If you dig way back into the annals of OSV, you’ll find a review of The Outer Rim’s self-titled debut album. For the promotion of the album and the band, the four members took a photo together in the woods, and I noted how distinct each of the member’s hairstyles were.
Well, gone is the emphasis and hairdos, and in fact, gone are saxophone player Norihiko Hibino and piano player Hakui Kim. We mentioned a year ago that the group had relaunched with new members Gustavo Anacleto on sax and Frederic Viennot on keys, and even linked you to some new performances by the group which appear here on this album.
So, how does the band’s second effort fare? Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
We’re back once again with another episode of Original SoundCAST, and this week we’re bringing some extra muscle. In addition to our usual discussions we have a special guest interview with Jeff Curry: Bassist, composer and founder of Jazz/Rock group The Outer Rim and former bandmate of Metal Gear Solid composer Norihiko Hibino. We get to pick his brain what it’s like being a gaijin musician living in Japan as well as what the future holds for him in terms of game music-related projects. Also, Gideon makes a movie reference that no one understands.
Click the download link below to hear all of this, plus our unresearched and possibly offensive thesis on the country of Norway.
Intro/outro music this week is by Battle Lava from Montreal, Quebec!
We just received an interesting newsletter update from The Outer Rim founder and Metal Gear Solid series bass player Jeff Curry. Apparently The Outer Rim has some shows lined up, and I was immediately curious as I know the group had been on somewhat of a hiatus due to saxophonist Norihiko Hibino and keys player Hakuei Kim’s availability. As it turns out, the two have stepped down from the band to make way for Gustavo Anacleto (saxophone), Hiroya Morooka (keys), and an entirely new addition, Frederic Viennot on “synth and stuff.” The group has already hit a couple of venues this month, and is set to perform at the Tokyo Groove Nights Vol. 1 event on April 30, 2010 at the Kick Back Cafe in Tokyo, Japan.
I think most of us are wondering what the group sounds like without Hibino and Kim, and the answer is pretty much the same. They’ve posted a new video on YouTube (update: the above video is old… their new video, which you can find on their website, was breaking the site!) featuring the new band members. In fact, “Island Body” sounds great. It’s been too long since we’ve heard new music from the group (they were featured last on the Ninja Blade soundtrack), so this is good news even though I’ll miss Norihiko Hibino and Hakuei Kim. I hope this doesn’t mean the end of videogame tie-ins for the group, though!
Feel free to check out the band’s website for more information.
What do you think of the change of roster? Is it worth swapping out members in exchange for a more productive band?
While you may not have heard Jeff Curry’s name before, he has contributed to a number of projects and games that you may be familiar with. With recent projects including The Outer Rim, the Etrian Odyssey II SUPER ARRANGE album (both of which we’re quite fond of), the Metal Gear Solid franchise and some of Norihiko Hibino’s personal projects, Jeff Curry has been around. OSV was able to catch up with Curry who is currently in Japan living it up as a talented jazz musician.
I recommend heading over to Curry’s personal website right away to view photos of this bald gaijin who is showing Japan that American musicians can be nearly as talented as Japanese musicians. Oh yeah, there’s some music samples there too.
The ending from No More Heroes was disappointing as hell. To avoid spoilers for those of you haven’t finished the game (shame on you), I’ll just say it left a lot of loose ends. It comes as a surprise then that The Outer Rim’s self-titled debut album provides the perfect solution.
The Outer Rim is a Japanese band sporting a smooth “spiritual jazz” sound and epic hairstyles. The group is headed by bassist Jeff Curry (not Japanese!) and features game composer Norihiko Hibino on sax and computer, Hakuei Kim on keys, and Nobuaki Fujii on drums. While the album is dominated by catchy jazz pieces with a distinctive atmosphere, a few tracks include bits of English vocal drama featuring No More Heroes front man Travis Touchdown and co-star Silvia Christal as they describe a bleak, musicless future in outer space. And yes, they used the same voice actors from the game!
Check out our full impressions after the jump. (more…)
Covering and promoting discussion of composers and music with a focus on video games and other contemporary media entertainment
