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Chip Music, Featured, Game Music, Reviews

Give It To Me Straight: SQ Chips 2 (Review)

September 27, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

Purchase SQ Chips 2: CDJapan | Play-Asia

Without question, SQ Chips was a success for Square Enix. Fans loved it, critics loved it, and it apparently sold well enough in Japan and worldwide to not only do a sequel album, but to also dig deep in the chiptunes scene and create separate chip-arrange albums for Final Fantasy VII through XI.

I’ve probably said this in other reviews, and I’ll say it in this one as well: if you’re going to milk a franchise, and/or you’re going to milk an arrangement style for your franchises, it’s not necessarily a bad thing as long as it’s done right! Look at Falcom, after all. The Ys series took on a life of its own in the world of music; Falcom rewarded eager listeners, and in turn, Falcom was rewarded for providing high-quality music. Win-win, right?

So, is SQ Chips 2 following in the convention of “win-win,” or do we have a series of phoned-in arrangements to try and hop on a burgeoning fad (the chiptunes scene)? I’ll “give it to you straight” after the jump. (more…)
Chip Music

Blip Fest Tokyo Announced: Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka As Honored Guest Performer!

March 30, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | 6 Comments Share this

I had the pleasure of attending my first Blip Fest last year as they expanded their event to be held overseas for the first time in Denmark. Having been a longtime fan of chip music, I always wanted to see these people live and talk to the masterminds behind the many Game Boys and other consoles used to create their heavenly sounds. As we all celebrated with Danish beer and drunken Hally all through the night, hints at further concerts around the world were dropped.

And today, Blip Fest announced their next show, to be held in Japan! As with the Europe concert, they will bring in various chiptune artists from around the world, and as of now you can expect Bit Shifter, Hally and YMCK with NOCARRIER on graphics to mention a few. Most interesting out of the announced names, however, is Hip Tanaka, the man responsible for the Metroid soundtrack and many other Nintendo classics. It looks to be like an amazing event, and all names aren’t even revealed yet! It is scheduled to take place at Koenji High, Tokyo on September 4th and 5th.

For more info go to Blip Fest Tokyo.
Chip Music, Japanese

Awesome Song From JulieHally: L.E.D. Nation

December 14, 2009 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

Hally is awesome. You’re used to Audun telling you that. But just so we’re clear on this, pretty much everyone who writes for OSV enjoys (or at least *ought to* enjoy) the work of this chiptune mastermind.

Most recently, you heard Hally (among others) remix classic Mega Man themes on the album Chiptuned Rockman. Now hear him alongside Julie, a renaissance woman of pop culture, in their new band. “L.E.D. Nation” is the new hit single on the “256 e.p.” – which was released November 25th. A full JulieHally album is in the works to follow up the 256 e.p.

Enjoy the music video? Let us know about it!
Featured, Game Music

A Talk With G.O.D.: Yuji TECHNOuchi Interview

December 3, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 4 Comments Share this

OSV’s Soundtrack of The Month in October was SD Snatcher for the MSX2. This title along with Pennant Race 2 and Rune Master 2 are special to me because, as I explained in that article, every summer I would travel to my friend’s house who owned an MSX2, a rarity here up north. One of the men behind that soundtrack, Yuji Takenouchi, or TECHNOuchi as he refers to himself, went on along with the other members of that sound team to great fame in Konami, eventually doing titles such as Space Manbow, X-Men and Mystic Warriors.

He has since left Konami, and after a lengthy hiatus returned to the game music scene doing arrangements on PSYVARIAR The Mix, dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU and Mushihimesama Double Arrange Soundtrack CD which is due out this month. He also made big headlines when he announced the creation of Video Game Sound Creator’s Alliance (Ge-On-Dan/G.O.D.), a new group dedicated to make the bond between game composers stronger and raise awareness on their works. We had the pleasure of speaking with TECHNOuchi on the future of G.O.D and what they seek to do musically and professionally, and talk some about his classic works.

Please enjoy our interview with the ever amazing Yuji TECHNOuchi! (more…)
Chip Music, Game Music, Reviews

Rockman Re-Chipped: Chiptuned Rockman (Review)

November 23, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 6 Comments Share this

Fall ’09 has been absolutely fantastic for game music. We’ve seen fantastic concerts like Symphonic Fantasies and the announcement of upcoming shows like Castlevania: The Concert. We’ve seen great releases like the 5 disc Bayonetta release, which oozes style in production and presentation, and we have gotten some amazing arrangement albums. Let’s stay on the subject of arrangement albums and think back just a few months. Metroid Metal, Retro Remix Revue Vol. 2, Piacom, Contra 4: Rocked n’ Loaded, all these have been released or are scheduled within the last few months of 2009. However, one album took everyone by surprise, both in name and in approach: Chiptuned Rockman.

I learned about Chiptuned Rockman early on in its production. I was filled with excitement at the thought of the project. After being told to expect more news in September, I buckled down and waited. Lo and behold, Chiptuned Rockman was released exclusively to TGS attendees that same month, and was then released to the public on the 15th of October. This is a special CD for me, as a number of my friends and favorite artists appear on this album; but I’ll try to leave my bias behind. Let’s pop this sucker in for a spin and see how it sounds.

The premise is simple: Mega Man songs re-arranged on the NES sound chip, the same chip used for the majority of the games in the original series. Find out if my chips were rocked after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

40 of Japan’s Top Game Composers Form Mega Alliance: Video Game Sound Creator’s Alliance

October 5, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 9 Comments Share this

Big news from Japan. It seems as though the majority of freelance game music composers from Japan have teamed up to form the Video Game Sound Creator’s Alliance. As to what that is exactly, I have no idea, but their membership list is quite impressive, including composers such as Hiroki Kikuta, Akari Kaida, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yasunori Mitsuda, Michiru Yamane, and about 30 others. The group was founded by Yuji Takenouchi, and our good friend hally is actually listed as the group’s executive adviser.

Pretty awesome, but let’s see what they end up doing. It sounds like the GANG of Japan if you ask me. Wonder if we’re going to see Nobuo Uematsu pop on this list any time soon! While the official site is still under construction, I recommend heading over and checking it out. It’s set to launch on October 19, 2009.

Hit the jump for the fully translated list of members courtesy of Square Enix Music Online. (more…)
Chip Music, Game Music

Chip Tuned Rockman: Mega Man chiptune arrange album announced!

September 17, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 8 Comments Share this

OSV’s good friend Hally just let us know that at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2009, a new Mega Man arrange album will be released, Chip Tuned Rockman! Newly arranged chiptune versions from all your favorite Mega Man games, and as if that alone isn’t good enough, look at the line up:

Chibi-Tech
Jake Kaufman [Virt]
Goto80
Ippo Yamada
Akari Kaida
Hiroki Isogai
Rushjet1
K->
Manabu Namiki
Saitone
hally
Zinger
Saskrotch
Ryo Kawakami
Nobuyuki Shioda
KPLECRAFT
Dong
USK
naruto
Manami Matsumae

Can’t get more epic than that. The inclusion of naruto especially excites me! naruto for those who do not know is one of the best NES\Famicom chiptune artists out there, from Japan. He is heavily influenced by Virt, so it’ll be interesting seeing how they differ on the same cd. The tracklist will span across the entire classic series, and the album will be available at October 15! Included will be a comic by Hitoshi Ariga. You can listen to a sample track at Inti Creates’s website.

Are you excited for this album? What other games should get a chiptune treatment?