We do like to pick a random CD that seems ignored sometimes to discover an unknown gem of VGM. Some soundtracks are only in print for such a short time, you need to be on the ball to get them. One of our more obscure pick ups was a soundtrack called “Radirgy”, music to a game of the same name composed by Kou Hayashi & Daisuke Nagata.
The short opener “radio allegy” is small r’n’b styled track that leads nicely into an also short “bitcrush” which reminds me a little of Katamari Damashii music crossed with music from Ape Escape. It has a zany techno-lite feel to it and can never sit still for a second. It’s an ingenious track.
The real full length tracks start with “Chatterbox” which is along the similar lines of the previous duo. The whole production and sound has a distinctive arcade shoot-em-up feel to it, like the old After Burner music brought up to the latest sound chips technology. “Ukiha Shopping Mall” reminds me of early Sonic music however, such as the more jazzier dance tracks the Sonic Team came up with for certain zones. It also reminds me of typical Namco arcade music if I dared to generalise.
“a day in the park” continues the same train of thought but with a very hip slap guitar giving us the main theme instead. “2 the sky” continues to hark back to sounds that remind me of the game Marble Madness for some reason (maybe the main synths) but its very much like a disco version of how the Hanjuku Hero music is done but to a lesser extent – taking the old synths of old consoles long gone and revamping them for today.
“the ordinary people” gives us a bit of drum and bass into the mix but by jumping round the same two chords the song gets tired too quickly. “i hate tha sun” (notice the “hip” spelling in these title…) gives us more of a tune to listen to but is too hissy on the percussion and synths and lacks any bass at all so this track too gets tired easily.
“24/7” however is a much better track and sounds more like a typical Ibiza anthem for much of the piece which can’t be too bad at all. “finale” does little to stand out either, much like a typical high-score arcade piece.
“asagiri” has a go at throwing a slightly off beated drum loop into the equation but once again the its-been-picked-at-random chords seem to suggest the track is a bit of an afterthought. “illegal function” is the only track to not feature a drum beat for most of it and makes for a nice change and actually has a nice tune to it! “skip & roll” rounds off the soundtrack with a chirpy fun small track using a variant on the traditional blues chords and ends the soundtrack a lot better than what you’ve survived it.
“Radirgy” is a soundtrack that gives you music you can ignore. The tracks are too long to sound fresh by the end and the tunes themselves are repetitive and boring with chord changes seemingly plucked at random. Each song sounds the same to the last and I have heard much better arcade-styled soundtracks from so many other games. Over time it has become a little easier to listen to due to some of the songs sounding busy but it has never been a staple in our media player. Maybe next time we’ll get a good random buy huh?