Kingdom Hearts

Doujin, Game Music

Project Destati Releases Kingdom Hearts Live Album DARKNESS

March 29, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Project Destati Releases Kingdom Hearts Live Album DARKNESS Share this

Back in 2014, Materia Collective and Project Destati created the first of an effort to release the music of Kingdom Hearts in a live album with full orchestration, which they called LIGHT. Now, almost 4 years later the same teams have followed up the LIGHT album with the even larger second part of the tribute; DARKNESS.

Project Destati: DARKNESS includes 30 fan-favorite themes drawn from every title across the Kingdom Hearts franchise with nearly two-and-a-half hours of imaginative arrangements spanning 30 tracks. Starting with the very first game in the series and touching upon themes from Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and more, the tracks bring new life to the compositions of Yoko Shimomura, Utada Hikaru, Takeharu Ishimoto, and Tsuyoshi Sekito.

DARKNESS, Project Destati’s second of three volumes, has been a concept since 2014 that we’ve been slowly piecing together with the utmost care and forethought for each of the 30 tracks in this collection. Each track was individually given several months of planning and consideration to be arranged in such a way so as to tell the most complete musical story, envisioned with proper connections to other melodies within the KINGDOM HEARTS universe. – Sebastian Wolff, Producer

<a href="http://projectdestati.bandcamp.com/album/project-destati-darkness">Project Destati: DARKNESS by Project Destati</a>

Project Destati: DARKNESS is available today in digital and limited edition physical CD formats via Bandcamp, iTunes and streaming on Spotify.
Game Music

Square Enix Online Store Anniversary sees Sale on Music

February 14, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Square Enix Online Store Anniversary sees Sale on Music Share this

To celebrate the one year anniversary of the Square Enix Online Store the digital storefront is running a sale through February 21st with savings up to 50% off of games, goods and soundtracks. There are also some specific offers and $10 bonus deals you can check out after the cut but since you’re reading this on OSV you’re probably most interested in the music.

The savings aren’t nearly as impressive on the music side of things but there are, at least, 31 different albums on offer. The biggest savings of 30% off include a couple of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles CDs, some of Final Fantasy XI’s numerous soundtracks and The 3rd Birthday. Recent releases like 2015’s BRA★BRA Final Fantasy Brass de Bravo ($24) and X’mas Collections Music from Bravely Default ($27) from 2014 have had a few bucks knocked off the asking price. Even that ridiculously posh, 7-disc collection, Kingdom Hearts -HD 1.5 & 2.5 ReMIX- Original Soundtrack BOX ($72), can be had $8 cheaper during the sale.

*commercial announcer voice* Hop on your chocobo today! *kweh* Warm up that airship right now! Because these prices won’t last long and supplies are limited!

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Doujin, Featured, Game Music, Indie Music

Videri, Project Destati, and other new Joypad Releases

September 19, 2013 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

The good folks at Joypad Records continue to attract new and interesting talent for new VGM arrangements. Surely by now y’all have heard the glory of Smooth McGroove, right?

I wanted to take a moment to highlight some new releases that I’ve been very much enjoying. First up (and pictured above) is the debut album from Videri String Quartet, entitled “Portals.” I haven’t heard a good string quartet album in awhile, so I was excited to check this one out. It features a collection of generally well-known tunes, including full medleys for a handful of popular games including The Legend of Zelda, Halo and Final Fantasy VII. It’s available on Loudr for 12.00 USD. Full disclosure: I first found out about this album from a press release written by none other than OSV’s illustrious Jayson Napolitano.

Another great little album worth checking out is the first in a series of albums from a collective calling themselves “Project Destati.” For those of you who somehow forgot, “Destati” is the name of one of the best up-tempo, intense battle themes from Yoko Shimomura’s Kingdom Hearts compositions. Project Destati intends to release a lot of music … for now, they have a 5-track, 18-minute EP out called “Awakening.” It’s available on Loudr for 3.00 USD. I learned about this one via an RPGFan news story.

There are other new albums worth checking out as well: I’ll put in my own recommendation for DJ Cutman and Spamtron’s “MeowMeow & BowWow” — which serves as an EDM-style tribute to the Game Boy classic Link’s Awakening.
Game Music, Reviews

Hearts of Hearts: Kingdom Hearts 3D OST (Review)

November 13, 2012 | Haroon Piracha | Comments Off on Hearts of Hearts: Kingdom Hearts 3D OST (Review) Share this

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance has been a highly anticipated game by many Kingdom Hearts enthusiasts such as myself. Aside from being a game for the Nintendo 3DS, I thought that this game was a continuation of Kingdom Hearts 2 due to its name. The game is actually said to be a prequel to Kingdom Hearts 3 with its gameplay and plot previewing the next installment. Its soundtrack is the first in the Kingdom Hearts series to be a collaboration between composers. I was excited by the idea of a collaboration; it gives soundtrack multiple approaches to the same idea or the same theme for the game, much like Mass Effect, God of War, or Final Fantasy X have done. So how did Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance OST cope with three composers? Find out after the jump! (more…)
Featured, Game Music, Reviews

Returning To Perfection: Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo (Review)

June 22, 2012 | Audun Sorlie | 7 Comments Share this

3 years ago, I sat anxiously waiting for the orchestra to appear from the sidelines. With a curious gaze towards the stage and the many surrounding me, the shared excitement was palpable, and whispers echoed in the Philharmonic Hall as the seated audience prepared to experience game music evolved. I was at Symphonic Fantasies in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall on September 12th, 2009, and on that night, with tears in my eyes, I experienced what is the greatest video game music symphony ever produced.

Since that day, many shows have come and gone, many concerts have been set up around the world, but the impact that Symphonic Fantasies had on the industry is undeniable; it changed the playing field entirely. Audiences wanted more, deeper arrangements, pure production designs, greater stories. Simple medleys did no longer suffice; Symphonic Fantasies proved that game music, like any music, can become something much greater by understanding its message, its intentions, its soul. But even with a subsequent CD release, the demand was high from the eager fans to experience the concert for themselves. It was therefore that Thomas Böcker took his production and team to Japan at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, and returned home to the birthplace of the orchestral game music concert and the Square Enix video games, to show that the concept had evolved, and the music which so many hold dear, has grown up to become something much larger. The result was 2 sold out shows in Japan, heralded in the press and by its peers as a true achievement not easily matched. It was due to this success, that the decision was made to once again provide fans around the world the opportunity to hear Symphonic Fantasies in the form of an album release.

But is it worth the purchase a second time around? Find out after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Presence of Perfection: Symphonic Fantasies Stockholm Report

June 13, 2012 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this

In 2009, the most beautiful video game symphony was performed in the cultural meeting place of Germany, Cologne. Fans from all over the world rushed to the Cologne Philharmonic Hall in excitement and anticipation of what was touted as the very best orchestrated video game concert of all time, based on the timeless works over the years by Square Enix, showcasing their greatest titles throughout their history in suites of unparalleled beauty and splendor. On September 12th, 2009, the day finally arrived when the world experienced Symphonic Fantasies, the greatest video game symphony of all time.

The legacy that Symphonic Fantasies left behind shook the industry by its core. No longer was the idea of video game music performed by an orchestra enough, the concept evolved and the emotions, the stories and the essence of each game was emphasized to bring the true nature of the game’s soul and heart out for the listener to feel, embrace and cherish. It is now 3 years since the event took place in Cologne, bringing all corners of the world together in a philharmonic hall, and as the concept has kept on growing, so has Symphonic Fantasies in the memories of those who heard it, and the anticipation and demand increasing, with fans eager to experience for themselves what the sell out audience in Cologne spoke so much of after 2009. After the incredible success in Tokyo for their January shows, the team ventured to Stockholm, Sweden in order to showcase just exactly why so many fans from around the world have spoken of its magnificence.

Check out the report from event after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Symphonic Fantasies Returns In Summer Of 2012!

March 27, 2012 | Audun Sorlie | 1 Comment Share this

Symphonic Fantasies set the benchmark for what a symphonic game music concert should be. On September 12th 2009, the audience were not only hearing their most beloved game music pieces performed by an orchestra, but transported into the world in which the games represented, with landscapes built on emotion and the memories in the hearts of the listener being transcended by an all new experience, with the music becoming alive in a way no other concert before it had ever been able to accomplish. Fantasies managed to bridge the world of classical music and video games purely through music, and the production which Team Merregnon carefully crafted has traveled around the world with the award winning CD released in 2010. With the incredible success of concert and the CD recording, Symphonic Fantasies traveled to Tokyo in January of 2012, marking the first time a fully European video game symphony production has taken place in Japan.

Now, Symphonic Fantasies is returning home to Europe for another round, promising again to bring the full beauty of Valtonen and Wanamo’s arrangement to life once again, revisiting the worlds of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger/Cross. The first concerts will take place in Cologne on the 5th and 6th of July, with Niklas Willén conducting the WDR Radio Orchestra and the WDR Radio Choir. On June 9th, Fantasies will for the first time come to Stockholm, Sweden, with Andreas Hanson conducting the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Katarina Choir.

Tickets for the Stockholm show is at sale at Konserthuset.se, while the Cologne show, as expected, is sold out. Be sure to check back on OSV for more news and information on Symphonic Fantasies 2012!