The world of Video Games is not unlike the those of EDM or Professional Wrestling, a huge cult and nonetheless a cult, in a world where millions upon millions buy into a secret world no one has ever heard of. VGM (Video Game Music) is even more secret, it is a world of music wrapped inside a Chiptune, synthesizers and drum machines climb out of the Nintendocore ooze and emerge as a fully formed sound, easily accessible to EDM fans. And not a million miles away from any heavily composed music scene.
But the question for the none gamer is this: can you enjoy VGM with no interest whatsoever in gaming? And the answer is yes. In much the same way you can enjoy Ennio Morricone without watching Spaghetti Westerns.
Which leads us to Chris Davidson (aka DJ Cutman) and his record label Gamechops which breaks the mold of VGM by actually licensing the original video scores and remixes they release. Making their new release World 1 – 2 a must buy for the initiated and uninitiated alike.
World 1 -2 is a music project directed by Mohammed Taher, founder of Koopa Soundworks. A world of music which includes both East and West musicians. This includes original music by Grammy-nominated Austin Wintory (Journey), Manami Matsumae (MegaMan), and celebrated remixers Stemage and Danimal Cannon (Metroid Metal). It is an attempt for a summation and exploration of the video game sound. It puts top composers and top remixers in the same place.
The music goes from bombastic mega orchestrations like the apocalyptic opening ABSRDST’s “The Cold Ruin’s Of A Once Great City (Metroid PRIME) ” -which sounds like Ennio being frappe in a wash of computer chips and makes you wonder why it isn’t being remixed as we speak, heavy up the bass and you are looking at mainstream EDM, to “Twenty One (Dear Esther)” by Jessica Curry, which is a searing lyric away from singer-songwriter with a classical bent. “Chipzel” bops along like your memory of a game from the early 1980s and then throws in some fast paced synth; though for the most case the music being showcased belongs to games like “Final Fantasy” and “Trolls”, games everybody has heard of. The Blooper Reeling Super Mario Workshop theme sounds like the backdrop to a children’s program, or maybe just like what it is but surely unique in this context.
So this seems like niche product but it isn’t really, or at least it isn’t completely. Some bright spark is already setting up music festivals somewhere: because it is music to games, it appeals to music lovers of a type and gamers of all stripes and because it is definably EDM, it breaks through to dance fanatics through a constant bass and drums background. The BPMs are through the roof. If “A State Of Trance” can gain a 6 million strong audience for a gig at MSG thru the internet, there is zero reason why VGM can’t reach a mammoth audience that crosses over in all direction.
Whether the soundtrack to gaming or the ambient backdrop to lives in motion this is a sound whose time is coming. Listening to “Dubsection (Final Fantasy Tactics)” and I had no idea I was even listening to a World 1-2 and not Trouble And Bass’s latest discovery. For music lovers, this is fascinating stuff and a pure blast.
Grade: A