Tag Archives: Nobuo Uematsu

Lady J – Our Fantasy

Lady J is a nerdcore rapper and hiphop artist. We just had a chance to catch up at Katsucon this weekend and she gave me a copy of her new mixtape OUR FANTASY and it is just killer.

With 11 Final Fantasy inspired tracks, fierce beats and dope rhymes, Lady J represents Nerdcore Hiphop‘s finest. There is even word about a Dj CUTMAN remix in the works… exciting! Add Lady J on Facebook and download her tracks on Soundcloud.

Without further delay… here’s the mixtape:

Black Materia: Final Fantasy VII

I woke up this morning to the shock an awe of Black Materia, an original hiphop album by Random AKA MegaRan, exactly 14 years since the Japanese release of the Final Fantasy VII, the game that shattered perceptions and set the bar for storytelling and detail in RPG Games.

[audio:blackmateria-cloudstrife.mp3]

Listening to the songs on BandCamp, I’m still in awe. Great production, appropriate use of samples and dope vocal tone, this is an all-pro album featuring additional vocals by Brentalfloss, MC Pennywise, Devastate, Ilyas (of Tanya Morgan), Maja, Phil Harmonic, Dale Chase, and more.

With lyrics that reflect the story and taking the point of view of different characters, this record is a nerdcore achievement. Other tracks, like “Crys of the Planet” boast poignet lyrics that extend beyond the scope of the game to a transmit a socially conscience message Listen on Bandcamp or Download the Free Version from NerdcoreNow.com

[audio:blackmateria-cloudstrife.mp3]

All and all, this album is dope and a half. Support this killer team.

CD Spotlight: Final Fantasy Piano Collections

When I think of video game music, my mind usually jump to fast, chippy, upbeat tunes overdubbed with hack and slash sound effects. Some of us this about the online video game remix community OCRemix, a site that hosts the internet’s largest collection of video game remixes done by musicians, composers, DJs and producers around the world.

I was surprised to learn many avid old-school gamers and Video Game Music (VGM) listeners have missed the wonderful music of the Final Fantasy Piano Collections, composed by the one and only Nobuo Uematsu. I had collected the Piano Collection for FFIV, FFV, FFVI, and FFVIII. Flawlessly played and brilliantly recorded, these albums capture the mood of the original 16-bit soundtracks, while elegantly taking the arrangement to new places.

My heart breaks to say I lost all my originals in a move, so now all I have are 128kbps MP3s. That’s back when iPods were only 5GB, but man, I wish I had backed them up. Anyway, attached is the “Tina” track from Final Fantasy 6: Piano Collections, composed and produced by Nobuo Uematsu. Please enjoy.

[audio: ff6piano-tina.mp3]