Doujin
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Doujin, Events
Street Fighter II Charity Album to Benefit Richmond, VA Schools
June 22, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Street Fighter II Charity Album to Benefit Richmond, VA Schools Share this
Twenty producers, DJs, and emcees from Richmond, Virginia are excited to present a collaborative hip-hop tribute charity album featuring the iconic melodies from Street Fighter II. Street Fighter: The RVA Warrior has been released to benefit Richmond-based Building a Better RPS charitable organization to benefit public schools in the area and includes radio host Black Liquid, members of Gritty City Records, DJs Phil Dice, 8-Bit Mullet, and Dope Solo/Sultans, a co-founder of the Party Liberation Front and more.I was excited to receive so much interest once I shared the concept with the collaborators. It’s been a great way to connect with other artists, support a good cause, and have fun re-living a game that each of us grew up loving despite our different backgrounds. – Alan “8-Bit Mullet” BrymerA release show and fundraising event will be held at Garden Grove Brewery on Thursday, June 22nd, at 8:00pm and will feature Street Fighter II-themed drinks. The show, which will also be streamed live on Twitch, will include a Street Fighter II tournament, costume contest, and live art by Amy Black, a prominent tattoo artist. You can check out more on the event’s Facebook page and join in for a good cause.
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Doujin
Listen To: Chrono Trigger’s ‘Secret of the Forest’ by Reuben Gingrich
It’s always a fun little treat when you come across a band or musician who normally does their own thing with original music in their own style, but then suddenly breaks out a video game cover. (I’m looking at you, Mutoid Man) It’s like getting a neat little surprise in your cereal box.
Jazz musician Reuben Gingrich recently released his first album, Blue Island, which features 11 tracks of what his Bandcamp describes as “Space Funk to the Dome”. It’s all enjoyable stuff to listen to for some chill tunes so you should check it out on its own merits, but nestled in the middle of the album is delightful tribute to Chrono Trigger‘s “Secret of the Forest”.
The original song, composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, is the theme of the Guardia Forest from the Chrono Trigger Original Soundtrack. The song and video production done by Gingrich are both top notch and worth the attention. You can check out the entire Blue Island album on Bandcamp and Spotify.
What hidden gems of video game music have you found buried within seemingly innocuous original music albums before? Share them with us in the comments!
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Doujin, Experimental, Japanese, Music Production
Rap Rabbit from PaRappa, Gitaroo Man Creators launches on Kickstarter
May 16, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Rap Rabbit from PaRappa, Gitaroo Man Creators launches on Kickstarter Share this
Two of the most well known forces in rhythm gaming teased a collaborative new title called Project Rap Rabbit late last week. Now they’ve pulled the wraps off of their pitch and launched its kickstarter campaign, shedding more light on the game and those involved.
Fronted by Masaya Matsuura and Keiichi Yano, Rap Rabbit will also include their respective studios: Nana-OnSha of PaRappa the Rapper fame for Matsuura, and iNiS J for Yano, best known for Gitaroo Man and the Ouendan series. The pedigree is obviously there, they just need the funding and support to create what the pair defines as “rhythm-action 2.0”.
As Matsuura explains in the kickstarter video, he got some flack for referring to PaRappa the Rapper as a hip hop or rap game back in the 90’s. Sure, PaRappa had some opportunities to freestyle but the game really only required the precise, “Simon Says” callback of patterns to succeed. What rap fans wanted was a game where they could change the lyrics while playing, and that’s what Rap Rabbit hopes to offer. Drawing inspirations from both RPG dialog wheels and the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, combined with the back-and-forth gameplay of both PaRappa and Gitaroo Man, you can start to picture what the game might play like.
Based on their past works, it’s probably least surprising to hear that the game’s story trades on finding the strength to do what’s right and conquering adversity; only this time it’s set against traditional Japanese art and folklore. Inspiration here comes from 16th Century Japanese picture scrolls all the way up to films like Spirited Away, Tekkonkinkreet and Kung Fu Panda.
That leaves only the music to address which Matsuura himself is heading up as Music Director and core composer. Despite the traditional look of the visuals we’ve seen so far, the music hopes to fuse Japanese and Western styles while incorporating the Epic Rap Battles mix of beats, unexpected encounters, and comedy. Obviously, music is the most important part of a rhythm game and as a fairweather fan of Matsuura’s work in the past, this is the part that really determines where I fall on Rap Rabbit.
As of this writing the project is nearly $100,000 of the way towards a $1.1 million goal with initial releases on PlayStation 4 and Steam. Some lofty stretch goals would see the inclusion of more content and eventually ports to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. No estimated release window has been mentioned so far but it looks like European publisher PQube is already on board to ship the game when it reaches its goal.
Take a look at the campaign video and kickstarter page and let us know in the comments if you’re already on board or patiently waiting for more details to emerge.
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Doujin, Indie Music
Zelda Cinematica is a successful Kickstarter in its final days!
May 14, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Zelda Cinematica is a successful Kickstarter in its final days! Share this
Sam Dillard the creator of Metroid Cinematica and Chrono Cinematica is running a Kickstarter campaign for Zelda Cinematica which ends in just over three days, and it already over 900% funded. The trailer for the project is above and is described by its creator below:
Over an hour of uniquely realized music from what is amongst the most iconic soundtracks in all of gaming, Zelda Cinematica seeks to present to you the musical score from that epic Hollywood Zelda movie that lifelong fans have conjured in our heads while sitting in the back of the classroom drawing tiny worlds with Link fighting monsters! (Unless that was just me…) An album with a primarily energetic symphony sound but ranging across ambient soundscapes and electronic atmospheres as well. Years of planning, feature-length representing themes from the entire series, officially licensed, and available on all major digital platforms as well as collectible disc albums!
Sam Dillard
The album will be available digitally, on CD, and on vinyl at different backing levels. Also if you missed out on picking up either Metroid Cinematica or Chrono Cinematica you can also find them on the Kickstarter Campaign page.
If this is project you’re interested in, you’ve only got a few days left to back it! Have you heard the previous Cinematica albums?
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Doujin, Game Music
Dark Electronica Super Metroid Album Released by Ghastly Ghost
May 3, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Dark Electronica Super Metroid Album Released by Ghastly Ghost Share this
If you’re jonsing for a taste of Super Metroid music on the heavier electronic side, artist Ghastly Ghost has released a new remix album dedicated to the game.
Hailing from Salem, MA, Ghastly Ghost puts a house trance-like spin on classic Super Metroid fans are familiar with. Those who enjoy dancable eletronica can check out the 19-track album streaming on the artist’s Bandcamp, and purchase the album at the Name Your Price tier. If you find yourself a fan of the artist’s flare, you can check of Ghastly’s music demo also on Bandcamp.
While I find some of the track arrangements to be a bit heavy for my taste, that album art really drew my attention and I give it a solid thumb’s up.
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Doujin, Game Music
EarthBound Gets Psychokinetic Remix Albums by The Bad Dudes
April 27, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on EarthBound Gets Psychokinetic Remix Albums by The Bad Dudes Share this
A remix album paying tribute to Nintendo’s MOTHER series titled “Psychokinetic” has been released by video game cover band Bad Dudes. Originally a part of the “You Are Now EarthBound” Kickstarter campaign run by Fangamer in 2014, the album is now available separately for the first time.
“Fangamer’s Kickstarter aimed to deliver the ultimate EarthBound fan’s dream package – a guidebook for the game, a documentary about the effects of EarthBound in the United States, a fan zine, lots of collectible knick-knacks, and our album.Backer Emile Rosales challenged me by requesting two pieces of short, ambient music from EarthBound to arrange: ‘Crossing Space and Time’ and ‘The Place.’ I drew from my experience playing the game and applying my senses of both wonder and terror as you learn the true nature of this cave and what it means for your party.” – Mustin, Bad Dudes FounderSeparate of the Kickstarter campaign, a limited number of physical copies produced for the campaign are still available, housing both Part 1 and Part 2 of the digital collection in a sleek DVD case alongside a booklet containing credits and track commentary, along with digital copies of the albums available on several digital outlets.
You can purchase the physical copies of the Psychokinetic double album on the Mustin Enterprises website, with Part 1 and Part 2 being available on both Bandcamp and Spotify.
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Doujin, Game Music
GameLark Releases “Rarities” Tribute to Rare Composers
April 26, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on GameLark Releases “Rarities” Tribute to Rare Composers Share this
The video game music label GameLark has released a brand new album dedicated to the tribute of the music composers of the games released over the years by video game developer Rare.
Rarities is an album dedicated to the iconic composers of Rare that shaped an entire generation of gamers. Featuring tracks from classic games like Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Donkey Kong Country, as well as Yooka-Laylee, Rarities is sure to scratch that nostalgic itch. Rarities is fully licensed and available on iTunes and other digital retailers.
Featuring arrangements of the music from legendary composers Grant Kirkhope and Davis Wise (We’ll say Robin Beanland and Graeme Norgate too, since both composed Killer Instinct and worked with either Wise or Kirkhope on several other Rare titles featured on this album), Rarities is a 14-track dedication to years of game music memories.
“Rarities is an exciting cornucopia of some of the best platforming games, filled with electronic, rock, metal, and jazz interpretations of the goofiest soundtracks. From start to finish, every song will have you humming along and imagining the googly eyes and talking animals that brought these worlds to life.” – Ro Panuganti, album manager
You can check out Rarities on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music and streaming on Spotify.
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