Posted by: Flicker

A year or so ago, a Half-Life 2 mod called “Neo Tokyo” was finally released after being in development since 2004, when it was to be an Unreal Tournament mod. I know that this isn’t a videogame blog but just deal with it. I also know that when most people hear the words “video game music,” they either think of MIDI chiptunes, or maybe some absolutely horrible J-pop theme song. Wait, that’s every J-pop song. But stop thinking about how appalling that Japanoise is! That’s not the point.

The point is that the score to Neo Tokyo is good. And I don’t mean it’s good for a video game. It’s actually an incredibly solid release.  I mean, I have music from Punchout, Excite Bike and Rygar on my computer, but I don’t actually listen to them. And while I could see myself running around Tokyo shooting soldiers to this music, I much more enjoy it as a backdrop to daydreaming on the train, which is where I come up with all of my brilliant ideas.

I couldn’t possibly categorize the music on this album accurately, as it is a hodgepodge of styles. There is everything from ambient to drum & bass. From trip hop to post-rock.

Which reminds me. Can the internet PLEASE get over the novelty of old Nintendo themes performed by kazoo or jug-band, or whatever. It’s not clever anymore. It’s every week with somebody getting praise for their cello and spoons rendition of the Kraid battle in Metroid. Granted, internet praise lasts for roughly three days before the next Tom and his giant floor piano Zelda theme, but that’s longer than they deserve.

Ed Harrison has only released this one album, which is frankly far higher quality than the mod that it was written for. The entire album is 26 songs in length, and all of them well done. Here are a few:

Tin Soldiers

Automata

Scrap_IO

Footprint

*****

PLAY ALL

*****

You can listen to more or purchase the whole thing at Amazon or CD Baby.

Posted by: Derek

the latest in fresh squeezed progressive and trance cuts, which will take you from the sweltering daytime heat to the sultry swingin of a nighttime rooftop bar, all with your trusty margarita in hand.

Heeere we go!

Posted by: Derek

Yeehaw…how y’all doin…er ahem. Actually people in Austin don’t all, or even mostly talk like that. I just got back from a week there, and it’s truly an oasis in the middle of a state that might otherwise meet those expectations.

Which is probably why Austin has such a killer (and widely known) music scene.
This place has got a lot to offer, whether it be Rock, Indy, Alt, or even EDM, all of which can be perused in a casual walk down Sixth Street downtown.

So this month, I present to you the latest in fresh squeezed progressive and trance cuts, which will take you from the sweltering daytime heat to the sultry swingin of a nighttime rooftop bar, all with your trusty margarita in hand.

Heeere we go!

Derek Ryan - Sake Flight 5 - Austin (Right-click and save as to download)

tracklist after the jump!
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Cor

Here in San Francisco, where a typical August day can reach temperatures of nearly 62 degrees, we sometimes need to be reminded that in other parts of the northern hemisphere people are experiencing a phenomenon known as “summer.” Luckily, Canadian producer Neighbor is here with a two-pack of fun, sunny tracks in his Summertime EP.

Summer Girls is a little funky number that threatens to embed itself in your head and not leave until October. “Cute” isn’t an adjective one usually applies to house music, but that plucky melodic hook and the relative smallness of the production give the track a rather adorable quality.

And if light, quirky house isn’t your thing, Summer Holiday turns things up a few notches with a heavier bass and party rap vocal, while still keeping things nice and funky. Great one for the dance floor.

Summertime Girls

Summer Holiday

Both tracks, plus a dub mix of the latter, can be purchased from Juno Download.

Posted by: Jay

Big sweeping melodies over glitchy bass laden beats? Here’s a little taste of EDMs newest melodic sub-sub-genre.