New Wave Retro Equinox EP

This is a free album published by New Retro wave. If you ever wanted to listen to noir techno, then this is the first and last place you need to go.

I started listening to this stuff because of the music from Hotline Miami features several artists in the genre. The labels are whatever your want: sometimes called synthcore, new wave (that is, without any other distinction), synth, noir, edm, '80score, etc. It's basically all of these things. It uses synthesizers. It sounds '80s and dark. Tons of artists are publishing free albums on youtube. It's all new.

This EP, Equinox, makes the perfect background music for playing the original Silent Hill. Instead of a freaky game I have a freaky '80s game in 3D. You cannot argue with that.

Listen to the new Equainox EP

VG Music: Top 70 NES Songs

Found this awesome top 70 list of NES songs on youtube this week. I don't agree 100% with the choices, but it definitely introduced me to like 10 songs I had never heard before! Great list, great listen.

Maybe this explains my recent delusions of beating Castlevania...

Real Japanese Version of the Ultima Exodus Song

Ultima Exodus is still the best RPG on the NES, and still has some surprises in store.

This blew my mind. A song which I have loved since I was a kid was actually vocalized for reason which remain mysterious to me. I assume it was for an OST release in Japan.

Great song, awesome version, give it a listen! Thanks to SDC for showing me this.

Smooth McGroove

Smooth McGroove's videos already have millions of hits so I guess I've been living under a Duck Tales Moon Rock.



Also, Mega Man 2 Wily's Theme is always classic.



Or, perhaps Guile's Theme to go with anything?

VG Music: Super Meat Boy OST

Super Meat Boy OST is awesome.

Arcade Music

What's your perfect arcade playlist? Not talking about music from arcade games, just the heavenly tunes that permeate those dark flashing smoke filled computer temples of the past.

I've got a few suggestions to get your personal Arcade playlist started, but to get an authentic feel we need to move beyond the obvious "Come On Eileen's" and "Billie Jeans's."

So let us build a list of the best sounds for your own personal arcade. Or for a 10 hours M.A.M.E. binge. No judgements.

1. The Clash - Death or Glory
2. The Police - Walking on the Moon
3. Flock of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song
4. Flock of Seagulls - I Ran (So Far Away)
5. The Alan Parson's Project - Games People Play
6. David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes
7. Blondie - Atomic
8. Paul Engemann - Scarface (Push it to the Limit)
9. R.E.M. - The One I Love
10. Talking Head - Psycho Killer

What else we got? Post your own additions, suggestions, etc.

VG Music: Flash FM

I scored Vice City Stories today for my new PSP, so I thought I'd make a Vice City post in celebration. Flash FM isn't the best station, but damn it it's good enough to use as some background music while you play MAME or pretend to work.

Song of the Week: Afterburner II

I'm a huge fan of Afterburner II for the arcade. Not that I ever got to play it in an arcade, but I secretly imagine that one day I'll have the full machine in an arcade basement. Anyway, the music is awesome and it's time to start Song of the Week and VG Music posts back up!

I chose a weird version for the Song of the Week, it's a vocalize Meiko Japanese thing. Why this version? Too much Jack and Coke.

Chiptunes: 8-Bit Daft Punk's "Get Lucky"

Daft Punk's new album Random Access Memories launches May 20, but the 1st single "Get Lucky" has been out for a few weeks. This 8-Bit version isn't as good as the real thing, but it's pretty cool to see that the music is already inspiring all manner of remixing.

8-Bit Version by Floating Point

The real deal.

Girl Talk: All Day

Greg Gillis is Girl Talk, a DJ ninja who uses pop songs as shuriken. I've never talked about any music that wasn't video game related on the site before, but I'm sure every gamer needs music to listen to instead of some repeating video game track which was fine for 100 hours, but after 200 hours really needs to change.

For that, I recommend All Day, a 70+ minute mash-up of 372 pop songs, ranging from famous to super famous to entirely obscure. You can download the album for free here, and the label's website has tons of other mash-up music as well. Listen to track 06 in the embedded youtube link below if you doubt me, and enjoy.

Zoë Blade & Pig - 8-Bit Generation

Musicians Zoë Blade and Pig recently create "8-Bit Generation," a stunning soundtrack exploring some of the themes of the 1980s and 1990s (embedded above).. The songs are clearly inspired by the music of classic video games, from the NES to the Playstation--but there is a definite feeling of newness throughout the album.

At times nostalgia, others whimsical, 8-Bit Generation starts of hard with "Cream Soda," the second track and--quite honestly--an amazing song designed to get inside your head and stay. The next few songs remind me of Anamanaguchi or Nullsleep, and use sounds which were probably produced with an NES soundboard.

Sometimes the album takes a contemplative turn, other times it kicks up the fun with tracks like "Closer" that convey the fun and excitement of exploring a video game world for the first time. Of working towards a quest and knowing that you are reaching the end. But for me, "Closer," is about that time in the middle, in which you accomplish a major task--like the 3rd or 4th dungeon out of 8--and much still remains to be done.

"Mapping out the System," conversely, feel more serious. It is perhaps analogous to that point in which you--as a player--realize that you cannot beat a game without some excellent mapping and organization.

The last two tracks mimic either an ending credits song, or something slow out of Final Fantasy 7. Lyrical, with strong hopeful-sounding motifs plus a significant amount of sadness.

I don't mean to stress the representational nature of the album too much, but with some of the song titles the connection is difficult not to make. In any case, 8-Bit Generation is fresh, killer album that you should definitely check out--but only if you want to go on a musical adventure from 1987-1997.

You can purchase the album on iTunes, or listen to it embedded above. You can also check out 8-Bit Generations the documentary.

If you like the music you might want to listen to more of Zoë Blade's music on her website. I've started listening to another album, Dagda's Arp EP, and it's awesome as well.

Song of the Week: Lord British's Castle

This week's song is not to be confused with Lord British's theme, another great song from one of the best NES adventures. This week's track plays normally in his castle, and is my second favorite song from the NES port of Ultima: Exodus.

Although the verses are somewhat generic, the chorus to this song accurately captures the sense of excitement, exploration, and discovery that made the game so famous. These two parts of the song form a tension which mimics the tension in RPG: peaceful towns and dangerous wilderness.

Give it a listen and let others know what you think about this song!

Song of the Week: Lord British's Theme

This weeks song is one of my favorite video game songs of all time, the music from Ultima Exodus that plays when you build a party and in Lord British's castle. It demonstrates the legendary music in this cart.

Ultima: Exodus is an amazing game, and is one of the only truly non-linear adventures on the NES. There is so much depth to the game you might want to use a guide, but then again, you might not!

Listen to the song and post your thoughts below! And if you haven't played Ultima: Exodus... do. You can read my review of Ultima Exidus for NES right here.

This game and I go way back to 7th grade when I bought it off a classmate for a dollar. Over Christmas break I played the game incessantly, which is why it always comes to mind around winter. Enjoy!

Song of the Week: Meteos "End of the Universe"

It's time for a change in the song of the week. I know the internet has killed everyone's attention span, so I hesitate to even post a slow song. But's it's so damn good I don't have a choice, you have to listen to it.

This song plays during the credits to Meteos, and sets the mood well considering how most of the story lines end. Meteos: not your average game.

Post your thoughts on the song in the comments below.

VG Music: Gradius Gaiden Stage 1

This song is an awesome technorock track that uses laser-synth sounds to mimic the icy nature of Stage 1 in Gradius Gaiden.

Gradius Gaiden was only imported to America on the PSP Gradius Collection. I recommend downloading the pSX v1.12 (or higher) emulator and the .bin and .cue files for rom. It's well worth the hassle to emulate this one.

Song of the Week: Nightmare (Mutant Warzone)

This week song was created by mrjordak for the Mutant Warzone OST, and it's awesome.

You can download and play Mutant Warzone for free!

It's a zombie game. In edited ANSII.

Song of the Week: Phantasy Star II "Mystery"

This week's song is another great track from the Phantasy Star series. This music plays in some of the dungeons I'm trying to get through, and the second half is super catchy.

Rock on, Sega Genesis, rock on.

Song of the Week: Phantasy Star Tower Theme

Phantasy Star has some of the best music on the Sega Master System (plus it's my favorite 8-Bit RPG!).

The Tower theme has a tension too it, and drives the player to explore. There is a subtle note of triumph in the song as well; it gives me the impression that hard times are going to follow but victory eventually awaits.

VG Music: The Fresh Prince of Sonic 3

To prove exactly what I meant earlier, check out this Fresh Prince vs. Sonic 3's Endless Mine. It's much better than What a Girl Wants, and it's pretty obvious.

This is a legitimately awesome song.

VG Music: Sonic 3 vs. Pop Music

Christina Aguilera and Sonic 3, could it work? It does.

The mash-up has some rocky moments, but overall it's pretty interesting and worth a listen for Sonic fans.

The lesson everyone should learn is that Sonic has some of the best music of the last 20 years.