Josh Whelchel

Game Music, Reviews

A Tactical Love Letter: Ravenmark OST (Review)

November 16, 2011 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on A Tactical Love Letter: Ravenmark OST (Review) Share this

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. An up-and-coming composer intends to please fans while flattering two of his favorite composers…

We hadn’t heard from Josh Whelchel in awhile. Yes, he did produce a three-album set for his 2011 “Songs for the Cure” charity series. But as for game soundtracks, I’ve been waiting and waiting for Whelchel’s next big release.

That release came out on 11/11/11, and it’s the soundtrack for an iOS Strategy RPG from Singapore-based Witching Hour Studios called Ravenmark: Scourge of Estellion. The 70 minute soundtrack accompanying the game is available via Bandcamp for only $5.

After the jump, we’ll talk about the composers who influenced Whelchel for this soundtrack and what makes it a perfect, fitting addition to Josh’s growing discography. (more…)
Chip Music, Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Good Music for a Good Cause: Songs for the Cure ’11 – Remedy (Review)

April 6, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

We’ve seen Songs for the Cure in the past, but never like this. Three separate discs, 40 artists, and a ton of great music. The artist roster this year is mind-blowing, and organizer Josh Whelchel has made the music easier to digest by arranging the tracks into similarly-styled collections, the first of which we’ll be checking out is Remedy.

So, just who’s on Remedy? As Whelchel puts it, “The game people.” While you won’t get Alexander Brandon here (he’s on the vocal album, Esuna), nearly everyone else we mentioned in our news post a few weeks ago is here.

What do we think of the Remedy collection? Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
Chip Music, Doujin, Game Music, Indie Music

Songs for the Cure ’11: 40 Artists and 3 CDs to Help Fight Cancer

March 18, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

We’ve covered the Songs for the Cure project in the past, and it’s that time of year again. For those who are unfamiliar, Songs for the Cure unites dozens of artists in the common goal of raising money for the American Cancer Society. This year, 40 artists are joining forces to produce 3 separate physical (and digital) albums in an attempt to raise $10,000 to help combat cancer.

Details have been announced as to who’s involved and how the music will be released. As mentioned, 40 artists are taking part this year, including a slew of indie game composers such as C418 (Minecraft), Danny Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy), and Josh Whelchel (GunGirl 2) to name a few, along with other composers and artists including Alexander Brandon, Jake Kaufman, souleye, A_Rival, Grant “stemage” Henry and many more. The music will be released as 3 separate albums available individually or bundled together. With the release date of March 29, 2011 right around the corner, you can head over and preorder now and check out their preview on YouTube here.

Hit the jump for the official press release with more details. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

PPPPPPowerup! Makes Me PPPPPP Myself (Review)

March 16, 2011 | Gideon Dabi | 2 Comments Share this

Magnus Palsson, know better by his stage name SoulEye, teamed up with the great Terry Cavanagh early last year to create one of the most ~~difficult and frustrating~~ brilliant and challenging platformers, VVVVVV. Coupling old-school graphics with an old-school soundtrack, Cavanagh and SoulEye managed to create something entirely new. The critical success of VVVVVV owes much to its ambience chiefly-aided by SoulEye’s musical chiptune collection, PPPPPP. Now, just over a year later, we have the remix/arrangement album, PPPPPPowerup!. I was always a big fan of remix albums as they always provided a new way to enjoy an old favorite. To strike a balance between capitulating on the old themes and creating something wholly new is a tricky one which is why great remix albums are not as common as one might think.

PPPPPPowerup! is no longer a chiptune-only collection. Not only are there dance-like remixes, but also reflective piano arrangements of the classic themes. So, does it work? Do SoulEye and his friends negotiate VVVVVV‘s treacherous obstacles gracefully, or – like me – did they find themselves staring at the same checkpoint for hours? Click the jump for more! (more…)
Game Music, Indie Music

Josh Whelchel Interview: Affirming Traditional Values (Guns and Girls)

June 24, 2010 | Patrick Gann | 3 Comments Share this

(from left to right: Josh, Rachel, Stephanie, Rich)

Josh Whelchel: we love this guy, and we love his friends. He’s an indie composer, he’s still finishing college, and he’s already written a lot of incredibly catchy music. He’s not afraid of dabbling in ultra-electronic stuff, but he’s also great when it comes to collaborating with vocal and instrumental performers to provide interesting acoustic work. His soundtrack for The Spirit Engine 2 remains one of the most eclectic collections of indie game music out there.

Recently, Josh Whelchel finished work on another indie game: GunGirl 2. For this one, he worked with talented musicians to do a lot of recording, though there is also some synth/sequenced music to be found along the way.

Between all this, Josh also finds time to continue the “Songs for the Cure” project, now two years running (and Josh is already planning the 2011 album!). We interviewed Josh around this time last year but thought it would be appropriate to follow up with him on his most recent endeavors. Learn more, and see more glamor shots of Josh and the GunGirl 2 performers, after the jump. (more…)
Chip Music, Demoscene, Game Music

Songs For The Cure ’10 Reaches Milestone, But Still Needs Your Help!

April 23, 2010 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

We at OSV are big Josh Whelchel supporters. Josh is an indie composer who had it on his heart to start a charity album, which he did last year in the form of “Songs For The Cure.”

We ran a review on the follow-up album Songs For The Cure ’10. It’s good stuff, and every dollar spent on it goes via the Indie Music Cancer Drive to fight cancer.

We saw this letter from Josh recently and wanted to share with our readers:

“Just another BIG BIG thank you to everyone for your hard work. We’ve hit $5,180 and our ‘soft deadline’ is this Friday on April 23rd. I’m very confident we’ll hit $10,000 before the end of the fiscal year in August, so a HUGE thank you to everyone again.”

Do you want to help a good cause and get great music? Want to help reach that $10,000 mark? Get it at iTunes, or at Amazon, OR at CDBaby.
Chip Music, Doujin, Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

40+ “Songs For The Cure” in 2010 (Review)

March 5, 2010 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

Josh Whelchel, indie game music composer and good friend to many OSV staff members, last year collaborated on a special project to raise charity funds for the American Cancer Society.

The Indie Music Cancer Drive, headed by Josh Whelchel and others, is releasing a two disc set this year, “Songs For The Cure ’10.” A number of indie game music composers, arrangers, as well as other indie artists contributed to the project.

Though you can always just give money to charity, the draw here is that you can get either a physical or digital copy of this set of music with a small donation. Here at OSV, we’re doing our part to promote the album by telling you exactly what interesting music, game-related or not, you’ll find on this collection. Learn more after the jump. (more…)