Jazz

Chip Music

Clay Memory by Fluidvolt Now Available on Ubiktune

July 31, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Clay Memory by Fluidvolt Now Available on Ubiktune Share this

The music label Ubiktune has recently released a new chip album by artist Fluidvolt called Clay Memory. The album features a compilation of over 300 instruments organized into soundfonts, and based around the style of the GBA game, Mother 3.

After Bregalad created his fantastic program GBA Mus Riper, it’s been possible to dump Mother 3‘s sounds into a massive soundfont of 1668(!) instruments. – Fluidvolt

Condensing the soundfont by weeding out unneeded instruments and splitting others, Fluidvolt managed to create soundfonts with which he used to create his album, and will be featuring them bundled in with purchase.

You can find more information on the album on Ubiktune’s release announcement. The album is currently available on Fluidvolt’s Bandcamp for whatever price you deem fit. If you’re a fan of the music of Mother 3, or of Fluidvolt’s previous album, Reflections of a Dancing Leaf, then Clay Memory is worth checking out.

Clay Memory by Fluidvolt – Bandcamp | Soundcloud
Game Music

Arrangement of the Week: Swing When You’re Killing

June 26, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Arrangement of the Week: Swing When You’re Killing Share this

Welcome to another entry in Arrangement of the Week. This week’s selection comes from a series that’s been on many people’s minds recently. With the success of Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night on Kickstarter, it’s clear that there’s still a great amount of love for classic 2d action games like Castlevania. Even if you’ve never played the Castlevania series, you’ve probably at least heard the piece “Vampire Killer.” The arrangement we’re featuring today comes from artist Nostalvania, who puts an interesting twist on this classic game tune.

This arrangement is titled “Swing When You’re Killing” and is a catchy jazz ensemble interpretation. Consisting of an upright bass, piano, guitar, and vibraphone the mix was quite a pleasant surprise to my ears. I’m used to hearing rock or orchestral rock versions of this piece, so this really felt like a refreshing and unique take.

The piano and upright bass take a majority of the spotlight for this track, with the piano in particular providing some interesting variations on the main theme. Around the 2’41” mark the vibraphone and electric guitar take over for an improvisation section. It’s an enjoyable change up, giving us some new material before returning to the original theme with the full ensemble.

I like that his arrangement steers itself towards being its own thing, rather than trying to represent a track that could be heard in any of the games. It did however conjure up an amusing image in my head of Simon Belmont and Dracula chilling out at a jazz club. With all of that said, “Swing When You’re Killing” was an enjoyable and interesting find, and I hope to see more unique arrangements like this.

Did you discovered any interesting game music arrangements, remixes, or covers this week? Let us know in the comments below. You can listen to and download Nostalvania’s “Swing When You’re Killing” on OC ReMix.
Events, Game Music

Know Your MAG – Super Soul Bros.

January 9, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Know Your MAG – Super Soul Bros. Share this Know Your MAG – Super Soul Bros.

MAGFest has been getting pretty diverse with its performers throughout the years, going from rock and metal to classical and jazz, and this Know Your MAG helps showcase a little bit more in the form of the soul/funk/blues fusion of the Super Soul Bros.

Hailing from the Bay Area, the band consists of several talented musicians: Robbie Benson (keys), Brian Sheu (guitar), Alfredo Vega (drums), Chris Haman (percussion / drums), Frederick Paclibon (bass), Luke Borello (bass), Bernard Sapitola (trumpet), Lionel Briones (alto sax), Alex Popoff (tenor sax), Christian Manzana (trombone) & Matt Michielin (trumpet). Starting in 2011 as the brainchild of Robbie Benson and slowly building up as they went, the band intrigrated more members into their ranks, until a fully-fledged video game band was formed and started making a name for themselves across San Jose venues and surrounding areas.

Dealing in game music with a hardy helping of soul (as well as blues, jazz, funk, rock and more), the Super Soul Bros. performed recently at Game Over: San Jose and have a incredible amount of style in their music, yet an incredible casual feel to their performance (much like fellow jazz/funk band The One Ups). Their most recent album, “Live at San Pedro Square” features a combination of NES and Sega Genesis tunes in true blues fashion.

If you’re looking for some smooth grooves with a bit of bite to them, then be sure to catch Super Soul Bros. at MAGFest 13 in just a few weeks! If you can’t wait that long, be sure to grab their albums on Bandcamp!

Super Soul Bros – Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter
Game Music, Reviews

Super Mario 3D World OST (Review)

March 21, 2014 | Richard McDonald | 3 Comments Share this Super Mario 3D World OST (Review)

Ever since Super Mario Galaxy, Mario music has really pushed the frontier of what game music can be at its best. In my mind, the music from Super Mario Galaxy was on par, no, better than most film music! Mahito Yokota composed a distinctive soundtrack that expertly enhanced the gameplay, while at the same time perfectly working as music in its own right. Super Mario Galaxy 2 continued this tradition and The Legend of Zelda – Skyward Sword is possibly the best game soundtrack ever composed. So; when I sat down to listen to Super Mario 3D World, it was with the expectation of another beautifully performed, expertly recorded and wonderfully composed soundtrack that I have come to expect from Yokota. And to an extent, I was not disappointed.

However, when I started listening to the music, I was initially disappointed. I can tell that the track list follows the appearance of the in-game music, and as a result, the first 2 tracks are short, simple and not very inspiring. The music really gets going with “Super Bell Hill,” track 3, with what will be the main theme of the game, and sets the Big Band/Jazz/Electronic style of the music that is a slight departure from the fully orchestral Super Mario Galaxy. I’m not too sure about the main theme myself. It’s rehashed endlessly throughout the game, and I feel it’s not strong enough to warrant the level of attention it gets. However, the track is pleasant and upbeat, and it is nice to listen to. “Cave” is a cool remix of the “Underground Theme” from the original Super Mario Bros game and I love it when the live brass comes in at the drop, 0:51. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Rayman Legends OST (Review)

March 10, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Rayman Legends OST (Review) Share this Rayman Legends OST (Review)

One of the things that’s been a growing issue for me with Triple A games is the method in which orchestral music is used. There’s been a tendency in recent years to have the music of these games mimic the scores of big budget hollywood movies. The approach certainly works for certain types of games, but the pervasiveness of this trend has gotten to the point of being cliche. I’m all for dark, dramatic, and symphonic music finding an audience through games. The problem for me has been that it has become an over-saturated genre.

Luckily, a few soundtracks have come out that spice up the tonal palate of their orchestral music. One such soundtrack from this past generation was the Rayman Origins OST. While it was orchestral and had some dramatic moments, it also had a signature sound. Written by composers Christophe Heral and Billy Martin, the soundtrack was lively, eclectic, and was the breath of fresh air that the orchestral soundtrack genre needed. It wasn’t long before the game’s sequel, Rayman Legends, came about and both composers returned for the second round. In this review I’ll be looking at the Rayman Legends OST and examining how they’ve improved things and how well the music works with the game. Read on to find out more. (more…)
Featured, Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

It’s a stick-up! Gunpoint Soundtrack (Review)

September 23, 2013 | Richard McDonald | 1 Comment Share this

It seems that if you have the talent and the drive, game developers are able to go it alone these days. Jonathan Blow (Braid), Daisuke Amaya (Cave Story) and now Tom Francis with Gunpoint are all single developers that have made it to the top. The opposite almost seems to be true for game soundtracks. Famously, Jonathan Blow selected several tracks from the website Magnatune, all from different artists, and the final fantasy series has several composers on hand to write music. Tom Francis seems to have gone for the multi composer route by choosing 3 artists to write the soundtrack for his game, Gunpoint.

(Amaya is the exception, as he wrote all his own music for Cave Story.)

After the jump, I’ll let you in on who all wrote the soundtrack for this riveting new indie game, and what I thought of each composer’s work respectively. (more…)
Game Music

This Smooth Jazz Track Sounds Like Flashman From Mega Man 2

April 15, 2013 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on This Smooth Jazz Track Sounds Like Flashman From Mega Man 2 Share this

Okay, so maybe only briefly. Skip to 1:30, and you’ll hear how similar the chorus sections are. Not that the melody from Mega Man 2’s “Flashman” is groundbreakingly original, but after hearing this song several times on the radio and thinking, “Man, this sounds like Mega Man,” I thought I’d share.

What do you think? Know much about smooth jazz artist Mindi Abair? She’s all over the radio lately despite having been at the smooth jazz thing for awhile.