Symphonic Suite Final Fantasy - Scene III

Ah Final Fantasy.  In the world of video game music, Final Fantasy is king.  A simple search for that game series on www.vgmdb.net gives you hits for 386 albums and counting (that's right - albums).  The music of the Final Fantasy series, composed entirely by Nobuo Uematsu until only recently, has always been popular among fans.  But it was the arrival of Final Fantasy VII that exploded the series' influence on the industry.  The music of Final Fantasy VII became required performances in nearly every single video game concert around the world.  The soundtracks to Final Fantasies VIII, IX and X included not only original orchestral tracks, but also pop songs that became hits in Japan, including one by Hong Kong superstar Faye Wong.  Concerts dedicated entirely to Final Fantasy toured the world throughout the 2000s and continue to do so.

However, before all that there were some other arrangements of Final Fantasy music.  The 1990s saw a few songs performed at the Game Music Concerts.  Each game starting with FF3 had its own studio album and each game starting with FF4 had an album of piano arrangements.  But the very first album of arrangements from the game series was called "Symphonic Suite Final Fantasy", released way back in 1989.  It featured music from the first two games, performed by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and arranged by none other than Takayuki Hattori and his father Katsuhisa Hattori.

At this point I should probably make the disclaimer that, sadly, I have never actually played through a Final Fantasy game myself.  The only one I own is the first game in the series (bought from the now defunct chain of used game stores, Funcoland) and the cartridge crashes after a few minutes of playtime.  But I have come to love the music of the games, from the orchestral concerts to the piano albums to the heavy metal arrangements by Nobuo Uematsu's personal rock band, The Black Mages.  "Symphonic Suite" is no exception.

The album is divided into seven "scenes" which each contains arrangements of one or more songs.  This song, "Scene III", begins with what should be recognizable to Final Fantasy fans - even those who jumped into the series late.  It's the "Prologue" to Final Fantasy I, which has since become something of a theme to the entire series (not to be confused with "Prelude", the instantly recognizable series of ascending and descending notes that opens nearly every game)  "Prologue" plays at the beginning and end of many games in the series, as well as over the end credits of the movie "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children".  Following that theme is the game's town theme at 2:06, followed by the truly beautiful "Matoya's Cave" at 2:46.  The prologue returns at 4:37 to finish off the track.  The first four songs on the album, which includes this one, were arranged by Katsuhisa Hattori.  Katsuhisa deserves credit for his arrangement of the prologue, which has been used repeatdly, and for the most part unchanged, over the last 23 years.

Enjoy!




Album info:  http://vgmdb.net/album/394

Battle Royale - Memory

Today I had the good fortune of being able to see the Japanese cult-classic "Battle Royale" in theaters.  "Battle Royale", originally released in 2000, never had a theatrical release here in the U.S. until now, and is currently on the New York leg of its official, limited North American release.  I saw the movie once back in 2003 or '04, and got the soundtrack a couple years after that, but never listened to it all the way through.  The soundtrack, composed by Masamichi Amano, is quite good despite my lack of attention to it, mixing well known classical pieces (played during the teacher's sickly enthusiastic reading of student casualties) with original piano and orchestral compositions.  This track is named "Memory" and is a bit of an oasis of beauty in the mostly action/horror themed soundtrack.  It plays a few times in the movie, during times of peace and flashbacks to better days.  Enjoy!




Album info:  http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=CPC8-3035

The Land Before Time - The Great Migration

As I mentioned earlier, one of my four "J"s of movie soundtracks is James Horner, the composer of soundtracks for "Titanic" "Braveheart" and "Avatar".  But in my mind, James Horner was at his absolute peak back in 1988, the year he composed the scores for two movies: "Willow" and "The Land Before Time".   "The Land Before Time" is a very short film - only 69 minutes - but the movie is filled almost entirely with music.  It's an animated movie, directed at fairly young children, but like its cousins "Bambi" or "Finding Nemo" there's some pretty tragic stuff going on.  The music doesn't talk down to the audience.  It treats children's emotions - their understanding of loss and pain - just as seriously as it would adults'.  I've often found that animated movies have some of the best scores.  Since they can't rely on the visual subtleties of a live actor's performance, the music needs to transmit more feeling than in other films.  Some might think this means the music is manipulative.  I don't think that's true.  Animated scores are just often richer and more melodic than live action scores, and therefore more satisfying.  This song, "The Great Migration" (the first one in the soundtrack) establishes the world and characters, as well as their search for a new home.  The entire soundtrack, including the pop song by Diana Ross, is wonderful and worth seeking out.  Keep an ear open for the shiver-inducing violins at 6:15.

 

Album info:  http://www.amazon.com/Land-Before-Time-James-Horner/dp/B000002O5Q

Super Mario Galaxy - Wind Garden

One game that I have yet to play, but immensely regret missing, is "Super Mario Galaxy".  A Nintendo devotee for my whole life, I have yet to buy a single non-Nintendo console (that may change soon, depending on my need for a blu-ray player).  However, I my video game purchasing stopped at the Gamecube and I never bought a Wii.  Consequently, I missed the Super Mario Bros. series' first foray into orchestral music, and in that department, "Super Mario Galaxy" succeeds in spades.

Koji Kondo has, for the most part, been the master behind the music of Super Mario Bros. along with numerous other Nintendo games.  Studies have shown that his theme to the first "Super Mario Bros." is more recognizable to children than most classical music.  And while Koji Kondo composed some of the music in "Super Mario Galaxy", the credit here should really go to his orchestrator, Mahito Yokota.  Yokota not only did the instrumentations for Koji Kondo's compositions, he composed and arranged the majority of the soundtrack himself, including this song, "Wind Garden".  "Wind Garden" is actually just a complete version of the game's main theme, and is heard numerous times before and after the level in which it appears (as well as in the sequel).  Mahito Yokota's composition is a delightful theme that carries on the spirit of the Super Mario universe (potential game title?)  Despite being a game I've never seen more than five minutes of, "Super Mario Galaxy" has gotten a lot of play on my ipod.



Album info:  http://vgmdb.net/album/19454

Zipang - Main Theme

One song I had been listening to over and over again only a few months ago was the main theme to the TV anime "Zipang".  Similar to the American movie "The Final Countdown", "Zipang" is about a modern day Japanese SDF naval vessel that is suddenly and mysteriously transported back in time to World War II.  There actually aren't too many anime shows that I've watched from beginning to end, but the concept behind "Zipang" intrigued me and I became hooked.  The show, like the manga it is based on, is surprisingly even handed about the conflict, and refreshingly condemning towards the Japanese Empire's political machinations of the time.  Although the show doesn't come out quite as strongly as I would have liked against imperialism, the modern day Japanese characters never even consider taking the Japanese side of the conflict.  Rather, the moral dilemma comes from whether they should stay out of it entirely, or intervene to force a hasty and slightly less bloody end to the war.  In the end, even this second option becomes complicated when an imperial officer, learning of the future in store for Japan, decides to try and negotiate a Japanese surrender that would maintain much of its occupied territories.  And the stage is set for an engrossing, thought provoking anime.

The music in "Zipang", composed by Toshihiko Sahashi, uses a catalog of canned music which is then reused as the mood of a particular scene dictates.  Although this song is titled "Main Theme", it is used many times in the series - generally when a conflict is coming to a head, or when an episode is ending in a cliffhanger.  In fact, the reason this particular song stuck with me is because it is used for the cliffhanger of the final episode.  Unfortunately, a season two was planned but never created (the manga goes on for longer), and so the show ends without any resolution whatsoever.  Despite this tragic flaw, the show is a great piece of dramatic sci-fi and highly recommended, as is its soundtrack.

Album info: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=MJCD-20025

Welcome to Dongmakgol - Main Theme

Today's song is the main theme to the 2005 Korean movie, "Welcome to Dongmakgol".  The movie's soundtrack is composed by none other than Joe Hisaishi, the Japanese composer behind every one of Hayao Miyazaki's animated masterpieces at Studio Ghibli, as well as some other notable scores, like the soundtrack to the Academy Award winning movie, "Departures".  Joe Hisaishi is one of what I call "The Four 'J's" of movie soundtracks; my favorite film composers: John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner and Joe Hisaishi.  Maybe I just like him because he shares my name (Joe, not Hisaishi), but his music is consistently beautiful and incredibly moving at times.  I had the privilege of seeing "Welcome to Dongmakgol" at the New York Asian Film Festival in 2006 - my first time at the annual event.  It tells the story of a comically isolated village on the North/South Korean border during the civil war there in 1950.  Soldiers from both sides, along with one American, find themselves stranded in the village and must either form a truce, or face starvation as winter approaches.  Although humorous at times, the movie becomes deadly serious as the two sides realize that their new home is a target for American air forces.

This is obviously one of Joe Hisaishi's lesser known works since it's not from Studio Ghibli, or even from Japan, but you can see why the director chose him for the job.  Hisaishi's soundtracks specialize in the realms of wonder and fantasy, and the style works here: Dongmakgol is a village outside of time, where peace persists despite violence and unimaginable cruelty raging outside.  The main theme, which recurs frequently, perfectly conveys the bittersweetness of the village, whose innocence is marred by (but also transformative for) their new friends.  Structurally, the theme is gorgeous, building on its crescendo multiple times before a cathartic conclusion.  I'd be lying if I said the song has never brought a tear to my eye, especially after seeing the equally beautiful movie.  Korea is a broken family, ripped open by war, and sometimes it takes a work of art to remind us of a real world tragedy.

Album info: http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/title/73816/Welcome+To+Dongmakgol

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise - Oven Fresh Day

When video games started making the transition from synthesized music to orchestral arrangements, some companies chose to hire a new crop of composers with orchestration experience, while others kept their established composers and hired additional musicians who would simply arrange the compositions.  One person who did not have a problem making the transition himself however, is the British game composer Grant Kirkhope.  Kirkhope had composed the mammoth soundtrack to "Banjo Kazooie" for the N64 (mammoth, because the soundtrack was designed to change dynamically depending on which section of a stage the character was navigating - one of the first soundtracks to do so.)  Along with "Banjo Kazooie", he also composed music for the sequel to that game, for "Donkey Kong 64", and contributed music to "Perfect Dark" and "Goldeneye 007", making him something of a staple for the game company Rare.  Kirkhope's style is generally lighthearted - most of his games have been for younger audiences - and he likes to repeat a motif numerous times on different instruments.  Moving from console hardware to live performances was the best thing that could be done to Kirkhope's music. Each change in instrument is more subtle, but also more satisfying.  In the end his style didn't just translate easily to an orchestra, it was made for one.

This song is "Oven Fresh Day" from the game "Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise", the second game in the Viva Pinata series.  Like Banjo Kazooie and Donkey Kong, the games are produced by Rare.  The Viva Pinata games are "artificial life" games (or what I call sim-games, after "Sim City") and, as such, require a lot of music to play over very little action.  Simulators and strategy games tend to have the best music for precisely this reason - the music needs to be able to stand alone and not be carried by on-screen action or story.  Viva Pinata is no exception - the music in the game is downright beautiful and some of Kirkhope's best work.

Album info: http://vgmdb.net/album/14581

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Ilia's Theme, Main Title, Klingon Battle

Today's song is my first post from a film soundtrack and will also be far more recognizable to most people than any of my previous posts.  Long before there was Goemon, Yoko Kanno or any kind of video game music in my life, there was Star Trek.  Specifically "Star Trek: The Next Generation", which ran from 1987 to 1994 - the years of my adolescence.  Star Trek didn't just help shape my ideas about drama and story-telling, it also shaped my morality.  Star Trek: TNG, like the original series, excelled when it presented a moral quandary and then took a stand - either political or ethical.  Not everyone will agree with Star Trek's views, but at least it didn't use the "everything is gray" moral ambiguity that passes for drama nowadays.  Cynicism is certainly healthy in small doses, but I have to admit some concern for kids who grow up today with children's shows that are so silly as to be meaningless, and adult shows that are so filled with selfish, cynical characters as to be... well, meaningless.

Star Trek: TNG, despite some flaws of its own, continues to be my favorite television series and likely will always be, if only for its relevance to my development.  And the musical core of that series is the "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" theme (or what I call the "Enterprise" theme) written by legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith.  In the case of Goldsmith, the term legendary is apt.  He's composed the soundtracks to "Stagecoach, "Planet of the Apes", "Patton", "Chinatown", "The Omen", "Alien" and many other classic movies from the 1960s until his death in 2004.  "Next Generation" used Goldsmith's theme as its main title, and as a result burned it into the deepest parts of my brain and the brains of many other TV viewers.  But this track is its first appearance, and as far as I'm concerned, the musical birth of Star Trek (no offense to fans of Alexander Courage and the original series' theme music).

I've edited the first three tracks of the "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" soundtrack to represent the music that is heard in the 2001 director's cut.  The first part is "Ilia's Theme" which is heard many times later in the film, but is used here in its complete form as an overture before the opening credits.  The second part is the "Main Title", the theme used in TNG and many other incarnations of Star Trek.  The main theme then blends into the third part, "Klingon Battle", which accompanies the first sequence of the movie.  The Klingon theme is another motif used by Goldsmith in future Star Trek movies, although it does not appear in the television shows.  Together, these three themes are a musical foundation for the giant franchise that followed, which included ten more movies and four more TV series.  But besides their thematic importance, they are also wonderful pieces of music, ranging from the tense battle scene, to the stirring main theme, to the beautiful overture.  Enjoy!

Album info: http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Motion-Picture-Collectors/dp/B00000FC5P

Onimusha 2 Orchestra Album - Truth of Cynicism

Today's song is from "Onimusha 2 Orchestra Album".  This is another album of arrangements, and consist only of songs that were composed by Taro Iwashiro.  The songs are all "orchestral" in one way or another, but they contain a lot of synth and definitely have some extensive mixing. The result is a very glossy sounding set of tracks, something that is common in a lot of anime and Japanese film scores.  The album is separated into 13 "chapters"; most of which are arrangements of character themes from the game.  There are a few exceptions, including two versions of the main theme, and a track which appears to be from the original soundtrack itself.

This track, "Chapter X Truth of Cynicism" is the theme for the character Tokichiro Kinoshita.  In the game's story line, which is a fantasy version of Japan's unification wars, Kinoshita is a lowly servant of the warlord Nobunaga, who eventually becomes Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the warlord that conquered Japan.  Both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi are real life figures in Japanese history and are portrayed in this game as villains (something which is not terribly inaccurate).  As such, Kinoshita's theme is that of a cunning and deceptive servant, out to claw his way to power.  The music portrays this effectively.  It is one of the most playful songs on the album, conveying Kinoshita's servitude, but also his intelligence.  It's exactly that playfulness that makes this one of my favorite songs on the album.  It's not particularly rich, but it's a pleasant and entertaining listen.  Enjoy!

Album info: http://vgmdb.net/album/869

Genso Suikoden Celtic Collection - Children Playing in the Fields

For a very long time, my favorite albums in my collection were the Genso Suikoden Celtic Collections, of which there are three.  They are arrangements of music from the first three games in the "Suikoden" series, released in the 90s and early 2000s.  "Celtic Collection" is a bit of a misnomer - while there are definitely celtic influences in the arrangements, the albums really straddle a number of European styles, like French and Mediterranean.  "Suikoden" (which I've never played - common for the soundtracks I have) is apparently loosely based on another of the four Chinese literary classics, "Water Margin".  Given its visuals and fantasy elements, I'm going to guess it's an extremely loose adaptation.

It's hard to pick a favorite track of mine from the three Celtic Collections since there are so many good ones.  But this song, "Children Playing in the Fields" from the first album, currently has the most plays on my computer.  The song starts with some vocals (no lyrics) before going into an instrumental part performed by a small group of musicians and then combining that with the vocals again at the end.  This track probably best exemplifies the kinds of arrangement albums that are released in Japan - small groups of performers in studio mixed recordings, often combined with some synth work as well (although there doesnt seem to be any of that here).  The song is composed by Miki Higashino and arranged by Yoko Ueno.  Enjoy!

Album info: http://vgmdb.net/album/896

MintJam - Melty Blood (TRIBREATH)

Here's a little change of pace from the orchestral music genre.  Some years back, while looking for some new game music, I started browsing alphabetically through a huge list of albums.  The first one on the list was called "1st GIG #Awake" by a band named MintJam.  This was my introduction to the sub-genre called doujin.

The word "doujin" means something like "fanclub" or "society", but in common usage it refers to independently published works of fiction, art, or in this case, music.  The "fan" part comes from the fact that many of these works are inspired by commercial works of art, but not all.  Doujin music, for example, are often arrangements of game and anime music, but are also interspersed with original pieces.

Amateur arrangements of game music certainly exist here in the States (and I'll be posting them), but the practice in Japan is much more widespread and more commercialized.  Doujin music tends to be of the heavy metal variety, since guitars and other garage band staples are less expensive to acquire and perform on, relatively speaking.  This song is the first track on MintJam's first album.  It is their arrangement (including their own vocals) of the opening theme to a fighting game called "Melty Blood", which itself was a product of the doujin community, before achieving mainstream success with a port to the PS2.  The original vocal theme to the game is of noticeably lower quality, and MintJam's version is definitely a very enjoyable improvement.

Album info: http://vgmdb.net/album/1382

Game Music Concert 2 - The Beacon

I would be remiss in the writing of this blog if I didn't introduce the composer Yoko Kanno early on in my posts. Yoko Kanno is something of a legend in the anime music community, having composed popular scores to "Vision of Escaflowne", "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" and the popular-among-even-mainstream-Americans, "Cowboy Bebop". Lesser known however are her video game soundtracks, almost all of which she had composed before ever even touching anime.

Kanno is a rare artist that, in my opinion, totally lives up to the hype. Otaku music collectors consistently express their love for her work, and rightly so. She is unbelievably versatile, able to jump from genre to genre, jazz to new age, rock and roll to piano ballads, orchestral to modern/experimental, often all within the same soundtrack. I'd have to admire her if only for her stunning range in creativity. But given the fact that she has also composed some of my favorite musical pieces of all time, she is an artist who is at least among my top three favorite composers ever, if not number one.

This particular track is one of her more conventional pieces; a fairly straightforward orchestral arrangement of the theme to "Nobunaga's Ambition: Bushou Fuunroku",  developed by the aforementioned Koei in 1990.  A music album of arrangements (as opposed to the original chiptunes) was released that same year, but this recording is of a live performance, two years later, during the second in a series of concerts held in Japan.  These "Game Music Concerts" were among the first to perform video game music with a live orchestra in front of an audience (although not the very first).  They were also the first orchestral arrangements of video game music I had ever heard back when I discovered them around 1998.  (It was these concerts that sent me on a rabid hunt for video game arrangements over the next fourteen years, and boy did I find what I was looking for).  Yoko Kanno wrote the original composition, this arrangement and, as far as I can tell, conducted the orchestra in this recording.  It's Kanno at every creative step here, and although her style isn't exactly what it resembles today, and the orchestra isn't as tight as some more recent concert performances have been, the song is still as stirring as it ever was.  Considering how long I've had it, I can only assume this is the first Yoko Kanno song I ever heard, and I hope you like it as much as I did.

 

Album info: http://vgmdb.net/album/878

Romance of the Three Kingdoms V - Opening

The second "first" I'm posting is the first track I ever put on my iPod.  Although that's not inherently so important, it should be a good indicator of its quality in my eyes.  Unlike my earlier post, this is a fully orchestral track, and an indicator of the kind of music I will be posting most often on this site.  This track will also serve as an introduction to two great creators of music: the composer Takayuki Hattori and the game publisher Koei.

"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a long running strategy game series in Japan (with occasional releases here in the States) based on the Chinese literary classic of the same name.  The novel and the game take place in the real-life historical period in China known as the Three Kingdoms.  The soundtrack to the fifth game is considered among the best in the series, and I'd have a hard time disagreeing (although the first game in the series featured music by the amazing Yoko Kanno; more on her in the future...)  The game's composer is Takayuki Hattori, who also works as a film and anime composer in Japan.  After finding this soundtrack, I was eager to hear more from him, and discovered a handful of other game soundtracks/arrangements he had done, as well as the soundtracks to the '90s movies "Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla" and "Godzilla 2000".  Hattori's style becomes recognizable after repeated listening.  His compositions tend to have simple and repetitive instrumentation (not unlike the "chiptunes" mentioned earlier).  However, he is also a master at eliciting an emotional response from the listener, despite the simplicity of his motifs.

The second creative force behind the game is the company Koei.  Koei, which specializes in strategy games, has a large catalogue of consistently outstanding soundtracks to their name, including the "Uncharted Waters" series, "Pacific Theater of Operations", "Kessen", "Bandit Kings of Ancient China" (based on another one of the four Chinese literary classics) and the constantly fantastic music of "Nobunaga's Ambition".  Koei is also behind the unique "Dynasty Warriors" series, whose heavy metal/Chinese fusion soundtracks are either loved or laughed at by gamers.  I'm in the former category. After working with such amazing composers as Yoko Kanno, Kousuke Yamashita, Reijiro Koroku and Hiroshi Miyagawa, Koei will be featured many more times on my blog.

This particular track is the opening theme to "Romance of the Three Kingdoms V".  Although it isn't my personal favorite from the game, the entire soundtrack is pretty much one home-run after another.  If you can find this soundtrack anywhere, I highly recommend listening to the whole thing.  I will almost certainly be posting a few more pieces of it as time goes on.  Enjoy!

Album info: http://vgmdb.net/album/3051

That's it for today!  Hopefully my future posts won't be quite so verbose, as I won't have to make quite as many introductions.  In any event, so long for now!

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon - Large Tree at Izumo Shrine

Although it's difficult to pin down the exact song on the "Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon" soundtrack that first compelled me to set up my tape recorder and try to record the music, this song is definitely one of them.  "Chiptunes" are songs that are played off of a video game, using the console's music creating hardware.  These are the songs that people usually think of when they think of video game music, and for good reason.  The majority of video game consoles, from the Atari 2600, to the NES and SNES, to the N64, did not have enough memory space to hold polished, studio-quality recordings on their soundtracks.  As a result, soundboards had to be designed to read simple MIDI files and emulate sounds directly.  These are the "bloops" and "bleeps" that people think of when they remember video game music.

I won't be posting many chiptunes due to their inherent simplicity and repetition, but I'll probably be making exceptions for the soundtracks of the "Ganbare Goemon" video game series that this game belongs to.  Ganbare Goemon has long been known to have excellent soundtracks, and the N64, coming at the end of the chiptune age, had advanced considerably in its emulating power (the sequel to this game, "Goemon's Great Adventure" had such good chiptunes that they were almost indistinguishable from later studio recordings).  This song, called "Large Tree at Izumo Shrine" was one of my favorite tracks while first playing the game back in 1998, and it's a good sample of the Japanese-style instrumentation that the Ganbare Goemon series composers became known for.  It was this game that first got me interested in game music and everything Japan-related.

Enjoy the song that first pushed me over the edge into irreversible dorkitude!

Album info: http://vgmdb.net/album/2779

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog and get ready for some serious dork overload!  This blog is going to be dedicated to sharing some of the music I listen to.  My taste in music is odd to say the least, but it’s also that obscurity that makes me believe more people should hear it.  I’ve posted songs every now and then on other social networking sites in the past, but decided to bring everything together in this blog.

My music collection overwhelmingly consists of instrumental music.  Lyrical music (songs with people singing) will appeal to me on occasion, but usually for nostalgic reasons – music that played on the radio when I was young, a song that I heard on a particular trip, etc.  Instrumental music is what I truly love – anything from an entertaining little melody to a complex work of art.  Songs without singing require a bit more patience from the listener, being devoid of a vocabulary that we would easily recognize.  They can’t tell you what to feel quite so easily, and often times a piece that is intended to evoke one thing will evoke something entirely different depending on who’s listening.  In that way, instrumental music is more personal and more satisfying for me.

But this blog is, for the most part, not going to be about Bach or Tchaikovsky.  My experience with classical music is probably similar to that of most people my age.  I have occasionally found a classical piece interesting or moving, but I’m mostly disconnected from it.  And that’s where my dorkiness comes in.  My first experiences with instrumental music came in the form of soundtracks to video games.  After first recording some songs directly off of my TV, I soon discovered on that old search engine, Napster, that not just a genre, but an entire industry had been built around game music in that far off country of Japan.  It was video game music that was the gateway drug to otakudom.

The word “otaku”, when used in the U.S. nerd subculture, generally refers to someone who’s into Japanese comic, game and anime culture (in Japan itself, the word can be used more generally to refer to any introverted hobbyist, like the word “geek” in the U.S.) .  Although I don’t fit all of the otaku stereotypes – my experience in anime and Japanese RPGs is definitely lacking – I have explored a great deal of the culture through music.  Game soundtracks led me to soundtracks for anime, monster movies, dorama, and the equally vast world of amateur remixing/doujin.  Parallel to all of this I also became interested in the more conventional word of movie music, which now makes up the second largest category of songs on my iPod.  Throw in some world music and theme park atmosphere (that’s right), and you have over 90% of what I listen to.

It is from these categories that most of my blog entries will arise.  Videogame and movie music, being my favorite, will make up the bulk of the posts.  I’ll certainly be posting lyrical music as well, but more than likely, it will be in a foreign language.  Some would certainly consider the music of videogames or theme parks to be trite, and not worthy of the attention I heap on it.  It’s exactly for that reason that I’d like to post these songs.  It may not win anyone over to the world of otaku, but it might at least give people an idea of why this music appeals to me, and a handful of others.

To begin, I will be posting two songs that both deal with “firsts” in my music-listening experience.  So let’s get started…