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Sonic CD dual remix album tackles the regional soundtrack debate
The game music aficionados at OverClocked Remixed have released a lengthy and comprehensive Sonic CD remix album, honoring the game's 20th anniversary and addressing its hotly debated dual-soundtrack release. The Temporal Duality album brings together 39 artists for a three-disc collection of 38 arranged tracks based on compositions from Masafumi Ogata, Naofumi Hataya, Spencer Nilsen, David Young and Sterling Crew. Fans have argued for years over whether Sonic CD's original Japanese soundtrack or its completely different North American counterpart is superior, but Temporal Duality balances out with tracks from both versions, letting listeners decide for themselves. (Editor's biased opinion: They're both great, but the US soundtrack is superior since it's connected so closely with his Sega CD-owning misfit childhood. Your opinion will likely differ.)
Gone Home plus four in-game albums bundled for $25
The Fullbright Company has released a new Record Collection bundle that includes a copy of the studio's interactive short story Gone Home and four full albums by artists featured throughout the game. For $25, buyers will receive downloadable tracks from Calculated by Heavens to Betsy, Pottymouth by Bratmobile, and The Youngins are Hardcore by The Youngins. The package also includes Gone Home's original score, composed by Chris Remo. Fans who already own a copy of Gone Home can purchase the albums separately for $15.
Mega Man 25th anniversary compilation album announced
Video game soundtrack distributor Sumthing Else Music Works has teamed up with Capcom to deliver MM25: Mega Man Rocks, an upcoming compilation album featuring 18 fan-made tracks and remixes inspired by the Mega Man series and its many spinoffs. Featured artists include The Megas, Mega Ran, Arm Cannon, X-Hunters and Bit Brigade. Rock opera outfit The Protomen will also contribute three tracks to the album, including the never-before-released "Built To Last." MM25: Mega Man Rocks will be available for purchase from iTunes, Amazon.com, and Sumthing Else Music Works' website on October 29. Samples are available at Sumthing.com.
World 1-2 Encore remix album available now
The World 1-2 chiptune album released in May now has a follow-up in World 1-2 Encore. The album features 14 tracks from artists like Cory Johnson, Video Game Orchestra and The OneUps. Unlike the first album, it is entirely composed of remixes, so the tunes may sound a little more familiar this time around. World 1-2 Encore is available on BandCamp for $8, and both albums can be purchased in a 34-track bundle for $24.
Tapsbook gives photos new iPad organizing flair
There are small problems, big problems, and the "how on earth do I organize all my photos" problem. That last one may just prove to be the least tractable, especially for parents of young children who have seen the digital revolution overturn the traditional album, folder and shoeboxful strategy. Searchable and sendable they may be, but a pile of digital photos is a pile nonetheless. Add in the multiple, mobile sources for images and it gets even more tangled. Many, many companies continue to aim their product development efforts at this plump target. Flickr's recent move to a full terabyte of free storage has made Yahoo's prosumer photography site a more attractive repository for many; Shutterfly's buyout of ThisLife has brought some attention to the family-focused photo storage web service. ThisLife still hasn't delivered its iPad app, though, and there's a sense that the era of desktop supremacy for managing and sharing photos is drawing to a close. The future, my friends, is tablets. That "born tablet" approach for image organization and sharing is what the makers of the new Tapsbook app hope will set their offering apart from the rest of the field. Tapsbook, now available free on the iPad after a long beta incubation, is designed to aggregate images from a slew of different sources (including the iPad's local photos, Facebook images, Dropbox folders and Google+/Picasa storage) into manageable, attractive "books" based on the month or year the photo was taken. The auto-generated timeline books, and books grouped based on source folder, can be modified, tweaked and edited at will; it's also one-swipe easy to move images into a new, custom book of your own favorite photos. In fact, favoriting a photo anywhere in the app automatically flags it for inclusion in a "yearbook" best-of collection. Whole books or individual pages can be shared out as links or directly to your Facebook wall. %Gallery-195045% Once you assemble the images you want into a custom book, you can edit page by page to change layouts, add text and backgrounds, and scale/crop/rotate images with an innovative two-finger/one-finger UI that turns out to be quite intuitive once you try it a few times. The page editor seems to be the area of the app where the development team has really concentrated on producing a "best for tablet" interface, and it's quite slick. Unfortunately, there are some rough edges and bugs even in the page editor (it's too easy to lose track of an image when you change layouts, for instance), and other pieces of the app are in need of some additional simplification and polish. While the Tapsbook team is excited about the current offering, they acknowledge that there's more refinement and finishing to do; the UI is expected to receive a pretty dramatic overhaul in v2. The rough edges extend to the company's website, design and help text -- all could use a thorough review with a proofreader and editor. In terms of storage and pricing, there's some innovation there too. Tapsbook tries to be smart about cloudsourced images, and does not duplicate them when it's possible to reference the original. But for images that do need to be stored independently for Tapsbook to use them, you've got a choice: pay a bit more and Tapsbook provides the storage, or a bit less and you BYOcS (bring your own cloud storage) via Dropbox or Google Drive/Picasa, paying as you go to add more photos to your limit. As it happens, images with a max dimension of 2048 px don't even count against your Google storage quota, so that's a handy arrangement. The free version of Tapsbook allows you to share out up to 500 photos, so you have ample opportunity to try it out before you'd have to choose whether or not to invest in a monthly subscription or a per-photo buyup. (The monthly subscription cost is $2.99; the Dropbox/Google BYOcS starts at $1.99 for an additional 1,000 photos in your sharing quota.) It's certainly an interesting app now, and likely to get more interesting as it evolves. The question is, do we need another way to share our photos -- even a "tablet-first" approach like Tapsbook? The savvy and multi-source Everpix tool works with its own iPad app for album and individual image sharing, without the book metaphor; the Beamr app delivers full-res iPhone photos in a magazine-style album. It's a crowded App Store out there when it comes to photo tools. Maybe the best thing that can happen to the Tapsbook app, with its agnostic approach to image sources, is to become known as the cool front end for other services... especially those, like ThisLife, with a great storage and sorting story but without the iPad savvy.
Antichamber half-off on Steam today, soundtrack now available
Antichamber is on sale for $10 on Steam for today only. If you are only interested in hearing Antichamber, the soundtrack for the game is now available on BandCamp for $6, as well as a four-track "Meditation Walk" ambient album by Antichamber Sound Designer Robin Arnott for $4. The soundtrack, provided by Siddhartha Barnhoorn, features nine tracks in total. You can purchase both albums in a special double album pack for $8 through BandCamp.
Mew-Genics teaser brings the beautiful noise
It's Caturday y'all, and that means one more tidbit of information regarding Team Meat's latest project, Mew-Genics. Since all of the game's characters have been revealed, the Team Meat has begun slowly releasing tangential information about the game, with this week's reveal being "Cat Chase," the title theme."We really splurged with the soundtrack for Mew-Genics, the game will feature a full album of over 20 studio recorded songs," Team Meat's Edmund McMillen said in an official update. "We really wanted to make the games music feature extended themes of the game or small stories within each song, kind of how Katamari did it in a way, except all our songs are about cats!"The game's soundtrack/album is being composed by Matthias Bossi and Jon Evans, the former of which provided the narration for The Binding of Isaac. Here's hoping the rest of the score has the same spooky, Neverhood/Skullmonkeys-esque vibe as this track, which can be heard above.
Adobe Revel 1.5 released with new UI, text captions and auto-syncing albums
Adobe's cloud-based photo storage and editing app has been enjoying its new name since it hopped off the Carousel, and now it's appreciating a feature bump too. Version 1.5 has just hit the virtual shelves of the Mac and iTunes stores, complete with a new UI and the option to log in using Facebook or Google accounts. Functionality wise, the update adds text captioning for your snaps and the ability to create albums which auto-sync across your devices and can be shared with others via the web. Alright, so the update isn't revolutionizing the service, but we're sure those that currently subscribe are reveling in it.
Motorola MOTOACTV now likes Ice Cream Sandwich, to its nutritionists dismay
Motorola is pushing out an update for the MOTOACTV that'll improve the dinky machine's calibration with heart rate monitors and improved media selection. Golfers who plumped for the tailored edition of the unit will find links-friendly features like better score tallies and longer-distance club suggestions. The concomitant mobile app also gets a bump to make the unit compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich handsets -- although we'd suggest avoiding too many sugary snacks if you're off for a run.
Scalado Album launches for Android, we go hands-on (video)
Scalado just released Album, its first ever Android app to land in Google's Play store. The company -- which is best known for imaging technologies such as zero shutter lag, Rewind and Remove -- usually provides software to device manufacturers instead of end users directly. Album is billed as "a simple to use, high performance, photo/video viewer with a clean and smooth user interface" that handles pictures up to 200 (!) megapixels in size. The app costs $0.99 and is available for both smartphones and tablets. It features some interesting touches, like the ability to browse geotagged images using a map view. We had the opportunity to take Album for a quick spin before launch and the app offers an intuitive and responsive user experience. Beyond organizing photos into the usual bins -- like the camera roll and the folders on your device -- the main screen lets you browse content by time (monthly) and location (including nearby). You can delete, share, rotate (in place) and crop pictures, plus display the file info and turn images into wallpaper. The grid view uses animated thumbnails for the videos and supports multiple selection. While not groundbreaking, Album is a solid app and the aforementioned map view is definitely worth checking out. Take a peek at our gallery of screenshots below (from our HTC One X) and hit the break for Scalado's demo video and PR.
Fort Atlantic releases new album on modded NES cartridge, no chiptunes in sight
It's getting tough for bands to out retro each other these days (what with even cassettes making something of a comeback), but Birmingham, Alabama's own Fort Atlantic has managed to come up with something that's likely to break through the nostalgia-filled haze. While you'll soon be able to buy the band's self-titled debut album in all the usual formats, you can now pre-order a limited edition version that ships a week before the proper release date and comes in the form of an NES cartridge modded to hold a USB drive ($25 and apparently limited to just 50). That includes the full album in both lossless and MP3 formats, along with an added EP, videos and other bonuses. Unlike past NES album releases, though, there's no chiptunes to be found here -- you can listen to one song from the album courtesy of the Paste Magazine link below, and see frontman Jon Black explain the cartridge decision in the video after the break.
They Might Be Giants fans celebrate 'Apollo 18' anniversary with geekiest tribute imaginable
We love us some They Might Be Giants, and not just because the two Johns took the time to sit down with us for an episode of The Engadget Show last year. Of course, we're not the only ones out there with a strong appreciation for the fiercely original New York duo. When you've got a fanbase as geeky and devoted as TMBG's, you're bound to get some strange and wonderful tributes out of the deal. Take "Apollo 18+20: The IF Tribute Album," a collection of 38 interactive fiction games created to pay homage to the 20th anniversary of one of the group's most beloved albums. Ever wondered how "I Palindrome I" would play out, were it a text-based computer game, instead of a rock song? Manonam, click the source link to find out.
New album available from VVVVVV composer Souleye
Souleye, the chiptune mastermind behind the incredible soundtrack for indie darling VVVVVV, has released a new, full-length album of original delights entitles Adventure. The 20 track collection of bleeps, boops and beats includes brand new songs, tracks from VVVVVV 2.0 and VVVVVV for the 3DS, as well as unreleased remixes from the indie rhythm title Pulsen.As the above trailer testifies, Souleye's pseudo-retro compositions are guaranteed to lift your spirits in his trademark, undeniably catchy way. The album is available for $10 (or more) at Souleye's official website, and can be listed to for free at Souleye's Bandcamp profile.
Apple brings iTunes Store to Brazil, Latin America
Apple is extending its sphere of influence south of the equator today, with the launch of the iTunes Store in Brazil and a whole slew of Latin American countries. According to Cupertino, the platform will launch with a catalog of over 20 million songs, from both Brazilian and international artists, as well as a selection of more than 1,000 films for rent or purchase. Also included in today's release are users in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. Find more details in the full PR, after the break.
London Philharmonic records game music album
The London Philharmonic Orchestra hasn't been shy about getting involved with popular culture, and will release a video game soundtrack album on November 8. Game Informer reports the album, The Greatest Video Game Music, includes 21 tracks with a mix of fan favorites from the past three decades. The album covers Super Mario to Angry Birds, with less whimsical efforts like Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty and Fallout 3 in there too. You can get a taste of the album with Hans Zimmer's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 theme here.
Zynga crowns Lady Gaga as FarmVille's newest cash cow
What better way to market a game that isn't really a game than with an artist who isn't really an artist? Such was the rationale, apparently, behind Zynga's recent decision to partner with Lady Gaga, the freshly anointed face of FarmVille. As of May 17th, FarmVille users will be able to take a much-needed break from wasting their lives and visit GagaVille -- a neighboring but equally fake farm full of unicorns, crystals and terrible life decisions. There, visitors will be able to listen to unreleased tracks from Gaga's forthcoming album, Born This Way, which they can also download for "free," once they've dropped $25 of their parents' hard-earned cash on a Zynga gift card. The campaign will mercifully come to an end on May 26th, but not before Diet Madonna extends her corporate leviathan to every corner of Zynga's gaming universe, including Words With Friends, Mafia Wars and anything else your pre-teen cousin spends far too much time playing. Gaga will win. Zynga will win. The human race, on balance, will lose. If you haven't slit your wrists yet, the PR after the break should do the trick.
Location-aware album gives Washington DC dynamically modified soundtrack
Musical duo Bluebrain has taken the guesswork out of listening to music -- their latest album dictates where you can listen to it, what songs it plays, and when it plays them. Take that, playlists! The album, titled The National Mall, will be available only as an iPhone app and the band is calling it the first location-aware album. The app... er, album, uses your phone's GPS to track one's proximity to hundreds of tagged zones spread throughout the landmarks of the Washington DC National Mall, dynamically tweaking the rhythm, melody, instrumentation, and pace of the music as you go. Despite this fancy smartphone integration, Bluebrain stresses that this is still an album, not a toy or augmented reality application. The experience is strictly location specific, no user input necessary, or available. Want to hear a new melody or arrangement? Walk to a different monument. The project's location-specific nature means that fans outside of the DC area are out of luck for now. The band says two more GPS-powered albums are on the way -- one designed for Brooklyn's Prospect Park, and another spanning the entire length of California's Highway 1. Music, measured in miles -- neat, but Hwy. 1 manages just fine on its own, wouldn't you say?
OneBigGame assembles 17 game composers for album to benefit children's charities
Gaming charity OneBigGame has partnered with developers for such as Chime and WINtA, with a portion of the profit they've generated going to benefit children's charities. Its new project, while still game-related, is decidedly less interactive -- but nonetheless compelling. The organization has announced it's teaming with the Game Music Initiative to bring together 17 game composers to create the OneBigAlbum, featuring new works by the likes of Masaya Matsuura (above, PaRappa the Rapper) and Emmy award-winning Christopher Tin (Civilization IV). Eighty percent of the proceeds will go to Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation, each receiving half. OneBigGame hasn't firmed up a release date yet, but we'd say keeping the album on your radar would be a sound move. We've got the full list of composers who are contributing just past the break.
Flaming Lips create tune for 12 smartphones
This is a little trippy. The band Flaming Lips once released a studio album containing four CDs designed to be played all at the same time. Flaming Lips has upped the ante and uploaded 12 different clips to YouTube, which are all supposed to be played on 12 different smartphones at the same time (or browser windows, if you don't have 12 iPhones). Here's their YouTube account with all of the videos on it, and here's an "instructional" video (beware: the title of the song is not safe for work) detailing how to get the tracks running and synced up on an iPhone. Like I said, trippy. If you're not a Flaming Lips fan, the whole thing is probably too weird to put in the effort, not to mention that you probably don't have 12 smartphones sitting around to play music with unless you're in a particularly high-tech and relaxed office space. But it's a cool angle on music composition, and it's a neat experiment made possible with YouTube and our favorite smartphone. If you do have the time and energy to make it work, let us know what you think.
Gorillaz iPad album, called The Fall, out now
As promised, the new Gorillaz album showed up online over Christmas, and it's available for download right now. The album is called The Fall, and you can listen to one of the 15 tracks, called "Phoner to Arizona," embedded after the break. The whole record was made completely with an iPad, and CNN has a list of apps used to make the album, including Amplitube, Mugician (written by a TUAW commenter), and Moog's Filtatron, among quite a few others. I just gave "Phoner to Arizona" a listen, and it's ... weird. Weirder than I thought -- the Gorillaz are already pretty trippy, but this seems much more like an experiment than an actual album. Still, it's worth a listen, and it's an impressive feat to build a whole album using just Apple's iPad. Again, you can hear it for free on the Gorillaz' website, or join their fan club to download it yourself. [via Engadget]
