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You didn’t think we would, but we came back! We can’t stop! And you can’t stop. Let’s not stop. Let’s just go around and around on this circular ride, talking and listening and grooving… forever… Oh, sorry! We got lost in our thoughts there. But we mean it. Join us on this crazy, nonstop, circular, music ride. Right now!
In this episode of Video Game Grooves, special guest Kevin Schulz joins us from Black Screen Records to discuss what brought him into the game music game! And it just so happens, what brought him into the game is our first feature pick! We begin with Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty, from Oddworld Inhabitants. The vaguely disturbing and sometimes tribal/percussive sounds of Abe’s odyssey set the backdrop for a true rags-to-more-rags hero’s journey centered around a meat packing plant. After a thorough exploration of the dark and meaty dystopia, we hit the highway with OutRun from SEGA. The smooth sounds of Hiroshi Kawaguchi evoke a coastal city drive, calming your nerves while the game beats your face into the pavement.
We also cover the news and releases that have happened since our last show, helping to keep you in-the-knew for your next record chase! So pay attention!
Finally we talk with Kevin about the process that records labels go through to curate their catalog. On the consumer side, what impressions do we get about the “personalities” and identities that record labels project to the market. Plus, somewhere in all of this we make a pact to create an Outrun-covers-only band.
Outro: “Cruising Line” – OutRun, by
Twitter – @vg_grooves, @jeremy_lamont, @ajohnagnello,@blackscreenrec
Rez Infinite (iam8bit)
Deadbolt (Black Screen Records)
Monolith (The Yetee)
Final Symphony promo (Gameconcerts.com)
Cherries on air (Chuchel) (Minority Records)
Symphonies of the Knight (The Yetee)
Space Harrier (Data Discs)
Thomas Was Alone (Limited Run Games) (sold out)
Volume (Limited Run Games) (sold out)
Zuntata Arcade Classics vol. 3 (Light in the Attic Records)
CLRCASE vinyl record display units (Kickstarter)
Hey guys, huge fan of the podcast… Just writing in to say I’m a bit disappointed that you did not mention the F-Zero release on this episode. Yes, I know it is a pirate record, but bootlegs/pirate records have always been a part of the vinyl scene. These releases are very pertinent to your audience.
I know you have talked about Moonshake in the past, but I hope something has not changed on the podcast where you will no longer be speaking about bootlegs? I hope you are not avoiding them to please your friends who work for or own labels in the community… Since it is somewhat common knowledge that there has been friction in the past between pirates and some VGM record labels.
I have no affiliation with the F-zero record, just a huge fan and collector of Video Game Vinyl. Keep up the great work on the podcast 🙂
Good comment, thanks Mark! We try to strike a balance in coverage of bootlegs. They exist, and we don’t deny it, and some of them are darn cool! But we also want to respect the labels who invest a lot of time, effort, and money to obtain licensing and go about the “business” of music production through the proper channels.
That said, we’ve featured bootlegs in the show before, and the music is clearly beloved, but we have generally stopped short of making announcements for unofficial merchandise or linking to store pages with unofficial merchandise for sale. Those links are often on private store pages with no real verifiable business presence (for obvious reasons) and buying bootlegs online is a sort of “buyer beware” situation, so we reckon people can take that on for themselves rather than through us.
Remixes and original works, no worries! But we love all that music anyway and I’m sure we’ll have more to say (or listen to) about unofficial releases in the future. 🙂 I hope that helps clarify!