Donkey Kong Country

Doujin, Game Music

GameLark Releases “Rarities” Tribute to Rare Composers

April 26, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on GameLark Releases “Rarities” Tribute to Rare Composers Share this

The video game music label GameLark has released a brand new album dedicated to the tribute of the music composers of the games released over the years by video game developer Rare.

Rarities is an album dedicated to the iconic composers of Rare that shaped an entire generation of gamers. Featuring tracks from classic games like Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Donkey Kong Country, as well as Yooka-Laylee, Rarities is sure to scratch that nostalgic itch. Rarities is fully licensed and available on iTunes and other digital retailers.

Featuring arrangements of the music from legendary composers Grant Kirkhope and Davis Wise (We’ll say Robin Beanland and Graeme Norgate too, since both composed Killer Instinct and worked with either Wise or Kirkhope on several other Rare titles featured on this album), Rarities is a 14-track dedication to years of game music memories.

“Rarities is an exciting cornucopia of some of the best platforming games, filled with electronic, rock, metal, and jazz interpretations of the goofiest soundtracks. From start to finish, every song will have you humming along and imagining the googly eyes and talking animals that brought these worlds to life.” – Ro Panuganti, album manager

You can check out Rarities on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music and streaming on Spotify.
Game Music

David Wise Announced as Composer for Snake Pass

February 14, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on David Wise Announced as Composer for Snake Pass Share this

Though neoGAF speculators had already guessed the composer’s name based on some livestreams, Sumo Digital has made it official by announcing David Wise as the man behind the music of their physics platformer, Snake Pass. Being inspired by classic Rare titles in design and visuals alike, it was a natural fit for David Wise given his history with the studio and longtime work on the Donkey Kong Country franchise. He even composed Snake, Rattle ‘N’ Roll on the NES which I can’t help draw a little comparison to given Snake Pass’ starring serpent.

“Once I played the game and saw the captivating world Sumo created, it set my mind on fire. I immediately began composing melodies, then worked with the team to develop these and nail down the feel of the soundtrack,” said David Wise. “We’ve ended up with something that not only pays tribute to the game’s classic inspirations, but also brings something new to the table, just as the game’s mechanics do!”

Check out two painfully brief snippets of Wise’s compositions above and then take a look at some of Sumo’s footage from the game. It looks delightfully Rare-ish with a vibrant world, cute critters and a really interesting gameplay mechanic. Snake Pass is due out in “early 2017” and will be hitting every major platform when it does including Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch. A soundtrack release will hopefully not be far behind.
Game Music

Community Question: What Is Your Favorite Remix of Aquatic Ambiance?

June 3, 2016 | Michael Hoffmann | 4 Comments Share this

During the past month we’ve asked our readers about the first game soundtrack they ever listened to and about the first game music arrangement that they had heard. This week, I’d like to pose a more specific question to game music remix fans out there. Since starting up the Arrangement of the Week posts on OSV last year, I’ve listened to a tons of game pieces reimagined and remixed into a variety of styles. As a result I began to notice a pattern in favorite tracks among remix artists. One of these trends is the frequent covering of Donkey Kong Country’s “Aquatic Ambiance” by composer David Wise. So the question for this week is: What Is Your Favorite Remix of Aquatic Ambiance?

It’s not hard to understand why this track in particular gets so much attention. The original’s ethereal tone makes it great for chill electronic interpretations like “A Hint of Blue” by artists Gibs and Mordi. At the same time the track’s memorable melodies make it a good candidate for metal covers like ToxicEternity’s “Aquatic Shrediance.”

While I’ve enjoyed a number of great ambient electronic and rock versions of the classic Donkey Kong Country track, I’ve also heard a few great acoustic versions. Gentle Love’s saxophone and piano duet interpretation off their album Perscription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies is one that instantly comes to mind. Part of the appeal to me for this version is the generous amount of time devoted to improvisation with the material, a feature which is present on the entire game arrangement album.

“Aquatic Ambiance” has seen many arrangements and there’s no doubt that I’ve heard only a fraction of what’s out there. Music remix site OC ReMix boasts sixteen different arrangements of the piece alone (as of this writing), and there are tons of other interpretations floating around on YouTube and Soundcloud. So do you have a favorite remix or arrangement of “Aquatic Ambiance” that you’d like to share? Tell us about them in the comments!
Doujin, Game Music, Reviews

Coming Up All 7’s – Part Seven by The OneUps (Review)

March 28, 2016 | Sebastian Urrea | Comments Off on Coming Up All 7’s – Part Seven by The OneUps (Review) Share this

The OneUps have just released their seventh studio album, appropriately titled “Part Seven”. The OneUps are a video game music cover band that performs arrangements of a wide variety of music, oftentimes in variations of jazz and rock styles. Their latest album, released just prior to this past MAGFest last month, continues this trend with new covers in a funk rock style. It includes a nice selection of songs, including some fairly familiar ones and some less so. Read on for the full review.

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Featured, Game Music

Arrangement of the Week: A Hint of Blue

July 31, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | 2 Comments Share this Arrangement of the Week: A Hint of Blue

There are some game music tracks that get much more attention than others from the game music arrangement/remix community. This seems to be particularly true of David Wise’s “Aquatic Ambience” from Donkey Kong Country. It’s not hard to see why it’s such a popular pick for reinterpretations. The original piece is, true to its title, ambient but also has a great melody that works beautifully over the textures and sustained music elements. So today I will be talking about one of my favorite arrangements of this piece.

Today’s Arrangement of the Week comes from artists Martin “Mordi” Lande, with Michael Gibs assisting on electric guitar. Their arrangement of “Aquatic Ambience” is titled “A Hint of Blue.”

The piece starts off quietly with a set of mellow synth pads, a panning synth arpeggio, and a few notes from a piano. Then at around 0’52” the piece builds up a little to the main melody on a gentle synth lead, with some light percussion added in. The mix continues to build a little at a time. Some vocals come in, the drums get a little heavier, and more synth textures add to the ambient chord progression. Despite the continuing inclusion of these new elements, the arrangement never loses its calming tone.

At around 2’34” the piece relaxes back down to the lighter synth pad elements. The more complex mix comes back though with Michael Gibs’s lead guitar taking the melody at 3’03.” The lead synth sounds actually trade off with the guitar every once and a while. Even when the guitar is taking spotlight, the mix still maintains this light and relaxing feeling. The combination of all these elements creates an enjoyable and interesting listening experience.

I think my favorite part of this arrangement is the way it winds down. At around the 5’00” mark the piece removes the percussion and guitar, allowing the focus to shift to the piano and strings. There are also some great touches like an echoing bell pad that further adds to the piece’s ambient tone. Definitely one of my favorite interpretations of “Aquatic Ambience.”

Do you have any favorite remixes, arrangements, or covers of “Aquatic Ambience”? Let us know in the comment section. You can listen to and download “A Hint of Blue” on OC ReMix.
Featured, Game Music

Game Soundtracks For Your Soul: Level Four

March 6, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Game Soundtracks For Your Soul: Level Four Share this

In this edition of Game Music for your soul, I am sharing some out of this world examples of Game Soundtracks that made an impact on me. Two in particular are the music from the PC/Nintendo 64 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire composed by Joel McNeely, and John Williams. The second is an alternate take on the music from LJN’s Nintendo classic Silver Surfer, and how it’s music would sound in an alternate universe. Do you have any fond memories of the music in these games?
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Featured, Game Music

Game Soundtracks for Your Soul: Level Three

February 27, 2015 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Game Soundtracks for Your Soul: Level Three Share this

In this edition of Game Music for your soul, I am sharing more examples of Game Soundtracks that made an impact on me. Interestingly, UK composer David Wise wrote all of this music. This time I will be sharing some thoughts on the Pause music of Battletoads, and Donkey Kong Country’s “Aquatic Ambiance”. Does the music from these games mean anything to you?

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