Spoils of Past Six Months

Today, on this hot sultry day, I have a couple of hours to share my thoughts on bunch of music I got in last half a year. Most of it was from wonderful Game Music Bundle, but I also got some other interesting stuff. So, let’s start with it.

And as alway, beware of lots and lots of album covers in this post.

General Music
Barbara Helfgott & Rondo Vienna

Maniac Violins Vol.1 — ★★★☆☆ — 7digital
I actually bought it for a friend of mine, but I got to listen to it and it’s pretty good. My only complaint is actually a vocals in some of the tracks. It’s not on par with the violins mastery.

六弦アリス

骨董店『Mystique』～或る画家の肖像～ — ★★★★☆
So what do you know? I actually got to sort out my physical Audio CDs and the 骨董店『Mystique』 album that I was importing last year turned out to be a limited edition single! #50 at that. Not sure if I’m pissed at the seller or awed that I got an LE disc.

迷イノ森、夢十夜。 -人トシテ- — ★★★☆☆

迷イノ森、夢十夜。 -凛トシテ- — ★★★☆☆
Got this double album this winter. Sadly, I don’t find it all that good. Yes, every song is nice on its own, but overall they all sound too similar. I find them to be too uniform and amorphous. The only highlight is 眩暈ハ散リ行ク桜ニモ似テ which is charming and inspiring. Also, not fan of edits of old tracks.

The Best of Bond… James Bond — ★★★☆☆ — iTunes Store
Got it on 50th anniversary. Not bad, but now I have five copies of The World Is Not Enough.

Anime Soundtracks
I finally got to see the first season of Fate/zero and it was absolutely fantastic! Thus, a bunch of Fate/zero soundtracks.

藍井エイル

Prayer — ★★★☆☆

Haruna Luna

空は高く風は歌う — ★★☆☆☆
Another example of single where original track is much better than the promoted one.

Kalafina

to the beginning — ★★★★☆
Never heard of this group before, but this single is very good.

Then I finally sorted out the rest of Trinity Blood music that were laying around for years.
江口貴勅

Trinity Blood O.S.T. TB music file — ★★☆☆☆

種ともこ

Broken Wings — ★★★☆☆ — iTunes Store

And, surprise surprise, I also finished watching first season of Spice and Wolf. Which was fantastic.
清浦夏実

TVアニメーション「狼と香辛料」OPテーマ旅の途中 — Single — ★★★☆☆ — iTunes Store

ROCKY CHACK

リンゴ日和~The Wolf Whistling Song — Single — ★★★☆☆ — iTunes Store
O seven apples on a witch’s tree.
With seven seeds to plant inside of me
In springtime I grew a magic song
Then skipping along, oh I sang the song to everyone

Damn, this song is so catchy…

黒石ひとみ

LASTEXILE -Fam, The Silver Wing- O.S.T. — ★★☆☆ — iTunes Store

LASTEXILE -Fam, The Silver Wing- O.S.T.2 — ★★★☆☆
I really love these two albums. They’re kind of magical.

川井憲次

TVアニメーション「ひぐらしのなく頃に」オリジナルサウンドトラック — iTunes Store

TVアニメーション「ひぐらしのなく頃に」オリジナルサウンドトラックVol.2 — iTunes Store
Boy, if you thought Trinity Blood took me long, then just look at these two. And then I didn’t listen to them. Oh, well.

Ok, then. Off to the main part of the report with me.

Game Soundtracks
First, let’s look at various bonus soundtracks and the music I bought on my own.

Baiyon

PixelJunk™ Eden + Encore ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK — ★★★☆☆

Ian Stocker

Soulcaster Original Sound Version — Bandcamp

Soulcaster II Original Sound Version — Bandcamp

Escape Goat Original Soundtrack — Bandcamp

Escape Goat Powermouse Mix Collection

Kevin Manthei

Jagged Alliance 2 Soundtrack

Luke Thomas

Tobe & Friends Hookshot Escape Soundtrack — ★★★☆☆

Martin Stig Andersen

Limbo Soundtrack — ★★★☆☆ — iTunes Store

Mikko Tarmia

Amnesia: The Dark Descent OST

And here’s what I bought in search for English version of Melodies of Life from Final Fantasy IX:
植松伸夫

FINAL FANTASY IX (Original Soundtrack) — iTunes Store

白鳥英美子

Melodies of Life

Peter McConnell

Psychonauts Original Soundtrack — iTunes Store

radiangames

Super Crossfire

Sexy-Synthesizer

Rock. Deluxe Edition — ★★☆☆☆ — iTunes Store

目黒将司

PERSONA Original Soundtrack
Even though I can’t rate this album overall, what I heard was pretty damn good.

目黒将司

PERSONA3 PORTABLE Original Soundtrack — ★★★☆☆

zath

Dungeons of Dredmor Soundtrack — ★★★☆☆ — Bandcamp

Now onto Game Music Bundle 2. Note that some albums were featured previously, but I’d mention them anyway.

A_Rival

8-Bit Pimp — ★★☆☆☆ — Bandcamp, iTunes Store
Gaming rap. Very unusual, but I’m not a big fan of this music genre.

Alec Holowka

Aquaria: Original Soundtrack — ★★★★☆ — Bandcamp

C-jeff

Preschtale — Bandcamp

David Saulesco

Eternal Daughter Original Soundtrack — ★★★☆☆ — Bandcamp

Disasterpeace

Cat Astro Phi (Soundtrack) — ★☆☆☆☆ — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

Passcode: Soul of the Traveler (Soundtrack) — ★★☆☆☆ — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

Flashygoodness

Tower of Heaven — Original Soundtrack — ★★★☆☆ — Bandcamp

Francisco Cerda

Jamestown Soundtrack — ★★★☆☆ — Bandcamp

Inverse Phase

Shuttle Scuttle OST — Bandcamp

Jake Kaufman

Mighty Switch Force OST — Bandcamp

Jim Guthrie

Sword & Sworcery LP — The Ballad of the Space Babies — ★★★★☆ — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

Kan R. Gao, feat. Laura Shigihara

To the Moon <OST> — ★★★★☆ — Bandcamp

Module

Shatter — Official Videogame Soundtrack — ★★★★☆ — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

The Octopus Project

Thunderbeam Original Soundtrack

Romain Gauthier

SQUIDS — OST — Bandcamp

Tomáš Dvořák

Machinarium Soundtrack — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

Machinarium Soundtrack Bonus EP — ★★★☆☆ — Bandcamp

Various Artists

Indie-Mashup EP: Sharing is Caring — ★★★★☆
This exclusive bonus album is sooo good!

Songs for the Cure ’10 — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

Game Music Bundle 3

Alec Holowka

Offspring Fling — Bandcamp

Daniel Olsén

Ilomilo (Original Soundtrack) — cdbaby, iTunes Store

Disasterpeace

Deorbit — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar — ★★★☆☆ — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

_ensnare_

Impeccable Micro — ★★★★☆ — Official site

Gareth Coker

inMomentum — ★★★★☆ — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

George & Jonathan

Beautiful Lifestyle — ★★★☆☆ — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

Hyperduck Soundworks

The Blocks Cometh — Bandcamp

jeffball

Astroman Soundtrack — Bandcamp

Joakim Sandberg

Mubla Evol Ution — ★★★☆☆
This is actually, 5 albums in 1. It covers soundtracks from Noitu Love, Chalk, Noitu Love 2, Luxe Chalk and The Iconoclasts. Quality varies, but there are some cool tracks.

Josh Whelchel

GunGirl 2: Original Soundtrack — Bandcamp, iTunes Store

Laura Shigihara

Plants vs. Zombies Soundtrack — ★★☆☆☆ — YouTube
Even though overall enjoyment of this album is quite low, Laura Shigihara is so cute! Check out her channel.

Lifeformed

Fastfall — ★★★★☆ — Bandcamp, iTunes Store
Very nice ambient album. I actually bought it just a day or two before Game Music Bundle 3 was announced. Worth it anyway.