Music Review: Sakura

If you looked at my Sakura Matsuri Festival post a couple weeks back, you may have noticed I managed to get a picture of a “cosplay cutie” at a booth in an area of the festival near some J-Pop performances. Some post-festival research I did revealed this cute girl to be J-Pop/cosplay artist Reni, who also had her first US release on sale. I didn’t pick it up at the festival but got it soon after I got home, and having listened to it here’s a brief review of what appears to be her US debut album, “Sakura”.

Music Review: Ongaku

OK, now that I’m just about over my post-Cherry Blossom case of DEADLY MAN FLU!! (OK, more like a bad cold), it’s time to start catching up on some of the albums I purchased post-Sakura Matsuri (and given I’ll be doing J-pop I might even do some oldies!). The first one here is by a group that performed at the festival, I missed their performance but decided to check them out anyway. They’re a band called Uzuhi, they have released 2 albums so far in the US. This review is for the second of the 2: “Ongaku”. I’ll review the first one later.

Random Chiptune Of The Day #18

Popular remixer Peter W, who has been a frequent contributor of tunes since his debut in summer ’07 and the 2008 Newcomer Of The Year winner in the annual Remix64 Awards, has also put out some really good C64 & arcade-themed remix songs. One of my favorites is based on the popular Konami 80s arcade/NES shooter “Nemesis”, which old-school US gamers like myself know as the game’s original US/Japan title-“Gradius”. For this version the original music is covered with additions of arcade machine sound effects at the very beginning and end of the song, even ending with the classic “Game Over”. This tune today is Peter W with “Nemesis (The Arcade Remix)”:

You can download this song at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking on the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/?search_id=3580

This is one of 20 songs (actually, now 21-a few hours after this post he uploaded a new remix to RKO) by Peter W and one of over 2600 songs you can download for FREE at RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

For more about Peter W including his previously released tracks and samples of work-in-progress tracks and more, visit his official website (in English):
http://peterw.ziphoid.com/

Random Chiptune Of The Day #17

Richard Joseph, one of the greatest SID composers ever and a legend of the early days of the scene and C64 music, died 3 years ago yesterday, he was 53. Today’s selection is another of my favorites and one originally composed by Joseph, this is “Cauldron 2-I Am A Pumpkin Man” remixed by trauma:

In Memory Of Richard Joseph, 1953-2007.

You can download this song at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking on the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/?search_id=1706

This is one of 4 songs by trauma and one of over 2600 songs you can download for FREE at RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

And for those wondering, RKO currently has 20 remixes of pieces originally composed by Richard Joseph.

Random Chiptune Of The Day #16

DJ Skitz, always referred to as “Meeeester Skeeetz!” by Boz, is a veteran of the scene who’s been cranking out remixes for just over 6 years now. Based in England, he’s also an amateur DJ/producer who mainly does C64 & Amiga remixes. While I’m not a big fan of his he has done a couple of tunes I like, especially when he incorporates what some call “The Speeds Of Three” into his tunes. Such as this one today, I looked it up after hearing it a few times on SLAY Radio and it’s a good song. This is “Draconus Main Title (Speeds Of Three Remix)” by DJ Skitz, originally composed by Adam Gilmore…but before listening, heed this advice you’ll hear in the song: “Put your helmet on, we’ll be reaching speeds of three!”

You can download this song for FREE at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/?search_id=4000

This is one of 17 songs by DJ Skitz and one of over 2600 songs you can listen to and download for FREE on RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

For more about DJ Skitz, check out his official website at the link below (in English):
http://www.djskitz.com/news.php
You can also listen to his radio show, Saturday Night Warmup, LIVE most Saturdays from 18:00-21:00 Universal Slay Radio Time (GMT +1, or Noon-3 PM ET) on SLAY Radio (slayradio.org). You can download previous episodes on SLAY Radio’s website or subscribe to their RSS feed and get archived episodes as soon as they become available (usually 30-45 minutes after the show ends).

Random Chiptune Of The Day #15

And now, for all those lovers of the real thing…here’s an Original SID. This is a true chiptune, composed using only the original hardware-no mods, emulators, etc. just like you’d hear in the original games. This is the full version of “Turbo Outrun”, composed by Jeroen Tel/Maniacs Of Noise and released by US Gold/Probe in 1989 and recorded by the SOASC= project:

This is one of over 150,000 C64 SIDs you can listen to and download for FREE at SOASC-Stone Oakvalley’s Authentic SID Collection-at the following website:
http://www.6581-8580.com/

(Disclaimer: This song was recorded by the SOASC= project and the copyright for the music material is the original composers property. This file is hosted on the SOASC= website)

Random Chiptune Of The Day #14

Although DHS was a C64 remixer first and foremost, he actually did an Amiga tune way back in 2003. It’s a pretty good one and also shows some of the differences in how tunes come out with Amiga sound chips compared to Commodore 64 chips (even though the Amiga was a Commodore system). So here is “Apidya Subtune1 (Infected Edit)” by DHS of TSW, originally composed by Chris Hulsbeck:

You can download this song for FREE at AmigaRemix (amigaremix.com) by clicking the link below:
http://amigaremix.com/remixes/search/DHS
Click on the song title to download it to your PC.

This is one of over 600 songs that you can download for FREE on AmigaRemix, no registration required.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on AmigaRemix are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

Random Chiptune Of The Day #13

Sonic Wanderer, aka that bloke who walks around being a bit noisy sometimes (according to Boz on SLAY Radio), is a former remixer who became very popular on the scene for his unique style and great tunes he produced from 2000-2006. Although it appears he is no longer active, he’s still popular today and his tunes still get a lot of playtime, today I’ll share one of my favorite works from him. This is “Parallax (Wanderized)” by Sonic Wanderer, originally composed by Martin Galway:

You can download this song for FREE at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/?search_id=2573

This is one of 25 songs by Sonic Wanderer and one of over 2600 songs you can listen to and download for FREE on RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

Sonic Wanderer does have a website but it appears to have been abandoned a while ago. Fortunately he left his music page up with access to all his prior works. You can access it at the link below (in English):
http://www.sonicwanderer.com/music/

Random Chiptune Of The Day #12

Romeo Knight is a porn star name if there ever was one. But it’s also the stage name (his real name is Eike Steffen) of a former Amiga & scene music composer who has quite a fan following for his great works and has since been touring with a few bands in Europe. He contributed several tracks to RKO and today I’ll share one of my favorites of his. This is Romeo Knight with his remix of “Future Shock”, originally composed by Neil Baldwin (Demon):

You can download this song for FREE at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/index.php?search=Future+Shock
Click on the first one under “Title”.

This is one of 13 songs by Romeo Knight and one of over 2600 songs you can listen to and download for FREE on RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

For more about Romeo Knight, visit his official website (in English) at the link below:
http://www.romeoknight.net
Note that the site apparently has not been updated since August 2009 and some parts of the site aren’t accessible (yet), but you likely can download some of his older works there.

You can also find 2 of his songs on the album “Syntax Era: Remix 64, Vol. 3”, available on iTunes and Amazon MP3 in the US and worldwide on C64Audio.com.

Random Chiptune Of The Day #11

Another Lightforce remix today, this one is the newest such addition to RKO. VoA Voxyd, a member of European (I think they’re from France) band Ad Inferna, recently did this version and they gave it away on their website and added it to RKO as a Christmas freebie, so here is VoA Voxyd with what I feel is an awesome cover of Rob Hubbard’s original…Lightforce RMX:

You can download this song for FREE at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/index.php?search=Lightforce+RMX

This is one of over 2600 songs you can listen to and download for FREE on RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

For more about Ad Inferna, visit their official website (mostly in English but parts are in French or German) at the link below:
http://www.adinferna.com/

Random Chiptune Of The Day #10

Today’s is a relatively new submission to RKO by a relative newcomer to the scene, who sure know how to make a hell of a first impression on me. See if he does the same for you-this is what I believe to be the debut work of Darkman007, his version of “Robocop 3-Tittle Theme”. Yes, it was spelled Tittle. The song was originally composed by Jeroen Tel & Maniacs Of Noise.

You can download this song for FREE at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/index.php?search=Darkman007

This is one of over 2600 songs you can listen to and download for FREE on RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

The composer doesn’t yet have a website, it’s a work in progress so he only has a default welcome page. When it does go up it can be accessed at http://darkman007.untergrund.net/.

Random Chiptune Of The Day #9

I’m not exactly sure how much there is to The St. Albans Rob Hubbard Fan Club, except for their having done their own remixes of a handful of Rob Hubbard’s classic C64 compositions. Today’s tune is one of my favorites by them, a surprisingly good one at that-here is the Fan Club with their version of Rob Hubbard’s “Ace 2”:

You can download this song for FREE at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/index.php?search=The+St.+Albans+Rob+Hubbard

Once you arrive at this page, click on the song name under “Title”. The song will load and begin playing in a few seconds. Click on “File” > “Save Page As…” to save the MP3 (this assumes you’re using Firefox).
This is one of 6 songs by The St. Albans Rob Hubbard Fan Club and one of over 2600 songs you can listen to and download for FREE on RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

Random Chiptune Of The Day #8

So-called Megamixes are very popular on the scene, usually 5-10 minute compilations that features bits & pieces of at least 3-4 different chiptunes. Today’s is one such, it’s Scorpion aka Scorpion Of Passion!! with “1996 Mega-Mix”:

You can download this song for FREE at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/index.php?search=1996+Mega-Mix

Once you arrive at this page, click on the song name under “Title”. The song will load and begin playing in a few seconds. Click on “File” > “Save Page As…” to save the MP3 (this assumes you’re using Firefox).
This is one of 2 songs by Scorpion and one of over 2500 songs you can listen to and download for FREE on RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

The composer has a website listed on RKO but the page either doesn’t exist or, at this time, doesn’t work. Clicking on the related link at RKO only took me to a Not Found page.

Random Chiptune Of The Day #7

This Is BeeZerk, Mr. Bee-Zerk zerk zerk zerk zerk zerk…that’s supposed to be a fading-out echo, kinda hard to recreate in text, but you’ll hear it in today’s chiptune by the very popular BeeZerk. This is one of his more popular remixes called “I Love Bees”, originally composed by Balázs Bócsa (Angee):

You can download this song for FREE at RKO (Remix.Kwed.Org) by clicking on the link below:
http://remix.kwed.org/index.php?search=I+love+Bees

Once you arrive at this page, click on the song name under “Title”. The song will load and begin playing in a few seconds. Click on “File” > “Save Page As…” to save the MP3 (this assumes you’re using Firefox).
This is one of 12 songs by BeeZerk and one of over 2500 songs you can listen to and download for FREE on RKO, no registration required. There is one catch though: To keep bandwidth costs reasonable there is a limit of 50 downloads per IP per hour (a download is when you listen to a song even if you don’t save it to your PC). But unless you’re only listening to a few seconds of a song before going to another one, not really a problem.

(Disclaimer: Per their own disclaimer/fine print, all songs on RKO are assumed to be freely distributable. They generally are submitted by the composers/arrangers/remixers themselves)

Funny MMA Video Of The Day: GSP Is Not Impressed By Swift’s VMA Performance

This clip is doctored/Photoshopped, but that makes it funny. The latest singer to get on my “GO AWAY!” list, some girl by the name of Taylor Swift, won an MTV VMA (Video Music Award) recently. That didn’t impress Georges St. Pierre, who made his feelings known with his signature line (note the bad editing on this part), and caught others’ attention. The edited but funny clip is after the jump. Enjoy.