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Harmonix scores Freezepop, Super Meat Boy composer, more for Amplitude
There's going to be less talk, more rokk for Harmonix's Amplitude Kickstarter campaign going forward, as the band Freezepop has joined the fight to bring a new version of the 2003 PS2 cult classic to life. The band, which frequently collaborates with Harmonix, won't be alone in their quest, as plenty of other high-profile artists are ready to lend their talents to the project. Danny Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy, Crypt of the Necrodancer), Anamanaguchi (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), C418 (Minecraft), Jim Guthrie (Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP) and Kasson Crooker (FreQuency, Amplitude) will all contribute original music to the game should it reach its funding goal, Harmonix announced via Kickstarter update. As of this writing, the campaign is just shy of $400,000 with a goal of $775,000. Harmonix has until 5 p.m. EST, May 23 to reach their goal. If the crowdfunding campaign fails, Harmonix has said that Amplitude will go "back on the shelf." [Image: Harmonix]
The sight of music: the art behind Crypt of the NecroDancer
We tend to think of music as a purely auditory experience, but it's hard to deny the visual aspects of some of history's most iconic musicians. Michael Jackson had a white, studded glove. Gorillaz has animated personas. Daft Punk has robot helmets. KISS had makeup. What we see in our media can be just as important as what we hear, even if it's the music that gets the majority of our attention. Crypt of the NecroDancer is a game that mixes roguelike structure and design with rhythm-based controls. As heroine Cadence, players move and attack to the beat of a soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky that's so infectious and lovable even the dead can't resist its charms – skeletons, zombies, ghouls and more shuffle to its pulsing beats and wave their hands/bones/tentacles/claws in the air like they just don't care. The game has earned much attention and praise – Joystiq's own David Hinkle wrote that it "represents everything that I treasure about the indie games scene" – but Crypt of the NecroDancer is more than music and monster-bashing. It has a talented art team behind it, dedicated to giving those who play the game a world they'll want to see as much as they want to hear it.
Choice Piano Cuts, a Super Meat Boy piano tribute album
Remember Brent Kennedy, the guy who created those wonderful piano arrangements of the Super Meat Boy soundtrack early last year? Well, it looks like we weren't the only people impressed by his work: Super Meat Boy's composer, Danny Baranowsky, has been working with Kennedy for nearly a year, and the two have recently released the fruits of their labors on Baranowsky's Bandcamp profile. Super Meat Boy! - Choice Piano Cuts is a $4.99 (or more, if you're feeling generous) collection of 10 tracks from the SMB soundtrack, composed by Baranowsky and arranged/performed by Kennedy. The purchase also includes a PDF of the Kennedy's sheet music for the entire album, which in itself is well worth the price of admission for the musically inclined out there. The soundtrack's original arrangements are great and everything, don't get us wrong, but there's a deeper level to Baranowsky's skill as a composer that's exceptionally brought to life by Kennedy's mastery of the ivory keys. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen.
The Binding of Isaac and its soundtrack available now
The Binding of Isaac, a side project by Team Meat's Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy) with programmer Florian Himsl (Coil, Triachnid, C word), is available now for $5 on Steam for PC and Mac. Although Super Meat Boy may have had some cheeky dark elements, Isaac comes from a more nightmarish place. As evidence of Isaac's darker tone, give a listen to "In The Beginning" from the game's soundtrack. Composed by Danny Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy, Canabalt), the soundtrack is also available now for a minimum of $0.99 and features 64 minutes of music.
First track from The Binding of Isaac soundtrack available now
Composer Danny Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy, Canabalt) has made the first track for upcoming indie game The Binding of Isaac available at the cost of "name your own price" (that means free if you're a lousy tipper). The song, "Sacrificial," is available in about every major format you could want. Announced last week, The Binding of Isaac is a side project by Edmund McMillen, one half of Team Meat, the duo that created Super Meat Boy. McMillen is working on the project with programmer Florian Himsl (Coil, Triachnid, C word) and plans to share more details about Isaac this week.
Three Super Meat Boy tracks coming to Rock Band Network
The indefatigable Danny Baranowsky -- soundtrack composer for both Canabalt and Super Meat Boy, among others -- confirmed to us this morning that three tracks from Super Meat Boy are headed to the Rock Band Network. "The Battle of Lil' Slugger" and "Can o' Salt" will be released as remixed, extended versions, while "Betus Blues" is getting a retro remix for the RBN release. "I wanted to have some stuff in there for the people who delight in 100-percenting expert Dragonforce," Baranowsky told us of the remixes. From what we heard this morning of the extended, retro-ized "Betus Blues," we expect those folks to be handily challenged (as well as thoroughly entertained). No release date or price has been applied to the tracks yet, but the pack's author has them pegged as arriving "soon" -- it also labels them as coming to RBN 2.0, so we'd expect the tracks to arrive some time after February 15.
Super Meat Boy soundtrack now available in 2 CD special edition
If you've managed to resist downloading the impossibly cheap Super Meat Boy soundtrack, you'll be interested to know that now there's a much more physical and significantly more awesome version available. The 2 CD set includes all the music from the downloadable release and also includes menu and cutscene music, two new remixes and more. It also comes in the neato case seen above. The 2 CD set can be had for $10 -- or more, if you're so inclined -- plus shipping. For an additional $5, you can also order a copy of the soundtrack signed by its composer Danny Baranowsky. See hi-res images of the packaging in the gallery below. %Gallery-114017%
Super Meat Boy piano arrangements are delightful
Brent Kennedy's piano arrangements are, to put it lightly, very impressive. His latest renditions of Super Meat Boy tunes are no different, urging us to loop "Betus Blues" while charging once more through level two's Light World. It's so much more harrowing when the music sounds classical!
