently available for the Xbox 360 and the PLAYSTATION 3.

The Bad Dudes, a group of the internet’s best video game music remixers, announces the upcoming release of their latest project: No Balls, No Glory. This internet EP, based on Kazuo Sawa’s music from the 1989 Nintendo Entertainment System video game Super Dodge Ball, contains sixteen unique arrangements spanning various musical styles, with a focus on ethnic arrangements from each dodge ball team’s country of origin.

This collection of music will be used by video game software developer Aksys Games in promotion of Super Dodgeball Brawlers, a Nintendo DS title based on the classic Super Dodge Ball Nintendo game. This upcoming release takes the classic game play of the original and adds new attacks, multiplayer gaming, and a host of other upgrades, and will be released on May 27th, 2008 for a MSRP of $29.99.

No Balls, No Glory project producer Mustin said, “I’m excited about releasing this project in conjunction with Aksys games and their Brawlers release.  I hope the music pays suitable tribute to the Super Dodge Ball video game we all played as kids.”

About No Balls, No Glory
This is the third internet-release EP by The Bad Dudes, a multinational group of musicians that releases covers of video game music. This album was produced by Mustin of MustinProductions.com. No Balls, No Glory is available for download at NoBallsNoGlory.net.

About Aksys Games
Based in Torrance, California, Aksys Games is a third party licensee of Nintendo of America. More information on Aksys Games can be found online at aksysgames.com.

The University of Maryland Gamer Symphony Orchestra will hold its Spring Concert on Tuesday May 13th at 7:30PM. It will be held at the Kay Theater in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on the UMD campus. Admittance is FREE for everyone!

The details are:
Who: The University of Maryland
What: Our Spring Concert Featuring Pieces from Zelda, Chrono Trigger, Portal, Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Metal Gear Solid, and more!
When: Tuesday, May 13th 7:30-9:30PM (doors open at 7PM)
Where: Kay Theater, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland College Park (map)
Cost: NONE! FREE FOR EVERYONE!
Website: www.umgso.com
Contact: umgso@gmail.com

That definitely sounds like a good time, and it’s free! I’m certainly gonna be there right before I move back down at Atlanta. To check out the GSO in action, visit their Recordings section, where they have MP3s of the previous Spring and Fall 2007 performances!

By: Larry Oji, larryoji@ocremix.org

May 3, 2008

College Park, MD — Danny “SGX” Adler, OC ReMixer, emerged victorious in OurStage.com’s April 2008 Music Finals. Adler’s Electronic channel-winning song “Coactive” bested fourty-three other channel winners out of a pool of over 27,000 entries to claim first place. Along with the $5,000 Grand Prize, Adler (www.sgxmusic.com) is also eligible for several other prizes and awards offered by OurStage and its partners.

The full version of Adler’s “Coactive” is the opening track of his original Electronic album, Chroma, available from his website, CDBaby.com, and Apple iTunes. SGX’s OurStage Music Finals victory follows up the previous month’s win by OC ReMix judge Jillian “pixietricks” Goldin with her original New Age/World track “Hajime.”

OurStage (www.ourstage.com) was launched in 2007 to increase the exposure of independent musicians and filmmakers through its democratic “battle” voting system, where users are able to judge each entry against all other competitors. OurStage winners earn cash prizes, along with the potential of other perks including magazine coverage, opportunities to perform at concerts and festivals, and mentoring sessions with established musicians and filmmakers.

“At 11PM, I was resigned to getting 20th. […] Seriously, you guys are the best! Thanks for sitting there clicking a web page for hours for me!” said Adler to the OC ReMix community moments after learning of his win. OverClocked ReMix provides support for developing artists for both game music arrangements and original music. Along with several other OC ReMixers, Adler’s music has been featured in Synthetic Light Studios’ popular web-based rhythm game Flash Flash Revolution.

Fellow OC ReMixers Andrew “zircon” Aversa & Jillian Goldin (as a duo) and Greg “Audix” Michalec also placed fourteenth and fifteenth in OurStage’s April 2008 Music Finals after wins in the New Age/World and Techno/Club/Dance channels, respectively.

About OverClocked ReMix

Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation, and interpretation of video game music. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring hundreds of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

Links:

*OurStage winners for April 2008
*Danny Adler (SGX) at OverClocked ReMix
*Adler’s track “Coactive” is featured on the original album, Chroma
*SGX’s music store, Protagonist Records
*Andrew Aversa (zircon) at OverClocked ReMix
*Jillian Goldin (pixietricks) at OverClocked ReMix
*Greg Michalec (Audix) at OverClocked ReMix

To receive Goldin’s newsletter, visit JillianGoldin.com and enter your email address in the signup box on the left-hand side:

Jillian Goldin - Notes #8 - April 22nd, 2008

Drumroll, please…

The moment we have been waiting for has finally arrived: the release of my debut album, Origins!!! Pick up your copy today! Physicals are at JillianGoldin.com, and digitals are available through CD Baby - both for $12.99. Why get it today, you ask? Read on.

———–

Earth Day Fundraiser

In honor of Earth Day, I want you to help me in contributing to The Nature Conservatory’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign! For every copy of Origins (physical or digital) purchased by 11:59 pm EST on April 22nd, I will donate one dollar to this cause. What can one dollar do? One dollar plants one tree! Help save the Atlantic Forest in Brazil - one of the most endangered rainforests in the world, with only 7% left of its original area. Unbelievable…

My goal is to raise $100 for the campaign this week. You can also contribute on your own separately by clicking on the image on this page. Mother Nature will thank you; I promise. Let’s do this!

Keep in mind that the number there on the page may appear lower at times because I will be donating my album proceeds in batches, as opposed to one order at a time. Also, please enjoy this recording of me at six years old - a song written by my father about saving the rainforests!

———–

General Awesomeness

A friend of mine - Kevin “Lorenzo” Sisk (a.k.a. debeerguy007) - put these fantastic desktop wallpapers together using my album art! I’ve hosted them for free download, so take what you like! There are different sizes available: single standard, dual standard, single widescreen, and dual widescreen. Thanks again, Kevin!

———–

So that’s that. Please let me know what you think of the album! You can post reviews on the CD Baby page, leave a message on my guestbook, or discuss your thoughts on the forum. I would really love to hear your reactions and answer any questions you may have.

Thank you a thousand times over for your support.

With rapturous determination,
Jill

We discussed what game soundtracks roped me into video game music, my responsibilities at OverClocked ReMix, and how game music connects with its fans. There’s also a mention of how OC ReMixers are now bringing it to video games as professional musicians, including a pimp of the upcoming Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. All that, AND I poop on Captain N!

Do me a favor a rate the article at the bottom of the page and/or throw Shawn a comment just to let him know you stopped by! Let’s get nostalgic, y’all.

Furthermore, for usability I moved the previews from the download tab right to the main writeup page for each mix. I really feel like this makes it easier to read about the mix and listen at the same time, and in general should make the site friendlier to the type of exploration we encourage. I’m going to try to keep things in sync and upload to Last.fm for each new mix that’s posted, which again I personally find useful. Hopefully you will too!

As a side note, this was extremely monotonous work that took hours, but it was made a lot easier by seeing the support we’ve been getting this month. Thanks!

‘Nuff said.

I am nominated for a couple of Northwest Arkansas Music Awards (NAMAs). With The OneUps under “Best Electronic/Groove” and myself as a Producer under “Best Studio/Producer” (Mustin Productions).

You can vote here:

http://www.freeweekly.com/vote-nama-xiii/

Please vote for me if you enjoy the music I make.

By: Larry Oji, larryoji@ocremix.org

April 5, 2008

BALTIMORE, MD — Jillian “pixietricks” Goldin, OC ReMix judge and ReMixer, emerged victorious in OurStage.com’s March 2008 Music Finals. Goldin’s New Age/World channel-winning song “Hajime” bested thirty-six other channel winners out of a pool of over 30,000 entries to claim first place. Along with the $5,000 Grand Prize, Goldin (www.jilliangoldin.com) is also eligible for several other prizes and awards offered by OurStage and its partners.

Goldin’s “Hajime” is the opening track of her original New Age/World album, Origins, which will be available April 22nd through her website, CDBaby.com, and Apple iTunes.

OurStage (www.ourstage.com) was launched in 2007 to increase the exposure of independent musicians and filmmakers through its democratic “battle” voting system, where users are able to judge each entry against all other competitors. OurStage winners earn cash prizes, along with the potential of other perks including magazine coverage, opportunities to perform at concerts and festivals, and mentoring sessions with established musicians and filmmakers.

“I will also be making a donation to the community of OverClocked ReMix, because my friends and fans there have given [me] so much over the years,” said Goldin in an interview with OurStage’s Quinn Strassel. OverClocked ReMix provides support for developing artists for both game music arrangements and original music. Goldin has performed vocals for 2K Games’ Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword soundtrack as well as session vocals for composer Christopher Tin.

Fellow OC ReMixers Andrew “zircon” Aversa and Danny “SGX” Adler also placed third and fourth in OurStage’s March 2008 Music Finals after wins in the Techno/Club/Dance and Electronic channels, respectively.

About OverClocked ReMix

Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation, preservation, and interpretation of video game music. Its primary focus is www.ocremix.org, a website featuring hundreds of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans.

Links:

*OurStage winners for March 2008
*Jillian Goldin interview with OurStage’s Quinn Strassel
*Jillian Goldin (pixietricks) at OverClocked ReMix
*Goldin’s original album, Origins
*Andrew Aversa (zircon) at OverClocked ReMix
*Danny Adler (SGX) at OverClocked ReMix

BELEN, NM–ReMix:ThaSauce, in cooperation with Dupaszef, LLC, is proud to present Super Mario Land 2: Tremendous Achievement. Super Mario Land 2: Tremendous Achievement is an achievement unlocked in video game music remixing. Such a great achievement to have been achieved is truly an achievement in itself. Super Mario Land 2: Tremendous Achievement is the remixing community’s first official Super Mario Land 2 remix project, an honorable achievement. Also an achievement, is the incredible talent involved in this achievement. Greatly achieved artists, such as:

• Beatdrop
• injury
• Children of the Washing Machine
• that Mexican guy
• Emmanuel Samuelson IV, Esq.
• MC TOAD
• OverCoat
• that Swedish guy
• OverCoat

This achievement is available to the public at:

http://remix.thasauce.net/sml2/

Downloading of this achievement is free on the condition that you share this achievement with your unachieving friends. After downloading this achievement, users are allowed to select songs from this collection of achievement and listen to them. The act of listening to these songs is an achievement all on its own. Tell your friends. And your mother. Ty Guenley, ThaSauce Admin, ReMixer, Forum Troll, IRC Troll, World of Warcraft Player, Haver of Basic Skills, Project Director for Super Mario Land 2: Tremendous Achievement (http://remix.thasauce.net/sml2/), and Generally Standup Guy, writes:

“This is totally a crowning achievement. Not unlike the crowning of a newborn child, or like the King of Canada or something.”

Founded in 1979, Dupaszef, LLC is a company.

Of note to VG Frequency is the newly posted “Nobuooo Toootorial“. Anybody recognize the site at 0:13? I personally think it was respectful of jeriaska to give that nod to VGF, so I have no qualms about reciprocating. Check it out. — [K(G)

On March 16, album number 7,244 was added to VGMdb, a five-track Legend of Zelda series fan arrangement CD, The Legend of Zelda EP, arranged and performed by Echo Park group Batphone. With this addition, VGMdb is now the largest VGM album database on the internet. The milestone occurred, coincidentally, six months to the day after VGMdb opened for public beta.

And the person who submitted the album? None other than Larry Oji himself.

The comparison to J.G.M.L. is a bit unfair, since VGMdb’s scope is much wider; J.G.M.L.’s focus is mainly on official, Japanese-released soundtracks and arrangement albums, while VGMdb also has many Western albums, fan arrangement albums, original works by VGM composers, game-related anime soundtracks, and so on. As such, there are still quite a few albums listed on J.G.M.L. that VGMdb does not contain.

Still, it was an exciting milestone to break, and there is still a wealth of unlisted albums remaining to be added, as well as other features and site improvements. Here’s to 10,000!

The reason behind the slowdown was that Rimo, the man behind the site, was working on an overhaul, including a switch to PHP and MySQL to store data and generate pages. The coding is complete, VGM Rush is back, and new content should be streaming in.

In fact, new content is already streaming in; since the relaunch, four new composers have had biographies and works list added to the database, and five album reviews were added, courtesy of orion_mk3, a fellow who works with me at Song of the Week. Check out the new stuff, and hope along with me that the vein isn’t tapped out for a long time.

Also feel free to shoot me for that last sentence if you deem it necessary.

8bitpeoples is an artist collective and netlabel centered on chiptunes. Their eighty-two releases, almost all of which are freely available to download from their website, span tunes written for recorded from an NES, chiptune rock, and even a release by virt (with a contribution by Shnabubula).

On March 15, they unleashed a brand new site design onto the world, designed by minusbaby and coded by openBack, two of the official 8bp posse. The site is not yet operating at 100%; several sections, such as the retro artpacks and hardware and software sections, are currently under construction for expansion, but all the music is available for consumption. Additionally, there’s now an 8bitpeoples shop, featuring a professionally produced copy of their two-CD fiftieth album, Blip Festival shirts and a DVD of the 2006 event, and a Little Sound Dj cartridge.

I’ve noticed occasional slow load times and generic errors while loading pages, hopefully both of which will be fixed once the new site is broken in. Check it out, and long live the chiptune.

A United States reprint will be released on March 25 by Sumthing Else Music Works, who publish a variety of different music, including the soundtracks to several Western games, like the Halo series, Gears of War, and Mass Effect. The album, which contains the same tracks as the Japanese release, is available for pre-order for $15.98 at Amazon.com.

Marino also shed light on the tools used to create the soundtrack, as well as the unorthodox (yet somewhat refreshing) scenario of composing the music before the game was significantly completed, analogous to the creative process to some spaghetti western film scores. Certainly an interesting comparison, one I can safely say I’ve not seen mentioned anywhere else before. Did Marino feel any benefit from the situation he was placed in? You’ve gotta visit M4G to find out. (Side note: I’d actually love to find out which VGM composers have directly been influenced by spaghetti western scores.)

Jayson and Gerard also got into the very interesting debate on whether it’s more effective for the the games and game music industries to digitally release soundtracks for free rather than physical releases. Based on all of that, along with Marino’s thoughts on his musical growth, and a quick mention of OC ReMix, you’ve definitely got another great read from Music 4 Games.