Ken Hisuag

Pot Still Records - Japanese・Lofi・Saga This same artist did two more remixes of the same piece, and I have to respect it. Out of the three, this was the one I appreciated best. The strength of lofi lies in its atmosphere and mood rather than its progression; this is a "chill" arrangement, perfect for background listening. aocha - Child of Are The marking of progression checkpoints is a nice touch, but it can be distracting, so I recommend listening without looking at least once. The original piece catches attention with its initial discordance, so I was intrigued by how the motifs sounded in a different setting. NIZI-RINGO - Child of Are (ginkiha house remix) I couldn't initially decide between this and the previous feature, so I decided to do both of them (it also transitions better into the high-energy piece that comes next). This is pleasantly bouncy while also having a smooth oriental folk feel; a happy sound, to be sure. VAGUEDGE - Girlish Aspiration High-energy vocal to balance out the post. Proper remixes of this piece seemed scarce, most simply adapting the original PC-98 sound into modern Zunish. While there's nothing wrong with that, there's also plenty of strength in the motifs for more standard use.

For something more relaxed this week, I'm going with Superliminal, a perspective puzzle game. I'm rather fond of these sorts of experiences (e.g. The Witness and Manifold Garden), and this is probably my favorite take on the genre so far, primarily because there's an actual thematic direction resembling a story. The music is mostly minimalist jazz composed by Matt Christensen, establishing a relatively calm (but not always comforting) mood throughout, even for the more tense moments.

A classical orchestral offering, because I was here and felt like it. I wonder who can guess where I first heard this piece?

minimum electric design - Gutenberg's Scientific Century I have my doubts over the title translation. The arrangement itself has excellent energy; a lot of Music Collection vocal remixes will feature duets as a thematic gimmick, but only a few will sound like it's a part of the arrangement itself. Macco-ya - Winding Spacewalk The problem with finding a G Free remix is that I'm inevitably going to compare it to Final Dream, and subsequently find it lacking. So instead of choosing something expanding upon the original's tone, I've gone with something more experimental. There's a commitment to atmosphere that keeps the piece going, even if it takes awhile to get anywhere particular. Unprepared Orchestra - Magical Astronomy To make up for the lack in the previous remix, I've found a nicely realized orchestral arrangement for this spot. Too many similar pieces have bad mastering, usually featuring poor instrument balancing or amplification problems; so I'm always impressed to find another artist that seems to know what they're doing. CHRONOS RECORD - Legacy of my Grand Father Y'all get four this week; don't question it. Obviously my love for folk is showing, but it helps that this is an appropriately reflective remix in tone, thereby capturing the theme of retrospective ending.

To finish off the month, I bring you the soundtrack to Kirby: Planet Robobot. I don't have any particular reason to feature this game over other entries, but I'm committed to it nonetheless. After the overwhelming volume and variety of Return to Dreamland, this entry seemed refreshingly straightforward, though no less innovative. More mechanical sounding instruments are emphasized in these arrangements as part of the game's theming, possibly contributing to an ever-so-slightly more serious tone overall (it's still Kirby, though). Leitmotif work is also very strong here, this time for actual thematic purposes, which I appreciate very much. Especially noteworthy are the final boss tracks; the modern series has a reputation for dramatic finishes, and the music lives up to this. Relating to this, it's interesting to note the split between Ishikawa and Ando; while the former is responsible for most of the series' iconic longstanding motifs, the latter seems to have composed the leitmotifs for this particular entry, and is also responsible for the more climactic tracks. Maybe this is more common than I'm aware, but I appreciate that both composers seem to be equally skilled and relevant to the musical development.

Groovy Trancer - Spacefaring Magical Astronomy is among ZUN's best work, imo. I picked this arrangement to start out with because it fits the theme of space. It's a tad bit long and lacks sufficient progression to justify it, but there is variance between parts if you wait long enough, and that keeps it interesting. AKANEIROTOWN - Labyrinth of the Starry Skies feat. Sarah_ I've heard so many Greenwich remixes that I wasn't expecting to find anything too interesting. This, however, impressed me; by intentionally contrasting the melody with a discordant vocaloid, the arrangement cultivates a disturbing mood, which both compliments the melody and enhances the impact of the drop later on. Yayayayayaa - The Wheelchair's Future in Space Far less refined a remix than I usually favor, but perfect for showcasing what I consider to be the most defining attribute of the original piece: the major key intro. I was surprised to find most remixes failing to incorporate this aspect into themselves; it sets the tone for the rest of the piece, and provides an uncommon contrast of mood. Being so unique in Touhou music, why not use that?

After some deliberation, I chose to favor Kirby's Return to Dreamland over Crystal Shards or Triple Deluxe, and I'm ultimately glad I did. Ishikawa is joined by Hirokazu Ando, both contributing fairly equally to the soundtrack, which is very large with reasonable but limited variety of style. It is so large, in fact, that choosing a few tracks to represent the whole has been a very difficult task. Even cutting out some tracks I very much appreciated, this is still an unusually large feature. I hope it sufficiently garners interest in the larger whole. I want to point out the significance of release platform for music: As previously alluded to, older consoles had limited audio ability, resulting the development of unique styles tailored to these limitations. Each new generation came closer to proper audio transmission, culminating in the 2010s. As a Wii game, this soundtrack represents the progression of the series' instrumentation to full realization (from a technical perspective, at least).

I believe a thread becomes locked if inactive for too long, so here's something to keep it available. I saw this video with the intriguing subject of "pneumatic instrument." Even after watching said video and reading its description, I'm not entirely sure I know what's going on, but it shows impressive mechanical and musical competence. Being thus engaged, I checked the channel for other examples; as of yet there isn't much available, but it turns out the guy has a variety of projects related to melding experimental tech and music.

greenscarf - Synthetic Shore Piano would be too obvious; here's a synthwave remix instead! This motif lends itself to almost any low-energy style, so it's no surprise it works so well in this form. ti - Song of the Secret Sealing Club Meeting a Dangerous Cult Iffy on the translation here, but it definitely matches the song. Something this unique only turns up in my searchings once in a blue moon (as they say), and I'm always excited by the discovery. Maybe using strange sounds as instrumentation to achieve the weird atmosphere could be considered "cheap," but then again it doesn't seem very common, and one can't deny it works. Irohaya - Izanami Reversing the approach from the previous feature, we have a soothing acoustic remix of a weirder ZUN composition. This is the ideal guitar performance, too, with enough improv to keep unique without losing the mood.

Not entirely sure what's motivated me to post about this now, but such is the way of things. A film project will usually go through a variety of iterations before it reaches a stable state, at which point it usually pursues production and release. On very rare occasions, bits and pieces of these developing ideas reach near full realization before being scrapped, resulting in some of the most obscure media hidden about on the internet. Especially interesting to me are the completely written and recorded songs that sometimes just don't get into the movie for one reason or another. These two are among my favorites, and I wonder how many fans of their respective sources are completely unaware of their existence. Happy Valentine's Day, btw!

Next up for the month is Kirby Super Star, possibly the most important entry in the series. Returning composers revamped many of their old compositions for the new game, the size and style of which lent itself to becoming a musical retrospective of the series to that point. New themes were also introduced, however, leading to an extremely diverse motif selection that has continued to be referenced from both in future Kirby titles and in other franchises. This game is an excellent example of SNES music the way I prefer it; utilizing the sound available as it is, rather than trying to emulate something beyond its capabilities. The resulting arrangements have a clear separation of layers which reinforce each other without overwhelming the piece.

I love music; it is to me a medium unique in its ability to capture and communicate emotion. In its variety, I perceive the spirit of creativity that I attribute to the imago Dei. In its theory, I learn to appreciate a side of the natural world that seems entirely created for enjoyment, technical aspects and all. In my time on this forum, I've been continuously introduced to new music genres I didn't know existed, while also being given fresh views on genres I'd previously written off. Many of these experiences are still chronicled on the site; you've probably already seen the Share Music You Like thread, but if you haven't I'd recommend you do so. Off the top of my head, I can think of several albums that I either found through posts there or featured there myself. For instrumental albums, Kitaro's Kojiki, V.K's Our Story, and The Piano Guys' Uncharted are all represented in part on that thread. My personal collection also includes Phil Keaggy's Lights of Madrid and Frank Klepacki's Rocktronic. In some cases, I can't point to a specific album, but would still recommend the general work of Louie Zong or maritumix. Don't discount classical music, either; if one considers the modern album equivalent to a symphony, then Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 and Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik both deserve consideration, to say nothing of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, imo one of the greatest musical accomplishments in history. If you consider soundtracks acceptable for casual listening, then my favorites are Yasunori Nishiki's Octopath Traveler and Pascal Michael Stiefel's A Hat in Time (and perhaps I'll throw in Alkis Livathinos's Hue, too). Finally, I'll list World Beyond's Mindshell separately, because I'm not entirely sure whether to consider it a soundtrack or not. If you prefer vocal music, the aforementioned thread includes songs from The High Kings' self-named album (I wish the industry didn't do this so often, the resulting albums are always confusing to reference), Masayoshi Oishi's Entertainer, and David Meece's Learning to Trust; Steve Taylor is also there I think, but the specific album I'd recommend from him is On the Fritz. I remember Michael W. Smith's Change Your World fondly, though I don't listen to it as much these days. Some of my favorite artists (for whom no particular album comes to mind) are Michael Card, Steve Camp, and Casting Crowns; I suppose their respective best-of albums would be ideal recommendations, but that seems like cheating. Make sure you check out the other music threads on the forum as well; Odd Music Discovery and National Music! don't get much traffic, but are ideal for facilitating the discovery of especially obscure music. On the other hand, Other Game Music and Musical Discoveries in Touhou Fandom represent years worth of exploration into the art of music; they may be a bit less personal then you're looking for, but exploring them a little could still be rewarding.

I forgot to post on Saturday, and I'm a bit embarrassed about it because I definitely had the time. Unionest.NET - Sleepless Night of the Eastern Country I'm rather fond of the original, so I hoped to find something especially good for this. I'm beginning to think any arrangement that could be classified as hybrid will immediately appeal to me; obviously this is a rock remix, but the light elements of jazz really help bring the whole thing together. HAPPY I SCREAM!! - Rainbow-colored Rain Again, this is technically just a rock remix, but how often does one hear a harp riff incorporated into such a piece? Then again, I suppose a lot of rock looks for one-off gimmicks to give it character; maybe that's part of what rock is? Assaultdoor - Hiroshige No. 36 ～ Neo Super-Express Part of the charm the original is known for comes from its instrumentation and presentation; as such, a remix often must forgo recapturing that charm. I was surprised by this piano arrangement, because it manages to recapture the original's character simply by pausing at the right moments, and otherwise being as straightforward as possible. Since I was late, I'll add something else to this feature, though it may be more to my benefit then anyone else's. Sometimes while I'm seeking out remixes to feature, I come across videos that lack proper documentation and without citation of sources. This essentially renders the accompanying piece useless to me, no matter how much I appreciate it, so I'll often endeavor to hunt down alternative uploads in hopes of getting the metadata I require. Sometimes this hunt is successful, but other times I'm left wondering if I've stumbled upon lost media with no way to know for sure. This is another remix of Sleepless Night of the Eastern Country, favoring funk; that is the only thing I know about it.

This month, I'm finally going to explore the Kirby franchise. While I'm decently familiar with its more iconic motifs, I'm less informed as to their origins and development over time. Forgotten Land was amazing, and I'm curious as to whether it was exceptional for the series or merely par-for-the-course. Obviously, one begins at the beginning. Kirby's Dream Land was composed by Jun Ishikawa for the Game Boy, and featured a variety of relatively short loops in chiptune. Despite their limited length, these pieces have surprisingly complex progression, allowing their strong motifs to stand out memorably. I was very surprised to realize just how many of the series's signature themes were established right at the start. It would seem the reuse of old motifs for new soundtracks was fairly common as the franchise developed, which practice would have lent itself to the propagation of its leitmotifs. I look forward to perceiving this development as I continue to explore the series.

Windbreaker - Tengu's Notebook ~ Mysterious Note It was really tempting to use the Genso Wanderer theme, but I ultimately decided to go for something more low energy. This remix is short, but successfully recreates the atmosphere of the original track. rythmique - Wind Circulation ~ Wind Tour For immediate contrast, saxophone and violin over electronic rock! I can't help but get excited about rarer instrumentation combos, and this piece has pretty good range to justify the interest. EdelSounds - Eyes of the Wind Finally, something else high energy but with slightly more grounding, accomplished through a surprisingly balanced vocal duet performance.

I remember hearing about Palworld a couple years back, and at the time I was completely sure it was just a joke. Turns out it wasn't, and I can't help but think it one of the most hilarious things to ever exist in the industry. Any description of this game sounds made up for the ridiculousness of its compiled elements; I'm sure no one expected the developers to have any serious intentions with the project, especially given the accusations that followed its release. That being said, my interest is the same as always, and so I forgo any investment into such considerations if favor of recognizing the very real effort put into its music. Tatsuya Yano's style seems to be ironically emulative of other styles from comparable game series, specifically Monster Hunter, with elements of JRPG. Some pieces seem to indicate a jazz influence, but it doesn't seem overly prevalent yet; perhaps as the game continues to develop, more music will be released?

marasy - Mound Where the Flowers Reflect This seems to be a sparsely represented one. Granted that it's primarily reliant on atmosphere with technically little motif unique to itself, it's also one of my favorites, and I had hoped for a bit more. A lot of musicians seem to prefer pairing it up with its counterpart pre-conversation theme. show-jow nico - Reunion See, this is more what I was looking for; the mood is retained, but the whole piece is overhauled for a uniquely enhanced experience. The more I listen to it, the more impressed I am; definitely a hidden gem. TKB0111A3 - The Flowers Remain in Fantasy Have I featured this artist before? I've alluded in the past to the not-so-fine line between a musical "cover" and a remix or "rearrangement." Most PC-98 adaptations I come across are more covers than remixes, but the technical aspect makes them a bit more impressive than the same thing done for piano. This is one of the few tracks I can think of that I can properly call a PC-98 remix; the artist goes beyond merely recreating the piece and adds interpretive flair. Raccoon Factory - Sagittarius An extra, both to make up for the hiatus and because it's the only track left in Touhou 9. After arrangements of piano, folk and chiptune, respectively, it seems only fair to finish with something high-energy and intense, though perhaps maintaining a similar mood. This one is probably as ideal as I could have asked for in all respects.

Not sure I've ever taken that long a hiatus since initially becoming active. It was unexpected. I'll leave it at that. Laurence Chapman provides the compositions for A Highland Song. Without context, I can tell this to be a more heartstrings type game, with the music characterized by rolling motifs kept to low energy with limited escalation. There is light usage of leitmotif, but the focus is clearly atmosphere, so I appreciate it more as a bonus to its intended function. I'm very much reminded of Moss with its instrumentation, but where Moss feels more a physical journey, A Highland Song seems more introspective. It's the kind of music I enjoy listening to quietly and reflectively.

Mascarpone - Loose Flowers I can't think of another character besides the two primaries who has so many unique themes. IMO, this one's harder to arrange due to the structure of its melody, which doesn't seem like it would lend itself to progression. Despite this, I have heard several remixes that manage it well, usually by turning into jazz. Cerotte - Dream Bubble The warning will go unheeded, but for my own conscience's sake I must advise against looking at the video; just listen to the music. Normally inappropriate art is enough for me to scrap a feature, but this tone of folk was exactly what I was looking for, and I couldn't find anything else that fit. Bullet IX - Equinox Sky - 2019 Demo I'm not happy with this feature either, but for a different reason. As the title implies, this is an early version of a later more fully realized remix, which is itself unavailable on Youtube despite existing for some time. I couldn't bring myself to buy it just for this feature, but it is essentially that version that secured this spot. Various Colors - Eastern Judgement in the Sixtieth Year ~ Fate of Sixty Years / Piano Arranged As something of a consolation to myself, I'm including this as well. Exceptional piano solos are not as easy to come buy as one might expect, requiring a degree of technique either in the player or the programmer to pull off. I can't claim to be able to tell the difference, but I can appreciate the effort.

Now, for the first feature of the year: It took me a while to get to Inscryption; I've had it on the to-do list for a while, but I wanted to give it proper time out of respect for what it is. On the surface, this soundtrack doesn't sound like the sort of music I usually listen to. The secret behind my appreciation has everything to do with the game itself, and as such I hesitate to say too much. Essentially, this is actually two or three soundtracks at once, each composed with a similar idea in mind but each with a different tone unique to itself. Knowing where one begins and another ends would likely have a significant effect on the listening experience, but also necessitates spoiling some of what makes the game (and by extension the soundtrack, to some degree) so special. So while I have selected these tracks in accordance to what I think best represents the strengths and range of its music, for once I'd encourage the avoidance of further investigation without determining whether the game itself is worth your time.

Only just realized I forgot to post the record for 2023 on Monday, so my apologies for the delay.

In commemoration of the New Year, I have saved this beast of a medley which incorporates motifs from across the series, plus a wide range of fangames, into a base-template of the best Zunish piece I know of: Kirbio & Tokiko Tatsunagi - Jewel of the Sky-Ruling Dragon Deity ~ Quintessential Fragments (Destroy Star MIX) Here's to this year, whatever may be brought in it; shalom.

A last hurrah before year's end (so that at least something was posted here before then).

Another year's end tradition that I've been somewhat less established in is featuring some arrangements I'd otherwise reserved for use in remix tournaments. I've collected quite a list of these, and as things stand now they're not likely to see their intended use, so it's a good thing I have this way of utilizing them. Then again, they probably won't stand out as much as they otherwise would have. Just consider these special features as being a look into what I found noteworthy enough to hold onto for a special occasion. Karasu - Entrusting the World to Idols ~ Idolatrize World I haven't yet found piano arrangements that quite match up to Dean Nguyen's work, but this is heading in the right direction; playing with the melody and progression to create something almost-but-not-quite unrecognizable, playing to the strengths of the instrument over the piece itself. Sosop - Millennium Fantasy ~ Dance of the Monster I've had this one so long that it's gone unlisted. Before I discovered GET IN THE RING, this was my ideal mashup arrangement. The key is integrating the motifs into each other, not simply overlapping them or lining them up next to each other. maritumix - Memorabilia Maritumix has continued to be a favorite artist of mine. The large quantity of productions therefrom tend to dampen the novelty of his style, but once in a while an arrangement sticks out to me, and I save it away for later. I still wish he'd compile and sell albums of his remixes, but at least he's publishing his original material more often now. I won't be here tomorrow, being Sunday, but I'll try and stop in on Monday. Happy New Year!

It's time for the last feature of the year. As usual, this is my personal top five list of this year's VGM. But first, some honorable mentions: I was not impressed by the Game Award's line up for this years music, and hoped for a better selection from the Steam Awards. For the most part, I wasn't disappointed, though I'd argue some of the nominations shouldn't have qualified (e.g., the game that actually released ten years ago); the one nomination I didn't recognize at all was Chants of Sennaar, and since I'm out of time to give it a proper listen, I'll mention it here in hopes it deserved it. Another release I didn't get to was Tevi; its composers are the same team behind Rabi-Ribi, so I have reasonable confidence that I'll enjoy the soundtrack when I listen to it. EDIT: I almost forgot to include Sonic Dream Team. Realistically, this soundtrack was never going to be part of the ranking, but as I enjoyed it more than either Sonic Superstars or even Super Mario Wonder, I thought it deserved to be mentioned. Now, on to the ranking: #5: #4: #3: #2: #1: For the first time since I started doing this, I've actually played some of the games from which these soundtracks feature. Specifically, I briefly opened Pizza Tower after getting it during a recent sale; I'd already listened through the soundtrack several times, and fully expected it to be included here. I've also been playing Undertale Yellow, though thus far I've not seen past what was in the demo. So I think I can safely say once again that my preferences are based entirely on the merits of the music itself. Last year I included my favorite featured soundtrack, essentially the discover that stood out the most to me from the year. This year, however, my favorite discoveries were all releases from this year, and as such are already included. Since I'd rather be consistent, though . . . Bonus Feature (#0): I always encourage others to post their own recommendations; I will inevitably miss things, and sometimes I intentionally pass over a significant soundtrack for one reason or another. I'd love to hear about what others are listening to, which is, after all, what this thread is for. Till next year; shalom!