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Friday, October 6, 2017

Ep. 84: Too Adventurous for the Moon


Josh has been hard at work on the VGMJB MagMax mech, so why don't you hop on in for a joyflight? Join him and Emily as they cruise through space discussing the Great Gatsby (again), the beauty of collections, the potential within new possibilities, and their appearance on that other podcast. This episode is sure to take you to the moon and back, so get ready to go to warp... on The VGM Jukebox!

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This episode was made possible by:
Game Track Title Composer(s)
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence House of Sacred Remains Michiru Yamane
Risky Woods El Castillo Jason A. S. Whitely, Jose A. Martin
Little Samsom Gamm Theme Kazuhide Sasuga, Yukimari
To the Moon Everything’s Alright Laura Shigihara, Kan Gao
DuckTales The Moon Hiroshige Tonomura
Pebble Beach Golf Links BGM 3 Shigekazu Kamaki

...and listeners like YOU.

6 comments:

  1. Nathan Daniels AKA UtopiaNemoOctober 7, 2017 at 1:08 AM

    Man, that risky woods track DID have a great melody! It took a while for it to override the uninspired sound design, but it was worth it!

    I love adding a drop of water to whiskey; especially bourbon. Either that or an ice cube does the trick quite nicely.

    I loved Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, but my main memory of For Whom the Bell Tolls is this sentence(which occurred numerous times): “I obscenity in the milk of your mother”. I found it interesting that he wrote the word “obscenity” in place of writing the actual word. In a reality where freely accessible content is often rife with vulgarity, I find Hemingway’s comparative restraint quite refreshing.

    “Everything’s Alright” was beautiful. The main piano theme reminded me of some movie score that escapes me now. It also reminds me of “Silence is the Question” from The Bad Plus. It’s one of my favorite recent songs. It has a difficult middle, but it’s rewarding song if you can make it all the way through. And the last musical phrase is sooo bittersweet. Consider: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cphDmAwBVE4.

    I have not read too many “faulty narrative” books, but there are definitely actual reveals in “faulty narrative” movies. The late 90’s was filled with hard reveal stories, such as The Sixth Sense, Memento, and The Usual Suspects. I also prefer soft reveals: Moon and Primer are two of my favorite films.

    The double-requested track was from Rastan, not Rastan Saga. Man, just mentioning it takes me back to that blaring arcade cabinet!

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  2. For those who don't know, not only was Michiru Yamane still writing Castlevania music in 1999 (the year Legacy of Darkness was released [which is a very interesting fact in light of a particular point of Castlevania lore {I don't have time to explain the whole story, but I can mention that 1999 was the year that the titular castle was sealed away -- in the moon}]) but she is, essentially, still writing it today.

    Konami don't make Castlevanias anymore, but she is composing for a spiritual successor, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Apparently she and Koji Igarashi, the man behind Bloodstained and over a decade of Castlevania games, are great friends.


    I hear a tiny bit of sadness in The Moon theme (even though it’s a soaring song, flying high like a dream), it is something about those vibrato notes. Although I think nearly every 8-bit Capcom tune has a slight edge of sadness in it.

    Jake Kaufman wrote a version of The Moon for DuckTales Remastered; it is hard to beat the original, but I think it is very much worth hearing as an earnest and lavish love letter to that original theme.

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  3. I am so glad highschool-Josh is not going to compete with highschool-JT for the affection of the To The Moon girl after her vocal solo performance at choir practice. Highschool-JT is swoon and nervous to talk to her after class. If he knew some cool Daytona Golf kid was going to swoop in for her, he would probably get so nervous about asking her out he would just give up.

    Also, funny you guys should talk about double recommendations this episode because I think I also recommended that To The Moon track. Haha. Laura Shigihara is so sweet.

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    Replies
    1. I wish highschool-JT the best of luck.


      It’s funny you should mention how it’s funny the hosts spoke about double recommendations this episode because when I first looked at the track list I felt sure that they had played the Moon Theme before and that I had definitely heard a testimonial about it. It turns out I was wrong (I’m pretty sure) and must have been thinking of something I heard elsewhere (people talk about the Moon Theme a lot, I suppose).

      And it’s funny I had that reaction since another patron seemed to recall the Lament of Innocence track being played before -- it was discussed in the facebook group.

      And given the above, it’s funny that I just recently heard an explanation of Carl Jung’s concept of ‘synchronicity,’ his idea that coincidences, or acausal connections, are somehow real and meaningful.


      It’s a long time since I played To the Moon. I don’t think about it a lot, except very fleetingly in that when I hear or see the words ‘to the moon’ in another context, I mentally append ‘by Freebird Games.’

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  4. I didn't recommend the To The Moon song, but I had it saved ready to write up a recommendation. You guys clearly all have good taste!

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  5. House of Sacred Remains is one of my favorite pieces of music. Period. This is what I'm talking about when I say Yamane creates more than just music! There's a whole soundscape ripe for exploration. Every time I listen to it I discover something new I hadn't noticed before.

    Man, I remember hearing it before playing the game and getting really excited. While I wasn't quite disappointed by Lament of Innocence, I wasn't too impressed, either. It's a fairly standard "hit stuff in a square-shaped room" type of game, highly derivative of games like Devil May Cry. Ayami Kojima's artwork and Michiru Yamane's music help to elevate it a bit above the average 6th Generation hack'n'slash. I just can't stress enough how much I love the soundtrack. Pure art!

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