I didn’t really talk about it anywhere but at some point last year (it escalated gradually so I don’t know when it “started”), I started having ear problems that were driving me insane for months. As far as I can tell my hearing wasn’t affected, but I’ve been mainly dealing with a relentless itch which drastically worsened my quality of life as a result of making me constantly want to jam something sharp in my ear to end the torment. So if you happened to notice a little bit of a decrease in how often I posted starting around the end of last year, that’s because I was trying some stuff at home to deal with the problem and spending less time with headphones on as a result. And if you happened to notice I barely posted anything in April and May, that’s because I finally got in to see an ENT and got some Actual Medication which I very much didn’t want to get anywhere near my niceish headphones.
I’m not 100% convinced the medication was actually treating the underlying problem (which I suspected was a eustachian tube issue) and not just the itching symptom, but it did make the itching almost entirely go away and it hasn’t really come back since, which is extremely cool. All that’s just to explain why I was cramming in a bunch of 2023 soundtracks in the last month, if you happened to notice: because there’s a lot I haven’t been able to listen to and it’s time for the midyear status report! As a result I’ve posted about 80% of what’s to follow very recently, but I’ve included one track I haven’t really talked about anywhere before to balance that out slightly. Enjoy(?)
Firmament – “Batteries Casting Shadows”
Composed by Maclaine Diemer
One of the most decayed songs from a soundtrack full of decayed sounds, buzzsaws and audio artifacts evoking a message you can’t understand but nevertheless feel
Harmony: The Fall of Reverie – “[CHAOS REIGNS]”
Composed by Lena Raine
Bass jammin’, funky riffs, weird melodic movement, big chords, and some time signatures, what’s not to like
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – “Marbled Gohma Battle” (unofficial title)
Sound Director: Hajime Wakai (suspected composer)
Music: Manaka Kataoka, Maasa Miyoshi, Masato Ohashi, Tsukasa Usui
It’s your boy Hajime Wakai at it again, cramming more rhythmic stabs than you can count into a highly dynamic Zelda boss theme (this has 30 possible segments!) which is one of the most energizing pieces of music I’ve ever heard
Taiko no Tatsujin Nijiiro Ver. 2022 – “Destination 2F29”
Composed by Manami Ini
This was submitted to a Taiko song competition last year and got added to the game in March. Cute chiptuney piece with frequent blips in the meter (you’re playing a rhythm game after all)
Bonus Cohost-only trivia:
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2F29 is the number 12073 in hexadecimal
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The composer has also used 12073 as an artist name
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“Ini Manami” in Japanese name order is a goroawase pronunciation of 12073
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The BPM of the song is 241.46, or 12073 * 2 / 100
VIVIDLOPE – “Vividviolence”
Composed by Baycun
Y’all come get your breakbeats and 5/4
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