GRIS was developed by Nomada Studio and published by the hitmaker Devolver Digital in December of 2018 for Nintendo Switch/Mac/Windows. Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. As the story unfolds, Gris will grow emotionally and see her world in a different way, revealing new paths to explore using her new abilities.

Pairing with the gorgeous art by Conrad Roset is the equally beautiful and emotional soundtrack composed by Berlinist. We are joined by Gemma and Marco of Berlinist as they discuss their unique approach to music, and their close relationship with Conrad and Nomada Studio in creating the atmosphere for this game.

Berlinist is based in Barcelona Spain and made up of Marco Albano, Gemma Gamarra, and Luigi Gervasi. Most of the dreamy compositions that makes up GRIS were written by Marco, with Gemma providing the vocals. The sweeping dream-like textures combine with acoustic elements, orchestral instruments and mellow synths to make the emotional landscape of the game. Gris takes its time to convey a wide range of emotions from the tense, to the mournful, to the sublime. The soundtrack to GRIS and other albums by Berlinist can be purchased at their Bandcamp page.

Conrad Roset is a multi-talented artist that works in a wide range of mediums of hand drawn art. From his bio "Conrad Roset spent the first part of his 29 years in Terrassa, his native city, among boxes of crayons, felt-tip pens and notebooks; the other part in Barcelona, surrounded by paints, moleskine notebooks, muses, colored pencils, and in the company of his gray cat." Conrad has worked for many high profile clients and exhibited works in galleries and museums throughout the world and he is currently a professor of illustration at the BAU Design College of Barcelona.

Nomada Studio is a small game developer based in Barcelona Spain with developers and artists experienced in illustration, painting and graphic design. After a few years spread around the world making AAA games and interactive experiences, long time friends Adrián Cuevas and Roger Mendoza met artist Conrad Roset back home in Barcelona who had an itch for bringing his art to the realm of videogames for a long time. They instantly clicked and set to create their first videogame, GRIS; which will bring the artist's unique style to an interactive world of wonder.

GRIS, Nomada Studio 2018

Composed by Berlinist

Episode Track List:

0:00:00 Debris

0:09:54 Gris, Pt. 1

0:25:09 Windmill

0:51:28 Chiasm

0:57:29 Gris, Pt. 2

1:15:59 Unagi

1:38:10 Komorebi

Seasons greetings! We've got a new Expansion Pack with music, both new and old, fitting of the holiday season. With bright synths, bells and occasionally familiar melodies join us as we get ready to ring in the new year.

Track List:

0:00:00 Icicle Mines - Stardew Valley (Switch/PS4/XB1 and others)

Eric Barone

0:12:18 Winter - Story of Seasons (3DS)

Riyou Kinugasa, Noriko Ishida

0:19:17 "π" (pi) - Guilty Crown - Lost Christmas (PC)

Hiroyuki Sawano

0:28:52 Toy Day (Christmas Eve) - Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)

Manaka Kataoka, Atsuko Asahi, Kazumi Totaka

0:37:51 Winter Bliss - Castle Crashers (360/PS3/Win/Mac/XB1)

Cycerin

0:44:48 Do Not Push Start ‘Till Christmas - Merry Gear Solid 2: Ghosts of Christmas Past (PC)

Gordon McNeil

0:52:32 Yukidama-Ondo (Ending) - Snow Bros. 2 - With New Elves (Arcade)

Osamu Oota

0:57:42 Dreams Dreams ~In Silent Memory~ Nights into Dreams (Saturn/PS2/PS3/360/PC)

Tomoko Sasaki

Links

Merry Gear Solid 2: Ghosts of Christmas Past

Link to game

Link to OST

Illusion City is a cyberpunk JRPG from Microcabin, originally released for the MSX Turbo R in 1991, only in Japan. It was later ported to a number of other systems including the PC98, X68000 and Mega CD over the next few years. The game mechanics are fairly traditional RPG fare of the era, but the graphics, animations and music are top notch and really stand out for the hardware.

The soundtrack was composed by three Microcabin veterans: Tadahiro Nitta, Yukiharu Urita, and Yasufumi Fukuda all of whom went on to compose for a number of other titles. The Mega CD port was handled by AISYSTEM TOKYO with some additional redbook audio tracks composed and arranged by Hirokazu Oota.

Listen to the sounds of Neo Hong Kong in this episode brimming with fantastic tunes.

Illusion City: Genei Toshi (幻影都市 ILLUSION CITY), MSX Turbo R - Microcabin (1991)Composed by: Tadahiro Nitta (新田忠弘),Yasufumi Fukuda (福田康文), Yukiharu Urita (瓜田幸治)

Episode Track List:

All tracks are from the MSX version unless otherwise stated

0:00:00 Illusion Theme A - Tadahiro Nitta

0:09:06 Illusion Theme B - Yukiharu Urita

0:16:53 Indoor Combat - Tadahiro Nitta

0:26:21 Noises of the City - Yasufumi Fukuda

0:38:34 Crisis Area (PC98 ver.) - Tadahiro Nitta

Shop Music [version comparison] - Tadahiro Nitta

0:45:51 MSX

0:48:00 Mega CD

0:48:51 FM Towns

0:50:03 PC98

0:51:24 X68k

0:53:47 MT32 (MIDI)

1:00:32 Battle - Yasufumi Fukuda

1:06:46 Cavern - Yasufumi Fukuda

1:10:08 Hachibushu Battle - Yukiharu Urita

1:17:01 Home - Yasufumi Fukuda

1:20:02 Requiem (PC98 ver.) - Yukiharu Urita

1:28:07 Illusion Castle - Tadahiro Nitta

1:31:30 Matenno Battle - Yasufumi Fukuda

1:37:35 Illusion Theme A (Mega CD ver.) - composed Tadahiro Nitta, arranged Hirokazu Oota

1:40:57 Hachibushu Battle (Mega CD ver.) - composed Yukiharu Urita, arranged Yasufumi Fukuda

1:45:37 Matenno Battle (Mega CD ver.) - Yasufumi Fukuda

1:52:28 Final Battle - Yasufumi Fukuda

1:58:52 Victory - Yukiharu Urita

Purchase on EGG MUSIC!MSX Remastered Soundtrack¥1800 - 幻影都市 MSXリマスタード・サウンドトラックス LinkPC-9801 Soundtrack¥1800 - 幻影都市 PC-9801サウンドトラックス Link

Big shout out to everyone at MSX.org - the BEST site for MSX information

Micro Maniacs is an isometric racing game (based on the Micro Machines franchise) for the Game Boy Color, released only in the UK and Australia in 2001. This offshoot originally began on the PlayStation, by Codemasters, but given the popularity of Nintendo's handhelds, it ended up making a transition to the portable market shortly after.

For the Game Boy Color adaptation, Codemasters had less of their hand in its development. This time it was published by THQ and development was subcontracted out to a small group called Hyperion Studios. THQ also found a composer to do the music, a mysterious contractor known as MESSY STUDIOS.

EDIT: User GBC Fan says that the composer is Laxity (Thomas Egeskov Petersen). We'll have to follow up but it does seem likely.

Even though it's a somewhat simple racing title, the C64 demoscene style soundtrack keeps the energy level peaked for the game. Take a listen as we explore the Micro Maniacs soundtrack on the Game Boy Color.

Track List:

0:00:00 Character Select

0:06:06 Title Screen

0:18:01 Gameplay #1

0:26:34 Gameplay #2

0:33:28 Gameplay #3

0:39:48 Gameplay #4 / Ending

0:46:01 Map Screen

Developed by Tendershoot and A Jolly Corpse and published by Devolver Digital in 2015, Dropsy: A Point and Click Hugventure is the story of one clown's journey to make the world a better place. Take a mellow journey through various locales with your animal buddies and a fittingly chilled out soundtrack.

We're thrilled to have both the creator Jay Tholen and lead composer Chris Schlarb join us for a lively discussion about this surprisingly genuine story and talk about our shared love of 90s adventure games.

Jay Tholen is the creator and co-composer of Dropsy. The pastel 90s aesthetic of Dropsy can also be found throughout his upcoming game Hypnospace Outlaw where you explore an alternate 1999 internet, and if you're not careful you might just learn something. When he's not developing games, Jay writes music. In fact he's written 20 albums and counting which you can find on his Bandcamp page and he'll often explore the soundscape of his games years before they become a reality.

 

Chris Schlarb is a guitarist with an impressive resume; he's worked with some of the biggest indie groups like Wilco, The Mars Volta, The Minutemen, and Sufjan Stevens. In addition to Dropsy, he also wrote the music for the game NightSky by Nicalis. Chris runs his own recording studio Big Ego Studios in Long Beach, CA, and he's the leader of a genre breaking indie group Psychic Temple. Check out more of their fantastic music at Chris' Bandcamp page.

The Dropsy Soundtrack

composed by Chris Schlarb

Dropsy: Eternal Hug EP

composed by Jay Tholen, contains additional tracks in the game

 

Also mentioned in the episode is Twilight & Ghost Stories, Chris Schlarb's Debut album

Dropsy - (Behind the Scenes)  - A short video in the studio during the Dropsy recording session

Episode Track List:

0:00:00 Eternal Hug Pt. 2 - Jay Tholen

0:21:55 In The Court of the Junkyard King - Chris Schlarb

0:41:00 Home Is Where The Pulmonary Artery Is - Chris Schlarb

0:42:38 Dropsy Theme - Chris Schlarb, arranged by Jay Tholen

0:53:54 Kierkegaard's Neon Lights - Chris Schlarb

1:10:38 Mothersbaugh on the Beach - Chris Schlarb

1:22:04 Last of the Lonely Tumbleweeds - Chris Schlarb

1:27:12 144 Gears Marching in 14/4 - Chris Schlarb

1:31:11 White Dub in the Psychic Temple - Chris Schlarb

1:48:34 Theme Park - Jay Tholen

1:58:24 Lee's Vampire Dub - Chris Schlarb

Another year, another MAGWest, the West Coast Music and Gaming Festival (MAGFest) in Santa Clara, California (August 10-12, 2018). MAGWest brings it - with the bands, games and an awesome community of VGM fans!

This time we're joined by a whole slew of performers from this year and last year as they talk about their childhood gaming experiences and some of the ways that gaming and VGM shaped their lives as performers.

The audio quality isn't perfect (far from it - especially in the beginning. Sorry Michaela!) but everyone in the panel had a lot of fun!

Episode Track List:

Intro

0:00:00 "Mii Channel" - Wii System Menu

Kazumi Totaka

Tetrimino

0:10:13 "8PM" - Animal Crossing (GC) - Michaela

Kenta Nagata

0:17:23 "Pirate Lagoon" - Diddy Kong Racing (N64) - Kris

David Wise

LEX the Lexicon Artist

0:22:07 "Title" - Crazy Arcade (PC) - Lex

0:26:32 "Cemetery" - Crazy Arcade (PC) - Lex

Duong Duc Anh

B/I/R/T/H/D/A/Y

0:28:50 "Pkunk theme" - Star Control II (PC) - Nick

Eric Berge

0:34:54 "In the Wind" - Gradius III (SNES) - Ian

Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko, Yukie Morimoto

Vector Hold

0:39:29 "Final Takeoff" - Afterburner II (ARC) - Pete

Hiroshi Kawaguchi

E.N.Cowell

0:48:08 "Evil Preist" - Alisia Dragoon (GEN) - Evan

Mecano Associates, led by Fumihito Kasatani

Runaway Four

0:55:29 "Weapon's Factory" - Super Mario RPG (SNES) - Josh

Yoko Shimomura

1:01:48 "LBA's theme" - Little Big Adventure (PC) - Chris

Philippe Vachey

Outro

1:20:38 "Wii Shop Channel" - Wii System Menu

Kazumi Totaka

 

BAND LINKS

Tetrimino

MAGWest 2018 Performance

SoundCloud | YouTube | Facebook | Michaela's site (Mklachu)

 

LEX the Lexicon Artist

MAGWest 2018 Performance

Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitter | Facebook | Website

 

B/I/R/T/H/D/A/Y

MAGWest 2018 Performance

Bandcamp | Twitter | Facebook | Website

 

Vector Hold

MAGWest 2017 Performance

Bandcamp | SoundCloud | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook

 

E.N.Cowell

MAGWest 2018 Performance

Bandcamp | SoundCloud | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Website

 

Runaway Four

MAGWest 2018 Performance

Bandcamp | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |  Website

We begin a new chapter of Pixelated Audio with our first solo show, and our first full-length tribute episode, this time honoring Manabu Saito. Saito was a prolific composer for System Sacom from 1987 to 1991, composing and arranging the music for over 15 games.

You may have heard his music in Yuurei-kun on Episode 91, but this time we take a deeper dive over his entire career. Listen to Saito's growth as a composer over four years and 25 songs in a wide range of styles.

"Yuurei-kun" key production staff. Manabu Saito (left)

Episode Track List:

0:00:06 Opening - Euphory (Sharp X1 - OPM)

0:04:36 Vertes - Euphory (Sharp X1 - PSG)

0:07:13 Track 2 - Fire Rock (Famicom Disk System)

0:09:58 The Dome - Dome (X68000 - OPM)

0:14:52 RPG Theme - Soft and Hard Stories (X68000 - OPM)

0:17:27 Bar - Chatty (PC88 - OPNA)

0:22:43 Stage 1 - Evolution (FM Towns)

0:29:12 Cave of Plateau - Providence (PC88 - OPNA)

0:32:18 Hell Hole - Yuurei-kun (MSX2 - PSG)

0:35:15 Grassland - Valna (PC88 - OPNA)

0:39:48 Driving Before Dawn - Soft and Hard Stories 2 (X68000 - OPM)

380,000km of Emptiness / 38 Man Kilo no Kokuu

0:43:55 A Pack of Cigarettes (X68000 - MT-32)

0:47:02 Snappy Time  (X68000 - OPM)

Manabu Saito and Sumeya Kunihiro

The Darkness of Kin / Yami no Ketsuzoku

0:50:44 Masayuki Izawa (X68000 - OPM)

0:53:22 Ending (X68000 - OPM)

The Darkness of Kin: The Final Chapter / Yami no Ketsuzoku: Kanketsu-hen

0:57:12 Kumaha's Attack (X68000 - OPM)

0:59:27 Lean Burned (X68000 - OPM)

The Darkness of Kin: Special / Yami no Ketsuzoku Special

1:02:53 Opening (FM Towns)

All Darkness of Kin music composed by Manabu Saito and Haruo Hosoya

Gemini Wing

1:05:33 Stage 6 (Arcade - OPL2)

Composed by Mikio Saito

1:06:20 Stage 6 (X68000 - CM-64)

Arranged by Manabu Saito

1:09:14 Darkness - Jerry Boy (Super Famicom)

Akira Yamaoka, Hirohiko Fukuda and Manabu Saito

1:12:49 Big Boss Attacks - Yuurei-kun (MSX2 - PSG)

1:13:42 Big Boss Attacks (Unused) - Valna (PC88 - OPNA)

1:14:58 Vertes Waterway - Euphory (Sharp X1 - OPM)

1:16:17 Vertes Waterway (Unused) - Soft and Hard Stories  (X68000 - OPM)

1:22:53 Ending (Unused 3) - The Darkness of Kin: The Final Chapter (X68000 - OPM)

Manabu Saito and Haruo Hosoya

LINKS GALORE!

Purchase Manabu Saito's music at Egg Music (JP)

Manabu Saito Memorial Website (JP), Additional memorial site (JP)

Research sites: VGMRips, Zophar's Domain, VGMPF, VGMDB, GDRI, Mobygames

Other great podcasts mentioned: Game Music Gaiden, The Diad Presents, Forever Sound Version

The original Crash Bandicoot games were developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Crash answers the question of "What would Donkey Kong Country be like in 3D?"

The first Crash title debuted in September of 1996 on the Sony PlayStation and became an almost instant success, spawning numerous sequels and additions over the years. Although it was never official, Crash was the PlayStation's first mascot, and helped build Sony's console brand to become a household name the world over.

Join us as we chat about the original trilogy; Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped with none other than series composer Josh Mancell in our milestone 100th episode!

 

Crash Bandicoot (1996)

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997)

Crash Bandicoot: Warped (1998)

Developed by Naughty Dog

Published by Sony Computer Entertainment

Composed by Josh Mancell

joshmancell.com | @MancellJosh

Listen to the pre-console mixes played on our episode on Josh's SoundCloud

Also check the City Guys album mentioned during the episode

 

 

 

Episode Track List:

0:00:00 Crash Bandicoot - Main Theme

0:25:37 Hog Wild

0:45:23 Heavy Machinery

0:51:50 Ambient Papu Papu (demo)

0:57:10 Neo Cortex (Japanese version)

1:10:11 Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - Main Theme

1:20:47 Komodo Bros

1:35:24 Out Spaced (demo)

1:41:56 Snow Go (demo)

1:49:32 Coco's Theme

2:04:48 Crash Bandicoot: Warped - Main Theme

2:07:38 Neo Cortex

2:14:24 N. Tropy

2:20:36 Future Frenzy

2:32:08 Dingodile

The Adventures of Little Ralph, developed by NEW Corporation is a 2D platformer released only in Japan for the Sony Playstation on June of 1999. Like Ralph, there's a big game in this unassuming package. With its tight controls, engaging scoring mechanics, and a polished 1v1 fighting mini-game engine, this is one you're bound to keep coming back to. Composed by Hiroshi Kuronuma, Naoki Tsuchiya and Hideki Satou, The Adventures of Little Ralph features two complete versions of the soundtrack accessible right from the menu: the standard instrumental version and a "PSG" arrange version, both using the Playstation sound source.

Naoki Tsuchiya has the most game credits of the trio and composed for Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory for the PS2 and Hajime no Ippo Portable: Victorious Spirits for PSP. He also did some sound design and is the voice of Little Ralph.

**UPDATE** A post-episode Q&A with Naoki Tsuchiya is now available here! [Q&A with Naoki Tsuchiya]

Hideki "Quintana" Satou is best known as a percussionist on the arrange albums for Clockwork Knight 1 and 2, as well as his work with Jun Takagi's Orquesta Del Sol ensemble throughout the 90s.

Hiroshi Kuronuma worked briefly for NEW Corporation and also composed the music for Boxer's Road for the PS1.

Listen in as we explore a selection of tracks from both versions of the massive soundtrack to Little Ralph's homage to the 8 and 16-bit eras.

The Adventures of Little Ralph

ちっぽけラルフの大冒険

1999, New Corporation

Composed by Hiroshi Kuronuma, Naoki Tsuchiya, Hideki Satou (黒沼弘, 土屋直樹, 佐藤英樹)

 

 

The Adventures of Little Ralph Original Soundtracks

ちっぽけラルフの大冒険　オリジナル・サウンドトラックス

Purchase the soundtrack (all 120 tracks) for ¥2100 at EGG MUSIC! http://bit.ly/2HdLMVR

 

 

Episode Track List:

0:00:10 Stage 1-1 - Departure

0:12:34 Casua Watersupply

0:16:53 Holy Battle

0:29:26 High and Alone

0:37:43 Stage 3-1 - Into the Darkness (PSG version)

0:40:45 Stage 4-2 - Ruins of Donan

0:57:03 VS Mode Select - Let's Begin the Battle (PSG version)

1:04:36 Stage 5-2 - In the Citadel of Ice 

1:09:22 Stage 5 Boss Easy - Valgo

1:13:25 Stage 5 Boss Normal - Valgo the Artistic Murderer

1:22:15 Stage 6 - Great Battleship ~Queen Desta~

1:29:53 Stage 7 Boss - Ferica the Sad Goddess (PSG Version)

1:40:11 Stage 8 Boss Change - Destarroza

1:43:59 ETC2: Mt. Etona

1:53:22 Easy Ending - End of Nightmare

2:05:24 Normal Ending 2 - Little Hero's Story (PSG Version)

Neural Gear, developed by Fill in Cafe and published by Cross Media Soft, is a 3rd person rail shooter (riding in the light of Space Harrier) released strictly for the Sharp X68000 on November of 1990. While the game doesn't win any awards in the visual department it makes up for it in audio. Composed by Keishi Yonao, Neural Gear features both a soundtrack designed for the OPM/OKI (FM/PCM) sound source and the MT-32 (MIDI) sound source.

Keishi Yonao, best known for Asuka 120% Burning Fest series, Mad Stalker, and Dies Ire, he's highly regarded in the Japanese chip tune community for his creativity and detail.

His first composition started on the MSX with a game titled Hydefos and from there he joined up with Fill in Cafe to work on many of their titles. Altogether he’s done over 30 soundtracks and in addition to game audio, he also composed a CD album series called Cyberphonic as well as other compilations like a track titled MASS PURPLE for 8bit Music Power

Listen in as we discover the music and also chat briefly with Yonao-san about his career and compositions.

Neural Gear - Sharp X68000, Fill in Cafe

Composed by Keishi Yonao

Track List:

0:00:00 What You Change

0:09:37 Town Scape

0:12:44 Depletion

0:18:09 Systematic Eyes

0:29:06 Vast

0:34:30 Vast (MT-32)

0:37:06 Invite

0:48:07 Super Sonic

0:51:38 Don't Tarry

0:56:28 Fluxion

1:00:16 Town Scape (SC-88 Pro)

1:07:23 Wake Up Everybody

1:09:28 Come To A Climax

1:18:48 Merry Dancers

1:33:52 Time Spirit

1:40:28 Time Spirit (MT-32)

The soundtrack is available for purchase! This includes not only the FM version of the audio but also the MT-32. Buy it now from EGG MUSIC

ニューラルギア オリジナル・サウンドトラックス

メーカー名 : フィルインカフェ

アーティスト名 : 与猶啓至

機種 : X68000

ジャンル : オリジナルサウンドトラック

アルバム / MP3

オリジナル発売日 : 1990-11-23年

配信開始 : 2008-03-28

1200円(税抜)