Music
Greetings Audiophiles!
I hope your week has been treating you well. As I've said week after week my favorite thing about Audio File Friday is getting to getting the chance to showcase as wide a variety of musical genres as possible. When I started this feature nearly a year ago I never thought that I'd find even half of the music I have. But through it all one of my favorite things to see is still a full orchestra going to town on the classics.
Groups like Team Hideo and the Video Game Music Choir have taken steps to bring their fresh take on gaming music arrangements to new audiences. What a challenge it is, though, to put together such grand performances. Especially when the necessary sheet music is hard to come by.
This week I'll be taking a look at the multi-talented Mr Trent and his spectacular gaming arrangements. Somebody give this guy his own personal orchestra to conduct, because he could definitely use one.
Greetings Audiophiles!
So I've realized something that I'm rather embarrassed by: To date, Audio File Friday has only featured female artists about three times: Angela Aki, Lana Del Rey, Rebecca Black and the lovely ladies of the Video Game Music Choir. Now, considering Audio File Friday is fast approaching its one year anniversary and this is a mostly weekly feature...well, that's not exactly a great number. It's a pretty awful number, actually.
Is there just a lack of female gaming artists in the world? Or are they just difficult to find? Are we about to dust off the age old gamer-girl debate? Whatever the case, in the following weeks I promise to make a concerted effort to include more female artists here on Audio File Friday.
This week's artist just so happens to be an extremely gifted young woman who is quite the Skyrim fan and goes by the name Malukah.
Greetings Audiophiles!
I apologize for being MIA of late. I've been busy on some rather exciting projects, some of which concern the very site you are currently browsing. But I won't tease you, rather I'll get back to business; scrounging the net to bring you some of the best original gaming music there is to be found.
This past Winter I found myself pleasantly surprised with Sega's newest release Sonic Generations. It is a true return to form for everyone's favorite blue hedgehog, and quite the nostalgia-fest for long-time fans. Being quite the audiophile myself, one aspect of the game that really stood out was its soundtrack. The game took all the Sonic classics and presented them in both original and newly remixed versions. Being one of gaming's biggest names his unfortunate last decade aside Sonic has always had some of the best music around.
It got me thinking: There has been barely any Sonic-love happening on Audio File Friday. Well I intend to remedy that immediately, with an awesome newcomer known as Juan Abad.
You didn't think that after three weeks of no Audio File Fridays I'd leave you guys without a bonus track to make up for some of that time did you?
This week's Audio File Friday Bonus Track comes to us courtesy of indie rapper E-Dubble, who first caught my attention in 2010 when he did a little something called Freestyle Friday. Gee...sure does sound familiar Every week for fifty-two weeks straight E-Dubble released a brand new song for his fans, totally free, and usually with some entertaining outros. No small feat. One of those songs just so happens to be one that gamers might enjoy.
Oh and he's super hot. Bear-cub fans, get in line!
Do you like Wild Arms? Do you have 4+ hours at your disposal? Well saddle up, Sally May, because the internet has some free candy for your ears. Indeed, OverClocked ReMix has a lovely surprise, in the for of "Wild Arms: ARMed and DANGerous." Featuring hours of nostalgic goodness, the album's styles vary more than one expect, bringing the collective, creative unconsciousness together to pay homage to the PlayStation title.
OCReMix (as they prefer to be called) was brought to my attention by the melancholy, and staggeringly beautiful version of Final Fantasy VIII's "Compression of Time" - if you haven't heard it, it's well worth checking out - but to be honest, their offerings have been a bit hit or miss for me. There are a good deal of "metal" tracks with not one Norwegian black metal rendition of "The Opened Way" from Shadow of the Colossus and trite, formulaic, techno thump-fests; one can assume this is due to the sheer volume of content on the site. Still, scattered amidst the chaff, there are some genuine treasures to be discovered - and as this is an "album" from OCReMix, one can hope that the release will be a bit more than a scattershot collection of everything Wild Arms.
Worst case scenario, the album is preposterously long - even if three out of every four songs is terrible, you have an hour of audio loveliness at your fingertips - and, more importantly, it's free. This is especially appealing if you, like me, are on the "washing down salt & pepper sandwiches with a tall glass of river water" rung of the economic ladder. Wild Arms: ARMed and DANGerous is available in both mp3 and FLAC, the latter being my poison of choice. The mp3 version is available for direct download, while the FLAC version must be acquired via torrent. So check out the preview, and if you feel so inclined, download the tracks at this link!
Greeting Audiophiles!
Community is a vital part of our lives; it brings us together and it keeps up connected. Us gaymers know a thing or two about community, whether it's the gay community, the gaming community, or the gaymer community for which this very site was created.
Creating community is a wonderful, and necessary, thing. Sometimes all it takes is the desire to find others like you, and letting that desire grow and grow until you've created something new. And how invaluable, to have people to share yourself with while simultaneously finding new things that others want to share with you.
Earlier this week two groups that have been featured here before, The Megas and Rare Candy, shared at the exact same time the newest release from this week's featured band, Entertainment System. It got me thinking: These guys all know each other; there's a real community of rock n' roll gamers out there and they're all working together to promote each others' work.
And thank goodness for that, because finding a new artist to feature week-in and week-out is harder than you might think even when you have no life like me. Thankfully this week was a no brainer, and artists I already love did all the finding for me.
But wait! This week's Audio File Friday isn't over yet!
These days its not just hardcore gamers making music that gamers will want to listen to, mainstream artists are dipping their feet in as well. Remember the Kid Cudi track Capcom? With those tracks in mind, Audio File Friday Bonus Track is born.
For our first Bonus Track ever I'll be taking a look at an incredible up and comer that you should all take note of, trust me she's going to be huge. Introducing the gorgeous and immensely talented Lana Del Rey.
Greetings Audiophiles!
If you can manage to pull yourselves away from Skyrim, Skyward Sword, and other Sky-related endeavors for a few minutes I promise it will be worth it.
This week I've got a treat for you guys, and I call it a treat because it's truly something fresh. I certainly hadn't heard anything like this before this week's featured artist, and that's what Audio File Friday is all about: finding music for gamers of all different genres, including new unexplored ones.
Many a rock band have been featured here, as have many a chiptune artist, but the two styles have yet to meet. Chiptune hip-hop and chiptune Gaga, sure, but a chiptune rock mash-up? Is there such a thing?
Turns out there is, courtesy of a quirky band of gamers known as I Fight Dragons.
The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund has gathered together a brand new charity album, titled Novum Initium, to help benefit career musicians dealing with illness, disability, and old age. Unfortunately, sick guitarists aren't as guilt inducing or adorable as those sad kittens on late night television, so they have another trick to get people excited for this soundtrack - all the music comes from video game composers.
Novum Initium will feature original work from such industry notables as Sam Hulick (Mass Effect), Neal Acree (World of Warcraft), Garry Schyman (Bioshock), Aubrey Ashburn (Dragon Age), Jason Graves (Dead Space), Tom Salta (Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands), and Chad Seiter (The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony). And that's not even half the list of contributing artists.
"We reached out to our friends in the video game industry and were overwhelmed with the response," explains composer and album co-producer Jason Graves (Dead Space). "This is obviously something everyone can relate to. As full-time composers, we are self-employed contractors and there's no such thing as 'time off' or 'paid vacation.' If we don't work, we don't get paid. Medical bills can add up quickly. That's the whole impetus behind the album."
Novum Initium will be available through iTunes and Amazon starting December 6th, just in time to gift it to that music loving dork in your life. While a charity for musicians may not be the most glamorous benefit work, at least there's some amazing tunes to be had.
Happy Turkey Day audiophiles!
Seeing as it's Black Friday, I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to do another feature on Rebecca Black.
I'm totally kidding.
Whether you celebrate the day or not, it's hard to deny the overall theme of being thankful. I'm sure you got at least a couple of things you're thankful for, even if you don't like turkey or you're not into the whole Pilgrim thing.
One thing I'm very thankful for is amazing fans who take their love of something to new heights; applying their own creativity and unique talents to a project birthed solely from a desire to express their fandom. From cosplay, to viral videos, to visual art, to, you guessed it, music. I'm even more thankful that every week I manage to find musicians that cite gaming as their inspiration, and am able to feature them here.
Hip-hop beat-maker Shag is one such artist, and if given a guess I'd say that when it comes to gaming this guy is probably thankful for a certain green tunic-wearing swordsman.
Greetings Audiophiles!
While working on this week's Audio File Friday I realized something. Now sit down, this may come as a shock...Gaga isn't the first anthropomorphic motorcycle person. I know. I know. But be strong, we can get through this together.
And while we're at it, the 'bro' phenomena? Not new either.
Anyone familiar with RPG pillar Chrono Trigger already knew all of this of course, because that game featured Johnny, the subject of this week's Audio File Friday artwork. He's been a bro since before bromances, and has years on Born This Way in the anthropomorphic bike department.
But hey, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Chrono Trigger is, after all, widely considered one of the best RPGs of all time. For many it also happens to be one of the best games of all time. Imitation should be expected! And just to get it out of the way I'm NOT trying to add fuel to the silly Gaga steals everything fire, I swear I'm not.
Imitation as well as inspiration. Chrono Trigger pushed the limits of genre and creativity and never went where you expected it to go, qualities shared by this week's featured artists, who happen to be Chrono fans themselves, theBad Dudes.
Short version: Stop reading and go grab this album. Your gamer cred depends on it.
Long version: Greetings Audiophiles!
As you might recall, October was Metal Month and that meant four straight weeks of head bashing and guitar wailing. I don't know about you guys, but as an outsider in the metal world I am exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I love the stuff but after four weeks straight I'm just plain tired. The genre is so high energy and the more epic the songs get the more exhausted I become.
With that in mind I thought that this week would be a good time to take a breather, maybe even a nap. Just something to help ease down and relax with. Ambient trance seems like a good genre for that.
Why don't we give this ambient Portal trance courtesy of Dirty Knobs a try?
And girls who like girls who like rumble packs!
Twitter Feed
Recent Comments
GGP Mailing List
Are you gay and working in the games industry? If you are interested in networking with other folks like you within the industry, try joining the Gay Game-Industry Professionals mailing list.
Links
The GayGamer Store
- Help support GayGamer by purchasing your items through our store!
All rights reserved © 2006-2010 FAD Media, Inc.
