Music I Think is Rad and Stuff
But you can't hardly swallow, your fears and paiiiiiin!!!!!!
October 20, 2024
Category: Infodump
Content Warning // Language
I'm not entirely sure of how I would describe my taste in music. Most of it is "alyrical", as in not having lyrics, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy music that has lyrics.
A handful of genres that I enjoy are: Chiptune, Jazz, Dubstep, and Atmospheric, if that really means anything.
Music nerds, feel free to roast me on my lack of articulation when it comes to expressing why I like the music I do.
Also, this page is not comprehensive, just stuff I really feel like needs mentioning.
Anyway, on with all the music.
Albums / Games
Activision Anthology (Game Boy Advance)
2002 / Alexander Brandon
This game is a collection of Atari 2600 games and homebrews for the Game Boy Advance, featuring some original 80s-style tracks from Alexander Brandon! Great stuff too, all the synthy harmonies especially in the track "Anthology" are totally in his style, much like what he did for Unreal and Unreal Tournament.
All of the music is tracked too, so you can rip it using lunasorcery's tools and get high quality rips of them!
Favorite tracks: Anthology, Leap
Hardcore Pinball (Game Boy Advance)
2002 / Aleksi Eeben, Hans Van Vilet, Jake Kaufman, Jonne "Purple Motion" Valtone
A decent variety of tracks in this game, one for each of the four tables: Station, Robomech, Retro, and Soccer.
Station is a somewhat atmospheric track, in combination with a table that looks to be about an interdimensional train station.
Robomech is this gritty, artificial electronic track, very fitting for table that has the player powering up a large robot.
Retro is a jazzy track that uses the GBA direct sound for vocals and drums, and uses the legacy CGB channels for a decent chunk of the melody. Lovely track.
Soccer is pretty much exactly that, it's a sporty track that's complete with crowds cheering. It's good, but not my favorite.
Favorite tracks: Station, Robomech, Retro
Portal 2
2011 / Mike Morasky + Johnathan Coulton and Ellen McLain
Mike Morasky has such a way with creating atmospheric, adaptive music. Pretty much the entirety of Portal 2's official soundtrack release is complations of the various stems heard throughout gameplay.
Take the track 15 Acres of Broken Glass. This is a track that combines the many stems heard in the chamber called "Trust Fling." It starts off with this quiet tapping track, before gradually gaining a lot of noise with stems that the player hears when being launched on the Faith Plate. At first it just sounds like random noise, but then you realise "Oh! There's an actual rhythm to this!" I especially like how some of the stems sound like Mike learned to program the Atari TIA and recorded the notes using Stella.
I think the track Adrenal Vapor is a interesting example of minimalism, although it probably wasn't originally made to be listenable on its own. It's still a lovely track in my opinion.
If you've played Portal 2, I think you most definitely like this soundtrack as well.
Favorite tracks: 9999999, Technical Difficulties, 15 Acres of Broken Glass,
Love as a Construct, Turret Wife Serenade, Comedy Equals Tragedy Plus Time,
The Reunion, TEST, Your Precious Moon, Want You Gone
Autumntunes
2009 / Various Artists (Distributed by Ubiktune)
A 2009 collection of chiptunes made by a bunch of artists and released for free by Ubiktune! Not all tracks are my favorite, but with the wide range of genres, there's absolutely something for everyone here.
Favorite tracks: Syphus - Drop Table, kulor - Doorbellsplosion,
Joule - Bursting Bubble Boy
Link to Album
NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL KULOR!
2012 / kulor
A chiptune album composed by kulor! They have a talent for creating lovely upbeat jazzy tunes that I'm not sure I can describe. Kulor also greatly demonstrates his ability to compose for a wide range of hardware, from the VRC6, AY-3-8910, SID, and more.
If you're a fan of chiptune and upbeat jazz, please give this one a listen.
Favorite tracks: My First LSDJ, Butterscotch Drops of Lime,
Boyfriend and Girlfriend, Space Disko, Nintendo Entertainment Samba,
Snofer's Infiltration Mission, Lobbyists, Electric Starbounce,
Elementary School Supernova, Random Encounter,
Madness Sky Falling Etc, Cruisin' Mah '95 Pimpmobile, I'm No Cyberhero,
Fashion Queen (What I Should've Done the First Time Ubermix)
Link to Bandcamp
Poker Night 2
2013 / Jared Emerson-Johnson
My favorite Poker game of all time, playing it with "A steroid freak with rage issues. A horny robot. A half-witted cripple. And a dog," (GLaDOS' words, not mine).
Much like Telltale's previous works, Jared returns with a collection of Jazz arrangements from The Venture Bros., The Walking Dead, Sam & Max, Army of Darkness, Borderlands, and Portal.
Favorite tracks: No Vacancy (The Venture Bros.), Prologue (Army of Darkness), Twilight Eternal (Sam & Max), Dark Rooms (The Walking Dead)
Petscop Soundtrack
2019 / Tony "pressedyes" Domineco
Released on Thanksgiving in 2019 following the conclusion of Petscop, this features high quality versions of all the music and most of the sound effects heard throughout the web series.
Tracks can range from very lighthearted to very unnerving, such as level1 and school respectively.
Favorite tracks: level1, gift-plane, level2, birthday, driving, school, girl-world, explore, bottom
Link to Bandcamp
ULTRAKILL
202? / Heaven Pierce Her
ULTRAKILL's soundtrack has its moments. All of it is pretty freakin' good hyperpop/breakcore-type beats. I appreciate that there's a slight emphasis on melody over the extreme usage of loud drum samples, it makes it somewhat easier to listen to compared to other breakcore tracks that I've listened to.
Favorite tracks: The Fire is Gone, Unstoppable Force, A Shattered Illusion,
Panic Betrayer, The Cyber Grind, Deep Blue, CHAOS
Link to Bandcamp
Winter Chip IX
2014 / Various Artists
The compliation of winners from Battle of the Bits' Winter Chip IX competition.
There is much variety to be had here, from genres represented and hardware used in each track!
Favorite tracks: Fearofdark - Snowball Earth, kfaraday - On The Road,
Duplica - Esoteric, nuclace - nomoarbrks, Drozerix - Cabin Fever!,
TristEndo - Tupac Eats Pizza Rolls and Rolls Blunts
Link to Bandcamp
Various SiIvaGunner / VvvvvaVvvvvvr Albums
Ongoing / Many, many artists
I like internet shitposting.
Doubly so, I like it when said shitposting takes the form of music based on video games.
SiIvaGunner is an comedic music group on YouTube dedicated to creating "High Quality Video Game Rips." A "rip" is a music track from a game that has been remixed or mashed up with other songs or internet memes.
My list of favorite tracks is way, way too long, so instead I will list favorite albums.
SiIvaGunner Rips of Christmas Present
siivagunner's highest quality rips: volume
SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume DQ
SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume Ruby / Sapphire
Transmission Archive ~ The SiIvaGunner Nuclear Winter Festival
SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume GS
SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume V
The Year of Grand Dad Sound Selection
PROTONOMICON ~ The Cult of Proto Collection
#7 Quality Royale
VvvvvaVvvvvvr's Vighest Vuality Vips Volume 6 Nevermind here's some more shit
VvvvvaVvvvvvr's Vighest Vuality Vips Volume lol 7
The Harlem Shakeover
The Space Jam Charity SLAM!: B-Ball Side
RIPBLOX
Now That's What I Call Quality! 1+2+3
SGFR Presents: Shovelware from Beyond the Deep!
SiIvaGrounds - Every Rip, by Everyone
Dr. Pavel's How the Grinch Took Over SiIvaGunner!
.@GiIvaSunner Whips and Nae Naes on Ellen the Generous
.@GiIvaSunner Whips and Nae Naes on Ellen the Generous 2: Another Hit
SiIvaGunner is probably the only way I can enjoy certain types of genres lmao
Here's a few of my absolute favorite tracks from them:
Link to YouTube
Soundchip Salad
2018 / kulor
Another LP from kulor, this time with a focus on variety when it comes to hardware! Six years later, kulor had definitely refined his composing skills and was able to make a much less repetitive set of tracks! There's even a few guest artist appearances!
Favorite tracks: StillPlayingMario.nsf, Our Time Machine Works!, Sample Me Again,
A Stroll in my LeSabre, Big Win Mega Win,
Maxo - Butterscotch Drops of Lime (Maxo Rockmix),
kfaraday - My First Ubiktune Remix, Fearofdark - Cyberhero Disco
Link to Bandcamp
Stick Fight: The Game (Original Soundtrack)
2017 / Karl Flodin
One of my friends referred to this album as "zany." They are correct in this observation.
The soundtrack to Stick Fight: The Game, and contains a wide arrange of lovely up-beat and wacky electronic mixes.
Favorite tracks: Stick It, Sticky Situation, Stuck in the Middle
Link to Bandcamp
The Coffee Zone
2014 / Fearofdark
Fearofdark is such a talented jazz musician. These tracks are just straight up bangers, an absolute must-buy for those who like chiptune.
There's such a wide range of tones here, adventurous, nostalgic, emotional, it has it all. Please buy this. Give him money.
Favorite tracks: Lovesickness, Scaling the Dragon Fortress, Rain Dance,
Pancake Department, Zoning Residential, Dopefish Lives, Dandelion Ride,
Penguins of the Apocalypse, Flame Repellent, Snow Burn, Fun With Lazer Guns,
The Coffee Zone
Link to Bandcamp
Individual tracks
DOOM Eternal: Legacy - The Final Terminus
2021 / SLAD3 & SPC HC (Original by Mick Gordon)
DOOM Eternal's official soundtrack mix... wasn't great, but that's a whole can of worms that's not worth discussing.
Anyway, in 2021 a couple of YouTube users took it upon themselves to rip the entirety of all the stems in the game and re-mix them into something a lot more listenable, and the results I think are fantastic.
This one is my favorite track, a mix of the track "DOOM Hunted," played in the DOOM Hunter base.
Link to YouTube Playlist
WeeD
2003 / luchibobra
Created as part of a 2003 ZX Spectrum Demo for CAFe'2003. This is a track that I spent the better part of five years looking for until my friend TôBach asked around for where it came from. I first heard it in the "simplelight" theme for Recalbox around late 2018.
Meteora - Don't Stay
2001 / Linkin Park
I first heard this track in a mod for Yakuza Kiwami 2 called The Silly Mod, which turns the game into a giant shitpost.
Probably the only Linkin Park track that I like so far, especially goes well with the Ryuji Goda fight in that game.
Roots of Ruin
2024 / Rei8bit
A hyperpop boss fight track using the Ricoh N2A03, Namco N-163, and Nintendo FDS.
This track won 4th place out of 348 entries in Winter Chip XIX!
Different Ways
2005 / AceMan
A lovely calming XM track. Not much more to say, I just really freakin' like it.
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 - Dark Groove
1998 / Alexander Brandon
Another appearance of Alexander Brandon on this list, this time for Jazz 2!
Really like listening to this one on long road trips. It's very fitting for staring at empty highways.
Nyakuza Manholes
2019 / nelward
An absolutely bangin' funky jazz track, played in the Nyakuza Manholes in A Hat in Time!
View-Monster - Modify
2008 / Neil Cicierega
A funky electronic track with some messed up & cynical lyrics. Possibly a satire from the perspective of a corporate entity that profits greatly from careless body-modding.
Like a Dragon Gaiden - Bring It On
2023 / Keitarou Hanada
My favorite track from Gaiden, one that's just pure anger against the idiots that try to beat you up over in Shofukucho, the Daidoji, or anyone else that thinks they can even remotely touch you.
Yakuza Kiwami - Renewed Unrest
2016 / SEGA SOUND TEAM
A really, really ominous track. I can hear this one pretty much every time I leave a building before I have a school exam. This song is really good at setting the tone for "things are about to hit the fan."
Lightning Round!
Here's some honorable mentions!
Tracks
Ellie53 & The Waluigi Believers - The Waluigi Collab (The Year of Grand Dad, 2023)Lunaxis - No More Nuzzles (Undertale Halloween Hack, 2019)
nelward - Battle Against a Handsome Opponent (2016)
doh - paper-bird.mod (1994)
ZeroCakes - Flat Zone Infinity (2016)
Lena Raine - Scattered and Lost (Celeste, 2018)
Lena Raine - Pigstep (Minecraft, 2020)
Erina Niwa - GM02 Chapter Clear (Bayonetta, 2009)
Zomboy - Nuclear (Hands Up) (2012)
Lemon Demon - My Trains (2013)
Skyrunner - Bang! (Atari 2600, 2014)
Tristam & Braken - Flight (2013)
meo - surrender (1993)
SvenZZon - Spring time remix (2004)
Karsten Koch - aryx.s3m (1997)
kulor - So Kawaii Space Puppy (Winter Chip IV, 2009)
Michiel van den Bos - Cannonade (Unreal Tournament, 1999)
Jared Emerson-Johnson - Moonscape (Sam & Max Save the World, 2020)
Shoh Murakami - Special Challenges (Crashmo, 2012)
Nightmargin - On Little Cat Feet (OneShot, 2016)
Jan Stevens - Martini Lounge (The Saboteur, 2009)
Lorn - Automaton (Nothing Else, 2019)
Minako Adachi - Anistar City (Pokémon X & Y, 2012)
TJ David - Can You Feel the Sunshine (Sonic R, 1997)
TX2 - Randy McNally (No Love Like Christian Hate) (2023)
DJ SeMiH - Windows XP Crazy Error (200?)
Albums
Fearofdark - The Early AttemptsRushJet1 - Rikki & Vikki (2018)
Dubmood - Best of 2001 & 2003
VA - MADWORLD Original Soundtrack (2009)
Tyler Woods - Tag: The Power of Paint (2008)
Yann van der Cruyssen - Stray Original Soundtrack (2022)
Castle Crashers Original Soundtrack (2008)
Avith Ortega - Trail to the Past (2019)
Greg Johnson - ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove! (2019)
Danny B - Super Meat Boy! Digital Special Edition Soundtrack (2011)
Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer (2023)
Harry101UK - Portal Stories: Mel Soundtrack (2014)
Harry101UK - Aperture Tag Soundtrack
This isn't ALL of my music, but it's some that I think really deserved some highlights. :3
