Tommy Tallarico

Game Music

Christopher Tin Wins Big At Grammy Awards!

February 13, 2011 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

We just got word (thanks, Mario!) about two very exciting announcements. Perhaps you’re currently watching the 2010 53rd Annual Grammy Awards right now, but plenty of awards were already revealed…

You may have heard that, a few months ago, Christopher Tin was nominated for a Grammy award for the category “Best Classical Crossover Album” with his CD Calling All Dawns. The album, which was released in late 2009, just barely fit the early end of the window for this year’s Grammy’s. Many of us at OSV loved this incredible world music album, which opens with Civilization IV‘s instant-classic theme “Baba Yetu.” Well, that nominated CD just won. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see for yourself!

Think “Baba Yetu” wasn’t a big part of what helped that album win? While we’re not going to downplay the rest of the album (because it is all quite good), there’s no question that Baba Yetu is a hit. Want proof? The Baba Yetu single from Calling All Dawns also won a Grammy The category for this second win is “Best Instrumental Arrange Accompanying Vocalist(s)” (found on the second entry of this page).

So, in one night, Christopher Tin became a two-time Grammy award winner. That’s gotta be exciting! What does Tin have to say about it?

“The fact that this song has had a life outside of the game is owed almost entirely to Video Games Live. They were the first to bring this music to concert stages around the world and to places I had never dreamed possible.” In other words, I think Tin is happily sharing the award with the VGL folks for all the promotion they gave his award-winning piece of music (specifically during the Video Games Live: Level 2 tour). The love is reciprocated by VGL CEO Tommy Tallarico, who said: “We’re so proud of Christopher’s Grammy Award victory and what he has accomplished. This historic moment will continue to bridge the gap between mainstream music and video games. It is an honor to perform his music in our show.”

UPDATE: Check out Mr. Tin’s acceptance speech on YouTube!
Game Music, Reviews

Video Games Live Levels Up With CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray Release (Review)

November 17, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

Time sure does fly. I can’t believe it’s already been two years since we reviewed Video Games Live: Volume 1. While I enjoyed the debut album, I did miss some of the show standards including music from Nintendo and Square Enix. Well, that’s all behind us now, as the tracklist for Video Games Live: Level 2 (not sure why they decided to switch from volumes to levels) features music from those companies and more with the Blu-Ray/DVD release packing in even more music and extras for your enjoyment.

Wondering how Video Games Lives’ first live concert DVD turned out? Find out in our review after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Tommy Tallarico’s Color a Dinosaur Sound Board Editor Sells for $800

March 18, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Tommy Tallarico’s Color a Dinosaur Sound Board Editor Sells for $800 Share this

This is bizarre. Some guy buys a weird cart titled “Tommy T’s Sound Board Editor Greg Norman’s Power Golf” at a swap meet in Orange County for $1. He puts it up for sale with a lot of 3 other cartridges, and even creates a demonstration video of the cart in action, which is basically a screen with different adjustable sound parameters for what is actually Tommy Tallarico’s Color a Dinosaur soundtrack.

Tommy Tallarico sent us a message to explain more about this cart. Apparently he was a game tester for Greg Norman’s Power Golf, and erased the data on the cart to install the sound editor that he used to program the music for Color a Dinosaur. This is the soundtrack that Tommy consistently claims is his worst to date (although I don’t think it’s so bad). The cart went for $800 along with three other carts that also belonged to Tommy. If you’re interested, I highly recommend checking out the Color a Dinosaur page on his website (it’s funny), and if we ever get the video from GANG, we’ll someday treat you to a special performance of the Color a Dinosaur main theme by Norihko Hibino from last year’s GANG Awards.

Do you think this is an amazing find? Are you shocked by how much somebody was willing to pay for these carts?

[via Nintendo Age Forms, thanks Tommy!]
Game Music, Miscellaneous

Nevermind That Sh*t, Here Comes Maffew! (Botchamania Interview)

March 9, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | 3 Comments Share this

You might be asking yourself why you’re seeing Macho Man Randy Savage on OSV today. What did he ever do for game music? Well, not much, but he did release a rap album called Be A Man, which should have won a Grammy. Good music is always overlooked, and I should know, I was the only one who bought Hulk Hogan’s Wrestling Boot Band album, Hulk Rules, and it can be very lonely at times knowing that, let me tell you. But the reason why all of this is here today is because one of the top trending things on YouTube today is Botchamania.

What is Botchamania? Well, it’s a collection of wrestlers screwing up moves, lines, and everything else you could possibly screw up royally on in this world. For years he’s been one of YouTube’s most viewed members and his seemingly never ending videos always feature game music of the most famous and obscure nature. He was awesome enough to take the time to talk to me recently and even if you’re not a wrestling fan by any stretch, there should be some laughs for you here and in his videos!

Get to know Maffew of Botchamania after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Television

Breaking News: Video Games Live To Appear On PBS

December 19, 2009 | Patrick Gann | 4 Comments Share this

Ladies and gentlemen, the revolution will be televised.

That’s right. Tommy Tallarico’s infamous concert series, Video Games Live, will be broadcast across America via PBS. Unfortunately, it’s not a live broadcast.

On February 5th, 2010, at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, a new Video Games Live concert will be performed and recorded. Not just the audio, but the video as well. This will be a large-scale performance, featuring the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

The taped concert will begin airing on PBS sometime in June 2010. But for those of us who don’t want to figure out exactly when the concert is played on TV (or DVR the performance), the recording will also be released on DVD and Blu-Ray shortly after the month of June. Said video release will go hand-in-hand with the CD release of “Video Games Lives: Volume Two.”

Also, if you’re reading this news story and you live anywhere near New Orleans (or would like to visit), tickets are already on sale. Ticket prices start at $15. Don’t miss the opportunity.
Game Music

Earthworm Jim Crawls Out Of The Ground And Brings His Old Music With Him

September 30, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 1 Comment Share this

In August, Gameloft, who is probably best known for their cellphone games such as Chuck Norris: Bring on the Pain and Prince of Persia Classic, announced that they were developing a new Earthworm Jim title for XBLA, PSN and WiiWare. Many speculated if this was going to be a new entry into the series or a remake with updated graphic and music, and Gameloft soon confirmed that it was indeed a remake of the first title, released on all major systems in the 90s.

One of Earthworm Jim’s claim to fame was the brilliant soundtracks composed by Tommy Tallarico, who today is busy with the Video Games Live concerts. The remake is based on the SEGA CD version of the game, and will feature the SEGA CD score, which was easily the best out of many releases. The game will be released before the end of the year on every console through their digital game stores, with a one month exclusive deal to XBLA.

Do you feel it’s better left untouched after recent duds such as TMNT In Time: Reshelled, or would you want Gameloft to touch up the music as well?
Game Music, Reviews

Tales of Knighthood: Sonic and the Black Knight Original Soundtrax (Review)

May 6, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 6 Comments Share this

When I first heard about Sonic and the Black Knight, I thought it sounded like a questionable idea at best. It seems that many critics agreed with these first impression after the game was released, but I still had high hopes for the soundtrack. Composed by a large team of composers including series giants and newcomers alike, it definitely looked promising.

So, how about Jun Senoue, Tommy Tallarico, Richard Jacques, Howard Drossin, Yutaka Minobe, Hikaru Tanimoto, and a slew of performers on bass, guitar, drums, strings, violin, hurdy gurdy, and other instruments? Not quite as many composers as featured on the Sonic World Adventure soundtrack from earlier this year, but this one definitely gets some bonus points for the variety of talent alone. I hope you like rock music, because that’s what you’re going to get alongside some great orchestral music.

Find out if the Sonic and the Black Knight soundtrack is worth your time after the jump. (more…)