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OC Remix celebrates 15 years of remixes with more music
OC Remix's eclectic community of musicians has been coating gaming music with fresh, metaphorical coats of genre paint for 15 years now, and they're celebrating their anniversary the only way they know how: by making music. A press release noting the anniversary highlights 15 new remixes that pull source material from 15 different gaming consoles, with source material involving Chrono Trigger, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and more. The full list of OC Remix's birthday tracks (as pulled from the press release) can be found after the break, which includes timaeus222's "Let's Bust Some Viruses," a dancy, accumulative opening theme remix from most of the Mega Man Battle Network opening themes, and Tetrimino's "Simply Be-groove-ed," a four-piece band's re-imagining of Kingdom Hearts' opening theme (originally performed by Utada Hikaru). True to OC Remix's nature, sampling and downloading from this selection is free. Should the anniversary tunes neglect any of your favorite soundtracks, you can always search the vault of work that's cataloged on OC Remix's website. Happy anniversary, Remixers! [Image: OC Remix]
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.)
Mega Man anniversary, Symphony of the Night remix albums released [update]
Update: This post's lede is meant to reference the absence of a new Mega Man game, but is written in a way that suggests Capcom was not involved in the production of these albums. Capcom Community Manager Brett Elston pitched and oversaw the production of both albums, meaning both are a collaboration between the publisher and fans of the series. Capcom didn't do much for the 25th anniversary of Mega Man, but its fans sure did! Two new albums celebrating the series' sonic history, MM25: Mega Man Rocks and For Everlasting Peace: 25 Years of Mega Man, are ready to bring back fond memories of the blue bomber's legacy via waveforms. MM25: Mega Man Rocks is an 18-track effort from six bands; Armcannon, The Megas, Mega Ran, X-Hunters, The Protomen and Bit Brigade. MM25 also features new songs - The Protomen's "Built to Last" and Mega Ran's "20XX" - so there should be something here for you even if you've recently been to a show. For Everlasting Peace: 25 Years of Mega Man boasts 21 remixes from the fine musicians at OC Remix, all of which originate from the first game in a Mega Man series. To be specific, the album features re-imagined tracks from Mega Man, Mega Man X, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man Battle Network, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX and Mega Man Star Force. Both of these albums are available on iTunes for $9.99. If you've spent more of your time whipping Medusa heads out of the air and eating questionably-stored chickens, Dj Cutman has released Nerdcore Instrumentals, a free remix album dedicated to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's soundtrack. Cutman writes on the album's site that the involved beats were produced by Sammus and mastered by himself, describing the venture as an "experiment" to use techniques he would typically "reserve for dance music on hiphop instrumentals." [Thanks, Dj Cutman!]
Indie composers craft The Legend of Zelda tribute album
OC ReMix revisits the grand history of Zelda with a new tribute and remix album, "25YEARLEGEND." The project draws together 18 experienced indie musicians, including the producer of Minecraft's tunes to spelunk by. It's available as a free download here. Even though Zelda's music has been remixed umpteen times in successive games, this buoyant compilation surprises with a few creative interpretations, and a good selection of the most sacred songs. We've placed two of our favorites after the break. If you listen to the whole album, keep an ear out for a cameo by an infamous Nintendo commercial.
