Hey guys!  First off I want to thank Jason from Iridium Studios for joining us on this show to talk about his Rhythm RPG ‘Sequence’.  You can find ‘Sequence’ on Steam for $5.

As for other music, we had a hefty sampling from The Bad Dudes’ ‘Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Resurrection.’ You can download that amazing album from the Bad Dudes’ homepage.  Also be sure to check out their upcoming ‘Metroid Arrange’, celebrating 25 years of the Metroid series.

Finally, we had some Halloween-flavored tracks from OCRemix.  You can find these great tracks, as well as a list of more spooky recommendations care of OCRemix’s own Larry Oji, here.

Enjoy!

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Tuned Logic’s 24 Shades - Some of you might recognize the OCRemixer tag Detuned Logic.  For those of you who do remember his contributions to OCR, remixer and electronica artist Mike Feinstein is back (under a more harmonious moniker) with his album 24 Shades.  Those of you who aren’t familiar with Logic, this album is a pretty darn good showcase of his skills.  Featured on this episode: “Caught in the Rain”, “Never Better”, “Still”, “Pulse”.

November 2010 Dwelling of Duels Contest – The theme for the November 2010 Dwelling of Duels contest was “Virt Month”.  Jake “Virt” Kauffman, the video game remixer turned composer, has already had his hands in several great games.  This month’s DoD is a celebration of those games as well as some of Kauffman’s personal favorites.  Featured on this episode: Koelsch “Taco Flash”, M-H “Dracula Man Again!  Demons the Fighting”, Snappleman & prozax “POWEREX”, Rize “The Desert Scourge”, The Prince of Darkness “Groovy Taco Bell Bacon Club Chalupa Town”

OCRemix “Link’s Awakening – Threshold of a Dream” Interview with Benjamin Briggs

Obligatory Ice Level Day 2010 – Obligatory Ice Level Day, that annual celebration of all places cold in video games, is back with yet another free EP by some of your favorite video game bands and remixers.  Don’t try to make sense of it, just sit back and chill (see what I did there?).  Featured on this episode: Select Start “Rainbow Resort”, DCT “The Polar Express”, Select Start “Night of Fate”, Joshua Morse “Rondo Sanctuary”

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Thunderclash’s Nostalgic Pleasure – Metal covers of video game music are nothing new, but Thunderclash’s freshman effort Nostalgic Pleasure distinguishes itself with some clever arrangements and tight performances.  From the obligatory Mega Man medley to the excellent Kirby/Tetris mashup, Thunderclash’s debut album is a crowd pleaser.  Featured on this episode: “The Pink Block”, “Mega Medley”, “Dark Lord Bowser”, “Thrash Fatality.”

MasDaMind’s Rust Covered Remixes – MasDaMind has been producing excellent video game/hip-hop mashups to his youtube channel for a year now.  In that small amount of time he’s amassed quite a few tunes, and his latest album is some of his best work yet.  Featured on this episode: “New York Rush”, “Neo Cortex Backstory”, “Streets of Heroes and Villains”, “From the Cradle to the Finale”.

OCRemix’s Link’s Awakening: Threshold of a Dream remix album – OCRemix’s first Zelda remix album is a mellow, downtempo outing which highlights the hidden gems in the cult favorite Link’s Awakening soundtrack.  The music lends itself very well to the chilled out tone, and the remixers have done their best to make Threshold one of the strongest OCRemix albums yet.  Featured on this episode: Theophany “Full Moon Cello”, Level 99 & prophetik “Threshold of a Dream”, Benjamin Briggs “Lucidic”, Iggy Koopa “Oceanfront View”, Benjamin Briggs “Climb My Mountain, This High”, Mustin “Inception”.

Alexander Brandon’s Tyrian Soundtrack – MAGFest 2011 headliner Alexander Brandon, of Deus Ex and Unreal Tournament fame, is a big name in the world of Western video game composers.  Just in time for his MAGFest appearance, GoG.com released the PC shoot-em-up Tyrian for free.  Brandon’s soundtrack to Tyrian is filled with energy and techno goodness.  Featured on this episode: Main Title, Tyrian, Camanis, Asteroid Dance, Deliani, Gyges, Space Battle 2, Ending 2.

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jmr’s Skywave Effect- Remixer and all-around good guy jmr treats us to some original chiptunes in his album Skywave Effect, courtesy of CalmDownKidder records.  Skywave Effect consists of catchy, NES-style chiptunes which are sure to please.  Featured on this episode: Airport Doors, Skywave, Day Dream Somniloquy, Yellow Hat, Leave This Place.

little-scale’s I Am Still Breathing – An inspired, mellow chiptune album, I Am Still Breathing makes you want to sit back, chill out, and reflect.  The production is really solid on this album, and I’m really looking forward to more from little-scale.  The album is hosted by the nice people at Pause Music.  Featured on this episode: I Am Still Breathing, Up Against the Wall, Kinetic Energy, My Heart is Forever Collapsing, A Nocturne for Necromancy.

Bound Together, an Earthbound tribute album – Earthbound has attained cult status for its quirky sense of humor, its unforgiving gameplay, and its jazzy soundtrack.  The music holds up well to this day, so it’s no surprise that there are many covers and remixes of tunes from Earthbound.  Bound Together is one of the best remix projects out there, with great track upon great track.  Deciding which tracks NOT to play was a difficult task, so be sure to grab this massive project.  Featured on this episode: virt “Get on the Bus”, Dhsu “Bound Together”, Diggi Dis “Side Four Turns Winter”, bLiNd “Snowbound”, Less Ashamed of Self with Bladiator & Prizm “Latest Fail.”

Tosh and Tiegel’s Pictured in Autumn 2010 – Part of the Japanese doujin (fan-made) music circle “RIGHT STUFF”, Tosh and Tiegel bring us this exciting selection of VGM-inspired electronica.  There’s a lot to like here, so thanks to the dutiful people at VGMDB for finding an online source for music which is usually only available at Japanese doujin shows such as Comiket.  Featured on this episode: Background (Original Mix), Into the Period, Pictured (Radio Edit)

Liminality 2: Okaeri – Featuring a wide variety of musical styles from a number of great musicians, Liminality 2: Okaeri is the latest in a series of Silent Hill tribute albums from the Silent Hill fansite, Silent Hill Memories.  The album completely nails the musical tones of Akira Yamaoka’s brilliant Silent Hill soundtracks, and it is definitely worth checking out the entire Liminality series.  Featured on this episode: Fellirium – Our Special Place, Soaring Man – Bitter Truth Pt. 1, macabro – The Girl Who Was Late, Chaos Control – Maria, Soaring Man – Promise Reprise (Remix), Technology of Silence – Night Butterflies.  Dead and Beautiful

Doctor Octoroc’s After These Messages – From the artist who brought you 8-Bit Jesus and Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Game comes a selection of chiptune’d television themes!  Doctor Octoroc kindly joins RFG to discuss his motivations behind the album, his past work, and his thoughts on chip music.  Featured on this episode, behind the interview – M.A.S.K., Tales from the Crypt, The A-Team, Thundercats, My Secret Identity, Beverly Hills 90210, Saved by the Bell, Transformers, Law & Order, Hawaii Five-O, ALF, MacGyver, Fraggle Rock, Cheers, The Price is Right

8bitdanooct1’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles 8-Bit OST – An absolutely stunning effort from chiptune artist 8bitdanooct1 saw the entire soundtrack to Sega Genesis game Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles transcribed in NES style.  While the mix uses six sound channels rather than the standard three, it can still be run on an NES given the proper software.  This truly is an amazing tribute to the S3&K soundtrack, and an incredible work in an of itself.  Featured on this episode: Angel Island Zone Act 1, Marble Garden Zone Act 1, Chrome Gadget, Flying Battery Zone Act 1, Death Egg Zone Act 1, Sonic 3 – Miniboss, Hydrocity Zone Act 2

OCRemix.org’s Teen Agent: The Root of All Evil Remix Album: The 19th remix album from OCRemix.org, Teen Agent: The Root of All Evil takes its source from the obscure Swedish-developed Teen Agent.  Released in 1995 for the MS-DOS, Teen Agent is an adventure game with a solid soundtrack from Radek Szamrej.  Though the source for this album might be more arcane than that of your average OCRemix project, that certainly doesn’t count against it!  In fact, the story of how one remixer’s love for the Teen Agent soundtrack led him to share it with other artists only reaffirms OCRemix’s mission: to grant exposure to video game music while interpreting it in new ways.  Featured on this episode –  audio fidelity “i.n.t.r.o.”, Brandon Strader “Lingering Lust”, Flik “Memories Within the Walls”, Brandon Strader “Of Darkness”, OCRE “Army Base Infiltration”, Brandon Strader with prophetik and Usa “Sax of Gold”

UMD Gamer Symphony Orchestra Interview and Concert Recordings: The GSO is having another FREE concert, and you’d be cheating yourself out of an awesome time if you didn’t go.  Who’s the GSO?  Only the first and biggest college orchestra dedicated to performing music from your favorite games.  Anyone in the MD/DC/VA area needs to head to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland College Park on Saturday December 11th and attend their latest concert.  The concert is at 2PM, but you’ll want to be there early to nab the best seats in the house.  Parking and attendance are both free, so no excuses!  They’re performing music from Final Fantasy, Mega Man (!!!), Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, and many more, so get out there and fill up that concert hall (and keep an eye out for me if you do, I’ll probably be out front at the table).  Featured on this episode, behind the interview – Oh! Buta Mask, Hyrulian Highlands, Katamari Damacy, Baba Yetu

New Remixes from Remix:ThaSauce: A selection of solid remixes courtesy of Remix:ThaSauce.  I’ve really been impressed with the recent submissions to R:TS, and these are definitely worth a listen.  Featured on this episode – Zubareus “Intro”, Meteo Xavier “I, Samus (Godwave)”, Level 99 and Emunator “Ascent Through the Atmosphere”, Theory of Nonexistence “Mr. Soccerball”

Remasterings by Tenchux: Everyone’s favorite RFG cohost is on a mission: remaster one of the greatest video game soundtracks of all time while raising money for Child’s Play.  You can help him out by visiting the album site and learning all about his work on Super Metroid Remastered.  We at 8BitX are proud to host the album, which will release in full on December 17th.  Until then, check out Tenchux’s Youtube page for his daily track upload.  If you like what you hear, please donate to Child’s Play at the album site!  Thanks again to Tenchux for all your work, and good luck!  Featured on this episode – “Vega Stage”, “Scars of Time Remastered”, “Corneria Remastered”, “Opening (Destruction of the Space Colony)”, “To Far Away Times ~ Outskirts of Time Remastered”.

This week’s guest was Nick, PR ninja for the Music and Gaming Festival (MAGFest).  In case you haven’t been listening, MAGFest is a video game geek’s dream: a non-stop party with some of the best video game composers, internet personalities, and cover bands out there.  Nick gave us a pretty darn good rundown of why MAGFest 9 will rock harder than a golem’s backside, but I’d like to take a second to reinforce his main point: MAGFest is a party.  It isn’t a giant convention, it isn’t a ridiculously expensive professional consortium, and it isn’t a glitzy industry expo.  You go to hang out with like-minded individuals and your favorite bands an composers.  Awesome.

Anyway, now that I’m done plugging MAGFest for the nth time, let’s get down to what was played during the show:

Danny Baranowsky’s “Canabalt” Soundtrack: Pay what you want ($0 and up!) for the latest soundtrack from “Super Meat Boy” composer Daniel Baranowsky.  This outing has a decidedly different tone from  SMB, focusing less on rock and chip music elements in favor of tense orchestral elements and electronica.   “Canabalt” itself is a browser-based platformer which you can play for free right here! Featured on this episode – RUN!, Daring Escape, Mach Runner, Fathom Megamix

Armcannon's "Return of the Attack of the Legend of Pizzor"

Armcannon’s “Leg Vacuum” and  ”Return of the Attack of the Legend of Pizzor”: In case you haven’t subscribed to our new and improved monthly email newsletter, Armcannon is our first band of the month!  We first met them at MAGFest 8, and we’re looking forward to seeing them perform again at MAGFest 9!  They were kind enough to let us play some of their tracks behind our interview with Nick from MAGFest.  The tracks aren’t free, but they’re certainly worth the price.  Featured on this episode – Tecmo Superbowl, Kraid, Smegaman 3, Still More Fighting, X-1234

Jun Ishikawa and Dan Miyakawa’s “Kirby Super Star” Soundtrack: “Kirby Super Star” is a collection of Kirby-themed games for the Super Nintendo which recently saw a remake for the Nintendo DS.  The games themselves range from cute mini-games (“Gourmet Race”, “Megaton Punch”) to full-out adventure games (“Milky Way Wishes”, “Great Cave Offensive”).  Ishikawa and Miyakawa’s soundtrack is appropriately varied in tone, with a wide selection of well-orchestrated tunes.  One of the classics which really displayed the audio power of the Super Nintendo.  Featured on this episode – Time to Learn, Float Islands, Marshmallow Castle, Cocoa Cave, Crystal Field and Mystery Paradise, Grape Garden, Gladiator Kirby, Staff Role, Kirby Dance

Jiggin' Jon T.

OverClocked Remixes by JJT: “Jiggin” Jon T, of OCRemix and Bad Dudes fame, is a rocking guitar, piano, and trumpet player.  He has some really solid remixes which are really unique in tone, including his melancholy “Final Fantasy VI” mix, his haunting “F-Zero” mix, and his ska-inspired “Mega Man 3″ mix.  Featured on this episode: Anthem of Exile, The Flood Plain, Magnet Missiles, Murder Your Friends Boogie

Thanks for checking out this week’s episode.  Be sure to join us on Wednesday evening at 7PM Eastern for our live shows!