Category Archives: Features

David Wise is back! Let’s Look Back at Games He Worked On

 

davidwiseSaxophonIn some really exciting news regarding E3, Nintendo announced that fan favorite composer David Wise has returned to his roots and is now composing the music for the also announced Donkey Kong Country Returns Tropical Freeze. For those who are not following me at the moment, David Wise is the chap that created the music for the Donkey Kong Country trilogy of games back in the Super Nintendo era. He joined Rareware back in 1985, with him being the only composer until the arrival of Robin Beanland, Graeme Norgate, and of course, Grant Kirkhope. All those memorable tunes in the Donkey Kong Country games were created by this fellow; Jungle Hijinx, Aquatic Ambience, Stickerbrush Symphony and, my personal favorite, Forest Frenzy.

 

Donkey Kong Country – Forest Frenzy | David Wise

That being said, the last Donkey Kong Country game he composed was released in 1996 and, other than the ports of the DKC series to the Game Boy Advance, he hasn’t been doing much more Donkey Kong work. So, what has David Wise been up to in the period between the DKC trilogy and his upcoming soundtrack for Tropical Freeze? People say he doesn’t really get enough work but, actually, he has had plenty of work; it just hasn’t reached the popularity levels that Donkey Kong did. This piece of writing, however, is going to shed some light onto what he has been working on before his glorious return to the Donkey Kong franchise.

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Animal Crossing tribute album: K.K. & Friends

KK & FriendsK.K. & Friends: The new remix album from GameChops remixers Ben Briggs and ectogemia.

Video game remixers Benjamin Briggs and ectogemia have produced a nine track remix album in honor of the new Animal Crossing game. It is now available from GameChops, the Philadelphia-based record label specializing in licensed video game remixes.

Download the album from GameChops.com!

Animal Crossing, the beloved video game franchise from Nintendo is getting its first full-length remix treatment be remixers Ben Briggs and ectogemia. The new album K.K. and Friends is their first collaboration, and is professionally mastered and released by GameChops.

Animal Crossing featured a unique approach to its music; depending on what time you played the game different tunes would play. K.K. and Friends contains nine cover songs found in the Animal Crossing series, organized by the time of day they’re presented in the game. Starting with an upbeat “Bright and Early”, taking us through “Rush Hour,” a “Rainy Day,” finally settling with the mellow, “Moonlit Memories.” The progressive arrangement and polished mixing makes it clear that Ben Briggs and ectogemia are two promising young musicians in the vibrant video game remix scene.

The album runs over a half an hour long, and is currently available for pre-order from KKandFriends.com. The album releases on June 9th, the same day as Nintendo’s newest game in the Animal Crossing series, New Leaf.

GameChops is the first record label to specialize in electronic video game remixes with high production quality and licensing.

Download the album now – GameChops

To download this press release as a txt file, click here.

Retro Music Bundle

GameMusicBundle-RetroLogoLove retro game music? There’s never been a more awesome opportunity to pick up a plethora of game soundtracks, many never released before! For only seven more days, you can head over to GameMusicBundle.com and for only $1, pick up FIVE awesome soundtracks, including Duke Nukum 3D and MYST! For $10, get a total of EIGHTTEEN soundtracks, including my personal favorites Double Dragon Neon by virt and Alter Ego Dreamwalker by Coda! Head over to GameMusicBundle.com

A_Rival – TRUTHCANNON

A_Rival TRUTHCANNON

Composer for Street Fighter X MegaMan A_Rival has just released his full-length album TRUTHCANNON. This ten track chiptune / electrohouse album is concentrated was EDM bangers.

Track after track hit hard with polished production and inventive sound design. Tracks like Phoenix and OMF speak more to A_Rival’s chiptune influence and experience with game music, while tracks like DEAD are gritty and vicious dance music, with haunting melodies and screaming synth-work.

Three remixes push the album to 13 tracks, including GameChops artist bLiNd and chiptune legend Trash80.

For only $5, TRUTHCANNON is definitely worth picking up.