Video Game Grooves

Blog post link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2023/06/27/b-side-giovanni-rotondo-8-bit-time-adventures-the-legendary-decks In a special "B-side" interview, we sit down with composer and creative renaissance man Giovanni Rotondo to talk about the third in his latest project to come to vinyl, The 8-bit Time Capsule at Enjoy the Ride Records. This third release of the 8-bit Time Adventures series adds another mashup of video game time and space to the series that already include a Paradox and a Machine. And because it's pretty far out there, we've got to talk about it before we put it on the turntable! Giovanni describes some of his film score work and "speculative" music, shares his own background with video games and modern media storytelling, and explains how that background has fed into his recent video game projects and collaborations with other artists. We also get to hear about another foray into the world of physical musical media and storytelling, The Legendary Decks. We discuss some of the interactivi

Blog Link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2023/06/22/episode-106-kaze-no-notam-notam-of-wind-jet-lancer-mat-ombler Up, up and away, in our beautiful balloon! Luxuriate in the wind, in our beautiful balloon! We are joined by first-time guest cohost Mat Ombler from the GXM Podcast, lover of math rock (or was it numbercore?) to feature some very noticeable and discoverable albums. First, we tap into that balloon-DJ lifestyle with Kaze no NOTAM, also known as NOTAM of Wind. This aeronautic oddity is simultaneously chill and kickin, cerebral and meditative, and it's just not something we expected to exist. We spend some time appreciating Artdink as a studio and as a "Sound Team", which is the only credit offered for this one-of-a-kind soundtrack. The record can still be imported from Japan, but is it worth the trouble? Next, we climb into the cockpit of Jet Lancer, a "Luftrauser-like" which adopts a sound that's far different from the Robotech-esque looking style and jetting gameplay. Mat shows us an example of ho

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2023/05/24/episode-105-street-fighter-alpha-3-blaseball-discipline It has been a spell, but in the spirit of of a timeless thing that is happening again for the first time, we have returned. And we've brought something special with us from the great unknown: video game music on vinyl record! This episode features Street Fighter Alpha 3, and we're pretty sure this is the final entry of all the Street Fighter vinyl that will ever exist, forever. Anthony appreciates the departures the game makes stylistically and musically from the rest of the series, observing that the game arrived at a particular technological and artistic nexus, and perhaps the Gameboy Advance game was truly the best version overall. Jeremy then gets out his wild-eyed conspiracy board persona to discuss the weirdest cultural event that has never ceased, with the iam8bit release of Blaseball: Discipline. Most of this segment is pretty breathless and confounding, but maybe you can learn a thing about the

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2023/04/12/episode-104-sonic-frontiers-the-music-of-starfall-islands Occasionally the weird world of video game music presents us with something on vinyl that is so confounding, we simply have to talk about it. This is the case for today's episode as we dedicate this show to a box set with is truly special and wholly unexpected: Sonic Frontiers: The Music of Stafall Islands, by Tomoya Ohtani. The Data Discs release captures Anthony's heart and bends Jeremy's head as we try to make heads or tails of the gravitas and the quiet power of one of the best(?!) games of 2022. As we glide through the musical movements of the in-game islands, we hear from the composer's notes about the cultural flavors he aimed for, the musicians of past Sega games that contributed, and the existential miasma of fishing with Big the Cat. We will probably not be the same after this show. We also cover new releases and announcements in the world of video game music on vinyl, and we end on a rathe

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2023/03/31/episode-103-last-ninja-2-kings-chill-vol-1 When time is a flat circle, the turntable of continuity brings familiar things around again. This is the case with today's episode as we plumb the depths of gaming nostalgia with Troels Pleimert, the Space Quest Historian. In this episode, we finally get a chance to talk about the Commodore 64 tour-de-force ninja simulator, Last Ninja 2 by Matt Gray. Our discussion reminds us that 30+ years ago, truly pioneering things were happening in the gaming space and in the music space that still echo in creativity today. Also we learn that ninjas and New York City were (and remain) the cultural touchstones of many a 1980s kid, wherever that 80s kid may be. We continue by vibing along to King's Chil Vol. 1, produced by Troels and Two Guys Records. We hear about the unusual origin of the album, the talented community that stepped up to create it, and learn a thing or two about floppy diskettes and seagull butts. We continue w

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2023/02/28/episode-102-best-of-2022-frederik-blipblop-lauridsen This year we're sliding into your DMs (that's "decorationary meetings") with a brand-new undercarriage holding up the edifice of the best video game music on vinyl record released in 2022! That's right, we're doing this thing like a real awards show, reminding you of all the best stuff from absolutely ages ago. Bu the good part is that not only are we presiding over the best releases of the year that was 2022, but we have taken your votes all the way up to the end of December, and this year it's getting real. As we are accustomed at these functions, we are joined by Frederik Lauridsen of Blipblop.net to choose the panel's favorite releases, and to count down your top 5 (or 10) ((or 11)) video game vinyl releases so that the will of the people shall be known. Thank you for voting, and thank you for listening! Outro: "Victory Fanfare" - Octopath Traveler, by Yasunori Nishiki http://www.blipblop.net/ Twit

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2023/01/31/episode-101-parasite-eve-pixeljunk-eden-2/ Our podcast returns in the year that is and will be 2023! We open with features of one of Anthony's all-time wishlist items (in unofficial off-the-back-of-some-guy's-vinyl-truck form), Parasite Eve. We reflect on the oddity of this memorable Square Enix PS1 title, both in its plot and its development, as well as Yoko Shimomura's dynamic snare drum skills. Is it possible to make this into a "lofi beats to study to" album? We weigh in. Next we shift subtly into the dreamythumpy sounds of Q-Games' Pixeljunk Eden 2, and the fingerprints of electronic artist Baiyon are all over it. We flash back to 2008 when the original Pixeljunk Eden came out and discuss the zeitgeist around the game, and reflect on the singularly simple mechanics and zone-out vibe. Jeremy discusses his desire for Eden-inspired wall art, and the after-market price of the game suddenly changes during recording. We look at the "mercifully short" list of

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/12/26/episode-100-streets-of-rage-4-mr-x-nightmare-traveler-journey-symphony-2022-in-review Scene: an idyllic cabin on the wooded hilltop, piled high with fresh snow. Inside, the glow of a fire illuminates festive nerds surrounded by bearskin rugs, wooly blankets, mugs of mulled cider, and a pile of video game music on vinyl. Their highly-tuned ears mistake the light sounds of snowfall for surface noise on their records, and they fastidiously brush nonexistent imperfections from their prized vinyl in the quest for audio perfection which can never be achieved. And yet all is merry and bright, because the Video Game Grooves podcast is back for the final episode of 2022! While we look forward to tabulating our favorites of the year in coming months, we are joined by Tom Quillfeldt of Laced Records to recap the numbers and preside over the facts and feelings about the year that was. But before we do, we discuss a couple of releases that we just have to blab about. Fi

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/11/25/episode-99-symphony-of-zeal-art-of-rally As we drift through the festal season of the year, Video Game Grooves returns like some kind of semi-mythic fae village which serves as the object of various musicmaking... Could be Zeal, could be Brigadoon, who can say? At any rate we are back with special guest Chehade Boulos from Mana Wave Media to see what he's been up to, lo these many years. And it turns out he's been quite busy, and we're excited to look at a couple of projects he contributed to! First, we explore the wonder and mystery of Symphony of Zeal, the symphonic adaptation of Chrono Trigger originally produced by Malcolm Robinson. We may just be confirming suspicions that this is a Chrono podcast disguised as a game music vinyl show, but what the heck, we like it. We take a moment to reflect on our discussion topic mid-selection: the relative high standard of quality control that we have enjoyed in the midst of huge production delays and resource scarc

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/10/15/episode-98-banjo-kazooie-re-jiggyed-returnal The time has come to return to our value-added past, and we are joined by Justin from Respawned Records to take a wild wormhole to an alternate version of bird and bear with Banjo-Kazooie Re-Jiggyed. Composer Grant Kirkhope explodes our (very prepared) expectations with a new interpretation of the original goofy and bouncy score with a new interpretation that goes...everywhere. We discuss the benefits of artist-led works, and challenge some of our notions about "cohesive listening experiences." We then decide to give everybody whiplash and we crash with abandon into Returnal, by Bobby Krlic. Jeremy evaluates his feelings about long droning game soundtracks, but will he find some value in the subtle inflections in this fast paced exercise in arcade action, dynamic repetition, and spooky sci-fi? We hit the new releases and highlight a few things to be on the lookout for, and a few things that will be on their way t

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/09/26/episode-97-space-quest-historian-space-quest-6-reorchestrated/ It's been a while since we had a real episode, but we're back from summer vacation into a lovely autumn, chock full of outer space, intestinal parasites, and swing harmonica. Of course this means that we are joined by Troels Pleimert, the Space Quest Historian, for his inaugural voyage into the moderately unknown world of video game music on vinyl. We finally get to dig in deeply to the world of adventure games and their presence (or lack of it?) in the game music vinyl space, and we open with a "Stellar" entry from SQH himself, Space Quest VI: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier Reorchestrated! We talk about the music of the series going back to Space Quest 3, the vagaries of MIDI (possibly pronounced "meaty") music, and eventually end up in a discussion about how many cats have been lost in vinyl mishaps. We also get to hear about an upcoming project from Troels and friends in the band Error 47

Blog Link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/08/21/b-side-the-superweaks-team-lazerbeam As the hot days of summer drag on, the thoughts of music lovers (and video game lovers, and vinyl lovers, and video game music on vinyl lovers) turn naturally to... bands and jams. And particularly, our thoughts turn to INDIE bands and jams. And one of our favorite little indie game + music projects that has also been released on vinyl is Teenage Blob, now celebrating its second birthday. So it's the perfect time to sit down with members of the band The Superweaks to discuss this "EP game", or a game that was developed in conjunction with a 6-song EP album release, to create a bite-sized game jam that is also a music jam. Evan Bernard and Chris Baglivo introduce us to the band and its history, its relationship and collaboration with Ben Rausch and Team Lazerbeam, living in a warehouse-style artist collective in Philadelphia, and what does hot sauce have to do with all this? Teenage Blob is a delightful, referential, a

Hello traveler! We have been traveling too! Our turntables are not especially portable so we've been off the grid as the weather has gotten warm, but we're back and the time is now! Anthony and Jeremy combine to form one large man podcast who wants to talk about some video game music on vinyl, so let's get to it! In this episode we have a lot to say about arrangement albums, and to give their props where they are due. So we're featuring a scarcely-known unofficial mash-up release that imagines the music of Square Enix at a huge stupid rave. This is Rave SQ, so get your twirling glowsticks and hula hoops! We talk about the curation involved in a "mixtape" style vinyl record, and discuss the unusual choice to feature community and official tracks, and we learn that you can still have a lot of fun with cheap 3D glasses.

Blog Link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/05/21/episode-95-mega-man-legends-across-the-worlds-chrono-cross-wayo-piano-collection Spring has sprung, and like may flowers so have we! This episode is a tiny salute to game series that took a hard left turn but wound up right where they were always meant to be. Our exemplars this week begin with the cult favorite Mega Man Legends from Ship to Shore Media. We look back at this trailblazer of 3D storytelling from before the likes of Metal Gear Solid, and we appreciate its "Saturday morning anime" vibe. The music, too, is a fun little grab-bag of music from disco to classical to synthy cartoon rock or swing, and it's all pretty ahead of its time. We also dive into our first piano arrangement album with Across the Worlds: Chrono Cross Wayô Piano Collection, which is a multi-artist adaptation of a game that still divides fans of the "Chrono series" today. We appreciate the emotional range of the piano, and the daring of a piano arrangement album in general to augme

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/04/24/episode-94-street-fighter-alpha-2-skullgirls No fighting game soundtrack left unfeatured! At least, that seems to be our motto, but can you blame us? We just can't pass up these pristine pressings of pugilistic polyphony! This week, Anthony takes us back to class and demonstrates the musical evolution of the Street Fighter series with Street Fighter Alpha 2. We listen to some of the riffs on the classic SF2 themes, and we're introduced to some new ones that fit seamlessly into the pantheon of music... but what are we left humming? Then we take a jog on the jazzy and jiggly side with Skullgirls, jamming to Michiru Yamane and Vincent Diamante's homage to the 1940s, while the gameplay recalls Marvel vs Capcom 2. The game's interesting history and ambitious art and music are front and center for appreciation. We may throw down a few gauntlets in this episode. Ready? Fight! We press on to discuss the "genre" considerations of listenability and vinyl pressing. Wh

Blog post: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/03/25/b-side-erik-elsom-magic-map-studio/ Welcome to our next B-side conversation, this time with Erik Elsom from Magic Map Studio about King's Quest V: Songs of Serenia. This crowdfunding project currently on offer at Qrates ("crates") is a reimagining of Sierra Online's touchstone point-and-click adventure game. In this conversation, we talk to Erik about his history with point-and-click adventures, and with the personal relationship he has with the music of that genre and time. We discuss the tight-knit community (which has already produced a handful of similar albums based on the Space Quest franchise) and its involvement with the project, as well as how he adds his own touch to the process of reimagining such well-loved music from Mark Seibert and Ken Allen. The Qrates project ends in 1 week. Hear samples and pledge here: https://qrates.com/projects/25365-king-s-quest-v-songs-of-serenia Magic Map Studio https://magicmapstudio.com/

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/03/16/episode-93-king-of-fighters-98-sayonara-wild-hearts We are back, and this time our social relations link is tight and powerful. Jeremy and Anthony finally tackle the labyrinthine world of SNK fighting games, and we dig allllll the way in with King of Fighters '98 by Brave Wave. We learn what it means to fight in the Dream Match, how KOF invented the "city pop" vibe, and what would Jeremy do to the shrimp cocktail bar at the party on the album cover. We move it along to a more electro-pop vibe with Sayonara Wild Hearts from iam8bit. This tarot-themed relationship recovery magical girl simulator is full of some bops, and we may bend the rules just a bit to give you a full taste of it, as we talk about the best ways to consume such a thing. We cover the newest releases and preorders that are available to wreak havoc on your bank account, although this time the slate is merciful. We then observe recent moves in the game publisher space by Square Enix to give th

Blog link: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/02/28/episode-92-demons-souls-astro-bot-rescue-mission We have returned, just in the nick of February, with a wildly schizophrenic show that his the boundaries of human emotional response. Ryan Huff from One Run Records joins us again but we're not sure he knew what he was getting into this time... We decided February was a fine time to look back at Demon's Souls from Milan Records, and work our way through the trauma. This game may have launched not one but two genres of media: "souls-like" games and "souls-like" music! Composer Shunsuke Kida gets way out of his regular discography to bring us intense-Latin-choir-ala-Dante-Alighieri, and quiet understated themes of quiet and dark reflection. Some of what we discuss is hearsay (because we're bad at the game) and some of it is grammatical. (No, we do not finally solve the apostrophe thing.) Next, we swing to the far opposite side of the mood spectrum with Astro Bot Rescue Mission from Fangamer. Kenneth CM Young bri

Show Notes: https://videogamegrooves.com/2022/01/31/episode-91-final-fantasy-viii-battletoads-smash-hits/ We're back for 2022, perhaps a little bit sleepy, but hibernation can do that to you. Jeremy, Anthony, and Caleb are kicking off the new year with a giant spiked boot and a cool Squall Leonhart necklace. (Yeah, we know.) We are ready to return to the days of slow MIDI beats to study to with Final Fantasy VIII from Square Enix, extracting a few thematic elements from the generally well-liked Uematsu score, and putting them on the turntable for all to see. Redbook audio? Who needs it?? And who in the Final Fantasy universe is the Vin Diesel analog from The Fast and the Furious? We move it along to a much earlier (and also much later) era with Battletoads: Smash Hits from iam8bit. We discuss a bit of the origins of the franchise with David Wise's not-actually-heavy-metal leanings in the 80s, and run through the weird and warty history up to Battletoads (2020). David Housden expertly weaves many metal thread

Show notes: https://videogamegrooves.com/2021/12/29/episode-90-best-of-2021-frederik-blipblop-lauridsen/ The best-thing-we-do-every-year* is here again! And, we may not have realized it even while we were making it, but it is the fifth one. Five is a big round number, especially in Podcast Land, and we're thrilled to have done the thing this long. Thank you for being here with us to do it. But to get right to it, we are here to preside with an iron fist over the best of the best in the 5th Annual Video Game Grooves Awards, or the "Groovies" as we occasionally call them, along with good friend of the show Frederik "Blipblop" Lauridsen of BlipBlop.net, veritable godfather of the hobby. Spoilers, this one gets a little weeby. In round-robin style we call out our top 3, 2, and 1 for the whole year**, and then we run through YOUR top picks for the year, from the running poll from the major record labels to the self-released indies, and see who has twenty-twenty-won your heart for video game music on vinyl. Outr