VGM Voicemail

Jay calls Dave to marvel at the impressive one-man-show of Toby Fox’s Undertale, and it’s densely-packed narrative-theme heavy soundtrack.  He takes a look at the various ways in which Fox managed to weave trackable motifs throughout the story to help us connect to the large cast of quirky characters.  Specifically, Jay tracks the various themes of the character Mettaton, and how they ultimately culminate in the epic battle theme Death By Glamour.  Jay, with the aid of a surprising interruption, rocks out to this jam before bringing season 1 of VGM Voicemail to a close.

Dave calls Jay about his favorite mascot ever, and the game that started it all, Sonic The Hedgehog.  SEGA decided to kick off the franchise in a huge way, with Jpop superstar Masato Nakamura from Dreams Come True doing the music and sound design.  Bringing his pop music talents for strong melodies, he took a film score approach to the music composition, especially after seeing the epic production art that Sonic Team had provided.  Scrap Brain Zone is a prime example of this sound, not only including grandiose music techniques like the tritone “Space Chord”, but being directly influenced from the iconic sci-fi film, Bladerunner.

Jay calls Dave about the newly popular online adventure game Sea of Thieves.  With pirate culture having a bit of a renaissance period in the last decade or two, Sea of Thieves makes a big splash as one of the most widely successful pirate-themed games since the likes of Monkey Island.  With a soundtrack by none other than legendary game composer Robin Beanland, the music plays an active role in the game mechanics, with characters on your ship joining in an out of a minstrel-like spontaneous ensemble.  Similarly, the featured song of this call, Maiden Voyage, has its own unique evolution as you move from tutorial mode to the open seas.

Dave calls Jay to talk about the carefully crafted soundtrack of the PSP hit LocoRoco.  Game creator Tsutomu Kouno, who has been quoted as saying “Music is more important than graphics”, set out to create a gameplay experience where the visual and audio experience went hand in hand.  Going as far as creating a unique language for the blob-like characters in the game, LocoRoco uses music and lyrics to make the creatures feel more alive and interactive, as well as create an overall more believable universe for the player to explore.

Jay calls Dave to explore the orchestral soundscape of Octopath Traveler, and how composer Yasunori Nishiki leverages the eight characters to create eight unique themes that weave together into the main themes of the overall game.  To be more specific, the game's epic battle music, Decisive Battle 2, comes with an introduction that is tailored to whichever character you’re using, giving it a special musical flair that suits your individual adventure.

Dave calls Jay to unpack the surprisingly complex music of Snipperclips.  In the featured track Noisy Notebook C, composer Calum Bowen not only makes use of the previously explored “Whole Tone Scale”, but also uses an unusual trick of walking up and down octaves in 5ths to create a sort of unbalanced, dislodged feeling.  As if this wasn’t enough, the song structure itself utilizes a famous jazz progression known as “The Coltrane Cycle” to further offset the players equilibrium, and yet despite all this, the soundtrack is not only enjoyable to listen to, but addictive.

Jay calls Dave to talk about the musical history of the popular franchise, Monster Hunter, and a theme from the very beginning of the series that makes a reappearance in the latest installment, Monster Hunter World, titled Proof of a Hero.  With Capcom churning out over ten iterations of this cooperative series over the years, both the gameplay and musical experience have changed and evolved, with classic characters showing up with new terrifying looks and sounds to strike fear into new generations of players.  In this particular case, a theme reaching all the way back to the beginning, shows up amidst one of the most challenging battles of Monster Hunter World, to reward old school players for sticking it out this far, and inspire new players to battle hard alongside them.

Dave calls Jay to chat about one of the most influential competitive brawlers of all time, Smash Bros Melee, and it’s bizarre stage track Flat Zone.  Dave looks back on how composer Ando Hirokazu, under enormous pressure from the games director, produced an intense, action-packed soundtrack consisting of both live orchestral recordings, and synthesized orchestra patches, along with techno elements and actual Game n' Watch samples.  This episode focuses on how instrumentation can help thematically tie a soundtrack together that is otherwise composed of themes from a wide variety of existing game motifs.

Jay calls Dave to remember the controller-breaking, frustrating experience of Punch-Out!!, and it’s centerpiece track: Boxing.  Jay demonstrates how the composers of Punch-Out!! drew direct inspiration from Bill Conti’s Going The Distance from the feature film Rocky, and how impressive it is how these 8-bit composers could pack in so much feeling of determination using such limited music technology, and create an appropriate motivating game soundtrack to pair with what can only be described as the Dark Souls of the early NES era.

Dave calls Jay to marvel at a soundtrack that was groundbreaking at it’s debut, Intelligent Qube.  For this PlayStation puzzle classic, film and television composer Takayuki Hattori was tapped to produce a score that features a full live orchestra, as well as mind-bending music theory elements such as the whole tone scale and augmented triads, resulting in a truly mesmerizing sound that appropriately conjures up feelings of mystery, playfulness, defeat, and hope.

Jay calls Dave to explore the aural universe of Stardew Valley, specifically that of “Fall” also known as The Smell of Mushrooms.  In this episode, Jay brings attention to how composer (and overall game designer) Eric Barone draws upon his influences of Beethoven's Pastorale to invoke a sensation of the changing of seasons from summer to fall, and even incorporates literal sounds of nature such as frigid gusts of wind to help suggest the approach of winter, and invoke the associated annual traditions that coincide with the season.

Dave calls Jay to discuss the unique soundscape of Secret Of Mana, and how composer Hiroki Kikuta set out to make a game soundtrack that was truly unlike any other.  Dave points out how the soundtrack, in many ways, resembles a prog-rock album with its extremely specific instrument samples custom-made by Kikuta himself, and it’s extraordinarily unusual use of rhythm and unexpected time signatures. Ultimately, Dave demonstrates how all of these distinctive elements come together in the game's battle music, Danger, in a thrilling manner that strikes a careful balance between order and chaos.

Jay calls Dave to talk about the exclusive experience of hearing the Japanese-exclusive, and widely recognized main theme of Gran Turismo: Moon Over The Castle.  In a time when getting Japanese imports of games to play on specially modded PlayStations was a rare experience, Jay expresses the excitement of being part of that small group that got to experience the soundtrack the way it was meant to be heard.  In addition, Jay describes the track itself as a passion-filled, Days of Thunder style experience, where the racer is not just at the eye of the storm, but becomes the storm itself.

Dave calls Jay to remember one of the greatest arcade soundtracks of the 80s: Golden Axe.  This ultra classic draws inspiration, and even direct sound samples, from its contemporaries like Conan the Barbarian and Rambo, creating an era-specific sound.  Dave breaks down the track Death Adder, and how it builds upon the game's battle music to create a sense of tragic impending doom and finality as you face off against the ultimate villain of the game.

Jay calls Dave to discuss a track from the beloved Final Fantasy Tactics series that means a great deal to him: Alma.  In addition to drawing comparisons to Hitoshi Sakimotos other work such as Ogre Battle, Jay draws attention to how Alma stands apart in this otherwise minor and tragic-sounding music tapestry as a positive, hopeful beacon of light, much like the character the track represents.

Dave calls Jay regarding one of the worlds most beloved racing franchises; MarioKart.  However, instead of covering one of the many amazing stage tracks, Dave focuses on the Menu Select music from MarioKart Wii, and explores how Nintendo often uses a unique music layering technique in these selection screens in not just the MarioKart franchise, but many other games as well.

Jay calls Dave to reminisce about “Team All Stars” from Super Dodge Ball on NES.  This introductory stage is paired with a lively track containing a rich variety of driving rhythms and a powerful melody line.  It’s a shining example of how talented composers can make five channels of chirps and beeps sound like memorable pop tunes.

In this premiere episode of VGM Voicemail, Dave calls Jay about "Asteroid" from Starfox on SNES.  The 2nd stage of this classic game provides a dramatic backdrop with it's orchestral instrumentation, and unusual time signature.  It's an excellent example of the 16-bit era discovering what was possible with new sound chip technology.

Listen in each week as two music geeks play phone-tag while breaking down their favorite video game tracks of all time.  From the technical to the artistic, from 8-bit to modern, Dave and Jay relay what they love about these classic tunes in each VGM Voicemail.