Musical Monday

Musical Monday: “Twelve Dreamsongs” (The Twelve Kingdoms), composed by Kunihiko Ryo

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Happy Easter, everybody! This week’s song is the opening theme, “Twelve Dreamsongs”/”Juuni Genmu Kyoku”. of a classic anime, Asian-themed fantasy epic The Twelve Kingdoms. I’ve linked two versions — the first is simply the show’s opening credits, which pairs lovely visuals with a short version of the song. The second version is the full-length theme from the official soundtrack. Hmm. With my Twelve Kingdoms DVDs sitting on the shelf within arm’s reach, perhaps it’s time for me to re-watch the show…

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Musical Monday: “Adventure” & “Crimson Sky” (Guns of Icarus Online), composed by Zain Effendi & Gimmen Gong

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Now that Muse Games has announced Adventure Mode, the long-awaited expansion for last year’s airship shooter Guns of Icarus Online, the time seemed ripe to highlight my two favourite tracks from the base game’s soundtrack:

1. The game’s main menu theme, “Adventure”, composed by Zain Effendi — a short, sweet, mellow piece that goes beautifully with the game’s steampunk setting.

2. An more stirring in-game piece, “Crimson Sky”,  composed by Gimmen Gong.

Enjoy, and stay tuned for my upcoming email interview with Muse!

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Musical Monday: “Anvil of Crom” and “Theology/Civilization” (Conan the Barbarian), composed by Basil Poledouris

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For this week’s song, we’re going back to the ’80s – specifically, to Conan the Barbarian, a movie that tried so, so hard to be a dark, serious fantasy epic. It didn’t quite succeed, but Basil Poledouris’ majestic soundtrack brought it tantalisingly close. Below, I present the iconic main theme, “Anvil of Crom”, and a gentle travelling theme, “Theology/Civilization” – great ambient music for any fantasy RPG. Enjoy!

 

(By the way, did you know Arnie is due to return in a fourth Conan that retcons both Destroyer and the Jason Momoa reboot? One hopes it’ll be better than Destroyer…)

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The RPG Battle Themes of Motoi Sakuraba

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This week, I’d like to spotlight the music of Motoi Sakuraba — probably best known nowadays as the composer of the Dark Souls soundtrack, but I’ve been a fan of his for years, ever since I heard his work on the Valkyrie Profile games. For now, I’ve chosen just a few tracks: the regular battle themes from Valkyrie Profile (1999) and Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (2006), plus one boss battle theme from Dark Souls (2011). Note how his style has broadened over the years – the overwhelming majority of the original Valkyrie Profile‘s music is in the same upbeat rock style, whereas by Silmeria the music takes on a deeper, more epic quality that finally  blossoms into the very different sound of Dark Souls. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6uIpoBxBUI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsps0I58yUM

Musical Monday: “Spring Buds” and “Shattered Bamboo” (Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI), composed by Yoshihiro Ike

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This week’s songs are from Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI, KOEI’s epic strategy game set in war-torn Ancient China (and the last of its series to be translated into English). The game’s music is situational, so I want to say the first theme, “Spring Buds”, plays when you’re at peace, and that the second, “Shattered Bamboo”, plays when (A) you have a large empire and (B) you’re at war (I don’t recall hearing it when I was an underdog at the start of the game), but I can’t quite be sure! I can say they are as lovely as they are atmospheric, and I hope you enjoy them.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMlKbUeX6Ek

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdCOKgMFCBI

Musical Monday: Satorl, the Shimmering Marsh – Night (Xenoblade Chronicles), composed by Manami Kiyota

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This week’s theme is a piece of ambient music from the Wii’s flagship RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles. Like the area in which it plays (depicted in the concept art below), it has an otherworldly loveliness that actually made me halt what I was doing in the game, sit back, and drink in the experience for a couple of minutes. Enjoy!

 

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE0hhzASHwY

Musical Wednesday: Big Iron (Fallout: New Vegas), by Marty Robbins

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And we’re back! This week’s song is Marty Robbins’ 1959 country ballad “Big Iron”, featured in Fallout: New Vegas. Including it in the game was an inspired choice! Not only does the song help establish the game’s pseudo-Western atmosphere, but its lyrics — about a gunslinger who rides into town with a “big iron on his hip” — could easily have been about your exploits as an RPG hero. Enjoy!

 

Musical Monday: “Kia Hora Te Marino” (Calling All Dawns), composed by Christopher Tin

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It’s Christmas Eve! For an uplifting song, I give you something that’s not actually from a soundtrack — “Kia Hora Te Marino” (“May Peace Be Widespread”), from Christopher Tin’s “Calling All Dawns” album (1). The liner notes describe it as a “traditional Maori blessing”, and its tone and lyrics are a wonderful fit for the season. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone!

 

 

(1) You might remember this album as the source of the version of Baba Yetu I linked to a little while back.

Full credits for song: “Kia Hora Te Marino” was composed by Christopher Tin, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and featuring lyricist Jerome Kavanagh and backing vocalists Ben Mullon, John Mullon, Jordan Young and Tangaroatuane.

Musical Monday: “I Was Born For This” (Journey), composed by Austin Wintory

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Following my review of Journey, this week’s song is that game’s closing theme, “I Was Born For This”. (I don’t think the similarity to Ico‘s closing song is a coincidence.) Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_wkJ377LzU

 

Full credits for song: “I Was Born For This” was composed by Austin Wintory and sung by Lisbeth Scott.

Musical Monday: “Into the Light” and “Voyage” (Final Fantasy series), composed by Nobuo Uematsu

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Long before video game music took off in the West, the Final Fantasy series had a long tradition of beautiful vocal and orchestral music —  all the way back to the NES/SNES era! Developer Squaresoft circumvented the technical limitations of the time by re-arranging its in-game music into orchestral, piano, and vocal CD albums, which remain a treat to this day. Below, I’ve linked two of my favourites, both from the 1994 “Final Fantasy: Pray” vocal album. “Into the Light” (Japanese: “Hikari no naka e”) is based on “Theme of Love” from Final Fantasy IV, while “Voyage” is based on “Boundless Ocean” from Final Fantasy III (NES). Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS5C8GxCBqc

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-iVx43eihw

 

Full credits for songs: Both songs were composed by Nobuo Uematsu. Both were sung by Risa Ohki.

Musical Monday: “Exceeding Love” (Suikoden III), composed by Michiru Yamane et al

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This week’s song is something I guarantee you’ll find unique: “Exceeding Love”, the opening song of PS2 RPG Suikoden III. I’ve linked two versions below. The first is the actual in-game version, presented as part of the game’s intro movie — my favourite intro movie ever. The visuals and music complement each other perfectly, and as an added bonus, every single character and event depicted in that video — dragonfly-mounted warriors firebombing a village,  knights charging into battle, a boy facing off against a dragon, torchbearers filing through the night, whole armies on the march — actually features in the game! The second version of the song is a clearer, sharper, deeper remix that I prefer, though sadly this one lacks the accompanying visuals. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTr7LjzYkwM

 

 

Full credits for song: The game’s soundtrack was composed by Michiru Yamane, Keiko Fukami, and Masahiko Kimura. “Exceeding Love” was performed by the band Himekami.

Musical Monday: “Baba Yetu” (Civilization IV), composed by Christopher Tin

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This week’s song is another golden oldie: “Baba Yetu”, the opening theme to 2005’s Civilization IV. Soaring, hopeful, filled with joy — this is the perfect celebration of civilisation, of our achievements in science and art and engineering. Sadly, the official music video below (with its footage taken from the game’s intro movies) also highlights the other half of Civ, our talent for finding new ways to kill each other, but that’s another story…

 

Note that the official music video uses the version of the song from the “Calling All Dawns” album. Enjoy!

 

Musical Monday: “Ryoshima Coast” (Okami), composed by Hiroshi Yamaguchi

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With Okami HD now out for PS3, this is a great time to showcase another one of my favourite songs from the game. Where the Shinshuu Fields were the hub for the game’s first half, the Ryoshima Coast is the hub for the second half; its beautiful music is the perfect match for its visuals. Enjoy!

 

Musical Monday: “Uncle Samurai” (Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai), composed by Jeff van Dyck

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While I was bitterly disappointed by Creative Assembly’s Fall of the Samurai, the stand-alone expansion to last year’s Total War: Shogun 2, its soundtrack was another matter. Series composer Jeff van Dyck turned in some of his best work to date, as seen in energetic battle theme “Uncle Samurai” (Uncle Sam + Samurai – geddit?). Enjoy!

 

Musical Monday: “Icarus” (Deus Ex: Human Revolution), composed by Michael McCann

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Sorry for the delays, guys — Musical Monday is back! Since I’ve been talking a lot about XCOM: Enemy Unknown lately, for this week’s song I’ve opted to present one of composer Michael McCann’s previous works: “Icarus”, from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. What I love about “Icarus” is the way it blends two very different musical strains. There’s the obligatory cyberpunk techno, but also haunting vocals that hint at the game’s attempt to tell a story about the human soul, the desire to surpass the flesh. (In the end, sadly I don’t think the game lives up to that ambition, but that’s a subject for another day.) Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiN6t7K7txw

Musical Monday: “Space Beacon” (Digital: A Love Story), composed by radiantx

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One of the cleverest and most memorable games I’ve played this year was Digital: A Love Story, Christine Love’s 2010 visual novel. Its retro, pseudo-8-bit music is a key part of its conceit, that the player is a teenager discovering the Internet of 1988. Below is my favourite piece, the energetic “Space Beacon”. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Musical Wednesday: “Butterfly Garden”, “On Buddha’s Land”, “Lhasa Groove” and “Yellow Fever” (Sleeping Dogs)

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Sorry for the delay, folks. This week, I have not one, not two, but FOUR songs for you — all are from Sleeping Dogs, since I just praised its soundtrack in my review. Three sound more traditional to my novice ears: “Butterfly Garden” (Ritchie Lo, M. P. Mabel Ki, and Charles Chan), which I linked in the review, is a lovely, relaxing vocal piece, while “Lhasa Groove” and “On Buddha’s Land” (Ritchie Lo) offer something more energetic. The fourth,  pop number “Yellow Fever” (note: Vivienne Lu, the artist usually credited, is a character in the game; the actual composer is Nathan Wang) might not be the best song in the game, but good lord was it hard to get out of my head. Enjoy!

 

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Musical Monday: “Yellow River ~ Yangtze River” (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), composed by Yoko Kanno

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Yoko Kanno is justly famed for her beautiful anime music (I previously spotlighted one of her compositions, “Inner Universe” from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex). Less well known is the lovely music she previously did for KOEI’s strategy franchises, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga’s Ambition. I’ve attached an orchestral performance of one song below. Enjoy!

 

Musical Monday: “Main Title” (Fallout 3), composed by Inon Zur

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This week’s song is another Bethesda opening title theme, this time from post-apocalyptic extravaganza Fallout 3. I’ve linked both the in-game version (ab0ve), which you can also download from the game’s official site, and the orchestral version from the Greatest Video Game Music album. Enjoy!

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pECEs1KEz94

Musical Wednesday: “Fight It Out!” (Tactics Ogre), composed by Masaharu Iwata

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This week’s song is another great battle theme from Tactics Ogre, “Fight It Out!” I love the little discordant clash at the start of the song — it makes me envision everyone pulling steel before (at 0:15) the battle is joined. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P8HnjfJIVs

Musical Monday: “The Legend of Ashitaka” & “Journey to the West” (Princess Mononoke), composed by Joe Hisaishi

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This week’s tracks are cousins: both are effectively variations on the main musical refrain of Princess Mononoke, one of my favourite movies (animated or otherwise). “Legend of Ashitaka” is the conventionally heroic version, strong but a bit wistful;  “Journey to the West” is the more upbeat and adventurous of the two.  The versions I’ve attached below are from the “A Night in Fantasia 2004” orchestral concert, which I was fortunate enough to attend. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oybMC9iIar8

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJGqmf5vG9w

Musical Monday: “Opening Titles” (John Adams), composed by Rob Lane

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This week’s song is the opening theme to John Adams, the very nice 2008 HBO miniseries. Below, I’ve linked both the full-length version and the shortened version that plays over the gorgeous credits sequence. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDGVcq2UFNE

 

 

Details

Track: “Opening Titles”.

Source: John Adams.

Composer: Rob Lane.

Musical Monday: “Time Circuits” (Chrono Trigger), by Yasunori Mitsuda

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This week’s song is another SNES-era RPG world map theme: “Time Circuits” (aka “Corridors of Time”), which plays in one of the most wondrous areas of Chrono Trigger. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNzYIEY-CcM

 

Details

Track: “Time Circuits”/”Corridors of Time”.

Source: Chrono Trigger OSV.

Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda.

Musical Monday: “Blasphemous Experiment” (Tactics Ogre), composed by Masaharu Iwata

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In my review of Tactics Ogre last year, I praised its music as a “labour of love”, and now it’s time to highlight it. I had a hard time choosing a track for this week, but I eventually settled on “Blasphemous Experiment”, the theme that plays whenever you fight a certain powerful necromancer. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXZTMYiTrbw

 

Details

Track: “Blasphemous Experiment”

Source: Tactics Ogre: Unmei no Wa OST

Composer: Masaharu Iwata

Musical Monday: “Omoi Haruka” & “Nahji no Uta” (Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit), composed by Kenji Kawai

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This week, I have two songs for you: “Omoi Haruka”, the soft, gentle theme from the 2007 anime Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, and its vocal version, “Nahji no Uta”. Excellent but criminally overlooked, Moribito brings its low-fantasy world to life with such verisimilitude, I could almost think it’s really historical fiction. Composer Kenji Kawai’s (Ghost in the Shell, Fate/stay night) music, particularly the folk song-esque “Nahji no Uta”, is a key part of that appeal. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Details

Track: “Omoi Haruka” & “Nahji no Uta”.

Source: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit – OST #1.

Composer: Kenji Kawai.

Musical Monday: “Suicide Mission” (Mass Effect 2), composed by Jack Wall

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I never played Mass Effect 2, the source for this week’s song, “Suicide Mission”. Instead, I discovered the song on my newly bought copy of the “Greatest Video Game Music” CD, and took a shine to it at once. The version linked below is the one from the CD, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgBD6FMTLNg

Details

Track: “Suicide Mission”.

Source: Mass Effect 2.

Composer: Jack Wall.

Musical Monday: “Terra” (Final Fantasy VI), composed by Nobuo Uematsu

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This week’s song is the theme of Terra, the heroine of Final Fantasy VI, and also the game’s first overworld track. Melancholy, wistful, yet with a strain of hope, it is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard despite being composed for the SNES sound chip. Here it is:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhuEcFsYrco

 

Deservedly, it also features in pretty much every Final Fantasy remix collection there is: I’ve listened to piano, vocal, and multiple orchestral versions of the song. However, while the orchestral versions are grand and glorious and good (I’ve linked one below, from the “Distant Worlds II” collection), I can’t help but think that they miss the sweet sadness that made the original so special. The vocal version, “Wanderer of Time” (linked, bottom), comes a bit closer to the original. Still, they’re all well worth a listen.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oCVhmzp0is

 

Details

Track: “Terra”.

Source: Final Fantasy VI original soundtrack.

Composer: Nobuo Uematsu. “Wanderer of Time” version sung by Risa Ohki.

Musical Monday: “Shinshuu Fields” (Okami), composed by Masami Ueda

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This week’s song is neither an opening nor a closing theme — it is, effectively, Okami‘s overworld theme. It’s the background music for the Shinshuu Fields, the “hub” area for the game’s first act, and much like the Morrowind theme from two weeks ago, its lilting, upbeat tones are the perfect thing to send you off on an adventure. Enjoy!

Details

 

Track: “Shinshu Plains 1” & “Shinshu Plains 2” (spliced together in this video and in the in-game music player)

Source: Okami soundtrack

Composer: Masami Ueda

Musical Monday: “You Were There” (Ico), composed by Michiru Oshima

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I’ve featured opening themes for the first two weeks of Musical Monday, but this week I have an ending theme to share with you — “You Were There”, the perfect song to close out the lovely Ico. Enjoy!

 

 

Track: “ICO -You Were There-”

Source:  Ico: Melody in the Mist soundtrack.

Credits: Composed by Michiru Oshima and sung by Steven Geraghty.