Brave Wave

Game Music

BRAVE WAVE Continues to release awesome music: Retro-Active Pt. 2 by Keiji Yamagishi is here!

February 6, 2016 | Ryan Paquet | 10 Comments Share this

After a year of exhaustive work, Ninja Gaiden composer Keiji Yamagishi is back again with “Retro-Active Pt. 2”, the followup to his chart-topper debut Retro-Active Pt. 1. The new album finds him exploring various styles and genres, in addition to a special collaboration with Ninja Gaiden II composer Ryuichi Nitta. “When it comes to musical expression, I believe there’s a greater potential to be found within the chiptune genre”, says Yamagishi about his new work. “I expanded on the ideas found in Retro-Active Pt. 1, and I tried to fuse different genres in an effort to make a unique soundscape.”

Brave Wave

You can listen to the new album which spans a total of 7 tracks below. I have listened to the whole thing already and can say that its a wonderful follow up to the first album. Stemage provided the guitar work for tracks 2, and 4 to 6. The seventh track on the album is a sweet remix of the album’s sixth track “Eastern Sky” by Saori Kobayashi, who is currently working on her next Brave Wave release TERRA MAGICIA.

<a href="http://store.bravewave.net/album/retro-active-pt-2">Retro-Active Pt. 2 by Keiji Yamagishi</a>

Retro-Active Part 2 is available at Brave Wave’s online store as a digital download for $8 USD. What do you think of this latest release from Brave Wave Productions?
Game Music, Indie Music

Brave Wave Podcast Launches, New Articles Reveal More on the Label

January 20, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Brave Wave Podcast Launches, New Articles Reveal More on the Label Share this

Brave Wave, the independent game music label, has been making more and more headlines over the last year and not just from the VGM scene. From their work in restoring Street Fighter II’s arcade soundtrack to giving veteran composers new outlets for their music, Brave Wave seems to be accelerating in quality, quantity and breadth.

But who and what is Brave Wave? Their website gives only the most basic, PR Approved overview but the full story is now coming to light. Several articles over the last year have highlighted the label, largely surrounding their work on Street Fighter II. FACT Magazine posted an extensive interview with the team and went on to name them one of the 10 labels to watch in 2016. Most recently, Jeremy Parish from USgamer posted an excellent, massive article based on his time talking with Brave Wave founder, Mohammed Taher. It’s the most revealing look at the organization I’ve seen but if that’s too much reading for you then definitely check out Wavelength.

Wavelength is Brave Wave’s own bi-weekly podcast series that just launched on January 14th. The inaugural episode features Mohammed retelling much of the label’s unplanned development alongside Associate Director and Mixing Engineer, Marco Guardia. The episode is wrangled by Brett Elston from VGMpire and after the history lesson the conversation turns to the making of the Street Fighter II album, the influx of game music on vinyl and hints at what’s coming next for both the podcast and Brave Wave.
Chip Music, Featured

Keiji Yamagishi’s Retro-Active Pt.2 Coming February 5th

January 11, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Keiji Yamagishi’s Retro-Active Pt.2 Coming February 5th Share this

Keiji Yamagishi’s Retro-Active was originally planned as an overarching, three-album journey to be released across 2015. While we got the first installment on February 5th with Retro-Active Pt. 1 the follow up has taken a bit longer than expected. One year, to be exact.

Brave Wave has revealed that Retro-Active Pt. 2 will be released on February 5th, 2016 bringing listeners back to Yamagishi’s “futuristic emotional chiptunes world”. Along with new solo tracks the famed Famicom/NES composer will be teaming up with Ninja Gaiden II composer Ryuichi Nitta. The first track from the album, “Chaotic Code”, will be released on January 14th to give listeners a taste of Part 2’s sound in advance of the full album release on February 5th.

For now we’ll have to settle for the new album art above which is a continuation from Part 1. That’ll make for one sweet panorama once the final part is released. Are you excited to finally hear Retro-Active Pt. 2? Did you pick up the original album or the remix album? Let us know in the comments below.
Game Music, Music Production, Reviews

Street Fighter II The Definitive Soundtrack (Review)

December 26, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | 6 Comments Share this

What is Brave Wave’s Street Fighter II The Definitive Soundtrack? It isn’t a remix album and it isn’t necessarily a new arrangement of the music, although you could easily be convinced otherwise. It’s the first in the label’s Generation Series that aims to painstakingly revitalize some of gaming’s unreleased, incomplete, or poorly preserved soundtracks. For Street Fighter II that meant making new source recordings directly from Capcom’s CPS-1 (Street Fighter II) and CPS-2 (Super Street Fighter II Turbo) arcade hardware.

A lot of work went into cleaning up the recording before it was finally mixed and mastered and ultimately signed off on by original composer, Yoko Shimomura. Did the months of delicate, elaborate work pay off? Play the side-by-side comparison within and know that you’ve never heard Street Fighter II’s music so clearly before, and not just because you aren’t in a raucous arcade.
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Game Music

Brave Wave has more Street Fighter Vinyl & 40% Discounts

November 30, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | 1 Comment Share this

To say that Brave Wave’s astoundingly lush, 4-LP Street Fighter II vinyl release was “highly anticipated” is not a minor understatement. By the time I realized the albums were even on sale, they were sold out. The supply wasn’t necessarily limited either as the release jumped quickly to #1 on Bandcamp’s weekly sales charts. In response, Brave Wave has opened up pre-orders for a second pressing of the album but even by the time you read this post they may very well be gone again.

As a combination thank you and consolation for the amazing demand for the album, Brave Wave is offering 40% discounts on the physical CD versions of the following three fan-favorite releases, delivered in time for Christmas to boot.

Heart Beat Circuit is the solo album of Brave Wave’s composer Smoke Thief, featuring collaborations with industry veterans Manami Matsumae (Mega Man), Saori Kobayashi (Panzer Dragoon Saga) and Takahiro Izutani (Bayonetta series). Checkout code: hbc40

Journey is the band project of Saori Kobayashi (Panzer Dragoon Saga) and Yumiko Takahashi (Suikoden vocalist). The album features new original music inspired by the Panzer Dragoon series of games, compositions from Crimson Dragon, Crimson Dragon: Side Story, and a special appearance by legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu (of Final Fantasy). Checkout code: journey40

In Flux is an East-meets-West music album that merges the two oceans together, featuring the musicians of Evanescence, Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden, Silent Hill, Panzer Dragoon, Sworcery, Spelunky and many more. It’s an album that celebrates the joyous nature of video game-inspired music, not constrained by genres or languages. Checkout code: influx40

I’ll be back with more coverage of Street Fighter II: The Definitive Soundtrack soon including the music itself and the 3-disc CD release that will ship in mid-December.
Chip Music, Game Music, Japanese

Listen to the New Sound of Street Fighter II

November 8, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Listen to the New Sound of Street Fighter II Share this

Back at the end of July Brave Wave announced the Generation Series that aims to remaster beloved, out of print and incomplete game music in excruciating quality. The first (and so far, only) album announced is Street Fighter II: The Definitive Soundtrack which is planned for release before the end of the year.

Since our original post Brave Wave have gone on to reveal some more details on the release. The album art has been updated (seen above), the playlist will include a staggering 100+ tracks encompassing the CPS1 and CPS2 versions of the soundtrack and the CD release will come on three discs. As previously reported, both the CD and vinyl versions will feature liner notes from original composer Yoko Shimomura and Polygon.com’s Matt Leone.

More importantly, they’ve released the eight comparison tracks embedded above that should give you an immediate appreciation for the work they’ve put into the album so far. On their vision for the new sound of Street Fighter, sound engineer Marco Guardia told Polygon, “We were trying to strike a balance between staying true to the song and it being authentic. We didn’t want to go overboard and mess with the sound to a degree that it sounds nothing like it used to.”

Take a listen for yourself and check out that Polygon article while you’re at it; there are some insights into Brave Wave’s process and the story behind the album’s origins.
Events, Game Music

Live Performances Revealed for RE:Play Festival

August 6, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Live Performances Revealed for RE:Play Festival Share this
It didn’t take long for the organizers behind the upcoming game and music festival, RE:Play, to lay out some more details. What was just a vague tease last week on Brave Wave’s twitter is now a much more expansive and exciting setlist. The festivities — including art, gaming themed drinks, cosplay, free-play arcades, signings and more with prizes from Gearbox and The King of Games — will be accompanied by music performances from:
RE:Play is happening on September 19th at The Hive in Houston, Texas. Advanced tickets are on sale now through their website for $15.