Thank You For 1000 Subscribers! Nobuo Uematsu Fanfare Cover
Cannot believe we've finally hit 1000 subscribers! Thank you all for that. I wanted to celebrate with a very special video, so I got a few musician's together to perform my arrangement of victory fanfare by Nobuo Uematsu. This takes elements from Final Fantasy VII, IX and V versions of the soundtrack. The drums for this cover were recorded at Rock & Roll Circus in Leeds.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Soundtrack First Impressions
Unfortunately, I never got my review copy of Final Fantasy VII Remake from Square Enix as they know I would actually cover its flaws instead of simply gushing like the majority of reviewers are doing, but what I can do is review the soundtrack! Arranged by Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki.
Liked The Joker Soundtrack? 6 Albums You Should Hear!
If you enjoyed Hildur Guðnadóttir's intense, cello driven soundtrack to Joaquin Phoenix's Joker then here are 6 albums I think you might also enjoy!
Top 10 Video Game Soundtracks Of All Time
My personal picks for The Retro Perspective's top 10 video game soundtracks of all time! Featuring video game composers you've definitely heard of and some you may not.
Shuffle or Boogie? | Mother & Earthbound
When you think of Nintendo, do you think of Mario, Zelda, Metroid or Donkey Kong? Perhaps you think of the notoriously bad games Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Dragon's Lair or Fester's Quest? I don't. I think of Mother, not my mother, but the game series which some of you might know as Earthbound. In fact, Earthbound is perhaps the only one of Nintendo's many games that has resonated with me and left a lasting effect, long after its completion.
Alyx Jones | Interview with the Composer
Alyx Jones is a UK based musician who has worked on a number of titles across many platforms. Elise: Unpainted Memories, Carnage In Space: Ignition & upcoming, politically charged, The Iron Flowers. She is also a game designer in her own right & in this interview we discuss her debut game The Quiet Things and much more!
Jamie Dunlap | South Park | Interview with the Composer
I interviewed Jamie Dunlap who has been composing music for the South Park TV show since 2000. He also composed the soundtrack to the Ubisoft/Obsidian South Park video games The Stick of Truth & The Fractured but Whole. We chat about his workflow on the show, his influences for the video games & a bit about his other work too.
When It's Not Fair Use | Copyright & Plagiarism on YouTube
‘Fair use’ law is the backbone of the vast majority of gaming focussed channels on YouTube, so it stands to reason that there have been a whole lot of videos explaining just what fair use is...but unfortunately, sometimes it’s really not fair use.
Does Post Rock Exist? | Interviews with Yorkshire Bands
This is a series of interviews with Yorkshire bands exploring the local music scene and their ties with the divisive genre of post-rock. The title stems from the unwillingness of certain bands to accept the term, with some simply claiming it as journalist jargon.
Mono & Alcest @ The Brudenell Social Club | 13/11/2016
Mono played a surprisingly wide array of material from their 4 most recent albums dating back to 2009's Hymn To The Immortal Wind. Starting the set with my personal favourite 'Ashes in the Snow.' This song starts very quietly with a glockenspiel duet and usually when these kinds of sections are played at gigs in Leeds this is the time when the audience can forget they are listening to a band and begin a full-blown conversation about their last drunken night out...Strangely enough, this never happened whilst Mono were playing, the audience were truly captivated throughout which I was very grateful for.
Animal Collective @ Leeds University | 07/09/2016
I have never been sure if Animal Collective's songs would translate well in to a live setting & while the energy & stage presence is all there, there is one element of their music that I feel prevents it from working 100%. That is the dissonance between the sole acoustic instrument (the drum kit) and the other members who are playing synthesisers & sample pads through a giant tangle of pedals & mixers. The drums were often overpowering, even when they weren't meant to be and many sections of songs felt a bit of a mess of crazy electronic sounds and frantic drums.
Simone Bernacchia | Amiga Homebrew | Composer Interview
Simone Bernacchia is an Italian composer now living in LA since 2005 when he married his wife. He has been composing music on the Amiga platform since the 90s, with his first commercial title, arcade shooter 'Powder' released in 1998. Currently working as a web developer, he is now part of the Amiga homebrew community, contributing music to a variety of games from independent studios. In this interview we talk about his recent projects, the most well-known being Blocky Skies. The homebrew community as a whole and how Amiga homebrew compares to other homebrew communities. The hardware and software behind composing for Amiga such as the open source Milky Tracker and the limitations of the platform. All this, and more:
Edge Of Eternity | Interview With The Composer | Cedric Menendez
Cedric Memendez is a composer working with Midgar Studio, a French indie studio currently working on the JRPG inspired Edge Of Eternity. The game was a massive kickstarter success and also reached its stretch goal to bring on help from Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda. In this interview we talk about recording with Mitsuda and the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra. The history of Midgar Studio and their previous games and Cedric Menendez's early Japanese RPG inspirations. As well as some discussion on sound design and finally we change the subject, as I ask about the game itself and the turn-based mechanics of Edge Of Eternity.
Eitr | Interview With The Composer | Cedric Baravaglio
Eitr is an upcoming indie game inspired by norse mythology. In this interview with Cedric Baravaglio we talk about his soundtrack to Eitr including the epic song 'Infectious' from its trailer. Other topics include his inspirations and other projects including the Neko Light Orchestra who have gained popularity through their covers of video game and film music. Also, the Noob Trilogie which started as a web series and is now on its second of a trilogy of films.
Shuffle or Boogie? | Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Seen by many as a massive return to form for the series, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag puts you in the shoes of pirate Edward Kenway, sailing the West Indies in pursuit of his fortune. Black Flag manages to portray the sights of the Caribbean beautifully, the ocean in particular is probably the best looking thing I've seen in a game to date. The sounds however, fall so badly short of what we should expect of a so-called "AAA" game and consistently took me out of the experience of what should have been the most immersive pirate themed video game in history.
Evil Blue Koala | Interview With The Composer
Arne Goyvaerts, AKA 'Evil Blue Koala' is a composer and sound designer from Antwerp, Belgium. In this interview with the composer we discuss his work on the Skyrim 'Additional Music Project,' the upcoming game 'Revolve' by Rusty Bolt Studios and his improvisational album Seaside Piano.
Mother 4 | Interview With The Composers
Following my Shuffle or Boogie article on the music of the Mother series, I had a chance to interview Shane Mesa & Dani Person who are hard at work on the music for the upcoming fan-made fourth entry in the series, Mother 4. While I decided not to badger them for a release date, the answers they gave were both promising and inspiring. It seems the music of Mother 4 is in safe hands.
Shuffle or Boogie? | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Mods
I have recently purchased my first gaming PC and so, of course, I was looking forward to re-visiting one of my favorite video games, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and modding the hel out of it! One of the options for modding Skyrim is the customisation of sound and music so I thought it would be a great opportunity for a Shuffle or Boogie article.
Shuffle or Boogie? | Frank Klepacki & Grey Goo
Grey Goo was one of my most anticipated games of 2015, so this time I'll be talking about Frank Klepacki, his work up until now and how this new game's audio shapes up. Frank Klepacki is a Las Vegas based composer and sound director. His story begins at only 17 years old when he joined the company that many might describe as the masters of real-time strategy: Westwood Studios.
Shuffle or Boogie? | Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
When thinking about video game music, it might be easy to get caught up in the idea of the epic orchestral style we might expect to hear in Hollywood movies such as Spiderman, Batman, or Transformers. Whilst orchestral composers such as Harry Gregson-Williams have had their hits (Metal Gear Solid) and misses (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare) I find that the most memorable soundtracks are often written by someone who has worked with the rest of the team to create something from the ground up that fits the tone and setting of the game.