Dance

Game Music

Arrangement of the Week: Sub-Zero

June 19, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Arrangement of the Week: Sub-Zero Share this Arrangement of the Week: Sub-Zero

Welcome to our new series Arrangement of the Week. Every Friday we will take a quick look at an arrangement, remix, or cover of a videogame track. For the most part, we’re going to try to focus on some more obscure or lesser known creators for this series. We hope to share and examine a wide variety of genres, artists, and arrangement styles. With all that said, here’s this week’s track.

Our first Arrangement of the Week is “Sub-Zero” by artist Emunator. The selection is based off of the “Phendrana Drifts” track from Metroid Prime. The opening of the piece emulates the acoustic/synth hybrid sound of the original Metroid track. Ambient atmosphere effects can be heard in the back of the mix, and the piano plays the same material from the original soundtrack. However, about a minute and a half into the track, the piece transitions into something a little different.

At the 1’28” mark the piece launches into a chill dance version of the Metroid Prime tune. Many of the icy and glassy synth instruments from earlier remain, but a handful of upbeat dance beats and bass patterns kick in to give the music energy. I actually like that there’s not a big build up to the dance portion of this track. The transition is quick but smooth, and helped by the fact that the ambient/house portion is not much more intense than the mix’s previous section.

Another aspect that I enjoy about the track is the last section featuring Ergosonic on the acoustic guitar. This comes in after a wind down of the main dance mix. It’s a simple solo guitar part, with some of the atmosphere effect returning to help tie it into the rest of the arrangement. It’s a cool little surprise to the end of the track. Overall “Sub Zero” is a nice little arrangement of “Phendrana Drifts” that captures the tone of the original source material, while still transforming the track into an interesting house/electronic piece.

Are there any cool game music mixes, arrangements, or covers that you’ve heard this week? Let us know in the comment section below. You can listen to and download “Sub-Zero” on Emunator’s Soundcloud or at OC ReMix.
Chip Music, Featured, Indie Music, Reviews

Chipzel’s Dance Floor Domination: Spectra (Review)

February 17, 2014 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Chipzel’s Dance Floor Domination: Spectra (Review) Share this

There are plenty of chip music makers out there these days. I have respect for all of them — it’s difficult work, to be sure. But one person I especially admire is Chipzel. She broke onto the scene when she wrote the three-track OST for Super Hexagon. But she has plenty of original works out there too.

The latest among them is Spectra, released in September 2013. This full-length album was created entirely in LSDJ, so it’s pure Game Boy goodness. The nature of this album? I think the headline gives it away, but if you want a detailed report, as well as where you can pick up the album, keep reading!

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Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Boston Plays Indies (Concert Review)

October 22, 2013 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this Boston Plays Indies (Concert Review)

On September 14, the MIT campus hosted the second annual Boston Festival Indie Games. The one-day event featured games by local independent developers, talks by people from the game industry, and viewings of gaming documentaries. To end the event, a concert was held at the Middle East Downstairs, a small music venue just a few blocks away from the MIT campus. This concert, titled Boston Plays Indies, featured music by Deadbeatblast, Control Group, DJ Cutman, and the Video Game Orchestra. I had the chance to see the VGO (Video Game Orchestra) perform before and I was also familiar with the work of DJ Cutman, but I was not as familiar with either Deadbeatblast or Control Group. Having some idea of what to expect, I entered the club and took my seat for what ended up being a great evening of music.

Starting up the show was solo artist Deadbeatblast, a chiptune DJ from Toronto, Canada who’s setup consisted of two Nintendo Game Boys and a set of devices to mix and manage the audio being generated by the two handheld devices. All of the music was original work by the artist. No covers or remixes, but all of it created with the 8-bit sounds available to him on the Nintendo hardware. To describe the music as simply chiptune or 8-bit is too inaccurate and vague. Many of the pieces he performed had an aggressive and experimental sound, similar to what you would hear in industrial genre music. Even with this experimental vibe, Deadbeatblast’s tunes maintained a good steady dance beat that the audience could rock out too. A particular favorite of mine was “Hyperspace”, a piece that started with a simple pattern and steadily built up as he continued to stack more and more music elements into the mix. Pieces took sudden but brief shifts in tempo, incorporated improvised interruptions, and always kept me guessing as to where the music would go next. The performance was full of great rhythms, memorable moments, and some great chiptune sounds. He has definitely made a fan out of me. (more…)
Game Music

BLOODY EARS! Perfect Selection Dracula (Review)

October 29, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 5 Comments Share this

Castlevania Week continues (into a second week)! AWWWWW YEAH!

If you know Castlevania arranged albums at all, if you’re a long-time importer, there’s almost no chance you *don’t* know about the following album.

But, for the rest of you, I’m here to tell you about the worst album Konami ever published.

Maybe.

(“Maybe the worst”, not “maybe I’ll tell you.”) (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Exhausting Dance Formula(e): Break Blocks Original Mixtape (Review)

August 7, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

NOTE: We are giving away four codes to download this full album for free on bandcamp. To enter the running, all you have to do is a) leave a comment on this article OR b) retweet @OSVgamemusic’s link of this article. We’ll announce the winners ~~in 72 hours~~ on Monday!

Stephen White just released a mammoth-sized “mixtape” (OST + arrange) on bandcamp for the new indie game Break Blocks (from the studio Greater Good Games). This strange new rhythm-based block-breaking game was apparently in need of A LOT of music. And Mr. White delivered.

Can you keep up with this album’s pace? Is it all that good? What about those arranged tracks? These questions and more will be addressed after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Sonic as a Blue Blur: Sonic Generations (Review)

February 8, 2012 | Haroon Piracha | 4 Comments Share this

SEGA has had a very unsuccessful run with Sonic in recent years. I can indulge you in its past, pointing to failed franchises, the bad vocal music/voice acting featured, or just bad gameplay. However, that’s all in the past. From what I hear, SEGA has finally decided to listen to their audience — the result of listening has created Sonic Generations. So here is me making a big claim: I believe that Sonic Generations is the best Sonic game to have been published by SEGA in the last decade. The music plays a big role in the restoration of its franchise, representing a nostalgic feel with almost the entire soundtrack filled with arrangements of Sonic tunes from the past.

And the quality of these arrangements — it’s incredible! It’s a quality that shines above many official arrangement albums released by SEGA’s predecessors, (think Super Smash Bros.), a quality that says “I am SEGA, and this is how I remix Sonic.” It’s exactly this reason why the Sonic Generations Original Soundtrack: Blue Blur should also be praised as one of the best videogame soundtracks of 2011.

Want to know why? Read more after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Sega’s Yakuza 3 Soundtrack: Beautifully Hardcore (Review)

June 19, 2009 | Tim Sheehy | 6 Comments Share this

Yakuza 3–or Ryū ga Gotoku 3 as it’s called in Japan–may never see the light of day here in America, and that’s a real shame. It’s noticeably absent from the list of games that are to be shown on the E3 floor this year, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up hope. The game looks absolutely stunning, and has reportedly done quite well in Japan, though despite this, SEGA seems apprehensive about bringing the title overseas. This is no doubt due to the lackluster sales of the previous two titles in the series, which, in my honest opinion, is a shame. I happened to enjoy both games, and their soundtracks.

So here I am reviewing the soundtrack from the latest title in the series. It’s got a little bit of dance, rock, jazz, and pop, and every combination in between. If you’d like to hear my thoughts, join me after the jump.

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