On August 4, 2015 iam8bit announced that they were taking pre-orders for three classic Rare video game soundtracks on vinyl: Battletoads, Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark.
Originally, the Battletoads album was an exclusive release limited to 300 copies this year at San Diego Comic-con. This new pressing of Battletoads will be a single LP release while both completely new releases Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark will span two LPs. All three of these releases will be limited to 3000 copies each.
Read on to find out the details on track listing, album cover details, and pricing. These look sweet.
There are some game music tracks that get much more attention than others from the game music arrangement/remix community. This seems to be particularly true of David Wise’s “Aquatic Ambience” from Donkey Kong Country. It’s not hard to see why it’s such a popular pick for reinterpretations. The original piece is, true to its title, ambient but also has a great melody that works beautifully over the textures and sustained music elements. So today I will be talking about one of my favorite arrangements of this piece.
Today’s Arrangement of the Week comes from artists Martin “Mordi” Lande, with Michael Gibs assisting on electric guitar. Their arrangement of “Aquatic Ambience” is titled “A Hint of Blue.”
The piece starts off quietly with a set of mellow synth pads, a panning synth arpeggio, and a few notes from a piano. Then at around 0’52” the piece builds up a little to the main melody on a gentle synth lead, with some light percussion added in. The mix continues to build a little at a time. Some vocals come in, the drums get a little heavier, and more synth textures add to the ambient chord progression. Despite the continuing inclusion of these new elements, the arrangement never loses its calming tone.
At around 2’34” the piece relaxes back down to the lighter synth pad elements. The more complex mix comes back though with Michael Gibs’s lead guitar taking the melody at 3’03.” The lead synth sounds actually trade off with the guitar every once and a while. Even when the guitar is taking spotlight, the mix still maintains this light and relaxing feeling. The combination of all these elements creates an enjoyable and interesting listening experience.
I think my favorite part of this arrangement is the way it winds down. At around the 5’00” mark the piece removes the percussion and guitar, allowing the focus to shift to the piano and strings. There are also some great touches like an echoing bell pad that further adds to the piece’s ambient tone. Definitely one of my favorite interpretations of “Aquatic Ambience.”
Do you have any favorite remixes, arrangements, or covers of “Aquatic Ambience”? Let us know in the comment section. You can listen to and download “A Hint of Blue” on OC ReMix.
In anticipation for the August 4th release of Rare Replay — the Xbox One compilation of 30 (debatable) Rare classics — Microsoft has dropped a pair of surprising goodies on the San Diego Comic-Con crowd. Available in a limited run of only 300 units is a vinyl print of David Wise’s original Battletoads soundtrack featuring gorgeous sleeve and gatefold art by Nick Gazin.
Also available exclusively at the show is an 18×24” poster print from iam8bit featuring an amalgam of all 30 Rare Replay titles. These are also in very limited supply and come hand-signed and numbered. The vinyl album costs $25 and the prints are $50 on the show floor, but don’t feel too bad if you miss out on them. It sounds like reprints of both (with different art and no signatures) may be available later. Interested in other video game soundtracks on vinyl? Check out Brenna’s post where she covers the trend and some recent releases.
In this edition of Game Music for your soul, I am sharing more examples of Game Soundtracks that made an impact on me. Interestingly, UK composer David Wise wrote all of this music. This time I will be sharing some thoughts on the Pause music of Battletoads, and Donkey Kong Country’s “Aquatic Ambiance”. Does the music from these games mean anything to you?
Though time was short and precious at the fantastic event of LEGENDS, The man of the hour himself, David Wise, still generously offered his time to all fans and admirers to shake hands and sign their collectibles. In the midst of the orchestrated memories and energetic crowd, we managed to eventually get a few thoughts from the legendary composer himself on his thoughts about the concert itself and some hints towards the future.
Despite being responsible for some of the very best music ever composed for video games, the man is one of the humblest and most kind spoken individuals you could have the pleasure of meeting.
We’re getting closer and closer to the release of OCRemix’s new project, the long awaited Serious Monkey Business, based on Donkey Kong Country 2 on the Super Nintendo. To get your trousers a bit more moist we decided to make a short preview of what you can expect, and baby let me tell you, it’s gonna be good. Makes the wait just that much harder, doesn’t it?
What do you think of the short samples heard here? Looking forward to hear the rest?
David Wise’s Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong’s Quest is widely accepted as one of the very best soundtracks on the Super Nintendo, and rightfully so. The soundtrack is a huge complex beast, with eerie ambiance, melodic masterpieces and funky monkey disco which still holds up today, maybe even shining brighter than ever, showcasing incredible diversity in an age of bland orchestra epics. Even in doujin, the soundtrack has now become highly respected after Smash Bros Brawl brought it back into the light, and many doujin albums now feature “Stickerbush Symphony.”
Now, OverClocked Remix is gearing up to release their newest project, Serious Monkey Business, honoring the work of Wise through some of the best arrangement artists around. I had the pleasure of seeing Geoffrey Taucer, one of the project leaders at MAGFest 8, and it was decided to shed some more light on the project. So here today you can read our chat about the project, and there is a very nice surprise in store for the fans of this soundtrack, so make sure you read on!
