Famicom

Chip Music

Exclusive Bitmap Books Album from chibi-tech now Available to All

January 2, 2018 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Exclusive Bitmap Books Album from chibi-tech now Available to All Share this

Originally offered to Kickstarter backers of Bitmap Books’ NES/Famicom: a visual compendium, chibi-tech’s Psycho Somatic Generation album is now available to all via Bandcamp. Commissioned as a stretch goal for the 2016 Kickstarter, the album features ten chiptune songs reminiscent of familiar NES/Famicom “house styles”. As chibi-tech explains, “for a long time now, I’ve been wanting to make an original album that closely emulates the composition techniques of various NES game music from the past.”

Chibi-tech goes on to add, “many games had their own distinctive take (both technique & style-wise) on NES music that oftentimes defined ‘the sound’ of their respective companies — up to the point where people say things like ‘Oh, that’s a Konami tune!’ or ‘That’s totally Capcom right there!’. My aim is to make my own original soundtrack that takes each different take and closely emulate both the musical technique & style with reasonable accuracy – while still putting my own distinctive spin.”

<a href="http://chibitech.bandcamp.com/album/psycho-somatic-generation">Psycho Somatic Generation by chibi-tech</a>

Adding to the authentic emulation is veteran composer Allister Brimble who did the final mastering on the album. Check it out for yourself on Bandcamp and grab it for pay-what-you like. Also, take a look at that Bitmap Books compendium — it’s gorgeous — as is their upcoming SNES/Super Famicom tome due out in February 2018.
Chip Music, Indie Music, Japanese

8Bit Music Power Final & Sound Adapter Announced for Famicom Release

December 15, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on 8Bit Music Power Final & Sound Adapter Announced for Famicom Release Share this

Now that the original 8Bit Music Power album is out on CD it’s time for Riki and crew to unveil their next limited edition album-on-a-Famicom-cart. 8Bit Music Power Final will be released in late March of 2017 in Japan and will once again be playable exclusively on a Famicom console. The cart will include 18 tracks this time with songs from past collaborators and some exciting old school names. NES era composers like Manami Matsumae and Motoaki Furukawa along with more modern composers like Junya Nakano (Threads of Fate, Dawn of Mana) and Ippo Yamada (Mighty No. 9, Azure Striker Gunvolt) are now on board.

An original album of music built for the Famicom is great but one sticking point raised by Attract Mode is that the console only outputs audio through its scuzzy RF connection. That may make for an authentic sound but for those who prefer to hear the music directly from the hardware there’s a new peripheral you can get bundled with the album.

The 8Bit Sound Adapter looks like a miniature Famicom controller (namely the Player 2 side) and plugs into the console’s expansion port. It offers a volume slider, power light and 3.5mm port to plug in headphones or external speakers. It also adds about $25 to the price but it’s still a lot cheaper than the vintage Famicom S.D. Station. The bundle on Amazon Japan is currently around $70 with the cartridge alone at $46.

For now all we have are some early photos and the temporary tracklist to go on which you can check out after the jump. Hopefully Riki will grace us with another video preview as the album gets closer to release.

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Chip Music, Indie Music, Japanese

8Bit Music Power now on CD, English Interview Book in February

November 29, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on 8Bit Music Power now on CD, English Interview Book in February Share this

If you’ve also been thinking about the year in game music releases you may remember 8Bit Music Power from way back in February. It was the album from Japanese chiptune artists like Hally, Professor Sakamoto and Saitone that was released on an actual Famicom cartridge. While Play-Asia sold out of their allotment fairly quickly (Amazon Japan still has 8 left in stock) there’s now a much easier way to listen instead of dragging around an old console.

A much more convenient (but way less cool) CD version of the album was released last week in Japan with two bonus tracks. The album is available from Play-Asia for $22.99 but if you can hold out until February 2017 there’s an even sweeter deal coming. For just $1 more you can pre-order the CD and an 80-page, full-color book with exclusive interviews and stories about the album’s creation. The best part, it’s been translated into English. You can take a look at some of the vibrant page layouts here and put down the $23.99 to secure a copy for yourself.
Game Music

Ship to Shore Releases Konami’s Lagrange Point OST to Vinyl

November 18, 2016 | Brenna Wilkes | 1 Comment Share this

You can’t say that the current fad of releasing video game soundtracks to vinyl isn’t having a big impact on game music distribution recently, especially when it results in previously-unreleased soundtracks exclusive to Japan ending up finally reaching our shores.

That’s exactly the case with the soundtrack to Konami’s Lagrange Point for the Famicom. Released only in Japan in 1991 and never being ported to the NES for American and European gamers, Lagrange Point is a pretty typical science fiction/fantasy role-playing game, but it has the unique quality of being the only game ever released with Konami’s VRC7 sound generator integrated circuit.

Konami’s Lagrange Point is often seen as the high technical watermark in Famicom/NES chiptune music. This Japan-only release contained a special memory mapper chip (the VRC7) that enabled the cartridge to produce FM synthesis, giving it a quality that no other Famicom/NES game can compete with. – Ship to Shore

Composed by the famous Konami Kukeiha Club, Ship to Shore managed to get exclusive rights to release the Lagrange Point OST for the first time in North American to three different variant vinyl editions; each for around $25.00. You can check out the variants and more about the Lagrange Point OST on the Ship to Shore page. Here’s hoping for more oddities and unique VGM releases from them in the future!
Chip Music, Events, Indie Music, Japanese

‘8Bit Music Power’ out Now for the Famicom

February 2, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on ‘8Bit Music Power’ out Now for the Famicom Share this

You might remember hearing about 8Bit Music Power last November. The collaborative chiptune album has the distinction of being released exclusively for the Famicom console. Though not an official Nintendo product, Japanese accessory manufacturer, Columbus Circle, has matched the real deal with a gorgeous full color box and reproduction cartridge.

The 12-track album contains original songs by several Japanese game and chiptune composers under the direction of producer and illustrator, Riki. Contributors include Omodaka (Ape Escape), Masahiro Kajihara (Triggerheart Excelica), Takeaki Kunimoto (Star Soldier), Yuriko Keino (Dig Dug), Saitone, Hiroaki Sano (Triangle Heart), Nobuyuki Shioda (Summer Carnival ’92), Professor Sakamoto, Tappy (Tokimeki Memorial), Hally (Mighty Gunvolt) and Keishi Yonao (Asuka 120%). The cart’s pixelart graphics were created with the help of Hiroshi Ono, artist on some of gaming’s classic arcade titles like Pac Man, Galaga, Dig Dug and Mappy.

We’ve known the details for a while but the big news of the day is that 8Bit Music Power… is out. The first thousand cartridges produced are on sale now through Amazon Japan and Play-Asia will have them ready to ship worldwide on January 31st. Click inside to check out the full tracklist, a preview of the album and more.

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Featured, Game Music

Soundtrack of the Month 10/12: Akumajo Dracula Best

October 25, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Soundtrack of the Month 10/12: Akumajo Dracula Best Share this

Continuing in our “Castlevania Week” adventures, and simultaneously resurrecting our “Soundtrack of the Month” feature (something we haven’t run in a whole year!), today we bring you a special review for a very special album.

You can actually pick up multiple versions of the album. Its original CD print, one of Konami’s first albums with King Records, is catalog number KICA-1005, released in March 1990. Retro nerds might also be interested the cassette tape version released at the same time (KITA-1005). At the time, the album was named Akumajo Dracula Famicom Best. But when it was widely reprinted in 1998 (most people I know who have this album, have this reprint), they dropped “Famicom” from the album title (even though all the music is still from the Famicom). That album’s catalog number is KICA-7901, and wouldn’t you know it, CDJapan still has it in stock.

What this album contains, and what it doesn’t contain, is worth discussing at length. So, after the jump, I’ll give you the details. (more…)
Doujin, Featured, Game Music

Shining Gems: JADE-II Live Report

October 26, 2011 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this Shining Gems: JADE-II Live Report

Photos by comdoc5964

Last weekend, JADE-II finally took place after weeks of preparation and dedication, offering a night of retro game music festivities from a little corner in Shibuya, at TAKE OFF 7 bar. The event was created by Kunimoto Takeaki, one of the true father figures of game music with his classic soundtracks Milon’s Secret Castle and Robowarrior. With his passion always focused on spreading the joy of video game melodies, he often wrote lyrics featured in the game manuals and composed music that was accessible for young people to figure out on instruments of their own. His passion is still as strong as ever, and he is now dedicated to performing both his own and other famous works as part of Take-chan & Ken-chan along with Ken Matsuzawa, a piano sensation on youtube and Nintendo aficionado.

JADE-I took place on 26th of March at BUNGAJAN in Asakusabashi, and proved to be a success. So Kunimoto started plans to continue the name with another event, JADE-II. For this event, several new names were added to the lineup. Nekketsu High School Brass Band, a young upstart woodwind and brass performance group performing classic Famicom soundtracks. Kunimoto’s Take-chan & Ken-chan band, with guest vocalist AKIRA hagiwara and guitarist Tendo, and last the extremely popular variety performer Professor Sakamoto. To a sold out crowd, JADE-II took place on 22nd October.

Read our report after the jump! (more…)