Josh Whelchel

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…)
Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Indie Game Rhapsodies (Review)

February 21, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Indie Game Rhapsodies (Review) Share this Indie Game Rhapsodies (Review)

With the popularity of indie games and their soundtracks growing, there has also been a surge in arrangements and remixes of these works. In fact there have been a few new arrangers who focus on indie soundtracks specifically. One of these emerging artists is Brent Kennedy. His previous albums include arrangements for Danny Baranowsky’s music for Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy. Kennedy’s specialty is solo piano arrangements. His writing style can be best described as impressionist (think Debussy or Ravel) with a small dose of minimalist writing thrown in the mix. The covered tracks can vary from energetic and climactic to calm and relaxing. In this latest album, he once again demonstrates a similar musical range.

Unlike his previous work, this newest arrange album, titled Indie Game Rhapsodies, takes a sampling of different indie game soundtracks. The composers covered include Big Giant Circles, Alec Holowka, Jeff Ball, and Austin Wintory. The soundtracks being drawn from are an eclectic selection. Some are chiptune soundtracks, while others are originally orchestral. Kennedy takes each of these selections and transforms them into relaxing and mesmerizing solo piano pieces. The result is a collection of tracks that showcases some excellent game music, while presenting a more classical take on the material. (more…)
Featured, Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Back for more with FZ: Side Z (Review)

July 4, 2013 | Richard McDonald | 1 Comment Share this Back for more with FZ: Side Z (Review)

I suspect that when Disasterpeace started this remix project he got more of a response than he bargained for. Considering the popularity of FEZ and the high praise the music received, I’m not surprised that a remix project ended up spanning two “virtual” discs. FZ: Side Z is the second remix album based on the music from FEZ and released shortly after FZ: Side F. It follows along the same tradition with a multitude of remixes, a mix of DJs, performers and game composers; and, once again, it contains a huge variety of styles and genres, exceeding the previous album by seven tracks.

For my thoughts on the album, and links to purchase this bad boy, follow along after the jump! (more…)
Featured, Game Music, Indie Music

Introducing… STASIS CONCERTO

May 23, 2013 | Patrick Gann | 6 Comments Share this Introducing… STASIS CONCERTO

*All art assets, including the above logo, are work-in-progress and may not be representative of the final product

In my last post, I hinted at a reason as to why I could no longer act as managing editor of OriginalSoundVersion. Today, I reveal what that reason is: I’m throwing my hat in the indie game ring.

After the jump, I’ll provide some initial details about this project, including the key asset developers (art/music) and a rough timeline. But for now, let me make the following statements as the two key reasons why I can no longer be an active part of OSV:

1) Time management. I can only devote so much time to playing games and writing about games if I am also simultaneously trying to make a game (this also explains my waning activity on my personal blog Gameosaurus).
2) Conflict of interest. Those of you who go on to read this full article will see that many of the people I’ve recruited for this project are people whose works have been evaluated in the past (generally in a very positive light). To continue writing about their works, or the works of their professional colleagues and (real or perceived) rivals, would be inherently biased in a whole new way, since I am now working with them on our own project.

Again, OSV will continue to live on. But my focus for the coming months and years (should it take that long) will be on this exciting new Visual Novel game project. Details after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

2 Epic 4 U: GunGirl 2 OST (Review)

June 5, 2012 | Patrick Gann | Comments Off on 2 Epic 4 U: GunGirl 2 OST (Review) Share this 2 Epic 4 U: GunGirl 2 OST (Review)

I’ve never played GunGirl 2. In fact, I don’t even know where to go to play it, or its predecessor. I only know of it because the soundtrack is by Josh Whelchel. In fact, around the time this soundtrack came out, we did a lengthy interview with Josh about this soundtrack.

This, sadly, seems to be the fate of many soundtracks worked on by wunderkind/prodigy Josh Whelchel (though that likely won’t be the case for his upcoming project with Another Soundscape, Mojang’s Scrolls). Josh, a key member of the team who created the Indie Game Music Bundle, decided to toss this album in as a bonus. I’ve owned the CD version for years, but the digital version comes with even more tracks, as it’s not limited by the 80 minute max time allotted to redbook CD audio.

After the jump, why this ridiculously epic music is probably good enough to be used as a custom soundtrack for all manner of games (that’s a thing on the Xbox 360, I’m told). (more…)
Game Music

Original SoundCAST: Episode #012 (Bundle-Mania)

March 8, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

Wow, did this ever turn into a mammoth project.

For episode 12, we reached out and interviewed *almost* every artist who appeared on the Indie Game Music Bundle 2. You know, that big awesome one that netted you a bunch of great music? Yeah. We decided to keep interest in the movement alive by talking to all of these guys about their current projects. Interesting note: with the exception of Africa (and technically Antarctica), these interviews have us reaching to every continent on earth. Countries represented include Chile, Canada, Sweden, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, and (of course) the USA. Of course, most of them are probably at GDC right now.

First, though, I have some apologies to make:

1) We wanted to have a special segment with Jake Kaufman in this episode. Due to scheduling, and the fact that this episode is already absurdly long, we’ve decided instead to make that its own episode. So, no Jake interview here, but it will happen, and Jayson will be a part of it.
2) I (Patrick) talk waaaay too much. The saddest thing of all is that this 3+ hour episode would have been nearly 4 hours if I hadn’t made edits to my own rambling. But even with the edits, you’ll notice. And for that, I apologize.
3) During the interview with Module, you will occasionally hear my voice echoing. It’s a feedback loop problem; partially my fault, and partially the fault of our international Skype call.

Right-click and “Save As…” to download the episode. Below the link, you’ll find show notes. We didn’t name every individual song used throughout this super-duper megasode; just know that when you hear music below the talking, it’s either by the artist being interviewed or is being referenced by that artist, and music after each interview is always by the artist being interviewed.

Download: Original SoundCAST Episode #012

[0:00:00] Intro: music from Jake “virt” Kaufman (Mighty Switch Force, “Whoa I’m In Space Cuba!”)
[0:00:45] Josh Whelchel re: Game Music Bundle 2, Sharing Is Caring EP, current/upcoming projects
[0:27:15] Francisco Cerda re: Jamestown
[0:40:15] Jim Guthrie re: Sword & Sworcery, Children of the Clone
[0:50:00] Alec Holowka re: Aquaria, Alone In Dreams, other projects
[1:00:50] Kan Gao re: To The Moon
[1:13:43] Intermission re: our inability to schedule time with Tomas “Floex” Dvorak and Jake “virt” Kaufman; also, Pat reads answers from flashygoodness
[1:20:30] Module re: Shatter, Imagineering
[1:36:50] disasterpeace re: Cat Astro Phi, Passcode, Rise of the Obsidian, FEZ, tons of stuff
[1:52:00] David Saulesco re: Eternal Daughter and its 10th anniversary
[2:05:00] A_Rival re: 8-bit Pimp, TMNT EP, plans for 2012
[2:17:00] Inverse Phase re: Shuttle Scuttle, past/current/upcoming projects
[2:37:00] C-jeff re: Preschtale
[2:45:30] Romain Gauthier re: SQUIDS, Edge, life in Japan, and how to pronounce his name (hint: it’s like this Gotye)
[3:02:05] Octopus Project re: Thunderbeam
[3:13:37] Outro: a message from us
Game Music, Indie Music

The Economizer: Indie Game Music Bundle 2 is OUT!

February 9, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 8 Comments Share this

We try to stick to a tidy schedule here at OSV. But if you’re reading the site right now, you’ll notice we’ve posted something at midnight. It’s a special something.

If you head over to gamemusicbundle.com right now, you can get in on a massive and wondrous sale. The details are below, but first a special plug: again, if you saw this post live, you’ll want to head to 8bitx.com and listen to the livestream, where Josh Whelchel and a host of other guests are just now revealing the bundle.

So here’s how it works. If you’re sheepish (or cheap-ish), pay the minimum of $1 and you get 320k mp3 versions of five absolutely fantastic albums:

Aquaria
Sword & Sorcery
To The Moon
Jamestown
Machinarium

Now look. For one dollar, that’s an incredible selection of music. Even if you have some of these already, any one of them is worth at least a dollar. Now, true to form to the previous bundle, there are all sorts of perks if you go above $10. At that point, all albums become available in FLAC and mp3. And the bonus albums are…

8-Bit Pimp
Mighty Switch Force
Tower of Heaven
Shatter
Cat Astro Phi
Passcode
Eternal Daughter
Songs For the Cure ’10
…AND MORE!…

Yeah, that’s right. When certain sales milestones are reached, more albums become available to everybody who purchased. I can’t name names, but at least one of the albums in the “unlock” zone is an album recently reviewed here on OSV. And it’s good.

Oh, and here’s the best part. If you’re a real charitable person, or want to think of this as some sort of crazy auction, there are incredible bonus items waiting for the top donations. I won’t give you all the details here, but I do know that the top contributor will receive the Shatter OST on Vinyl, signed by Module, and everyone in the top 20 gets the physical 2CD release of Aquaria among other fabulous prizes. So, it will pay to give more.

Well, what are you waiting for? Go buy good music!