Ken Hisuag

Frontier Records - Cinderella Cage ~ Kagome-Kagome I specifically wanted something in a style I'd expect to find Lunatic Eyes remixed into. As close as the two pieces are, I don't see them blending as much in their associations. Apparently this specific link won't imbed for whatever reason. Teikuru - Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon (Future Bass Remix) For this one, I was looking for something high-energy and slightly off-balance. This particular find might be more balanced than I intended, but I thought it flowed well. fromadistance - Return of the Eternal Night Elegant and initially serene, but with elements of tension in the buildup. I feel remixes of this piece tend to favor one aspect over the other, but the true strength of the original is the balance of both.

SciΦ - PARALLEL EFFECTS One of the most legendary tracks in the entire series deserves a fittingly epic arrangement. As it so happens, I've been following this musician for a while, waiting for the ideal moment to utilize something from them for this series. IMO, nothing quite tops Path Through the Bamboo Forest from Scarlet Curiosities, but the build-up on this piece does a lot to enhance its progression. I kinda wish it was longer, though. Takorio - Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle Technically a re-used motif, but with enough time and variance that I decided to consider it on its own. I picked this arrangement because it does a great job at exemplifying the way a real piano cover of a Touhou piece with minimal alteration would have to look like; this is playable, but it would be quite difficult to pull off. ItsaNother - Spark of Vulnerability Alternatively, this is what it looks like to mold a motif into a new form without losing its identity, essentially drawing the line between "remix" and "arrangement," to use DF's terminology. I love the creativity evident in such pieces, although I've come to believe a balance between the two helps to develop better appreciation for both.

I was homeschooled, but I believe I experienced something of the "education system" while in college. I'm a strong believer in parental responsibility in the raising of children, as described in the Bible; from this perspective, I interpret the modern approach to education to be wrongfully skewed, inasmuch as parents today seem to believe public education fulfills their obligation to be involved in their children's upbringing. Among other consequences, this results in a truly monumental burden of responsibility upon the system, which must make up the difference for the children of multiple households without the ability to provide adequate attention to each individual; hence the lowering of standards. As already noted, there is an additional conflict of interests from whoever runs the system to prioritize according to self-serving goals, which can range from producing ideal workers, training ideal soldiers, or (more commonly) vetting cultural trends of philosophy and religion. This is to say nothing of the social consequences, but I digress. In theory, the corporate educational system should support parental upbringing by supplying what may otherwise be lacking therein, e.g. knowledge of the fundamentals (reading, writing, and arithmetic). There's also argument to be made for its place in advanced learning, e.g. universities of specialized education. But in modern practice, lower educational institutions have become increasingly ineffective, and higher educational institutions have become increasingly irrelevant; in both cases, I believe, due to shifting focus toward selfish goals.

Next up is Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire (and Emerald, kinda). While not a SNES title, I note a similarity in the soundfonts utilized, in that they appear to simulate real instruments without fully accomplishing the recreation. I'm not usually a fan of this style, and this didn't change that, but there does seem to be a balance of more self-aware arrangements that utilize the sounds more freely, and I appreciated these more. The tracks are extremely short, meaning even the longer ones tend to lack variety in progression, but they accomplish their jobs well enough, and are dynamic enough to remain appealing after multiple loops.

Alcohol. Alcohol is not itself bad, but is associated with the sin of drunkenness. The Bible warns against the excess of alcohol, which leads to drunkenness, but does not condemn the use of alcohol entirely, in some cases even encouraging its use. However, there are those who become addicted to alcohol, who cannot maintain the balance of moderation, and who as such are better to abstain entirely from it so as not to unduly tempt themselves. I had an acquaintance who's coming to faith was the catalyst of his recovery from alcoholism; his inclinations to the temptation were so strong that he did not trust himself to see other people drink, not even as depicted in film. He did not judge others for their freedom, but had come to understand for himself a need for greater abstinence. If you find Touhou is triggering a temptation in you, you ought to abstain from it. I don't know if that is what's going on, nor can I; you will have to make that determination yourself. Make sure you're praying about it, and I will be praying for God's guidance for you. Ephesians 5:15-16

I am here with my musical contribution.

Having missed a couple weeks recently, I will resist the temptation to use Cirno Day as an excuse to pause my schedule (I can do both). Cat Cafeteria - The Unforgettable Song Soft rock was exactly what I wanted for this piece, and I couldn't be more pleased with this; enough source motif to be identifiable, and enough creativity to stand out. World End Symphonia - storytellers This a motif that journeys, and I wanted a remix of stages for it. This was a bit higher energy than I expected, but nonetheless fits all the criteria for my favorite arrangement styles. Sakuzyo - Cyber Experiment For this, I was sort of thinking folk, but was more focused on something that was both different yet complimentary to the previous feature. This has the energy and progression to fit the latter point, and the genre alone satisfies the former.

It's time for another feature series. This month I'll be looking into the Pokemon franchise; even though I've covered a couple of the more recent titles before, I've not really heard any of the older soundtracks that set their reputation. As usual, I'm not even sure yet which titles are the best to go to for the best exposure, but hopefully I'll figure it out as I go. The first one is easy, though. Pokemon Red & Blue (and Yellow (and apparently Green?)) was the game to launch the franchise. As a GameBoy title, its music is the 8-bit chiptune that defined the earliest days of VGM. The music was initially composed on different hardware, and converted over afterwards; I'm not sure whether this had any effect on the arrangements. The composer, Junichi Masuda, utilized a surprising degree of baroque style into the music, especially in the calmer tracks. I appreciated this; baroque seems to be especially well suited to 8-bit limitations.

Eternal Lives - Returning Soul Oriental folk, but with a twist I can't seem to put a name to. I love creative arrangements like this, and it seems fitting for this particular piece. Frog Apprentice - Firefly Star There are lyrics to this piece, but the vocaloid version wasn't quite balanced enough for my tastes. The arranger seems to be intending to add an actual vocal performance at some point, but for now I deemed this instrumental version to be worth featuring. Red Bullet Sequence - The Night Sparrow's Song is Sucked into the Hollow Night & GYROMIX - Song of the Night Sparrow ~ Night Bird Two-for-one on this feature. I resonated with the style of the first remix, but was having trouble picking out the source motifs. Thus, I decided to include an extra piece of more clear adaptation.

I was on vacation last week; normally that wouldn't prevent me from doing features, but reception was unusually poor, making access to these threads impossible. Expectations can significantly impact one's experiences in strangely inverse ways; poor expectations can result in better impressions, and high expectations may lead to disappointment (I refer specifically to situations where expectations are subverted). I believe I started into the soundtrack of VA-11 HALL-A with slightly higher expectations then I should have; I knew the album sold well, although I hadn't heard much reference to it beyond that. What I got was a good selection of synthwave pieces, with a fair variety of moods in a fairly stable energy level. "Fair" is the best word I can think of; I found nothing extraordinary about the collection, but I also accepted that it didn't need to be extraordinary. It is pleasant to listen to, and despite the relatively large number of tracks, stays fresh and doesn't stagnate.

@Jaz:3 The videos are still available for me, so I suspect its a regional limitation. Your best bet would be to look up the soundtrack on your own, since anything I find would have to be tested against your private location. That being said, here is a different playlist than the one I used: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvNp0Boas721k5FYiicCFoifRvtDpAEx_ The tracks featured were Boss Battle ("Boss Theme"), Scrooge's Office, Transylvania, I've Got a Bad Feeling About This ("Ominous"), Money Bin, and Mount Vesuvius. Sorry I can't be of more help.

coro - Dim Escape For unfamiliar names, I usually try to verify the source; unfortunately I couldn't track this one down, so I'll just have to assume the best. There's a higher energy theme this week, unintentioned but not unappreciated. All three of them are less well-known tracks, though to varying degrees; this one is reportedly an unused track from PCB, but being that it was unused it is essentially an original piece to this album. Silver Forest - Dieu le veult! The first video I found of this remix was rather loud, so I sought out this quieter version; I hope this doesn't negatively impact its presentation. This is another revival from the Seihou soundtracks, and I think the heavy-yet-elegant style of this arrangement is especially fitting. TUMENECO - Eternal Fantasy ver.W This is technically a collab with GET IN THE RING, but I believe its mostly the duet; the arrangement itself remains essentially unchanged. Not quite low-energy, but pleasantly smooth, as befitting an epilogue.

Early on in my developing hobby of VGM, I would seek out recommendations for soundtracks with noteworthy reputation independent of the associated game. A few titles stood out for repeated features, giving me the impression of a general consensus concerning their quality and reputation. Many of these titles formed the basis of my expectations thereafter, even when they didn't strongly appeal to me. One of these was FTL: Faster Than Light. FTL is a difficult soundtrack to feature. It's an impressive production with exemplary style and tone, but features an interesting gimmick that splits the album in two. For each theme, there are two versions: "explore," which is meant to be the calmer base, and "battle," a more upbeat take on the same piece. In some cases, the difference is not extreme, merely including an extra percussion layer to the base piece. With many tracks, however, the battle tracks function as unique arrangements, sometimes feature entire motifs not present in the alternate version. A proper appreciation for this requires listening to both versions of each track, which I considered too much for the feature. So instead, I was left to decide between each version of each track set forth, with the failsafe of some brief explanation for each.

Lix (DJ SkyRider) - Ghostly Eyes (Overray Mix) Though more well known for its appearance in Imperishable Night, Illusionary Night was first published in the Ghostly Field Club music collection. Given the theme of the piece, I wanted something "dark," but in a more literal sense as opposed to being ominous. coloured glaze - Unlimited Physics Most arrangements of Merry the Magician lean into its discordant tones. Initially I hoped to find something intentionally not doing that, for uniqueness. However, I happened upon this one instead, and felt the hybrid style made it more melancholy; this appealed to my own perceptions of the original track. K2 SOUNDS - Secret Anthology This was unreasonably difficult to find, though I fully admit my own pickiness to be at fault. I'm rather fond of Strange Bird of the Moon, and had a very specific idea in mind for its representation; but not only did I fail to find something to match my expectations, I couldn't even find anything initially that appealed to me for style. Eventually I started employing some more desperate searching strategies, and managed to find this piece; it's still not what I initially wanted, but it is certainly a creative arrangement that I believe pairs well with the preceding feature as contrast.

Cutting it close, but in case it wasn't obvious from the missed Saturday post, time is of limited availability at the moment. Perhaps this follow-up to last week was predictable, but that does not make it less relevant. DuckTales: Remastered was the perfect example of a passion project; everything came together so as to revitalize and improve upon the original elements, resulting in a product that does everything it needs to. For me, the most important aspect is obviously the music. The original soundtrack received a complete recovering, featuring full instrumentation and expanded arrangement which did justice to the best and helped justify the lesser. There's also an element of leitmotif added to the collection, though it seems mostly for nostalgia's sake than for anything relevant to the game's progression (I could be wrong on that, though). However, the devs did not stop at remastering the old music. New original compositions were also added in, mainly for what I presume to be cutscenes by their cinematic progression. Potentially there were new levels as well, and music was composed for these. The quality of these pieces is well on par with the rest of the album, fitting seamlessly in and elevating the project as a whole.

This week I decided to finally cover the iconic OST of DuchTales for the NES. Few have not heard something about this legendary soundtrack, which in many ways serves as a standard for what 8-bit music can be. While not pushing the technology like the work of Tim Follin, it nonetheless features complex melody interwoven with its accompaniment in such a way as to "fill" the channels, resulting in tracks that remain impressive to this day. Some may disagree with me, but as far as I'm concerned the highlight is, and always will be, Moon Theme. The intro and build-up is perfectly suited to the medium, the melody is beautifully transmitted, and every channel is balanced between each other to craft the perfect 8-bit arrangement. It is one of the only classical chiptune pieces I've never heard a remix for that seemed to me an "improvement," simply because the original does so well at accomplishing its goal.

aocha - Passing on Through the Dendera Fields at Night My previous experience with arrangements for this piece have focused on adjusting its energy (I'm especially fond of the Shinra-Bansho version). Thus this take on the piece stood out to me, emphasizing the atmosphere while improving on the progression. It seems a fitting opener, which is exactly what it's meant to be. BUTAOTOME - A Traveler's Melancholy Again, my perception of this piece has been focused on its default presentation; I have not previously considered alternative moods for its motifs. Yet I find this more chill and friendly style very appealing, not to mention perfectly suiting the theme. Cajiva's Gadget Shop - Alleinreisende For a bit of tonal contrast, I chose this uniquely styled piece against my better judgement. I have no idea what is being said in the background, and the presentation makes me nervous; still it's very well arranged, and the most creative take on the track I came across.

I don't usually listen to SilvaGunner mashups, but this popped up on my recommended, and I was intrigued enough to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised to find a quality collab project with a well-executed gimmick; ultimately unique enough to have its own feature. The video speaks for itself, so I'll leave it at that.

Here on an off-day. David Meece--one of the most underrated CCM artists of the 1980s. Few musicians in his industry (or beyond, imo) reached the same levels of creativity in their arrangements. These two songs are among his best.

Bonus Post: Two pieces relevant to the soundtrack of Touhou 7 that I've a feeling many still haven't heard. Some will know that Japanese Dream... features references to the Japanese folk tune Sakura. Despite being aware of the fact, I hadn't actually listened to the original song until recently. Towards the other direction, ZUN has been known to occasionally arrange music for projects outside of the series proper, which pieces sometimes get left out of the role calls. Charming Domination ~ Speed Fox was one such situation, and I thought some might appreciate hearing it if they hadn't before.

YASUHIRO - Necrofantasia High energy and more modern style was my goal for this one. I didn't have to look far; this has exactly the tonal balance of consistent and experimental progression. yazyu-piano - Dream of a Spring Breeze As a follow-up, something more somber was called for. This preserves the feel of the original, but its minimal instrumentation almost seems to accentuate it. Kuroneko Lounge - Sakura, Sakura ~ Japanese Dream... I did not expect this sound from the "house set" series, and it turned out to be perfect for this piece. The serene tone of its beginning colors its more standard parts into a happy ending.

I came across a piece from Killer Instinct that impressed me enough to seek out the rest of the soundtrack. Without knowing anything about the game itself, I recognized the intention of capturing different cultural styles within the general genre. This is accomplished with strong melodies and surprisingly complex progression for full-length performance. It wasn't until I'd listened to most of the soundtrack that I noticed Mick Gordon as composer; I haven't had much experience with him in the past, but this alone helped reaffirm to me his reputation. That being said, a lot of these pieces have lyrics, and as is my custom I sought out their translations when necessary. I can't say I'm comfortable with a lot of what I found, to the point that this feature was put off for quite awhile. Nonetheless, I believe the musical expertise is worth highlighting; just remember that, as with all such things, music carries with it a communicative aspect, implicit or otherwise, and it is wise to exercise prudence in what one engages with.

SituP - Back to my Cafe Contrasting this with Who Done It! was my goal in searching for this track, but I didn't expect to find something like this. I'm not sure it qualifies as "bossanova" as the artist attributes it, but it has a nice varied progression with its chill mood. Ryuuha Mikakutei - A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral ~ Necro-Fantasy Again, my idea was to select a style for ideal contrast. I wanted something noble or elevated, ideally with energy neither low nor high. This isn't quite what I wanted, but sufficiently empowers the motif for the unique presentation I desired. Spaztique Explosive - Charming Domination ~ Let's do It! An unexpectedly ideal find for my purposes, this arrangement has the high energy to contrast its counterpart, and a style that works as a transition from the orchestral of its preceding feature.

Also here's the playlist (one track is missing; guess which?):

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Octopath's soundtrack was its character specific battle intros, allowing the same boss battle themes to be unique for each character's story; these battle intros were characterized by the instrumentation and tone related to each character. This was the extent of dynamic composition in the game. For Octopath II, a similar process was employed; each character has a boss battle intro theme unique to them. However, this time these tracks, called Pursuit themes, are arrangements of their respective character themes, with mood adjusted accordingly. This adds somewhat to the dynamic quality of the motifs by expanding on their utilization. The dynamic utilization does not end there, however. The end-game boss has two phases; the first, as shown above, utilizes the Pursuit structure, similar to the first game's handling of the same scenario. The second phase does not; instead, the character theme is integrated directly into the boss theme. This admittedly simple technique has a marvelous effect, creating a semi-unique piece for every character . . . . . . with one exception. Part of me considers this a spoiler. I've probably done enough to sell the soundtrack by now, so for those who would prefer to experience it the way it was intended, I would recommend against finishing this feature. It's not currently very practical to secure the soundtrack, but I believe it's well worth it. That will have to do; I could happily post Octopath music for the rest of the month, but this should be sufficient to showcase why I consider the sequel to be a worthy successor and a masterpiece in its own right.