Ken Hisuag

Normally I like to wait for a soundtrack's official release to feature it, since this makes it easier to differentiate between tracks and helps ensure fuller representation. Occasionally this backfires on me, because some soundtracks unexpectedly don't receive a release until long after their respective games; Cyber Shadow took over a year, Mago still hasn't seen a proper publication, and Champions of the Continent is only now seeing its second soundtrack release with tracks from two years ago. For this reason, I may feel inclined to push forward with a feature I'm looking forward to, lest I be anxiously awaiting an event that has no guarantee of coming to fruition at all. Deceive Inc. is a unique cross between a deception game and a tactical shooter, colored in the aesthetic of a James Bond film. For such a game, a variety of music genres would be suitable; what was delivered was hybrid jazz, constructed so as to have multiple layers per track to accompany the progression of each game session. Technically, "Phase 2 Out of Cover" is the final form of each track, but that doesn't mean the other iterations don't often have their own charm worth highlighting. The highlight of the music, however, has to be the two-part Extraction Phase, a unique piece for the climax of every level. That's an unusually large feature for such a small soundtrack, but I think it's warranted.

ramaseta - The Maid and the Pocket Watch of Blood (Jazz ver.) This was a really hard pick (and I'm still not altogether happy with it). This is my least favorite track from Touhou 6, but I know it's well loved by others, so I was determined to find something that did it justice while also bridging the gap a little. While this arrangement doesn't have much movement, it does a good job at adapting the original motif into a laid back comfort piece. I felt it should have been longer, but four minutes isn't bad length, so that's probably a good sign. Nuruhachi - Elegant Psychopath Dramatic cinema style is an orchestral that elegantly twists around in continuous progression. Normally I get this from CarrotWine or Melodic Taste, but while the former employs looping and the latter often lacks length, this arrangement is a masterpiece of completeness, and quite possibly the best orchestral remix I've heard in a while. Under different circumstances, I might have saved this for a tournament, but that seems ill-advised currently, so y'all get to enjoy it now. Notzan ACT - The Young Descendant of Tepes Ironically, this is the sound I was seeking for Maid and Pocket Watch, and vise versa (if only I could switch them somehow). Regardless, I was surprised how well the spacey synth sound worked with these motifs.

There have been a lot of above average releases thus far this year; there's an urge to rush coverage of it all while it's still relevant, but that's not technically a realistic perspective considering the standards of this topic over its lifespan, nor is it thankfully in any way necessary. Nonetheless, a few especially good soundtracks do not bear putting off, if for no other reason than they are stuck in my head and I shall not know peace until they are shared. This week, I belatedly but enthusiastically come to the phenomenon of Pizza Tower. While this game has apparently been in public production for some time, I'd heard nothing of it until its recent release. Accompanying its deceitfully rough aesthetic and versatile gameplay is soundtrack that is equal parts genius and insanity; it is one of those rare instances of a soundtrack being an irrevocable part of the full experience, while simultaneously achieving something extraordinary in its own right. There is no specific style adhered to, but an inherent consistency that gives it character. Hopefully my selection manages to convey the range and quality throughout.

Tonchi - Shanghai Alice of Horai 17 This was technically an arrangement of the Music Collection version, hence the name. Given the close proximity the two versions have to each other, I did not intend to feature them separately, though I acknowledge a case for doing so. Spielraum - Vualkyrie I love an arrangement with a few twists to it. Between the interlude and the melody adjustment, there's an almost whimsical mood to this, but more pop style. Frost Fragment - Blasphemous Choice Alegria Iceon's style is consistent between circles apparently, but I'm not complaining. This has all the marks of an ideal Locked Girl arrangement, contrasting hard energy with more formal interludes.

Circumstance has delayed opportunity to feature the surprise masterpiece of Hi-Fi Rush, which released with barely more than an announcement and proceeded to become one of the best received games of the year thus far. The music replicates the style of rock popular in the 90's and early 2000's, adapted for a modern rhythm game; the result is one of best soundtracks I've heard in a while, and easily a contender for top five of the year (knock on wood). In addition to the standard soundtrack, the game contains a selection of licensed music for boss fights and other select moments; however, for the convenience of those who wished to stream or otherwise publicly play the game, alternate tracks were composed in similar arrangements as a replacement option. While the circumstances would imply a "we have x at home" situation, these alternative songs actually hold their own, with the added distinction of fitting a bit more cohesively into the soundtrack imo.

Knowing all that would definitely have boosted my rating up to 8.9 or even 9. Also goes to show that, even if you can read the lyrics, there's sometimes more to understanding them.

yoirone - Misty Morning There are some epic arrangements of this track out there, but I thought this laid back style suited it better. It also stands out from my usual options. 5crow3 - Beloved Tomboyish Girl Based on the translation results, I think the title's supposed to be a pun, but I can't be sure. I was trying to be careful with picking for this one; as one of the more heavily memed tracks in the series, options range across every imaginable style and mood, making the decision of what to use decided too easy. I went with this one because it managed to incorporate a humorous tone without being entirely structured around it (being coupled with Oriental folk makes this an ideal arrangement for the associated character imo). Boberon (a.k.a. Bob NL) - March of the Chinese Warrior I had a very specific tone in mind while searching out this remix. I wanted something full, but relatively low energy, perhaps somber. I should know better than to entertain such expectations; they inevitably make the process more difficult. Regardless, this fits pretty well; the instrument quality is rather subpar, but that's always been an issue with this artist. What I wanted to avoid was something high energy (rock, metal or techno) or anything folk (felt too obvious).

The first of April saw the surprise release of The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a short mystery game in the style of Ace Attorney. Despite being an April Fools joke, the game is competently and charmingly designed, full of nods and references that avoid being heavy handed accompanied by a solid central mini-game mechanic. Most importantly for my purposes, the game comes with a decently sized soundtrack. While its nothing extraordinary, it holds the same charm as the rest of the game. I was also surprised to discover the existence of unused tracks; whatever their intended purpose, they serve as a nice bonus to the collection.

My keyboard is giving out on me, so this will take even longer than usual. 19: Diao ye zong - The Second Performance: Curse Deity Approaching the end. Y'all ever hear jumpscares referred to as "cheap horror?" In theory, a jumpscare exploits a fight-or-flight response to "cash-in" on building tension; this is contrasted to the more difficult process of cultivating dread over time, sometimes withholding payout indefinitely in favor of an enduring horror. This doesn't have much practical application for me, since I don't tend to engage with horror in the first place, but it struck me as a fitting parallel for my experience with this piece. Pola's Eternal Hades will serve as my musical comparison to cheap horror; it accomplishes its mood by crafting an atmosphere out of elements specifically selected for their fitting qualities. The end result is effective, but lacks depth, and therefore endurance. Curse Deity is meant to be an unsettling song; its lyrics communicate a heavy threat, belying the lighthearted tone they are sung in. Their is a unique form of discordance throughout, the nature of which is of a level beyond my ability to fully analyze, but I suspect some advanced chord work in a carefully maintained distance between the melody and accompaniment. The resulting product lacks overt horror, yet its intricacies allow the effect to penetrate far deeper than a more obvious piece would. A masterpiece of tone setting. 10/10 20: C-CLAYS - The Moon which was Swallowed to a Wolf Confusing but apparently intentional grammatical error aside . . . At first, this seemed some straightforward augmented Oriental folk. Yet with further listening, I find myself at the diversity of instruments at play, being more than I usually hear utilized. The augmented accompaniment is balanced surprisingly well; the Oriental folk takes precedence, and usually feels the focus, with the additional parts serving to reinforce and elevate the arrangement. As the piece progresses, the balance becomes more even without losing the folk focus. All this works splendidly with the source motifs. A minor downside is the limited escalation of the piece; the piece reaches its peak energy early on after an initial buildup, and fails to have a proper climax. Nonetheless, the dynamic instrumentation and arrangement make it a fun piece Would (/will) listen again. 8/10 21: UNDEAD CORPORATION - Kushinada-hime "AAHHH!" The previous tournament entry from Undead Corporation (several tournament ago) is still one of my favorite submissions, being a wonderful blend of folk and rock accompanied by a stellar vocal performance, all together doing great justice to a usually too-familiar motif. This piece has a lot of the same elements, but with a bit heavier emphasis on the metal and less obvious applications for the source material. I think it's pulled off well, but isn't as fresh to me as the other one was; whether this is because the pieces are too similar, or there is something else lacking in this one, I'm not sure of. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it, and whether the intro is meant to be amusing or not, I've become quite fond of it. The lyrics are weird, though. Fun in an epic way, oddly nostalgic. 8.3/10 This did take longer, I'm really tired now, and I'm worried about how much that effected this post.

As man of consistency, I return here to commemorate Resurrection Day with potentially related music. I deliberated at some length over what to post, with my favored options lacking relevant material, giving me to ponder (not for the first time) the possibility of sharing from my other musical interests on a slightly more frequent basis. Regardless, I eventually settled on Don Francisco, whose propensity for ballads was as unusual in his time as it is now (I mean proper ballads, not forlorn country songs that are all too common). His most popular song is specifically written for the occasion. Have a blessed day, y'all!

Officially, a new beginning! Rikumaru - A Dream More Scarlet than Red [PC-98 Remix] Just as I started with a Zunish remix of a PC-98 track, I thought it only fitting to use a PC-98 remix for this Zunish piece. This isn't an especially dynamic one, but it accurately translates the style of the source into the sound of the older era. 38BEETS - Scarlet Something more complex is in order after that. For these early Windows era tracks, I'm anticipating a wide variety of options; so far, that is holding true. Soul as Scarlet as a Ground Cherry has a unique tone to it, and rather than find something to match it, I settled on a less unusual but sufficiently artsy. Kai Cyreus - Legendary Apparitions I've been blessed to hear some incredible arrangements of Apparitions Stalk the Night, many of them through past remix tournaments. So I was determined to find something creative at the very least. This piece lacks a bit of the punch that would perfect it, but the balancing of the melody against itself in slight discordance does an excellent job at creating a dark and determined tone, which works excellently with the motifs.

In the aftermath of the latest Rivals Direct, it seems ideal to feature the music from Dungeons of Aether. Similarly to Creatures, this soundtrack was arranged entirely in FM. Personally, I don't think this normally suites the style of Flashygoodness, but in this particular entry it seems to have worked well; perhaps influence from the rest of RESOFORCE is to be credited? Regardless, there are several noteworthy motifs introduced in this title, and I consider it a worthy addition to the series.

I don't want to touch this, and I'm far too upset about it to address it properly, but the longer its left the worse it's getting. RoboticSquire, with all due respect, you're out of line here. It's one thing to be concerned about the mannerisms and behavior of people around you; plenty of people from multiple perspectives will sympathize with the general sentiment. But you are not concerned; you are offended, and you have no right to be. You are making accusations in arrogance; you want people to change because you're uncomfortable, not because you actually care about them. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 says "If I speak with tongue of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." For your own sake, please stop this; you are not going to accomplish anything.

I want to do something funny for today, but my moments of inspiration are inconsistent, and I can't afford to rely on them. So in the likely scenario I can't think of anything better, I'll post some funny music here.

There was one announced; the "preshow" is at 9:00 AM Pacific time, with the actual Direct to follow at 10:00.

For this week's feature, I am dedicating a post to Theme of Eastern Story. It's placement in the musical chronology is arguable, but it seems fitting to address it between the two major eras of the series. For those who don't know, the familiar arpeggios that serve as the main theme for the series was first featured as the logo jingle for ZUN Soft (precursor to Team Shanghai Alice): Later Zun would incorporate the motif into the extra stage theme of the first Seihou game (the extra stage being a reference to his games). But it wasn't until the Untouched Scores collection that he would dedicate a proper arrangement to the theme, putting a name to the motif and establishing its place in the series. I initially set out to get remixes for each of these three uses, but I had no luck finding anything for the original logo jingle (which is fair), so instead y'all get two Eastern Story arrangements. Snow Evarose - A Shrine Maiden's Pride An arrangement with energy and impact, coupled with a sense of awe; that describes many remixes of the track I've found, with a similar quantity switching out "energy" for "serenity." Nonetheless, I appreciated this one's more daring take on instrumentation and the bit of twist in the interlude. Kani Sasimi - Ephemeral Light of the East I feel like there was a drop in quality in the uploading, but I can't always trust myself on that. I didn't find a lost of arrangements for Silk Road Alice that fit the tone I wanted; this was fairly close, and original enough to stand out from all the MIDI covers. fromadistance - Life That's Scarce a Hundred Years Here's that "serenity" I mentioned. What could be more fitting than Oriental folk orchestra?

At this, the conclusion of this series of Legend of Zelda features, I was left to decide between the remaining titles for a worthy contributor and fitting ending. I've already covered Breath of the Wild, and some soundtracks like Majora's Mask are too closely connected with other entries. I had it narrowed down to two, with no particular leaning one way or the other. I eventually chose Twilight Princess over Skyward Sword; I had little to no familiarity with either title, but figured it was better to favor the earlier release. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is considered a notably darker game compared to other entries, and is commonly contrasted to Wind Waker in tone and aesthetic (for a variety of reasons). Much of the music in the game seems to reflect this, being more somber and often favoring lower tones; some pieces utilize unique instrumentation blends to accomplish intimidating atmospheres. However, the soundtrack is extensive, and has a surprising degree of variety; in between the area and event themes, there are a multitude of mini-game and comedic tracks that somehow avoid contrasting too sharply with the rest of the game. This has resulted in my selection of featured tracks being significantly more difficult than usual. Under different circumstances, I might have divided this into two separate features; as it is, this is will be the largest single feature I've done thus far. Consider the above as the feature proper, and these as "bonus tracks," as it were; they represent the other extremes this soundtrack occasionally reaches, while maintaining a level of quality consistent with the whole:

This is an off-schedule post to appreciate a category of Touhou music that, though falling under the identifier of the thread, doesn't get as much recognition in it; that of original compositions in the Zunish style. I used to use tournaments as a time to feature these discoveries, but that ceased to be reasonable. I happened upon this thread dedicated to the subject on Maidens of Kaleidoscope, and it reminded me that I haven't featured anything of the sort for a while. Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to do so more often in the future. http://shrinemaiden.com/index.php?topic=98.0

ZuikakuP - BorderLand Given the original was a concept theme for stage five, I appreciate the tone of this arrangement for fitting so well with the ascetic of first-appearance Yuuka. Cone - Magic Shop of Raspberry Being one of my favorite PC-98 tracks, I was looking for something special for this piece. The baseline and intro tend to define the piece, and this did a nice job balancing them against the melody to give it emphasis. SeriouSecond - Closed Dimension I had hoped for something a bit more hard hitting for an ending, but nothing satisfactory turned up. This arrangement is a bit long, and I worry it may drag for some listeners, but I found I didn't mind it personally. With that, I have successfully featured a remix or arrangement for every musical piece from the PC-98 era of the Touhou Project. It has taken me almost exactly one year. I realize now that I don't know what percentage of Touhou music that actually is; maybe I'll calculate that for next week.

After the LoZ trifecta of soundtracks, it becomes difficult to choose which entries to highlight. I determined to feature Link’s Awakening, because I knew it was well liked by some musicians I respect, and because it was apparently popular enough to get a thorough remake. This was a GameBoy release, and as such its soundtrack is entirely quad-channel 8-bit. I’ve heard this utilized with stunning complexity, but find older soundtracks don’t often accomplish those levels. The redeeming quality of said soundtracks tends to be their powerful melodies, which transcend their presentation and endure into nostalgia. In theory, Link’s Awakening is such a soundtrack; however, it’s worth noting the attempts at altering the sounds to differentiate between different instruments. That aside, I think it may also be one of those OSTs better to experience through the game, because I’ve had a difficult time appreciating it without. Too many of the motifs sound like other melodies I’ve heard elsewhere, sometimes implying leitmotif but other times simply being atmospheric patterns the composers have used in past projects. Figuring out what counts as s unique motif or otherwise has been rather confusing. Nonetheless, I’m sure there’s something to it; my brief look into the remake’s soundtrack impressed me, and made we wonder about the significance of instrumentation being dependent upon the strength of melody. A query for another day, perhaps.

JerryStuffRo - Lotus Road (TD Arrange) Technically part of a Paradise of Boundaries project, but it's been a while and these last few themes of the era have been surprisingly difficult to find arrangements for (with a notable exception). Plus, it's not often I find a serious take on TD's spirit world gimmick. Wanwan - Tri-pilot This was the exception; Dreamy Pilot is a lot more popular than I thought. Wanwan tends to favor Zunish (understandably; he's among the best), but a more jazz focused arrangement like this isn't too surprising, given his style. Matmax14 - Incomplete Plot The occasional clock effect in the background has a nice effect. Otherwise, there isn't much to say about this one.

16: Pola - Eternal Hades The past returns to haunt me. While the wording hasn't aged well, the sentiment hasn't changed. This piece accomplishes a thoroughly disturbing atmosphere, as intended. I may respect it, even appreciate it, but I do not enjoy it. Regrets. 3/10 17: ShinRa-Bansho - Fairy Song A welcome shift. ShinRa-Bansho's standard of quality goes before them, as does the varied nature of their arrangements. This is a tamer mood than I usually hear from them, which goes along with the more serene progression utilized. The music depicts an epic journey in all its stages, from the instigation to the setting out, the unmet desires and their associated conflicts, their eventually resolutions and the realization of new horizons. Ironically, I can't make much of the lyrics either in consistency or otherwise. Regardless, a thoroughly enjoyable listen (instrumentation is excellent, too). A good sort of different from ShinRa-Banso. 8.5/10 18: GET IN THE RING - ⑨melodies My favorite circle! Speaking of uncharacteristic styles, I did not expect such a serene song from GET IN THE RING. The masterful medley technique, on the other hand, was eagerly anticipated; this circle is on par with DJ the S for constructing full pieces from outsourced motifs. I was in no way disappointed. The song itself is also worth looking up, imo; it fits the music, and is rather sweet. It's interesting to rate this next to Fairy Song, since the two pieces appeal to me in similar but slightly different ways. I haven't yet heard a GITR song I didn't love. 8.5/10 can y'all tell I'm rushed?

I didn't know Bossa Nova originated in Brazil; now I'm wondering about the origins of other genres. I'm a big fan of Irish folk, but I'm not sure if that fits the criteria of this thread (i.e. can I post Irish if I'm not Irish?), so I'll keep it minimal here.

It's St. Patrick's Day! Annual Irish folk incoming! I considered posting over on Mev's new music thread, but I'm not sure of the technical qualifications, so I've saved one for that and kept the rest here.

There were three specific games in the LoZ series I wanted to prioritize this month. The first two were foundational entries which established iconic motifs for future installments, and I was previously familiar with some of what they contained. The third is Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; though not quite as influential in comparison, this soundtrack is nonetheless a highlight of the series. The same spirit of adventure is present, with the advancement of technology enabling a more full sound without losing the charm of its limitations. While leitmotifs were hardly new to the series, they'd begun to take on a fresh aspect at this point; compositions were unique, but included references to past themes to invoke nostalgia and establish an internal consistency. It's difficult for me to tell how prevalent this style was in previous titles post-Ocarina (it was not present in Majora's Mask), but it has certainly been the standard for the series ever since.