5 Underrated Game Soundtracks, as selected by Jan

August 1, 2019August 1, 2019 Moons And MelodiesLeave a comment

jan yellow

Pictured: Riven: The Sequel To Myst

Following Marilyn Roxie’s entry, I’ve sorted out another guest entry for this topic from my friend Jan, who wrote the Genre Primers: Ethereal Wave post. My own list is on the way.

This list is hardly complete of course, as there are dozens of soundtracks I could mention. I’m not the kind of person who plays games so much they know which titles are underrated or not. Still, the VGM canon gets pretty limited. When you think of VGM you think Final Fantasy, Earthbound, Minecraft or Pokemon, but there’s plenty of space for titles like these, many somewhat well-known but not so much in the VGM canon.

This list includes soundtracks that should be heard closer outside of the gaming context, as they actually hold their own as a separate medium.

Ben Houge – Arcanum – Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura

Arcanum is a fascinating game that blends the steampunk of industrial revolution in a fictional world with fantasy elements. Not only you visit Victorian-like cities, but also traverse a magical Elven forest, investigate a lost civilation’s ruins, and do many quests, which are some of the finest quests in any video game in my opinion. The game is like a wet dream of a Victorian writer who was really into fantasy, but wanted to find a way to implement fantasy into the real world.

But enough of that, the music is magnificent here. The composer, Ben Houge, takes influences from romantic and modern classical composers and turns them into a modern masterpiece of string quartet music. Melancholic, at times brooding, sometimes quite epic. For those interested, Houge has a website where he lists all the inspirations for this music, in addition to providing all the sheet music. Arcanum is available on GOG.COM and Steam.

Pierre Estève & Stéphane Picq – Atlantis: The Lost Tales

Atlantis is a new agey game full of great adventure and a beautiful story, and the soundtrack reflects that. It’s really a great journey altogether; if I had more space on this list, I would include the other two soundtracks. They might be not as unique as this one, but they’re great as well. Recommended for every new age fan, trust me, you won’t regret it. The game itself is available on GOG.COM.

Mark Morgan – Planescape: Torment

Planescape is one of the most interesting settings in roleplay gaming. The unusual feel of an ancient civilization mixed with low sci-fi was more than sufficient for the game’s deep story. The composer was working on music for Fallout and Fallout 2 before, although those are rather popular so I am not including them here.

The music for Torment is uplifting, yet brooding and soul-wrecking at times. It doesn’t give you hope in a weird world per se, but gives you reason to live there. Planescape: Torment – Enhanced Edition is available on GOG.COM and Steam.

Robyn Miller – Riven: The Sequel To Myst

riven

Playlist

Ah, Myst. The game that stormed the sales, the game that (possibly) started the whole adventure game craze. Riven is the better game, and you might guess the new age-tinged ambient soundtrack is better than the first installment’s music too. It’s a difficult game full of weird riddles, but I recommend it to everyone who wants an otherworldly experience. If you took out the music it probably wouldn’t be the same.

Rik Schaffer – Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

Playlist

V:tMB is a textbook example of a cult game with a Cinderella story: rushed at launch, messy and buggy in it’s first few months, then almost forgotten because of the studio’s downfall… Yet thanks to fan patches a devoted fanbase, Bloodlines is regarded as one of the best RPGs of all time today.

I don’t think many have paid attention to the awesome music; it’s an excellent mix of gothic and trip hop sounds. The original music is a great slice of dark trip hop that could put you in a good mood while going through Los Angeles, and the licensed tracks from goth artists like Ministry or Lacuna Coil are a great change of pace. Vampire: The Masquearde – Bloodlines is available on GOG.COM and Steam, but install the Unofficial Patch before playing!

Listen to Jan’s music (including a great “Song To The Siren” cover!) here.

Guest post · List · Underrated Video Game Soundtracks

5 Underrated Game Soundtracks, as selected by Marilyn Roxie

July 17, 2019July 17, 2019 Moons And MelodiesLeave a comment

Pictured: Viridi

For this post I’ve enlisted musician, Vulpiano Records founder and Rate Your Music/Sonemic social manager Marilyn Roxie. As you’d expect, Marilyn’s has a flexible taste that includes both leftfield electronic experiments and kitschy sixties pop, so I’m sure this won’t be their only post for MAM.

Knowing their roots in playing Nintendo 64, I asked Marilyn to list some favorite video game OSTs with lower exposure and/or undeserved obscurity. Being a fellow VGM fan, I know I’ve had my share of examples. I haven’t gotten to the writing yet, but I plan to post my own top 5 in the near-future as well.

Norio Hanzawa – Yuke Yuke!! Trouble Makers Original Soundtrack (Mischief Makers)

The game (also known as Mischief Makers) is a cult 2D platformer for the Nintendo 64 and a childhood favorite of mine. It holds up as challenging and unique to this day. I think the soundtrack gets overlooked by those who haven’t played the game and decide to dip into it for one big reason: it starts with orchestral versions of a couple of the game’s tracks (“Esperance” and “Adieux”) very different to the rest. If you don’t dig such grandiose sounds, you may not go on, and you’ll miss out on some incredible music.

This reminds me most of Stewart Copeland’s soundtrack The Equalizer & Other Cliff Hangers (Spotify); they share a frantic, robotic energy crossed with quirkiness. Even the textures are similar.. The music does a fantastic job of evoking and enhancing the game’s futuristic atmosphere; “Mischief Makers is the story of Professor Theo, a space-travelling Mad Scientist, and Marina Liteyears, his robot creation and assistant, marooned on the strange planet of Clancer. Agents of a mysterious “empire” kidnap the Professor for unknown reasons, and it’s up to Marina to rescue him.“ (TV Tropes) However, you don’t need to play the game to appreciate the industrial thumping of “Volcanic” and the creepy “Obakesong” (a bit of a departure from the usual sound), and lots more. Highly recommended.

Tatsuhiko Asano – In the Wake of Doshin, the Giant

This is a case of a great OST for a game that I actually haven’t played yet. Doshin the Giant was a Japan and Europe-only ‘god game’, where you play “Doshin…an embodiment of the sun, a giant who oversees the inhabitants on Barudo Island, a tropical paradise not found on any maps. The player is given a choice of helping the inhabitants expand their villages and found new ones as Doshin, the love giant; or they can also become the hate giant, Jashin, and rain down death and destruction.” (TV Tropes)

I wound up listening because a Vinesauce video used “Paradise Zone” was as background music. The OST is chock-full of the tropical chill-out you’d expect from the premise. At turns soothing or more free-wheeling and veering into colorful exotica territory, Asano stirs up a great range of emotions throughout. “The Island Of Memory” is my personal favorite. A stunning and sweet OST that makes me want to play the game.

Various – Ganbare Goemon ~Neo Momoyama / Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon

Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon is another N64 game that sometimes falls by the wayside, though it has gotten much more attention than Mischief Makers due to it’s part in a long-running series and an English-localized sequel (Goemon’s Great Adventure).

This one may start on an awkward note for someone who hasn’t played the game, with a wacky vocal theme song (a rarity for N64 titles). What you get in the bulk of the soundtrack are several tunes inspired by Japanese traditional music, inflected with a touch of surrealism and electronic weirdness when appropriate, fitting the setting of the game: “The story follows Goemon’s struggles to prevent the Peach Mountain Shoguns gang from turning Japan into a Westernized fine arts theater.” (Wikipedia; really, I’m amazed this was translated into English at all).

As a bonus, Mystical Ninja included playback of game tracks on its menu screen, meaning that as a kid I would just sit there with “Theme of the Fortune Teller Plasma Man” or “Theme of The Flake Gang Weirdos Baron Colon Sharon An” blaring out of the TV for as long as I liked. There are also a number of tracks with ambient nature sounds (such as “Ambient Kii Awaji Island”, with water, wind, and bird calls) that help make this a unique OST for an N64 platformer.

Michael Bell – Viridi OST

Viridi (available on Steam) is a calming life sim game where you grow and care for beautiful succulent plants. Full of soft keyboards and chimes, each music track blends into the next and form a totality of cute, delicate melodies that mesh perfectly with the game’s theme. “Cucurbita” is my fave.

Ghost Monkey – Rebound

Zen Bound 2 (available on Steam) is a relaxing puzzle game requiring the player to use string of a limited length to wrap differently shaped objects to the best of their ability. The music by Ghost Monkey is far from obtrusive, merging seamlessly with the game with it’s downtempo rhythms and organic effects that emulate tumbling rocks, falling water, or rapping on wood. “Unpaint My Skin” is the stand-out for me.

For more of Marilyn’s intriguing music lists, see their Rate Your Music profile.

Genre primers · Guest post · Playlist

Genre Primers: Ethereal Wave

May 28, 2019May 28, 2019 Moons And MelodiesLeave a comment

cocteau-twins-head-over-heels

by Jan

Originally written in Polish for Jan’s new music blog Anielskie Jajo. This is the first guest post I’ve featured here! I’m not sure how common this will be, but I’ll be open to more in the future.

About the guest author:

Jan (~shores on Rateyourmusic) is a musician and dedicated listener from Poland. We ‘met’ by chance in January when I answered his thread asking for recs in 80s new age. We had an immediate connection from there as we happened to share close opinions on several more genres like ambient, folk, pop and darkwave. Listen to Jan’s music here and here.

I. What is Ethereal Wave?

Ethereal Wave, or Ethereal Goth, or just Ethereal, is a music genre that is a variation on gothic rock and darkwave, transcending the dark imagery of said genre into denser, dreamier environments.

What’s more, you can say some bands playing “ethereal” sounding music who aren’t a part of goth scene could be called ethereal wave. Commonly the genre is applied to music that is related to gothic rock, but still a bit different. Lots of ethereal wave bands don’t play goth rock with female vocals (there’s a misconception that all goth rock bands with female vocals are ethereal), but uses certain means of expression that make the genre stand out from the goth scene – such as sparse, delicate guitar layers with lots of effects, soaring vocals (some using glossolalia), drum machines, and sometimes synths or keyboards.

II. Short history of genre

While lots of bands not affiliated with the goth scene today could be classified as ethereal, the style was born on goth rock and darkwave influences. The first half of the 80s brought us classic bands such as The Cure, The Banshees and Bauhaus. We could say that ethereal wave was born as a reaction to the murky and suffocating atmosphere exhibited in music of those bands (not to say it’s a reaction to ONLY those bands, just the scene at the time).

4AD was the primary powerhouse that made the genre happen – with bands like early Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, and This Mortal Coil, the genre had a nice headstart. But it didn’t have a name yet, and it wasn’t established yet – music press just tried to classify the music played by those bands, and “ethereal” was probably the closest, and it possibly stuck. It was rather an unspoken artistic movement.

The second half of the 80s brought fame to the genre: Cocteau Twins had indie hits with singles like “Carolyn’s Fingers” and “Heaven Or Las Vegas”, while This Mortal Coil became somewhat legendary with “Song To The Siren” and released highly acclaimed albums. But it was Dead Can Dance who actually migrated to neoclassical and regional music-inspired sounds with goth undertones, today known as neoclassical darkwave (Genre Primers post soon!).

That was the ethereal wave scene in the UK. In United States, the genre was popularised by Projekt Records – a bit of an American version of 4AD, but they had their own aesthetic and credo. Bands such as Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Love Spirals Downwards, or Lycia were the most popular pupils of said label.

In the end of the 80s and the early 90s, the genre regained some popularity, and several new bands were formed. Unfortunately, the genre went out of fashion rather quickly after that – it could be said that Cocteau Twins’ last album (1996) in marks the end of the genre’s popularity. Yet still: bands affiliated with the scene were experimenting with the sound and expanding it’s influences, sometimes incorporating electronics into their work – notably Chandeen and Love Spirals Downwards.

Today the genre has a small yet faithful fanbase, and – what is really nice to see for me – there are more bands appearing who play in such style.

Finally, this is how the ‘official’ EW looks. ‘Unofficial’ ethereal wave can be found in early 80s new age records and some non-goth artists, but it’s up to you if you feel it’s okay to call non-goth artists ethereal wave or not.

III. Playlist

feathers oar-blades – cocteau twins / ocean – dead can dance / rains on me – heavenly bodies / cranes fly – black rose / birds of passage – bel canto / wish – soulswirlingsomewhere / scatter january – love spirals downwards / sparks – faith and the muse / mr. somewhere – this mortal coil / beneath the leaves – requiem in white / drifting – lycia / ecdisis – wind atlas / floor – them are us too / feral love – chelsea wolfe