[New Music] Songs for Gamers DLC Pack 02 Released (Now with Occam's Thoughts!)

5:31 AM on 11.12.2016 (server time)0

I am giving this blog post a one-time bump, since I recently added Occam's Thoughts, which may have gone unread (or the entire blog had gone unnoticed). I promise I will not bump it again ^^

Hello friends, Alphadeus here with another album for your listening pleasure. The album is free to download, similar to the other albums in the Songs for Gamers series. There is no obligation to pay for it. It's a gift to the community.

Songs for Gamers DLC Pack 02 (Album art by Tom Davies)

In case you missed it, here's a link to Songs for Gamers DLC Pack 01, and the original Songs for Gamers album.

If for some reason, you're not familiar with Songs for Gamers by now, allow me to explain the project. A while ago, I reached out to members of the community with an offer to write them a video game music theme song. I asked for a name, and links to music to use as inspiration, and tried my best to write them a song that fit at least one of the tracks they linked.

I originally started this project back in 2011, and have been adding to it on and off since then. I released Songs for Gamers DLC Pack 01 a few weeks ago. This will probably be my last album release of the year, but who knows :)
This time around, for Songs for Gamers DLC Pack 02, I wrote 13 songs for 13 members (2 members got second songs, but not in the do-over way). I was originally going to only write 10, but I wanted to clear my entire backlog of current requests. I would have felt bad if I had left 3 people without songs.

I may open up requests again in the future to prepare for a DLC Pack 03, but for now, I'm going to take a break.

I do not have much else to say about the album. I am extremely proud of the Songs for Gamers series. And I thank you for the countless opportunities to challenge myself by working on your requests. Here are Occam's thoughts on each track!

1) Act One (Occams) - OK I feel a little strange writing about this one as I asked for it to be created and I know the source material for it by heart. But listening to your interpretation, this is what I hear: the sounds of dawn. The way the light reflects off the stillness of a pond. How the colors are warm and kind and there is dew on the grass. It reminds me of how I always wish dawn and dusk could last forever because everything seemed like a dream state. Everything was patient and softer and I could breathe easier.
2) All Out Of Bubblegum (Morty) - Street fighting music. Like an old beat 'em up. That beat comes in with the high hat sound. Very active. Almost too busy for my head. Two distinct beats are dance fighting in my head. Talking back and forth. Challenging one another. Its like watching the gears of a grandfather clock work in unison to create a whole thing. Car sounds speeding by? Makes me want to drive fast at night on the Brooklyn Bridge. Its so jumpy and the notes step in each others shadows one after another. Dance fighting. The complexity is alluring.
3) Busy Streets, Dying Lights (TheBlondeBass) - Elliot Smith piano intro. Old Vaudeville Parisian cafe in the 20's. Its clever though world weary. Tap your toe in a place that serves dinner at 11 pm. Reminds me of old stucco walls cracked and yellowed with age with the faded picture of the version Mary hung on one rusted nail. That plinking guitar pushes out with a slightly tinny resonance like rain in a metal bucket. Its a full sound. Like a cushion made of cigarette ash and echoes of laughter.
4) Endless Blue Skies (Seeeeeeth) - That disco beat! Boom! Donna Summer in my head. Then the strings. Such a strong sound pulls it up. Then the main keys start in. Like those levels where you have to ascend the tower. Great sense of momentum. Eases up but keeps the pace. Almost a skipping beat 1 2 3 4 like a jump rope.
5) For Your Consideration (Agent9) - Sonic rings. Wave patterns, not gold ones. Walking the streets at night fist clenched around a $20 bill waiting for someone to fuck with you. There's a beauty in how the rain washes that top layer of grime off of buildings. Feels like there's a longing here. A sadness. Its beautiful in the way feeling is beautiful. Dream-like state. Neon billboards reflected on slick black asphalt. Broken folks huddled together not wanting to talk just be.
6) High Definition Graphics (iam16bit) - Starts out sounds like a heartbeat. Then it slows down. There's that aural drop and it makes me uncomfortable. Like the song, the beat is looking at me inside my head. My ears and my eyes switch. Then the notes start and its soft and pleading, like someone asking you to stay. The notes are the dream, the beat is reality pushing forward like it does. The notes tell the story we want to be in and we try to fit it inside the reality of what actually is. Reminds me of something from the Neverending Story. Something I would watch someone dance to and become infatuated with them.
7) Inquisitive Rave (Inquisitive Ravenclaw) - Earthbound spaceship noises. Piano is very Asian. Beat starts up and I'm at a rave. That hard beat, like the roots of an old tree. Dancing is required, shoes are not. Its fun and loose, the way people who can dance look to people who can't. Very self-aware. The slide down the scale in the middle speeds things up. Fight the coming dawn. Fight work tomorrow. Make the moment last as long as you can. Dance without a care. It resonates in an erratic if kind way.
8) It's Bardley Just Begun (Bardley) - That guitar! Every Final Fantasy village theme ever plays in my heart. I feel safe and okay. Like I just walked into my old house. I know every door and window and crack and crevice. Its peaceful because I know it as well as I know my own hands. Makes me think of how Saturday mornings felt as a kid when all you had to do to feel alive was step outside and walk in a new direction.
9) Leonine Cowboy (Lion) - Could be a samurai's theme. Could be a cowboy's. Same thing really. Noble but flawed. So intimate with violence but respects the power. Like handling a snake. Very theme-like. Get a wee bit of a Mysterious Cities of Gold vibe. God bless the older ones here who know that.
10) Mustache Force (SeymourDuncan17) - Oh my! That punk drum always makes me so happy. Thrash metal prog rock Mad Max meets a Troma movie. Mohawk speed demons riding the forbidden roads running down the wicked and the damned. Heavy heavy. And the synth notes are like an ancient metal owl hooting softly in an undergound grotto.
11) The Rise And Return Of The Admiral (AdmiralAckbong) - A man walks in the room. Dramatically takes his sun glasses off. He's wearing black jeans. This was back when that wasn't a bad thing. Lasers all over. Kind of a cyberpunk thing going on. Reminds of old anime like Vampire Hunter D, the art style for it. Sort of furturistic and dated at the same time. Ohhhhhh then it speeds up! The Prince funk riff on guitar just comes out of nowhere. I love it. A strange but complimentary pairing of sounds.
12) Ultimate Fusion (Retrofraction) - This one sounds like chase music in one of the French noir films. Beautiful old cars that look entirely impractical chasing each other down Rue Desiree. Cigarettes and one liners. Pistols in coat pockets. Night clubs that were trashy for the time but look classy today. Almost a 70's kind of sound progression. Kinda funky, kinda romantic. That horn is really nice. Adds a nice backbone textually.
13) Unwind (Osc) - Like meeting a supernatural creature for the first time. Playful and giddy and fun. Full of potential for what could happen next. There's excitement here. Not greed, not lust, nothing so adult. Just the joy of discovery. Like when you were a kid and you looked at a drop of rain through a microscope for the first time. You saw that the world was so much more than what you were aware of.

Also, thank you for the years of support. Without the support, I wouldn't be anywhere near the level of skill I currently have, which might one day lead to working on a real video game! Who knows!? Take care.