LONG BLOG
Phils Game/Pop Music Similarities #230 - Snow in June
Featuring Gradius Gaiden and caribbean music.
Greetings fellow game music lovers,
in the beginning of June, I'd like to start a short fling with a type of game that has been neglected here at PhilsPhindings a bit: Shmups. You and your spacecraft with physics defying firepower against enemies who send waves and waves of poorly shielded mooks after you, Zapp Brannigan style. One of the best remembered franchises in this genre is the Gradius series which started as your traditional space adventure but has recently become involved with scantily clad women armed with phallic looking objects.
The best entry of the franchise to never arrive here in the west apart from Gradius Collection is Gradius Gaiden from 1997. The first level of the games always has an upbeat "you can do it!" feeling and Gaiden, with "Snow Field", is not an exception. So today, we have a look at a particular sample from this song:
Aside from the obvious dancefloor rhythms, one could ask where the melodic sequence comes from. I found some progressions again in Calypso music with a similar tone and curvature. Examples:
Bette Anne - Jayson (1989) (Listen closely to the progression in the background):
Mighty Sparrow - "Manjhay" (1989):
Second Imij - "Dhantal Fever" (1989):
I might have to suspend caribbean series for a while because I found some interesting material in the meantime but I need to hear some more songs to be sure. See here next week!
Phil out.