Keita Egusa

Game Music

More “Groups” From Dog Ear Records: Meet the PiA-COMS

June 28, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on More “Groups” From Dog Ear Records: Meet the PiA-COMS Share this

We had a great time with the original PiA-COM album, but given that it was titled “PiA-COM I,” it seemed likely we’d be getting more PiA-COM goodness in the future. Well, the is approaching very soon. On November 25, 2010, Dog Ear Records will release PiA-COM II, a new compilation of classic game music tunes arranged and performed on the piano. There’s even an official website and blog dedicated to the project.

What makes this announcement even more special, however, is the fact that along with KALAYCILAR and PiA-COM veteran pianist Keita Egusa, performers Hiroyuki Nakayama and Masato Kouda will be forming a trio called the PiA-COMS. Some may remember Nakayama’s name from the Kingdom Hearts piano collections and from a number of Uematsu projects, including Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and Guin Saga. Masato Kouda, on the other hand, is well known for his work on the Monster Hunter franchise as well as being a member of Square Enix’s Star Onions band. These additions should definitely make for an interesting PiA-COM II album.

What arranged tracks are you looking forward to hearing this time around? Are you excited that Nakayama and Kouda are joining the mix?

[via VGMdb]
Game Music

Family Classics: pia-com I – PianoXComputer Game Review

March 8, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this

You know what my favorite instrument is? Acoustic guitar. But my other favorite instrument is piano and that’s why we’re here today. Right before Christmas times came rollin’ in, Dog Ear Records released a little treat by the name pia-com I – PianoXComputer. The premise was simple, a collection of Famicom classics arranged on piano by Keita Egusa, who’s piano skills have been showcased in videogames before. I’m always eager to hear more piano albums and quickly became excited as the news came in on this album.

Piano arrangement albums aren’t exactly a new idea when it comes to videogame music, but it seems there’s always a bit more prestige to them, being classical and all. It might be the elegance of the piano, or the over reliance on metal and rock in the Western arrangement communities, but whenever a piano album comes out, it seems fans are just a tad more excited than usual.

So is this album worth getting excited for? Find out as we take a look! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

A Series Reborn: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Music Collections (Review)

December 11, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 7 Comments Share this

I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t played much of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series. That hasn’t prevented me from enjoying the soundtracks, however, composed mainly by Square Enix’s adorable Kumi Tanioka. She’s crafted some lovely tunes for the series in the past, the most memorable of which for me are the soothing Celtic-inspired compositions featured in the first Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles game. As Don mentioned in our preview earlier this year, get ready for a departure!

While Kumi Tanioka appears on The Crystal Bearers, she only composes a single track and arranges one more. What she’s up to? Who knows, but Hidenori Iwasaki of Front Mission 4 and Final Fantasy XI as well as synthesizer operator Ryo Yamazaki (who also worked on Front Mission 4) have been left to take care of the series in her absence. With these changes, The Crystal Bearers has a truly different sound, which matches well with the new action-oriented direction of the gameplay and visuals.

So, how did they do? Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Famicom Classics on Piano: Pia-Com I Recording Footage

November 24, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 3 Comments Share this

Dog Ear Records and Keita Egusa are getting ready to release their new project Pia-Com I this week and it looks to be an extremely interesting album to say the least. Keita Egusa is quite a skilled pianist, and the album will feature 7 piano arrangements from various Famicom games like Mother, Yie Ar Kung Fu and Salamander.

To pump people up for the release, Dog Ear has released a recording session video of Egusa performing Yie Ar Kung Fu, and on the official website they have put up samples of all the songs for you to enjoy. Judging from the samples and the video, this will be unmissable for classic games and piano fans.

Head on over to Dog Ear Records and check it out yourself!
Game Music

Famicom on Piano: “Piacom I: Piano x Computer Game” CD Series Revealed

October 12, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 8 Comments Share this

Our friends over at Dog Ear Records have finally revealed a new project that was hinted at during our recent interview with Hiroki Ogawa and Nobuo Uematsu, titled Piacom I. It will contain piano arrangement of old Famicom games performed by Keita Egusa! Sound pretty exciting, doesn’t it? Here’s the planned tracklist:

01. “Elevator Action” from Elevator Action
02. “Yie Ar Kung-Fu” from Yie Ar Kung-Fu
03. “Opening Theme” from Hokkaido Rensa Satsujin ~ Okhotsk ni Kiyu
04. “Power of Anger ～ Poison of Snake” from SALAMANDER
05. “Main Theme” from Final Fantasy II
06. “Theme of Mappy” from Mappy
07. “Snowman” from Mother

Keita Egusa has a short history of performing on videogame soundtracks, with his sole project being in 2006 for a PC visual novel called Hatsukoi. Personally I’m most excited for Yie Ar Kung Fu and Mother, but I’m happy to see that the tracklist is mostly more obscure stuff. I love projects like this! The CD is planned for release date of 11/25/09.

What do you think of these piano game music arrangement projects? And what Famicom titles would you like to see on the next CD in this series?
Game Music, Indie Music

(UPDATE) Contest Reminder: KALAYCILAR CDs from Dog Ear Records

October 16, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Photo ©2008 Dog Ear Records Co., Ltd.

That’s right. If you missed the OSVchannel Episode 4 update, you likely missed our contest announcement regarding KALAYCILAR from Dog Ear Records. We’re giving away three copies of the limited print album (only 500 in existence!), featuring traditional music performed on piano by Keita Egusa and produced by wappa at Dog Ear Records.

How do you win? Simple! Send us your photos with the Dog Ear Records logo pasted over your faces (see the above photo from the DER website). Download the logos here, and be sure to include the trademark.jpg file somewhere in your submission. You still have two more weeks, so get those entries in to [email protected] (Update: our bad, we mispelled the contest email address, so we’re going to extend the contest by a week (November 10) just to be fair) and check out Episode 4 to hear clips from and see pictures of the KALAYCILAR album. We hope to see some fun entries!

Thanks again to wappa for providing these CDs to our readers.

Have you checked out the KALAYCILAR album on iTunes? Do you agree that the Dog Ear Records logo is inexplicably cute?
Game Music, Indie Music

Review: Travel the World With KALAYCILAR from Dog Ear Records

September 9, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Review: Travel the World With KALAYCILAR from Dog Ear Records Share this

What a coincidence. It was just yesterday that we posted about the KALAYCILAR samples featured on the latest episode of Inu-mimi Radio, and right on cue, the limited CD we mentoned a few weeks back arrived on our doorstep. After all the waiting (hopefully it will hit iTunes any day now), we have finally prepared our thoughts regarding this short-but-sweet album.

Performed and arranged by Keita Egusa and produced by wappa over at Dog Ear Records himself, there’s just under fifteen minutes of music to enjoy. Yeah, not a lot, but enjoy it you shall! It seems as though wappa is excited about it as it’s one of his first producer credits.

Hit the jump to find out why you should hunt down this rare disc from Dog Ear Records. (more…)