Electronica

Chip Music

Fill Up on RPG-Inspired Chiptunes & Electronic Music with Shadow Spirits Vol.1

April 18, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Fill Up on RPG-Inspired Chiptunes & Electronic Music with Shadow Spirits Vol.1 Share this

It’s always interesting when you see big names break into the VGM and chiptune music scene. Cody Carpenter, musician and son of legendary director and composer John Carpenter, along with game composer Mark Day (Diner Dash, Aqua Kitty) have done just that and released an album of RPG-inspired chiptune/electronic hybrid music titles Shadow Spirits Vol.1.

Carpenter has experience in the music world all his own, having not only co-wrote, co-produced, and performed on the acclaimed Lost Themes (2015) and Lost Themes II (2016) with his father and Daniel Davies, but also released five instrumental progressive rock albums and one synthwave vocal album exclusively on Bandcamp. 2018 saw the release of Cody’s first non-Bandcamp exclusive album entitled “Cody Carpenter’s Interdependence”. Now, he’s delved into the realm of chiptunes.

“I wrote the original versions of these tracks exclusively with the NES chipset. I then passed it over to Mark to arrange into the finished product. We were both inspired by classic game music, with myself also taking a lot of inspiration from the work of Vince DiCola.” – Cody Carpenter, Musician & Co-producer

The album features 14 tracks of original chiptune & electronic music, which lend themselves to the nostalgic themes of the 80s and 90s RPG classics and could easily be slid into any retro-style game and sound inspired.

<a href="http://scarletmoonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-spirits-vol-1">Shadow Spirits Vol. 1 by Cody Carpenter & Mark Day</a>

“Initially we were going to do a 4 track EP. But the tracks came out so well we decided a full album would be better. I suggested a classic RPG concept as I love the music of Nobuo Uematsu and Hiroki Kikuta and had recently played Final Fantasy VII. I arranged Cody’s pieces along with the pieces I had written using the Commodore SID chip for most sounds and a little Juno 106 here and there for warmth.” – Mark Day, Arranger & Co-producer

Shadow Spirits Vol.1 is currently available for pre-order on Bandcamp for $10 and will be releasing in full on April 24th.
Doujin, Game Music

Dark Electronica Super Metroid Album Released by Ghastly Ghost

May 3, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Dark Electronica Super Metroid Album Released by Ghastly Ghost Share this

If you’re jonsing for a taste of Super Metroid music on the heavier electronic side, artist Ghastly Ghost has released a new remix album dedicated to the game.

<a href="http://ghastlygh0st.bandcamp.com/album/super-metroid-ost-remixes">Super Metroid OST Remixes by Ghastly Ghost</a>

Hailing from Salem, MA, Ghastly Ghost puts a house trance-like spin on classic Super Metroid fans are familiar with. Those who enjoy dancable eletronica can check out the 19-track album streaming on the artist’s Bandcamp, and purchase the album at the Name Your Price tier. If you find yourself a fan of the artist’s flare, you can check of Ghastly’s music demo also on Bandcamp.

While I find some of the track arrangements to be a bit heavy for my taste, that album art really drew my attention and I give it a solid thumb’s up.
Game Music, Reviews

Shadowy Electronica Beauty with Oblitus Soundtrack (Review)

March 7, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Shadowy Electronica Beauty with Oblitus Soundtrack (Review) Share this

Let it never be said that 2D is dead in terms of ambient games. The advent of independent games has opened up new avenues for young developers who grew up in the mid-late ’80s and early ’90s to throw-back to the games we grew up with. With games such as Shadow of the Beast creating surreal atmospheres back then, and more recent games such as Dark Souls doing so in 3D, it’s the logical step to attempt combining elements of such games into new spiritual successors, both in terms of scenery and sound. That’s how you end up with games such as Oblitus.

(more…)
Featured, Game Music, Reviews

Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation Soundtrack (Review)

December 26, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 9 Comments Share this

Purchase: iTunes

There’s been a big to-do over Ubisoft’s popular Assassin’s Creed series, especially with the October release of Assassin’s Creed III. The game, the setting (American revolution), the concept and the music (Lorne Balfe, taking the reins from Jesper Kyd) were all recognized and praised in their own right.

But for me, the truly exciting piece of the AC franchise is the Vita-exclusive side-story Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. The game takes place in a tumultuous New Orleans, affected by the French and Indian War. The game’s protagonist, Aveline de Grandpré, is a French-African assassin (and a woman!). I am soon to be getting my hands on a Vita, with this game, and I am truly anxious to get started in this special chapter of the AC franchise.

The game’s soundtrack, also composed by a woman (the talented Winifred Phillips), is getting a lot of end-of-year attention. It’s already won one award (Hollywood Music in Media), and has been nominated for awards in various categories at GameZone, IGN, and X-Play.

After the jump, I’ll give you my impressions on this award-winning soundtrack. (more…)
Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Epic Repurpose! Capsized Soundtrack / [ Movements ] (Review)

September 5, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 3 Comments Share this

Indie ambient/electronic music composer Solar Fields (real name Magnus Birgersson) has released a lot of original albums, but he’s also no stranger to VGM (see our review of the Mirror’s Edge soundtrack). But, in 2011, one of Magnus’ 2009 albums got repurposed.

I talk about this all the time. Of all the “original” albums reviewed on OSV, how many times have I (or other reviewers) said in passing that the music would make for a great game soundtrack? Many, many times. Yet, how often does that happen? Almost never.

Well it happened here. Indie developer Alien Trap Games used the entirety of Solar Fields’ 2009 album [ Movements ] as the soundtrack for their 2011 2D platformer Capsized.

Having listened to the album separately, and having played Capsized through to completion, I have a lot to say about this music. Won’t you join me? (after the jump?) (more…)
Experimental, Japanese, Reviews

Time To Get “In The Collaborations” – Vol. 01~05 (Review)

August 22, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Time To Get “In The Collaborations” – Vol. 01~05 (Review) Share this

So baiyon released a series of four singles between December ’09 and April ’10, each one had him working with different artists. Of note to the VGM community was his “Hue / Saturation / Brightness” single (vol. 03) where he collaborated with Hip Tanaka.

The series seemed be over after the fourth volume. Nothing happened through the rest of 2010 or any of 2011. But then, in June 2012, baiyon surprised everyone by dropping vol. 05, “Take Away My Eyes,” a track that sounded so thoroughly like a PixelJunk Eden tune that one cannot help but wonder if this track was an outtake from PixelJunk 4am (a game whose soundtrack I’m still anxiously waiting for…).

After the jump, we’ll be exploring all five “In the Collaborations” singles and speculating on what might come in volume 06. (more…)
Indie Music, Japanese, Reviews

Electro-Nostalgic: baiyon’s “Like a School on Lunch Time” (Review)

August 21, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on Electro-Nostalgic: baiyon’s “Like a School on Lunch Time” (Review) Share this

I remember when one of my best friends introduced me to “noise” as a genre. He started me off with Hanatarash(i), a 1980s group featuring this dude who went by the name “Eye.” This was some pretty hardcore stuff. All noise samples, no tonality whatsoever.

Since then, I’ve heard “noise” albums with different layers or levels of tonality mixed with the non-musical sounds. Many of them come from electronic artists. I was a big fan, for example, of Michael Bross’ “Subway Meditations” — nothing but hand-picked samples mixed in different ways.

After the jump, we’ll take a look at one of baiyon’s contributions to the genre with his 2006 album “Like a School on Lunch Time.” (more…)