5pb Records

Game Music, Reviews

Namiki Thrives in BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER THE GAME OST (Review)

August 8, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Namiki Thrives in BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER THE GAME OST (Review) Share this

Former Basiscape member Manabu Namiki is well-known and well-loved for his work on various shooters from CAVE, from those that he completed entirely, or almost entirely, on his own (Ketsui, ESPGALUDA II) to those where he was a part of the Basiscape team (such as Mushihimesama and Mushihimesama Futari).

But, for my money, one of his best works in years is a game that isn’t really a shooter at all, despite having the word in its title. Yes, I’m referring to BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER THE GAME, a franchise that started with a simple illustration, and then a vocaloid song, and eventually an OVA and a game and detailed figurines … you can get the whole franchise history via wikipedia.

The PSP game, developed by imageepoch as part of their “JRPG” label (part of an attempt to revive the apparently-dying genre), is coming to North America and Europe sometime in either late 2012 or early 2013. But I would recommend VGM collectors import the soundtrack now, while it’s still available (CDJapan | Play-Asia). My unabashedly positive review, after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Like Snorting Pixy Stix: Idol Jyanshi Suchie-Pai IV (Review)

January 14, 2011 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Like Snorting Pixy Stix: Idol Jyanshi Suchie-Pai IV (Review) Share this

The title gives away everything, doesn’t it? The title, and the cover art. You look at an album like this on a store shelf and you immediately know what you’re getting into.

So why would I be interested in another super-sugary poppy soundtrack for a Mahjong puzzle game? I’ll be perfectly honest with you, it’s the one thing that stood out that got my attention: JALECO.

Yeah, remember them? They made all those semi-cool NES games back in the day. It looks like over the years, the American and Japanese divisions of the same company have gone back and forth on who is and isn’t being called Jaleco. But hey, if they’re making cool games to this day, I want to know about it.

And even though the sugar-pop experience is akin to snorting pixy stix (which, by the way, will end in a terrible bloody nose, plus uncontrollable weeping and gnashing of teeth), there is some good news about the two disc audio collection I’m holding in my hands. Good enough to make it worth a purchase? You can probably guess the answer to that already, but let’s move forward…

…after the jump! It’s the Idol Jyanshi Suchie-Pai IV Audio Collection!! HAAPPI BAASSUDEI!! (more…)
Indie Music, Reviews

Synthesizers of Many Colors: DG-10’s Golden/Green Synthesizer Albums (Review)

August 9, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Synthesizers of Many Colors: DG-10’s Golden/Green Synthesizer Albums (Review) Share this

Wow, I feel like I’m talking about Pokemon games with these color references. Back in December 2009, 5pb. Records published two unique albums titled Golden Synthesizer! and Green Synthesizer!, respectively. They contain remixes of popular music performed on the KORG DS-10 with three anime-inspired vocalists known as VCO, VCF, and VCA, collectively known as DG-10. Yes, it sounds weird, and it really is, and I would recommend checking out Jeriaska’s excellent interview with Masatoshi Nakamura and Nobuyoshi Sano to get a better idea of what this album is all about before jumping into this review.

But let’s get on to the music. I think you’ll be very surprised by what tracks are featured across these albums, and I can’t help but keep these on constant rotation on my iPod in the car, much to the dismay of my passengers. It’s just too funny not to.

Find out what I mean in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Culdcept II Soundtrack Gains a Level: Culdcept II OST Deluxe (Review)

June 11, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Culdcept II Soundtrack Gains a Level: Culdcept II OST Deluxe (Review) Share this

What’s with Japan and their insistence on confusing fans around the globe by not releasing the first game in a series, then releasing the second game without the “2?” Just as with the Final Fantasy and King’s Field series (and others), Culdcept shares this problem. While the first game came out in Japan on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation (and was later ported to the DS as Culdcept DS), the first title in the series to reach the US was Culdcept II which they decided to call simply Culdcept. Confused yet?

While Culdcept II received an official soundtrack release back in 2001, 5pb Records put out this Culdcept II Original Soundtrack Deluxe album, breaking up previously lumped together tracks into their individual parts as well as tossing in unreleased tracks and remixes from both Culdcept II and Culdcept Saga, an Xbox 360 title that was released in the US in 2008. I know it’s kind of complicated, but there’s some good music here from Kenji Ito, so let’s jump in!

Hit the jump for our review of the Culdcept II Original Soundtrack Deluxe album. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Koshiro Stretched Thin: 7th Dragon Original Soundtrack (Review)

May 17, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this

How did we miss this one? We couldn’t get enough of the Live by Piano and Strings: 7th Dragon Super Arrange Version album, but we somehow never got around to covering 7th Dragon’s soundtrack itself. Given how much I loved the piano and strings album along with the fact that this game was developed (and composed) by the team responsible for the Etrian Odyssey series, it would only make sense that I’d also love the game’s soundtrack, right?

As it turns out, this wasn’t a safe assumption. Does that mean I hated the 7th Dragon soundtrack? Well, not quite, but I’m not going to give away all my thoughts before getting to the review. This is certainly a mixed bag from Yuzo Koshiro.

Read our review of the 7th Dragon Original Soundtrack after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

The Dawn of Basiscape: Odin Sphere Original Soundtrack (Review)

May 12, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

For Hitoshi Sakimoto, 2007 was one of his most prolific years as a composer. He commented on this particularly busy year in our recent Blast From the Past interview that we republished just last week, with titles that included Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Grim Grimoire, Deltora Quest, ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Opoona, and Odin Sphere. It was a good time for Sakimoto fans, and to make the year even more important, 2007 also saw the beginnings of Basiscape.

Odin Sphere also marked the beginning of Sakimoto’s partnership with Vanillaware, who Basiscape would go on to collaborate with on the Muramasa soundtrack that we thoroughly enjoyed earlier this year. Interestingly, if you look at the back of the Odin Sphere game case, you’ll see that Sakimoto’s involvement was used as a selling point for the game, although they misspelled it on the original version of the game (it’s corrected on my greatest hits copy). In any case, this was an interesting score given this time of transition, but you’ll have to read our review to find out whether this played in favor or against of the score.

Hit the jump for our review of Sakimoto and Basiscape’s Odin Sphere soundtrack! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Extra EXTRA: Hyper Game Music Event 2007 The Live Album Vol. 1 (Review)

May 7, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

Man, where is EXTRA 2010 already? If you don’t know what the EXTRA – Hyper Game Music Event series is, you should! It’s only one of the most amazing gatherings of videogame music composers in Japan, where they perform live in front of thousands of fans. We reviewed the EXTRA –official compilation- album just last month, and Justin provided extensive coverage from the 2008 event. In 2009 the series was swallowed up by Video Games Live, and I have no idea what’s going on for 2010.

This album, however, is a partial archive of the 2007 event. You notice from the title, it was released as Volume 1, and while Volume 2 and a live DVD were planned, they never materialized, likely due to copyright issues. We do, however, have this fragment of history, featuring 7 different sets spanning 2 discs. They’ve captured some of the best performances of the evening, as well as some of the most… well, strange.

Find out what made the cut in our Hyper Game Music Event 2007 EXTRA The Live Album Vol. 1 review (whew, that’s a long one) after the jump! (more…)