Independently developed rhythm surfing game ‘Audiosurf’ is now up for pre-order on Valve’s ‘Steam’ digital delivery service. Becoming a finalist in the 10th Annual Independent Games festival awards is clearly a sort of recognition which is not easily given to the many indie game devs out there and thankfully, thanks to Valve, this game will reach the hands of many rhythm gamers (and most likely console download services in time).
Previously the game was only available to a specific group of beta testers but from this Friday will be available through Steam for $10. Much like Harmonix’s early work before Guitar Hero, Audiosurf has you in control of a aircraft which zooms through constantly changing highways. Traffic metaphors aside, with many different rules and an unlimited soundtrack (the game has a unique music processing engine, perhaps it’s biggest USP) Audiosurf very rarely gets dull. The game allows you to experience your personal music collection in ways never before expected. With the many ways to play, everyone will have their own personal favorite and thankfully all play modes are scored through the global scoreboard which brings the ’score attack’ aspect to a whole new, online level.
If you have access to the Steam platform this game is highly recommended, and with such a low price tag it would be a shame for you to miss out on! The game also comes bundled with the Orange Box Soundtrack which will most likely please the masses of Portal fans out there. Definitely check it out and let me know what you think.
Hiroki Kikuta, composer of Secret of Mana and Alphabet Planet, has a new album coming out in February.
Featuring his musical contributions to the Japan-only MMORPG Concerto Gate, the release for the artist’s privately owned Norstrilia label will feature 15 songs and a four-page booklet. It is titled simply “Concerto.”
A music sample and thumbnail of the elaborate cover art is now on display at the artist’s official website Angel’s Fear.
Following on from their previous single ‘Machine / Revolution’ released on heavily acclaimed indie label ‘Regal’, and with a tonne of remixes under their belt, South Central’s newest release ‘Golden Dawn’ is a collaboration of hood fuelled, urban paranoia and bass filled glitches. With the same, highly renowned drum fill the duo have used since the beginning, it’s no surprise that every new song these mysterious dj’s come out with, it’s always much more fulfilling than the last. Highly energetic guitar riffs intertwinned with a heart moving vocal combine to give a sense of a system which contains no heartbeat.
The video, filmed by Steve Glashier (Who has also worked with Fatboy Slim, DJ Scotch Egg and CSS) is a light filled triumph of colour which only helps to confuse the manic, head-pounding nature of the song even further.
’Golden Dawn’ is out now on Holiphonic Records or for digital download.
A brand new video game music netlabel, Pterodactyl Squad, has just launched. Based in the UK and from the same team behind the Gamewave Podcast, there are already five releases available to download, including music from NESMETAL, Super Multifaros, arcadecoma., Spheres of Chaos and Anamanaguchi. Here’s a blurb from their site:
“Pterodactyl Squad is a netlabel - an online record label which distributes music for free - and all the music we release is inspired by video games. We split our releases into two categories: there’s the original music category, as well as a category for video game soundtracks - these may be faux soundtracks or soundtracks for indie games. Please download all the music you want and play it on your PC, put it on your MP3 player, burn it to CD and tell your friends!”
Enthusiastically labeled as the ‘next Daft Punk’, as French electro stars of the future usually are; Justice not only thrashes away at the mediocrity of ‘Robot Rock’ but builds on it. By completely disregarding the cutesy, Japanese animé inspired ‘Discovery’ we can certainly see where the comparisons originate.Justice’s July 2007 album ‘†’ may in fact be a rather ostentatious choice of title but this fantastic 49.2 minutes of heavy bass lines and glitchy robot-funk could never be attributed to the likes of Prince and other symbol inspired acts. Augé and Rosnay’s incredible use of electronics feels much like a marching drum for the nostalgic youth of the Western world who grew up with dirty, bleeping sound chips and cheaply produced action figures. Feeling the deep bass fills of Phantom Pt. II and Waters of Nazareth inspires in the listener an image of what the music of the ‘Matrix’ would sound like, taking the red pill and falling into a world full of errors, illegal operations and blue screens would be bliss.
Not only does ‘†’ feature many dirty bass floor fillers but also radio ready chart hits such as ‘DVNO’, recently released ‘D.A.N.C.E’ and ‘The Party’ (featuring Ed Banger label mate, Uffie). These tracks fit surprisingly well next to the pandemonium inducing sections to create a bold debut for the French duo. Although their award winning remix of ‘Never Be Alone’ by Simian (officially released as ‘We Are Your Friends’ back in 2006) is omitted from the disc, Justice have created a technologic debut which will be incredibly hard to follow on from, unless it’s produced wholly by a raving lunatic of an Apple Mac I suppose.
It’s only 5 days until Christmas, but if you’re not feeling festive yet then give Episode 36 of the Gamewave Podcast a listen. The show features seasonal chiptunes from Bubblegum Octopus, Goto80, animal style, Boy vs. Bacteria, Calis and hai! Robotto and if that’s not enough there’s also last year’s Christmas Special (Episode 19).
Podcast feed
I’m a tad bit jealous of tippster Zach Fannin who just sent in a video review he did for ABC in regards to the recent second coming on the Blip Fesitval in New York.
This years event seemed to focus more on the culture created by the musical genre as well as the music itself.
While the English-speaking world has yet to be assured of a localization, December 13 will see the release of Chocobo’s Dungeon: The Labyrinth of Forgotten Time for the Nintendo Wii in Japan. The Square Enix dungeon crawler is the direct descendant of two Playstation titles and its music launched the careers of composers Masashi Hamauzu and Kumi Tanioka. The upcoming title will be scored by Joedown Studio, the music production company based in Hokkaido responsible for the soundtrack to Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales. [More about Joedown’s remixes of Uematsu’s tunes after the jump.]
A new episode of the Gamewave Podcast is now available. Episode 33 features rad music from Super Multifaros, Anamanaguchi, Chris Porter, Jay Tholen and Phlogiston.
A new web banner is now available too. Show your allegiance to the GWPC by inserting this code into your webpage:
<a href=”http://www.gamewavepodcast.com/”><img src=”http://www.gamewavepodcast.com/images/88×31.png”></a>
To this day Hiroki Kikuta’s soundtrack for the Super Nintendo action adventure title Secret of Mana scores on more than just nostaligia, but it has been a bumpy road for the composer. The epic sequel to Secret of Mana was famously denied an English-language localization, as was the composer’s first project for the Playstation. His massively multiplayer online project for Enix called Chou Bukyo Taisen geared toward the East Asian market, was canceled by the international co-developers during beta-testing. Following these setbacks, Kikuta has become increasingly tenacious in his desire to maintain creative control over the music he creates. The result is a fledgling publishing company - Norstrilia - named after the only novel published by science fiction writer Paul Linebarger under the pseudonym Cordwainer Smith. In what appears to be an understated homage to the digitized keyboard culture of today, Kikuta’s latest album published under the label is entitled Alphabet Planet. Read the rest of this entry »
