Archive for April, 2010
{ April 30, 2010 @ 11:05 pm }
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{ composer, game music, music, review, scores, soundtrack, VGM, world music }
{ Tags: Tom Salta } · { }
Tom Salta’s busy streak continues with the release of the latest PoP game, this time on the Wii, PSP and DS and Tom’s latest soundtrack.
Once again Salta’s penchant for mixing different cultures is very much brought to the fore. From the opening “Sacrifice” which opens with exotic instrumentation and vocal floatations and incantations, you are taken deep into a world with mixed influences where East meets West on a dramatic landscape. “The Stranded Castle” is a short track but fuses electronic beats with eastern fixtures and fittings for a powerful and industrial Arabian experience. “The Ancient Halls of Izdihar” however are much more ambient and dense in atmosphere and harsh dusty reality. The percussion used in the soundtrack as a whole is something quite beautiful and organic. “Taking the High Road” mixes the two previous tracks in tone and has a real drive and journeyman feel to it with its one note bassline and structured percussion.
“Breaking the Seal” starts to merge the mystical and orchestral into the mix with lots of jangles and heavily layered and then feathered out strings and keyboards. The song then flips into a real hardcore Persian Trip Hop track for a few bars before falling back to mysterium. “Clear as A Sandstorm” has all kinds of whispy soundeffects for a parched windy feel and here really see’s the Asian guitars take control for a track while swirling vocals slid in and out like a mirage. “Tourtered Souls” is more ambient with lots of drums and backwards voice snippets. It’s more tense and thrilleresque than the other tracks so far. “Ambush in the Caves” is not as fast paced for a battle track as I’d have thought it would be. It keeps the traditional boiiing-boing beat of Persia and features some great guiro sounds but actually is no more percussive and dramatic than the other tracks so far. “Warriors of the Haoma” is much more frantic however really pounding out percussion and dulcimers to signal a huge upping of the ante.
“Interlude I” is a wonderfully short but quite astral keyboard piece. It reminds me of something from Ico or Crystal Dreamscapes. “The Menagerie of Legends” is another very beautiful piece with lots of ancient guitars and lutes. It absolutely holds a history inside it, and the echoed production here really suits the music perfectly. Similarly “At the Palace’s Gates” holds the same regal and ancient qualities with its twisted riffs and slightly eerie chords. It’s a take I could happily listen to on repeat for 20 minutes and not notice. “The Peri” is another mystical track relying on the Arabic musical scale to up the charm and the spirit. It’s a great track to completely envelope you inside with its great use of wind instruments and astral vocalscapes. “Swarming” is a short build up track for “Challenge of the Beasts” which is another well constructed battle track that reminds me heavily of Heavenly Sword in pacing and structure. “Interlude II” is a short, icy keyboard note.
“Water Bearer” is quite clever in using percussion that sounds like water drops to make the track stand out. “The Dead City” is a bit more rockier and atmospheric than most tracks with big drums and empty keyboards. “Chase Through the Palace” on the other hand has a bounce in its step with its thin guitars and drums. “Roaring Fire, Lingering Smoke” is about as close to a sneaking theme as you’ll get on the soundtrack. It leads well into “Augur of Malice” that has a great detuned element to its instrumentation that makes it sound a little more kookier than the other tracks.
“Trapped” is more dramatic and intricate but follows very much the same line of thought as the rest of the soundtrack. There isn’t really much of a melodical edge to the soundtrack. There’s very little in the way of repeating riffs and so on, its much down to the feeling of the instruments and how they are played. The percussion really sets things up and the other instruments augment around the drums. “Falling Apart” is one of the few times where this is not the case with lots of real traditionally Persian instrumentation. “Regret” is more of an etheral piece with keyboards and ab lib vocal layers taking centre stage before “Interlude III” rounds off the short but sweet trio of ambient spacescapes.
“Harbinger of Gods” is quite underplayed with what sounds like a harpsichord playing in the background at times. The song reminds me very much of Dead Can Dance’s Eastern inspired tracks with its slow overtune and quick percussion underneath. “Lord of the Sea” has a lot of water based extras thrown in with electronic elements thrown in and twisted metal synths piercing the ear on occasion. “No End in Sight” and “Dance of the Veil” go hand in hand really as evolutions of each other before “Mah’s Void” takes interesting stance switching from ambient swirls to heavily manipulated tabla runs and back again.
“Sacred Ascent” is a real culmination of the whole soundtrack in an excellent four minute pilgrimage. It encompasses everything that’s gone on before and pulls it all together for a fine track. “The Earth Mother” is a vocal chant led piece with heavy drums slowing marching behind the leading lady. “Defying the Haoma” is more of a scowl than a chant before the epic “Final Confrontation” takes over for an excellent final battle track with melody patterns and increasing tension and drama as everything gets progressively faster during the track. Excellent stuff!
“Loss” is an etheral vocal cry and is very emotive with the heavy echoes and strong vocal delivery. That then leaves you with the massive nine minute “Credits” which combines the entire soundtrack into nine minutes of Tom Salta excellence.
Prince of Persia Forgotten Sands is a very interesting soundtrack because despite having very little in the way of melody and hooks, it holds a certain ambience and feel that keeps you interested. I’m sure having played the game, many of the tracks would surely take on a greater emotional meaning, as on first listen, there’s a lot of similar tracks that blend into eachother. What it does give you is a great pilgrimage soundtrack, one to make a mix tape of all the percussive tracks and then take on a road trip – you’ll feel like you’ve crossed the desert in a day!
{ April 30, 2010 @ 9:06 pm }
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{ arrangements, cover version, j-pop, live music, music, piano }
{ Tags: Abottchen, Ayumi Hamasaki } · { }
While I wait for Ayumi’s latest album to ship its way to me (I’ve not even heard a single yet, I’ve been so good) I’ve been really enjoying Abottchen’s piano covers of Ayumi’s songs. Abottchen are two guys who plays the same piano and covert so many of Ayu’s songs into magical piano tracks, and each go is faultless. Their arrangements are always really well done.
Jump over to their YouTube channel to have a listen.
{ April 29, 2010 @ 10:41 pm }
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{ game review, games, gaming, playstation 3, playstation network }
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Has a game ever made you feel physically sick? Give Hamster Ball a try… if you dare! Hamster Ball is essentially a very limited and frustrating game that promises much and only gives you headaches and dizzy spells.
The Concept
Poor Hamster. He’s stuck in his ball and has to make it down various highly coloured psychedelic mazes with traps in to make it to the other side before the clock stops.
The Gameplay
Essentially you control the balls movement and the is very close to the old classic Marble Madness. There are several modes. The main one has the whole track in 3D and you see everything coming at you from behind the ball. There’s the 2.5D Marble Madness view levels too which I actually enjoyed a lot more than the fully 3D ones as they don’t rely on quite such cheap frustrating tricks to throw you off the course. You have infinite lives on all variations of the game, its just you against the clock. There is a semo mode which is similar to Gladiators Atlasphere game for multiplayer kicks and racing against your opponent but its all clock driven.
The problem is that the physics are very inconsistent and so one minute you’ll be too fast, then too slow, then flying off in the wrong direction. It’s feels like the game is out to get you sometimes.
The Graphics
For a guy whose normally not a pixel whore, the is possibly the ONLY exception to the rule (except once for Street Racer on the PS1). The graphics make me feel sick and dizzy. Everything is high contrast colour, but its also swirls, waves, chequers and constantly in the 3D mode, you’re spinning around like a madman. It all combines to make me feel really unwell, so much so several times I’ve had to stop playing and leave the game, which was already getting on my nerves beforehand, and then come back the next day, only to get the same problem. As a result, I can only do about 7 or 8 levels a day max. Not good.
The Sound
The sound fits the cutesy mood although most of it is forgettable afterwards, it does nothing to offend at all.
The RePlay Factor
For the price, if you’re not wanting to throw up, you can have the game done in a couple of hours, which isn’t great value. This is a game for high score honours and if you can hold down your frustration. I found the insane difficulty of the courses would have been a great challenge, but when you go off track, you’re replaced straight back on again losing only a second or two’s time. You can usually go off 10 times and still beat the clock by 20 seconds. That then made the game a chore, on top of feeling awful while watching it.
The Positives
~Its a hamster…in a ball!
~The 2.5D levels do hark back to Marble Madness and that’s the best part of the game
The negatives
~Disorentating graphics made me feel very sick very quickly
~More frustration than reward
~A lot of repetition in the levels
The Conclusion
A completely missed opportunity. I really wanted to like Hamster Ball, but from the awful graphics that make you sick, to the sheer frustration as you think “I’m just trying to enjoy the game here”, you wonder why you are putting yourself through its paces when its more annoying than fun. Switchball is much more approachable with a better learning curve, Super Monkey Ball stamps all over Hamster Ball and Kororinpa is much more involving. Don’t roll with this one.
{ April 28, 2010 @ 5:57 pm }
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{ behind the music, behind the scenes, game music, instruments, making of, music, singer songwriter, VGM, whispers of the plains, world music }
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Playing the harmonica and jews harp, Corrin Huddleston has been used for various different projects as well as previously being involved in his own blues band. Here Corrin speaks about how he got involved on the Red Steel 2 soundtrack and about his weapons of choice:
You’ve been involved in quite a lot of projects over your musical career, how has the music industry changed for you as this is your first game project?
As a player I’ve had the good fortune to have worked on numerous and varied projects over the years. Unfortunately, it seems, the recording industry has changed dramatically in the last 5-8 years. All the PBS beds and jingle work and other things that had come my way have evaporated. I am not alone. Its another “new age” so I play whenever I can with whomever might require musical assistance.
How did you get involved on Red Steel 2 and how did you get on with Tom in the studio?
Tom found me through another musicians referral in NYC. What I can say about it is that he is really a brilliant fellow. Its pretty impressive when you walk into his studio and hear some of these tracks at performance volume. There is so much going on and it is all created through his ears. Layer upon layer and nuance upon nuance. Initially,as with many recordings nowadays, he had asked if I could record at my home and send it via internet to him. We live 5 minutes from each other in the same town….so I said why don’t I just come over? He agreed.
How did the Jews Harp then end up on the soundtrack?
Tom had in mind just some Country western form of harmonica playing but I always carry an arsenal of instruments to unknown sessions “just in case”. It was a good thing. After recording a few parts Tom inquired if there were any other unusual instruments in my bag. I pulled out the Bass Harmonica and an assortment of “Jews harp”..the very basic “twang twang” piece of metal you gently lay between your teeth and slightly opened mouth…and then pluck the “tongue” ( a thin flat metal piece) and breathe in and out from your diaphragm which creates a whooshing as well as opening and closing the oral cavity which. alters the sound so you can change the pitch. Then there is the Bass Harmonica which sounds like a didgeridoo but much lower and ominous and can be played in different keys. It weighs about 4-5 lbs.
Tom listened and asked for different lines to be played in various spots and recorded some other sounds for his library. He orchestrated one line with another and mixed them in and …..well he has a moving piece of art. Its great.
I am happy to be a part of of the Red Steel 2 soundtrack. Many times a musician may play on some music and it is very forgettable. Not this!!! This is just 100% very, very cool!
We’d like to thank Corrin for his valuable time and insight into the behind the scenes of making a soundtrack and wish him every bit of success in the future
{ April 28, 2010 @ 5:40 pm }
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{ behind the music, behind the scenes, composer, game music, interview, making of, music, soundtrack, VGM, whispers of the plains, world music }
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Tom Salta has been a busy bee of late but we were able to tie him down for a few minutes inbetween composing for various soundtracks to have a quick discussion about two of his most recent works. This first part of the interview is regarding the fantastic Red Steel 2 music, which we will be campaigning for a full release off very soon! Here’s what Tom had to say:
Congratulations on making such a diverse soundtrack for Red Steel 2. What initially inspired you to mix the old western movies guitar styles with traditional Chinese instruments?
Thanks very much. The initial direction came from the game and its developers and the unique fusion of these two worlds. The audio director at Ubisoft also had clear goals in mind for using the guitar as the main thread throughout the score. We discussed the idea of having distinctly Chinese and western instruments throughout the score.
Are their any particular challenges that come with mixing cultures and traditions when writing pieces for the soundtrack?
Absolutely. It took some experimentation to find ways to blend the authentically western and Chinese instruments to co-exist together in a way that felt natural.
Did you end up with any new favourite instruments coming away from making this soundtrack?
Yes, after a few difficult attempts, I’m now an expert Jaw Harp player {laughs}. But seriously, it was a lot of fun to have Min Xiao-Fen perform the Pipa the way she did. You will probably never hear a Chinese Pipa played that way. She was definitely jamming on that thing during the fight cues.
You’ve also scored for countless other games and films too. Do you have to approach the different types of media differently in order to score them?
Yes, very much so. I find scoring for traditional “linear” music-to-picture (film, TV, etc.) much easier than game scores. In linear MTP (including game cut-scenes to be fair), the picture, dialog and sound effects happen exactly the same way every time. You can score to picture and know instantly if your idea is working or not. In games, the music can change unpredictably from one moment to the next and so you have to think in a non-linear way and anticipate how various parts might connect with each other. This also means that most of the time you’re not scoring to a specific scene but instead scoring to the general mood of that scene.
Not one to have a rest, you’ve now released a solo album under the name “Atlas Plug”. It’s a curious name and I’m dying to know exactly what it means to you and how you came about naming yourself that.
You might notice that Atlas is my last name spelled backwards. We settled on “Plug” mainly because it just sounds good. But if you read into it, it’s very appropriate because “plug” is the opposite of unplugged…and Atlas Plug is definitely not a live acoustic album. Also, plug is another word for promote. And that’s one of the reasons I made this record.
What made you decide to create an album for yourself?
It was my final concerted effort to break into the games industry. That’s part of the reasoning behind the title track, “2 Days or Die”… meaning it’s either got to work fast or it’s all over. But I knew it would work with a clear plan, and I had fifteen years of experience in the music industry to back me up. When I decided I wanted to break into the games industry, I attended all the main industry conferences and observed everything and everyone. I got the impression that composers trying to break in were a dime a dozen, but artists were perceived as being much cooler. Not wanting to be perceived as just another newbie composer, I decided to brand myself as an artist and create an entire album of music perfectly suited for licensing in games, film and TV. This strategy ended up working out very well. Before completing the album, my publisher immediately started getting licensed placements in games as well as TV and film trailers.
For those people whom haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet, tell us a bit about it and what it means to you as an artist.
Atlas Plug is very special and personal to me. It’s the first time I’ve ever embarked on a pure solo project and created a unique musical identity for myself as an artist. I have to say it was both daunting and exhilarating at the same time. It was an amazing experience putting the project together and incredibly gratifying to see how much it has resonated with so many people.
Most people say it’s an inspirational album to drive to or just to stir up the creative juices. I’d call it high octane electronica with an orchestral twist. One of the aspects I’m most happy about is that even after seven years, the album still sounds current. In fact, you can hear the track “Halfway Till Bliss” in the most recent Toy Story 3 web trailer. Never in a million years would I have imagined hearing Woody say “Reach for the Skies” over an Atlas Plug track.J
Finally, what else do you have in the pipeline that you can divulge!
I can finally say that I’ve scored the new Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands for Nintendo Wii, DS and Sony PSP. It’s a score I’m very excited about. It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to score a Prince of Persia game and especially to write a score that allowed me to take a more artistic direction. The score has a sort of dream-like quality that evokes being alone in some far away land. It really takes you to another place.
And that’s exactly what we will be hoping to talk to Tom about again very shortly in the second part of the interview. Atlas Plug is available over at www.tomsalta.com
{ April 25, 2010 @ 9:56 pm }
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{ acoustic, music, news, piano, piano pop, piano rock, pop, release dates, rock, singer songwriter }
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Sarah McLachlan doing upbeat and happy?! Well I be damned! New single “Loving You Is Easy” is available to listen on the faithful tube here. It comes from her new album “The Laws of Illusion” which is due out in America on 15th of June.
{ April 25, 2010 @ 9:48 pm }
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{ classical, composer, concert, gigs, music, news, orchestral, scores, soundtrack }
{ Tags: michael giacchino } · { }
We all know him somehow, but Michael Giacchino is busy preparing for a one off concert of Lost music ahead of the final ever episode of the show. Entitled “Lost Live: The Final Celebration” they’ll apparently be a preview screening of the second last episode straight after the concert. The concert itself will be on 13th May at the Royce Hall, LA and will also have some of the series stars there too. There’s a great behind the scenes piece of the first Lost concert Michael did on the season 4 boxset of Lost.
{ April 25, 2010 @ 2:12 pm }
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{ arcade, game review, games, gaming, playstation 3, playstation network, xbox 360 }
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A welcome return of an old on rails shooter, After Burner Climax embraces all that is arcade in this revamp for PS3 and XBox360.
The Concept
A nuclear war! Always a good one to blow everything to bits. Not that the story occupies more than 30 seconds of time in the game it says to be said, this is pure altitude combat all the way.
The Gameplay
Anyone who’s played an old After Burner game will feel right a home (I’m old enough to say I played the original in an arcade..eek). This is a shooter that is strictly on rails – no roaming at all – you will go forward and forward only. This however sets you up for an absolute power surge of planes, missles, turrets, caves, explosions, harriers and everything inbetween to fly right at you, leaving you to shoot, dodge or quite often, die! There’s around 15 stages each with its own graphical style and certain enemies. You use one button to fire your gun and one to file your limited amount of missles, that replenish quickly if you leave them alone. The whole game runs at such a massive speed however you will be struggling not to just hold the missle button down! Quick reactions and ability to see two incoming missles ahead are really what will get you through. The whole new addition this time apart from the big graphical update is Climax mode, which effectively slows everything down to a slow-mo for a couple of seconds allowing you to quickly take down several enemies all at once and giving you a moment to breathe.
The Graphics
Quite simply, After Burner Climax is absolutely stunning graphically. From the sheer speed everything flies at, to the gorgeous backdrops to keeping every detail in a 360 barrell roll, Sega have really done themselves proud and it looks like being one of the most graphically impressive games as a download on PSN/XBox360.
The Sound
In a nifty extra, you can choose the original After Burner II soundtrack or the updated one. You don’t get to hear it though as there’s so many explosions going on in the game the music is somewhat drowned out. The effects are very arcade styled and so its very grizzy and over the top to suit the whole style of gameplay.
The RePlay Factor
After Burner Climax can be completed in 20 minutes. That however is missing the entire point, as there’s different routes you can take at times, plus there’s an EX Options mode that unlocks bits you can change as you go. It’s one of those games where you will get the most enjoyment out of it if you’re prepared to learn level by level and try to 100% each of them. If you’re not one of those gamers, you may struggle to justify the price for the time.
The Positives
~A fantastic update of a classic series that keeps the heart of the original
~Graphical and sensory overload
~Has that frustrated “one more go” edge
The Negatives
~20 minutes of game for £7.99?!?
The Conclusion
While the new climax feature doesn’t really do much to the actual game, After Burner definately deserves everyones attention. The problem being is that a game lasting only 20 minutes in this day and age is not on. To get value out of the game you need to go back and shoot down everything to get 100% and that will take a long, long time if you have the patience to do it. This is a great game, while it lasts, and anyone who has fond memories of the old generation games or arcades in general, could do an awful lot worse than pick up After Burner Climax.
{ April 25, 2010 @ 1:51 pm }
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{ game review, games, gaming, playstation, playstation 3, PSP Mini }
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Having just had a field day on PSPS Mini’sI felt compelled to tell everyone about this fantastic little game. Full of silly humour, great visuals and a very simple gameplay mechanic, Monsters (probably) Stole My Princess is the perfect quick 5 minute game.
The Concept
You play The Duke, who suddenly finds his Princess has been stolen and assumes every monster in the area took her. Now its time for payback and double jump those monsters to hell!
The Gameplay
The game plays like Rainbow Island in a way. You need to jump from platform to platform as the monster climbs up the playing field. You need to catch up with it and double jump into it three times to take it out. The crux and the catch is that the area to catch them in is quite small so you need to constantly plan ahead. Of course it’s very easy to do but if you want high scores and to see special moves and extra areas you need to rake up combos. Each platform you land on consecutively adds a point to your combo. If you fall down or land on the same platform or a lower one you’ve already been on before, you lose your combo. Much of the gameplay here will involve trying to max your combo as a high as you can get it as the higher the combo, the more dramatic the finishing move at the end of the level is going to be.
The Graphics
I loved the cartoon graphical feel and the cut scenes are really well done. There’s no slowdown whatsoever as well as things do go at quite a pace.
The Sound
Lots of gothic organs and vinyl pianos at the ready here but all of the highest quality. Everything sound wise and effect wise really compliments the tongue in cheek humour perfectly.
The RePlay Factor
Here is the only down side. There are only 5 mandatory levels and you can have the game completely in 10 minutes flat. I’m not the worlds best gamer and I only had to have a few go’s at the final boss, everything else I passed first time. The big pull here is all the extra bits you can go back for via score attack mode, that then unlocks awards in game. However if you’re not going to sit and memorise the jump order to get perfect combo scores, you might find this game far too short.
The Positives
~Great humor and tone
~Graphically excellent for a PSP Mini
~Simple to learn, hard to master
The Negatives
~One of the shortest games I’ve played for a long time
Conclusion
Monsters (probably) Stole My Princess is a riot… while it lasts. This game purchase is purely down to if you prefer style of substance at times or if your a gamer that is not satisfied until you’ve mastered every level for a gold medal. If you fall into these catagories, you’ll love this simple, effective and fun platformer.
{ April 15, 2010 @ 7:59 pm }
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{ acoustic, composer, game music, guitar, music, music fusion, opinions, review, unreleased songs, VGM }
{ Tags: Tom Salta } · { }
Something of a coup HPM has today, is the access to the seemingly never to be released Red Steel 2 Soundtrack. Ubisoft – we will start a petition! Tom Salta’s beautiful soundtrack needs to be released to the public…yesterday!
A strange hybrid of several genres, Red Steel 2′s soundtrack is never boring. “Red Steel 2 Theme” opens like a sundown showdown from a Western. Tumbleweed, whistles, clicks and twanging guitars are at the ready for this atmospheric opener that slinks its way into your speakers. It suddenly breaks out into a Wild ARMS-esque finale section at the end with flowing percussion, chinese instrumentation and light vocal chants.
“Kusagari Blues” makes you remember why the blues were called the blues in the first place. It has a very isolated feeling to its intricate workings and is a beautiful piece. “Caldera Trap” is more frantic with lots of shrieking Shakuhachi and some very fast paced Chinese percussion. “Desert Secrets” is more desolate with its echoes and whistles setting the scene like you can only see yourself in a massive panaramic landscape.
“Ninjas in the Mine” has a real bounce to it as the Pipa and Fue really come to the fore and the blend between East meets West really starts to absolutely shine in these tracks where you have the Western guitar twanging over an undercurrent of traditional Chinese instrumentation. “Let’s “Dance”" is more ragtime to the dosey-doe! The harmonica playing here is exceptional, as the violin – going along at a meaty pace. You could do a whole barn dance with this track alone!
“Pursuring the Shadows” is more dramatic with its tonal qualities, although the previous tracks haven’t been a picnic either, but this is going for the drama more than the previous ones with its heavy percussive smashes. “Into the HQ” sounds like it’s using a Jew’s Harp in there somewhere which gets the automatic thumbs up from me! It’s another high octane easts meets west fusion and Pipa player Xiaofen Min deserves a special credit for playing one of my favourite instruments so well!
“Enforcers Mood” is more ambient atmosphere with spacious cold clangs and echoey shakuhuchi’s langishing behind brooding electric guitars. This song feels more arabic than everything else so far in places. “Back to the Old Temple” however is the one track in what is generally a very fast paced soundtrack, that is a place of solace. It’s beautiful jangles and vocals layered with encirculating chords from the guitar, pipa and fue, all complimented with tuned percussion – bliss.
“Invaded City” returns to the more cowboy side of things with a guitar heavy track with lots of finger sliding that makes a western a real western. It holds great presence in your ear when its done right like it is here. “Vultures’ Prayer” has a manic little electric guitar riff as it interacts with the vocals and the chinese instruments. The boing of the Jew’s Harp is back, and so the energy really bursts through in this track. “The Ghost Town” takes the previous energy and then uses the solomn whistling of a lone ranger to be layered over the top. The result means the short track packs a bunch whilst still having a sad element. “Sheriff Judd” is another short track that’s led by tuned percussion and the jews harp which is a nice interlude. “Ambush” starts off atmospheric before bursting into life with an army of drums and a fist full of basslines to keep you more than tapping your foot to the beat.
“Opening the Water Gate” is another track full of glitter and jangles although it has a more mysterious and forboding edge to it, especially when the pipa joins in for its solo. Then for the last fourty seconds, the taiko-esque percussion booms in for a big climax. “Roots at Night” for a while feels like the soundtrack has suddenly gone electro-western with all kinds of a computer wizardary involved rewinding and reverbing noises back and forth. It makes for a disorientating track that feels different and unique to the rest of the collection and therfore stands out as an ambient highlight – especially with the drum n bass beats diving in at half time!
“Canyon Melody” is a guitar based track that’s then embellished with all the chinese instrumentation over the top and this track really feels like a roadtrip track, or one that signifies a long journey – it just has that weary feel to it. “Poisonous Wind” has thick atmosphere with the woodblocks knocking away and the whispering voices far off in the distance.
“Exploring Caldera” is the only song over three minutes long and that is because it encompasses the entire ambient side of the soundtrack in a single piece. From its guitar string scratches and wind instruments leading the way to the owl guiros and clappers in the background, it paints a desolte desert picture. Fantastic. “Fight With the Snakes” is a minute of pure adreneline as the track goes for the simple two chord rising trick but its completely effective with all the instruments pounding away. “First Tension” is a dusty guitar riff driven track with long pauses between each line as if you need to swallow after each one. “The Old Mine” is an underplayed ambient piece where the woodwind comes to the fore and the final track of this masterpiece “Tamiko” rounds off in a ragtime piano led track that reminds me so much of a cleaned up Silent Hill 3 track its quite spooky and completely removed from the rest of the collection.
I have absolutely no idea why this hasn’t been released! It’s amazing from start to finish. The complete fusion of cowboy meets 3000 year old oriental mage in a studio is phenominal. The way how everything blends seemlessly together in the desert environment is a stroke of genius and Tom Salta has produced a unique soundtrack I will return to time and time again. We will be starting a petition!
{ April 15, 2010 @ 7:08 pm }
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{ 8-bit, composer, game music, music, review, VGM }
{ Tags: Meiko Ishikawa, Yuzo Koshiro } · { }
Dragon Slayer IV is not a game I have played but then with many OST’s, I have not really hand first hand experience of the games. This soundtrack is a real old skool sounding one, having been released back in 1987. The casette is quite rare to find these days but knowing the composer is Yuzo Koshiro along with Meiko Ishikawa should be the seal of approval everyone needs to know this is going to be good.
The “Opening Theme” is nice and pleasent but doesnt really have a hook. “Inn & Residence Theme” however is very catchy and up tempo song that is uplifting. It uses a bass key to make a strong beat and it really makes the song.
“Select Screen” is an echoey piece that uses long, thin snyth sounds to make a beautiful opening to the song before a drum beat starts up and some cute high pitched arrpegios take centre stage. The “Overworld Theme” has a strong theme to it and uses a bass synth for a military drum line which helps it through.
“All Together Now” is a manic song that has a slow enough melody but has fast pulsating basslines around it which go back and forth between each speaker giving a marvellous effect. Interestingly “Shop Theme” is actually faster! Taking away the bassline and replacing it with a speedy drum track. After around 40 seconds the track stops and then a new, slower song starts with a strong tune again and shows that the older tunes can still mix it with todays technology.
“Theme Of Xemn” is a fantastic song. Its rich with tune, tempo and bass. Dragon Slayer 4 has its sound very much in the speakers making from a slightly ear piercing high end pitch and very bassy low end tone all at once. Here it really works in its favour and shows off a classy song. “Battle Of Tarantuness” also benefits from this sound producing but have the most bizarre effect I’ve heard in a while. In stereo – one speaker has the tune and the other the bass. Upon every new line or two, they swap speakers! Its very original and makes for a dramatic song to be upped in action even more. Tremendous stuff!
“Theme Of Pochi” is a complete change. The tune is very catchy, playful and churpy. The drums and synths work very well together here too. After a minute the song changes again to a more dramatic piece that too uses stereo sound to convey itself very well.
“Battle With Erebone” is like a hyper song that goes up and down three chords at high speed before a spooky but jalting ending. Its more a piece of art than a song and takes a few listens before you’ll love it.
“Theme of Lyll” is enjoyable and reminds me of an old cowboy film when the lone ranger rides across the land and you get the music in the background! Another very well done song. “Battle With Archwinger” also works well with a more conventional battle piece with strong melodies.
“Theme Of Meya” is a strange beast. The instrumentation is very forthright but the song itself is actually fairly happy and so is hard to judge for a while and takes repeated listens to understand. A good song nonetheless though.
“Battle With Rock Gaia” is only a 30 second song and suffers from a lack of bass for a battle song and not enough time to get into it. “Dragon Showdown” however gets it perfect and is right into the swing of things before letting out some sound effects which sadly marr the second half of the song. Its good to have sound effects in places, but it really goes into overdrive!
“Ending Theme” is a delightful track full of bursting energy while “Teatime Melody” is the calm track of the album with a nice village town track with good use of echo. Even the short “Death Theme” has nice neat touches to it!
“Theme Of Roas” is a quick little number that like the Ending Theme is full of energy and a catchy tune. To round off the album you have a quick run through of all the sound effects which are run to the background of various pieces of the OST.
Dragon Slayer 4 OST is the kind of music that could be easily regarded as classic old school VGM. It has character, catchy tunes, big meaty synthersizers and all done on a shoestring budget. If you want to go back to the heart of VGM, this is one place where you can start and for the rest of us, you can enjoy some high quality music. Superb!
{ April 15, 2010 @ 6:49 pm }
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{ game music, j-pop, music, pop, review, singer songwriter, VGM }
{ Tags: Utada Hikaru } · { }
“Hikari”, the theme song for Kingdom Hearts (A PlayStation 2 Game) is a delightful song sung by young Japanese sensation Utada Hikaru. Refreshingly for a main theme, it’s not a ballad; it’s a pop song. With a real beat and a catchy chorus, Hikari can easily be ranked up there with the great vocal theme tracks for anything.
For the single, the Japanese version is used, and while the actual song only differs by a few vocal notes in the chorus to the English version, it still comes across as as fresh and delightful as this is actually the original cut! It’s electronic drums are fresh, it’s acoustic guitar chords bouncey and its vocals are restrained passion.
Also onboard to make this a very worth purchase are 3 other versions of the song. First up is the PLANITb remix, which turns the pop song into a light techno song. The song speeds up the lyrics a little which can make for some funny chipmunk moments, but on the whole the remix, which is also used in the games opening sequence (albeit in only half its entirety), is a great success and is great to dance too. The “Godson Mix” is a previously unreleased one, which turns it in a summer’s day pop song. While it still sounds ok, the cutesy child-like version is more of an alternative, rather than an improvement. The final version is the Karaoke version, which is great for those who want to sing it in English instead!
If you have the Kingdom Hearts OST, your wanting for this single will be diminished by the lack of any other songs, but getting the full PLANITb version and a karaoke version to sing along to should sway you into spending your hard earned cash. “Simple and Clean” the English version is on the “Colors” single from Utada Hikaru.
{ April 15, 2010 @ 6:22 pm }
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{ composer, electro rock, game music, guitar, music, orchestral, review, rock, synth rock, techno, VGM }
{ Tags: Noriko Matsueda, Reiko Noda, Takahito Eguchi } · { }
The Bouncer OST is one that is full of life and energy. Coming across like something from late Tekken soundtracks rather than the fighting/RPG hybrid the game tried to be, the bulk of this soundtrack is a techno rock fusion. Sadly, its these tracks that prove to be the soundtracks downfall.
“Prelude: The Bouncer” is a superb but short opening track capturing the life of the music is a short space of time, which is followed the guitar hook filled “Sion Barzarhd” and possibly the best track on the album from the techno side “Volt Krueger” which incorporates a great bag pipe snyth into the song making it stand out.
Sadly after that, the music begins to drop off. “Kou Leifoh” has no hook to the song so is instantly forgettable, while “Echidna” struggles to get going at all. “Mugestu” has some nice eastern touches to it that brings it out of the gutter, and some nice dramatic rising chords also propel “Kaldea Orchid” into the top songs list on the album.
“PD-4″ is a panic driven piece that shows exactly what this album could have been. The song is dramatic throughout with lots of hard-edged instruments to get your pulse racing.
“Dominique Cross” takes a bizarre stance with a lush string background, which is just too quiet and despite its best efforts to catch your attention, fails to do so because the percussive instruments drown it out leaving this track as a missed opportunity.
“Mugetsu: Destruction” suffers from a lack of production polish. A drum roll is present throughout most of the song and had it have been made more of, it could have made the song more dramatic and compelling. As a result, the song is very muffled as all the instrumentation fights for the same space in the speakers. “Dauragon C. Mikado” seems tired by the time you get to this point in the album. Once you’ve listened to the same beat with the same guitar churning out half-hearted riffs, each song becomes tedious. It’s at this point I must declare that The Bouncer OST is much easier and more rewarding to listen to if you dip in and out of the tracks so they don’t blend into one long dirge. Then the weaker songs feel more alive.
Thankfully “Dauragon C. Mikado: Madness” adds some new material to the mix with some vocal snippets and some exceptionally fast acoustic guitar overlays making for a piece of disarrayed music, which holds its own. “Dauragon C. Mikado: Awakening” actually spends the first 25 seconds or so without guitars before giving us a more clear up, riff rock track that stands out because it doesn’t slip into a river of sound and lose its definition and form as a song.
“Prologue” suddenly hits you in the face, as a completely vocal and orchestrated piece full of suspense, fear, adrenaline and also peace and is the most mature piece of music on the album. “Disquietude” is another orchestrated piece that is very disjointed and eerie to listen to, especially in the dark, and shines through as the most ambitious piece on the album. “The Escape” is a dramatic orchestral piece that doesn’t go wild very often but keeps the suspense to the highest level.
Suddenly, The Bouncer has become like the game, a jack-of-all-trades. “LUKIS Covert. Op” sounds like something from Metal Gear Solid with its funk induced keyboards and its quick fire string bursts that personify sneaking around so well. “Distant Rain: The Cross Children” is a sad piano lead piece that once again has an eerie haunting presence, like most of the non techno rock orientated music. “The Pursuit” rounds off the orchestrated section with a dramatic discordant piece that is very basic but does its job.
“OWARNAIMONO: Forevermore: The Theme from The Bouncer (Japanese Version)” is a real treat for getting to the end of the album however. A beautiful heartfelt string introduction brings us to the song proper, with song strong vocals from Reiko Noda which impacts you with some soaring string arrangements with a great ballad beat.
“Kou Leifoh Remixed Version” ends the CD with a slightly stripped down version that works just as well as the original, but one feels that ending on the vocal track would have left people thinking the soundtrack was better than what it really is.
The Bouncer is a tale and an OST of two halves, and it suffers by having them completely separated. Maybe if the orchestrated pieces were scattered between the techno songs, maybe they wouldn’t seem so mundane, and with many of them sounding so very similar, it ruins the great tracks left. If your not a fan of rock or techno dance music, I suggest you try before you buy as this is not a traditional soundtrack by any means. Like the game itself, it tries to be a jack of all trades, but fails to master any.
{ April 13, 2010 @ 7:29 pm }
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{ band, music, music video, power pop, Promo Videos, rock, video vault }
{ Tags: Transister } · { }
Why did this band not get more success?! I loved their debut album, and apart from a very low quality leaked mp3 four track session with another producer, I’ve not heard anything else from them. This was their lead European single “Dizzy Moon” – the music video isn’t too bad at all, but its just a good way to spread the word!
{ April 13, 2010 @ 7:19 pm }
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{ acoustic, celtic, folk, live music, live vault, music, music dvd, singer songwriter, world music }
{ Tags: Loreena Mckennitt } · { }
This weeks Live Vault comes from Loreena McKennitt’s absolutely fabulous “Live from the Alhambra” DVD which you can also get in CD format as I did, both in a 3 disc edition! The song is “The Old Ways” and its a timeless piece.
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Tom Salta’s busy streak continues with the release of the latest PoP game, this time on the Wii, PSP and DS and Tom’s latest soundtrack.
