VG Frequency

With all this talk about worlds lately, Andrew “zircon” Aversa threw yet another ring into the jet setting hat yesterday evening with his latest album, The World Circuit. Ever the entrepreneur, not only will the full album’s 41 tracks eventually be available for commercial licensing via UniqueTracks (where Impulse Prime is also currently available), but the public’s also privy to the action with a digitally exclusive, extended EP-length selection of eight tracks totaling nearly 40 minutes. Breakdown forthcoming:

Hey all! I’m pleased to announce the digital release of my new album, The World Circuit. This album is not a full-length release like Antigravity or Impulse Prime, but rather more of an EP. It was originally written for use in media licensing, but I decided to make a slimmed-down version available to the public. The description, from my website & CD Baby:

Ever thought about how cool it would be if that breakbeat tune you just heard had a Japanese taiko breakdown? How about some slick drum n’ bass rhythms in a samba? Gregorian choirs plus granular synthesis? A bit of Persian bouzouki in your smooth jazz? Maybe you haven’t, but you’re about to hear what it’s like! Welcome to THE WORLD CIRCUIT…This EP-length album consists of eight songs that explore sounds, melodies, and harmonies from around the world and fuse them with modern electronic elements like synth basses, sweeps, blips, pads, and drum machines. Close your eyes and imagine exploring an ancient South American ruins in “Enter the Temple”. Feel the cool breeze as the pulse of “Drum and Bossa” gets your foot tapping. Or envision a multi-million dollar movie car chase to the tune of the bombastic “Bazaar”. From the rainforests of Africa to Eastern Europe, the Far East, India, and more… this album is an ethnotronic adventure you’ve gotta check out.

It is available EXCLUSIVELY in digital format - WAV through my own site or MP3 through CD Baby. The list price is $7.99, though it IS part of the $5 CD Baby sale, which means you only pay $5 for the DRM-free MP3 version provided you pick up another 2 CDs @ $5. You CAN get the physical or digital copy of Antigravity as part of this sale, as well as sgx’s Better Than Sliced Beats!

Worth noting… people on my mailing list got a special offer for this album; not only did they get to hear previews sooner AND obtain it before the official release, but I also took a cue from Radiohead. You could pay nothing for it, a minimum of $1.30 through Paypal, the list price, or really anything in between. So really, any of y’all who aren’t on my mailing list, you definitely should sign up so you don’t miss killer deals like this in the future. :) Just send an email with the subject “Subscribe” to list (at) zirconstudios (dot) com.

Anyway, this is probably the most varied release I’ve done and the early reception from people on my list has been very good. If you like my remixes, my original music, or ethnic music in general, then I think you’ll be interested.

>>> CHECK IT OUT HERE! <<<

Thanks in advance, and ENJOY!!

That’s true, the Zircon Studios mailing list. Like the man said, anyone really interested in zircon’s material that could have scored something like this for free is probably kicking themselves if they weren’t signed up. Don’t forget to do that on the side.

Having been privy to many of the tracks during the creation process, if you’re a fan of zircon or curious about globetrotting electronica, indeed The World Circuit’s a no-brainer.

I held off on posting news of two of these albums until I made sure that they were legit and not just a rumor, and during that time a third album was announced, so I’m particularly ecstatic over here.

On September 20, 2002, fifteen years after the first Mega Man game was released and nine years after the sixth, Capcom’s record label, Suleputer, released Capcom Music Generation Family Computer Soundtracks Rockman 1~6 [CPCA-1064~6], a three disc set containing the music from the first six Mega Man games. Noticeably absent from the album were the soundtracks from games in the classic series after 6, from the SNES and later.

Five years after the release of the 1~6 box, two more soundtracks, one for MM7 [KDSD-00171] and another for MM8 [KDSD-00172], are due out on November 21, this time published by TEAM Entertainment. Confirming their upcoming releases are preorders on Tower Records Japan’s web site for both albums.

And if that weren’t enough, due out on December 5, also from TEAM Entertainment, is 20th Anniversary Rockman 1-6 Rock Arrange Ver. [KDSD-00173].

20th Anniversary Rockman 1-6 Rock Arrange Ver.

Now if only a soundtrack to Mega Man & Bass were to be released, I’d be able to die a happy man.

Been meaning to mention this a ways back (and was jogged by Music 4 Games‘ Jayson Napolitano recently reviewing Alphabet Planet), but a couple of weeks ago popular VGM storefront (and VGM preservation society, as far as I’m concerned) cocoeBiz released an interview between site founder Kahori Ezaki and legendary VGM composer Hiroki Kikuta.

In it, Kikuta discusses his musical influences [editor’s note: Prince!], his recent first (Lost Files), second (Alphabet Planet) and (potentially) third original albums, as well as desired future plans. The interview, also available in its native Japanese, is a quick read that’ll put you in the know of some of Kikuta’s latest developments. If you’re a fan of the Secret of Mana soundtrack or any of Kikuta’s other works, the general buzz on Alphabet Planet (thank you, Babelfish!) is that the hooks and energy evoke the same feelings as listening Kikuta’s game work. And check out those glazed doughnuts.

On January 25, 1987, the first album containing music from Taito’s sound team, Zuntata, was released: Taito Game Music [28XA-110]. In honor of their twentieth anniversary, Super Sweep, a sound company formed in 2000 by Shinji Hosoe, will be releasing four albums:

• Arkanoid DS Audio Planet
  The soundtrack to the upcoming game Arkanoid DS, composed by Hosoe, Kemmei Adachi, Hirokazu Oshio, Mitsugu Suzuki, Lil’B, Takafumi Wada, and Ryu☆.
• Densha de Densha de GO!GO!GO! Revolution
  An album somehow related to Taito’s series of train simulation games, Densha de Go!
• Night Striker & Syvalion Perfect BOX
  A four-disc set containing the original soundtracks to Night Striker (composed by Masahiko “Mar.” Takaki) and Syvalion (composed by Yasuhisa “Yack.” Watanabe”), a disc of arrangements by Hosoe and Ayako Saso, and a DVD with gameplay footage.
• Darius Remix Album
  An arrangement album of music from the Darius series of shmups by Taito, composed by Hisayoshi “OGR” Ogura. The arrangements are by Hosoe, Saso, and others to be named later.

In addition, Zuntata has placed more than fifty of its older soundtracks onto the Japanese iTunes Music Store for purchase and download. Unfortunately, to make an account, you’ll need a credit card with a Japanese billing address, so you’re pretty much out of luck if you live in another country. That is, unless you buy a Japanese iTMS gift card. J-List provides these gift cards for $18/$35 for 1500¥/3000¥, or about a 35% markup, along with instructions on how to set up an account. If you can get a gift card for cheaper, cool beans, and the directions will still work.

I’m not going to list every single album, but you can find most, if not all of them, through these three links. Take the time to peruse thirty second samples of Zuntata and Taito’s history.

As mentioned last week on Remix64, legendary Commodore composer Chris Hülsbeck recently released a new original album, Number Nine, available through synSONIQ Records. The official world premire of the album was at the Fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert, part of Games Convention 2007 this past August out of Leipzig, Germany.

There’s some VGM to be found as well, as the bonus track concluding the disc is the “Turrican 3 Suite” as performed at the Fourth Symphonic Game Music Concert, part of Games Convention 2006. Would Hülsbeck steer you wrong? C’mon now.

SGX & zircon are teaming up to bring their material to the masses with a limited time sale on their electronic warez. Via CDBaby, US$15 (plus shipping & handling) will get you…

SGX’s Better Than Sliced Beats

SGX’s Chroma

and zircon’s Antigravity

How long will said sale last? I’ve got no idea, those cryptic bastards! Check out the free previews and hook it up soon, because as zircon says, “this deal won’t be around forever.” Good things come to those who ORDER NOW!

One of my “failings,” as it were, in covering the VGM arrangement scene is giving fair representation to the European side, primarily focused on the Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga computers (as well as lesser focus on the Atari ST and ZX Spectrum). I never have been as familiar with the Commodore scene as much as the U.S.-based one, so it’s certainly more difficult to familiarize oneself with the history AND goings-on.

However, the scene across the Atlantic has things covered well by Remix64, the first source on all things going on with the Commodore arrangement community. Unlike the American scene, the European side has a lot stronger ties to the demoscene as well as more acknowledgment and interactivity with the actual game music composers that inspired the movement. That means I’m extremely jealous!

But back to the love, Imre “LaLa” Olajos Jr. has recently reviewed the album The Blithe, the Blend & the Bizarre by Last Ninja 3 and Flimbo’s Quest composer Reyn Ouwehand and put out by Reyn’s label Prevue Productions.

I don’t wanna crib Imre’s whole review, which you should go out of your way to check out at Remix64, but part of his opening paragraph sums things up nicely.

If I had to choose one word to describe Reyn Ouwehand’s latest SID remix album, it would be “fun”. Because doesn’t matter what mood you’re in, I guarantee you will be 100% happier after you listen to it, even if you are not familiar with the original SID tunes the album is based on. The style of music here ranges from 70s rock to jazz, from carousel music to soundtracks, from the blithe to the blend, and even the bizarre…

That’s a solid endorsement from LaLa expressing accessibility and diversity, and one you should take to heart with this album. Check out the tracklist and preview clips available via the album’s page on C64Audio.com and you’ll find some solid stuff including arrangements of the works of Chris Hülsbeck (The Great Giana Sisters), Martin Galway (Comic Bakery, Wizball) and my personal favorite VGM composer Tim Follin (Ghouls ‘N Ghosts, Magic Johnson’s Fast Break). Track 6, arranging Ghouls ‘N Ghosts would be welcome on Dirge for the Follin, that’s for sure.

The album clocks in at a relatively brief 40 minutes, but Weezer’s asked for more money for less muzak. Via C64Audio, not only can you preview every track in high quality, but you’ve already also got access to fully downloading 5 of the album’s 20 arrangements, perfect for getting a taste of the action. So considering plunking down for Reyn Ouwehand’s The Blithe, the Blend & the Bizarre and making a really sound investment for a change!

Alternate title: “Sales Pitch #2: Koichi Namiki”

Works featured in this post:

• Bakusou Dekotora Densetsu 2 (PlayStation)
• GuitarFreaks (PlayStation)
• Rail Chase (Arcade)
• Super Hang-On (Arcade)
• Thunder Blade (Arcade)

full list of works

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

Koichi “Mickey” Namiki (who has also had the nickname “Pretty K.N”) is an oddly system-specific composer. He’s also old guard as far as video game composers go, starting in 1987 with the game Super Hang-On, which he composed with Katsuhiro “Funky K.H” Hayashi and Shigero “Recruit O” Ohwada. For eight years, he composed solely arcade games, mostly ones published by Sega.

“Winning Run”
Super Hang-On (Arcade)

“Type II (BGM2)”
Thunder Blade (Arcade)

The soundtracks to many of Namiki’s older games have the same style: they’re not the strongest in the melody department, but they have enough hooks to get through the song and just groove along. Rail Chase stands as the most notable exception with its almost adventure movie-style score.

“Stages 1 & 4″
Rail Chase (Arcade)

Starting with 3D Shooting Maker in 1996 and reaching until his most recent game credit, Akudaikan 2 in 2003, he composed solely for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 systems, with the exception of 2002’s Magides Fight for the Xbox. Even though he composed more games during this second time period, fewer of those games were released in the U.S. or even had soundtrack releases.

Namiki was a member of the S.S.T. Band, Sega’s official band composed partially of Sega composers who played rock arrangements of different songs from Sega games. He was one of two guitarists in the band (the other was Jouji Iijima, who composed the soundtracks to Galaxy Force II and Zero 4 Champ RR), and played for the full five years that the band was active. In some of his later compositions, Namiki wields his mighty axe.

“Dream One”
Bakusou Dekotora Densetsu 2 (PlayStation)
vocals by Shoji Koganezawa

“J-STAFF”
GuitarFreaks (PlayStation)

I did mention in the first line of this post that this should be called “Sales Pitch #2,” so let’s get to that. Over the past couple of years, Sega’s Wave Master sound development studio has released soundtracks to classic Sega video games, such as the Monster World and OutRun series. They have also started the “SOUND!SHOCK SERIES” of albums, the first of which was released this month, SUPER HANG-ON 20th Anniversary Collection. In addition to the soundtracks of Hang-On and Super Hang-On (of which Namiki composed three tracks, including “Winning Run” above), the album also includes five new arrangements, one by Hiroshi “Hiro” Miyauchi and four by Namiki, all of which rock.

The second album in the series, Galaxy Force II & Thunder Blade Original Soundtrack, is set to be released on the 26th of this month. I mentioned Galaxy Force II and Jouji Iijima, its composer, earlier; its style of music is actually quite similar to Thunder Blade’s. This album will have another four arrangements by Miyauchi and Namiki. Both albums are available from VGM World, along with the ten disc Game Sound Legend Series Box 2 ~Platinum Box~, which contains the soundtrack to Bonanza Bros. and many, many more games.

Play-Asia.com has the GUITAR FREAKS 2nd MIX ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK, which consists mostly of tracks from GuitarFreaks 2nd Mix, but also has three tracks from the original GuitarFreaks, all written by Namiki, as well as extended versions of each. Also available is SEGACON: The Best of SEGA Game Music - Vol. 1, which also contains the soundtrack to Super Hang-On, as well as those of other older Sega games.

Finally, CDJapan might have a copy of Bakusou Dekotora Densetsu 2 ~Otoko Jinsei Yume Ichiro~ Original Soundtrack. (”Usually ships within 3-7 days” means that CDJapan doesn’t know if the distributor has any in stock, but if they do, it’ll take about 3-7 business days to ship.) The tracks are all vocal like the sample above, and there are four vocalists other than Shoji Koganezawa.

“Come on, CHz. What do you think you’re doing, dude? Everyone knows who S.S.H is. He’s that badass doujin remixer dude from Japan who slings the best guitar synths in the business and totally rocks out VGM covers. You can’t just talk about stuff that’s not original game material.”

That’s why we’re going to be talking about stuff that’s original game material!

Works featured in this post:

• Lost Child (PC)
• Sixty Nine 2 (PC)

full list of works

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

I’ll just come clean and say that S.S.H’s original game compositions sound, well, just like all his other songs: thrashing guitars, smooth synth melodies, etc. The difference is that, instead of having nostalgia for his tracks to rest their laurels on, they stand fully on original material.

And, of course, they still completely rock. This is S.S.H we’re talking about, after all.

“Fly High”
Sixty Nine 2 (PC)

Of course, in regard to both his remixes and original pieces, not all of S.S.H’s tracks are synthrockin’, high-flying (see what I did there) power extravaganzas. For example, “Crying” on LOST CHILD ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK FROM S.S.H SIDE-A and “Into the Noize Ocean” on Sixty Nine 2 ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK FROM Saitama Saisyu Heiki are both slowly building tracks, “Crying” taking the rock ballad approach and “Into the Noize Ocean” featuring synth melodies, that only break out with guitaric ferocity after more than three minutes in. LOST CHILD ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK FROM S.S.H SIDE-B has the most variety, from the industrial-like “Amitto” to “Relieve,” a piano version of the vocal opening theme composed by Soshi Hosoi.

“Amitto”
Lost Child (PC)

Currently, both SIDE-B and Sixty Nine 2 are available for purchase at VGM World. If you’ve heard all of S.S.H’s tunes on his web site Live House S.S.H and desperately need more, or just want some music to rock out to, both of these albums would be well worth your time and money.

VGM World has also stocked SIDE-A in the past, but they are currently out of stock (although the “Buy Now” button, which usually disappears when an album is sold out, is still there, so maybe they really have some…?). LOSTCHILD ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALTERNATIVE SIDE-X was a bonus single packaged with the limited edition version of SIDE-B, and LOST CHILD ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK FROM S.S.H THE FINAL SIDE-Z was only packaged with the 2006 re-release of Lost Child, you will likely have to check eBay or elsewhere.

I thought it would be appropriate to give some background on myself and why I decided to start a blog about video game music. Or, more accurately, how my girlfriend (a woman you’ll hear more from known as “The Lady”) encouraged me to start a blog about video game music. It’s been a relatively long road getting to VGM listening as a life’s hobby.

I was never big into video games as a kid. I loved the ones I did have, but never owned too many or spent way too much time playing them. In short, loved ‘em, just not fanatically. And it continues that way up until the present day. I don’t own a Wii, a PS3 or an Xbox 360, though I’ve played WarioWare: Smooth Moves for a few minutes and loved it.

My uncle bought my (fraternal) twin brother & I an NES in 1988 for our birthday, which came with the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combo cartridge (naturally). Despite playing Nintendo together at the same distance from the television, my brother’s eyesight stayed 20/20 and mine started getting worse for whatever reason. I needed glasses in 1st grade (didn’t end up getting them until years later).

The music of Super Mario Bros. definitely stuck with me and remains an instant bit of nostalgia, but while it planted a seed, I never sat down and tape recorded the music like a lot of colleagues I know.

Other earlier memories involved:
*a friend of my brother’s, Nnamdi Ifejika, having a ton of NES games, which allowed me to sample a lot of ‘em and get to know bits and pieces of several titles
*3rd grade, where my friend Eric Hole had a huge Nintendo Power strategy guide and letting me borrow it for a few days, as just reading about the games was amazing enough
*playing the Sega Master System, particularly the footbag portion of California Games, at my uncle’s house (the one who bought us the NES)
*playing Duck Hunt at a brother’s friend’s house and chancing on a sweet spot in Clay Shooting that allowed me to hit each target no matter where it was on the screen; I eventually got nervous around Round 90 after I sportingly let one clay pigeon almost get away, then somehow got nervous and tried to shoot it directly
*Receiving both Super Mario Bros. 3, and the excellent Nintendo Power Strategy Guide for it in 1990
*Playing the SNES at Dave Riccio’s house back when it first came out, especially Street Fighter II years later
*Choosing Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers over Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a birthday present (a difficult choice at the time, an excellent choice in retrospect)
*Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
*My friend Hayden Mixsell bequeathing me his Sega Genesis after moving onto the Nintendo 64, hooking me up with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Streets of Rage 2 in the process

It’s difficult to encapsulate the entire mish-mash of games of my childhood, but so many of them had really memorable themes, Streets of Rage 2 in particular. Some of Pilotwings comes to mind. Road Rash. Super Mario Bros. 2. Street Fighter Alpha had a really big impact on me. There’s a big list eventually waiting to be recollected.

It wasn’t until Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Napster in 2000 during my freshman year at Emory University in Atlanta, GA that I really got into trying to find video game music. As far as I knew, back in the relative infancy of the internet, there weren’t any concentrated websites to buy game music let alone simply find it. But on a whim, I figured that if mainstream music was available, maybe somebody had some video game music from games I used to love.

There was no luck finding Street Fighter II, but Street Fighter Alpha 3’s “Brave or Grave” came up once somehow and I decided to check it out. I’d never played the game at the time, but I loved the track. In retrospect it’s not an A-grade piece of work, but the energy was pretty crazy the first time I heard it. I was gradually able to amass most of the soundtrack by searching for Street Fighter Zero 3 and becoming lucky when certain users would show up. Karin Kanzuki’s theme “Simple Rating” quickly became my favorite, along with Cody’s “Stripes,” Vega’s “Crimson,” and Cammy’s “Doll Eyes.”

A friend of mine who lived in my freshman hall, and who I stayed friends with throughout my 4 years, Dave Share, had a Sega Dreamcast and quickly got me back into the Street Fighter game series, far and away my favorite bunch of games. Eventually, I was playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Capcom vs. SNK (truly a dream game when I first saw it) and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, loving each one of the soundtracks even more than I loved the games.

It wasn’t until 2001 that I became interested in spreading the word on VGM through the radio. That’ll take us to Part 2…