Well, here we are. It was only a matter of time really, after being inspired by Sean Seanson's own work on his own Club Playstation series and then him giving his blessing for fan-made ones I started to flip through my collection of soundtracks to put somethin' together. And here we are. As usual with the mixes I do, I ain't a professional by any stretch, but I am quite happy with how this turned out. Stay tuned for full commentary and the tracklist below!
Mixcloud has added quality tiers since I last used it which is a bit of a let-down, I'm looking to get it mirrored elsewhere in the meantime. It's a very careful line to walk when making a mix like this, in the end I think I hit a nice balance of tracks without going too heavy on the nostalgia factor. They are all still tracks I have a lot of love for, and in hindsight I have gone hard on the racing game angle (which may or may not have influenced the cover). I have bent the rules a little in some cases - two tracks here aren't from the games themselves: the remix of Missing Perspective from Parasite Eve is from the aptly named 'Parasite Eve Remixes' album, and the arrangement of Never Let Me Down from GT2 is from the 'GRAN TURISMO 2 EXTENDED SCORE ~GROOVE~' album, but even so they're not hugely out of place, bringing a fine dose of Deep House and even more Drum & Bass to the table respectively.
The Grooverider remix of EBTG's Blame has been rattling around in my head since then as well, one of the few licenced tracks from the GT2 score, you could look forward to it playing multiple times as the whole OST would loop on the longer endurance races. Back then the NTSC and EU versions of GT would have different licenced songs on the OST, so I've gone ahead and labelled the tracklist just to be extra thorough!
Looking back I may have gone too heavy on the NFS and R4 OSTs, but man oh man are they all so good, I've been in love with Rom Di Prisco's hi-tech stuff from the series since release, and as mentioned in the previous post the entire soundtrack to Ridge Racer Type 4 is still fresh as ever over 20 years later. Scattered between are even more favourites new and old - the entire soundtrack to the Ghost In The Shell game could have gone here in all honesty, a far cry from the moody philosophy of the 1995 film, the PS game OST is non-stop pulse pounding techno from some pretty big names from the time. Racing Lagoon makes a couple of appearances, an interesting Racing Game / RPG hybrid curio from Square that never released outside of Japan (but recently received a translation fan patch). It has an incredible sense of atmosphere and the Soundtrack is of course a huge part of that, if you look it up off the heels of this post you'll quickly see why I am a fan.
I am pretty happy with how it turned out, there are some transitions I think could have been handled better but the tracks themselves are all good as. As with every time I get the itch to make one of these mixes there are some tracks that don't make the cut - either because I couldn't find a place for them or the direction of things changed. That is the case here as well, but there are some other interesting tracks that I cut for other reasons, you can find a list of honourable mentions that didn't make it below! I hope you find something to enjoy here even if VGM isn't your thing, I think this selection does a great job of not sounding overly-'video gamey'. I'll be back soon enough with more but until next time, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
Tracklist
Smackdown 2 Intro (WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, 2000)
Johnathan Colling - Colin McRae Rally 2 Theme (Colin McRae Rally 2.0, 2000)
Rom Di Prisco - Paradigm Shifter (Need For Speed High Stakes (US) / Road Challenge (EU), 1999)
Everything But The Girl - Blame (Grooverider Jeep Dub) (Gran Turismo 2 (EU), 2000)
Yoko Shimomura - Missing Perspective (Dan K's Late Night Session) (Parasite Eve, 1998)
Rom Di Prisco - Cygnus Rift (Need For Speed High Stakes (US) / Road Challenge (EU), 1999)
Rom Di Prisco - Menu (Need For Speed II, 1997)
Keiichiro Segawa - Circulation (Armored Core, 1998)
Hardfloor - Spook And Spell (Fast Version) (Ghost In The Shell, 1998)
Noriko Matsueda / Takahito Eguchi - Loop Demo (Racing Lagoon, 1999)
Hiroshi Okubo / Asuka Sakai - Quiet Curves (R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, 1999)
Masahiro Andoh - Never Let Me Down (Arrange by Tohru Arakawa) (Gran Turismo 2, 1999)
Noriko Matsueda - Save & Load (Racing Lagoon, 1999)
Soichi Terada - Time Station (Ape Escape, 1999)
Tetsukazu Nakanishi - Lucid Rhythms (R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, 1999)
Asuka Sakai - Epilogue (R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, 1999)
Honorable mentions that didn't make it:
Smackdown 2 Menu Theme
Bjorn Lynne - Wormsong '98 (Worms Armageddon, 1999)
Mark 'TDK' Knight - Gabbag (Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown, 1997)
Simon Boswell / Chris Whitten - Zip (Burn Cycle, 1994 - was supposed to be ported to PS1 in 1996 but never happened)
Omni Trio - Secret Life (Rollcage Stage II, 2000)
Rom Di Prisco - Demo 1 (Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit, 1998)
Rom Di Prisco - Esprit (Need For Speed II, 1997)
Saki Kaskas - Callista (Need For Speed High Stakes, 1999) - this track is also in Mass Effect 2!
Chuck Doud - Syphon Filter Theme (Syphon Filter Series, 1999-2001)
Akira Yamaoka - Eternal Rest (Silent Hill, 1999)
Showing posts with label club playstation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label club playstation. Show all posts
Tuesday, 4 October 2022
Tuesday, 27 September 2022
Load Game? (Club PlayStation Vol.6)
Hey all, I'm very aware it's been a while. Work has been kicking my arse as of late in addition to general life things. I do have some posts cooking but it'll be a couple of days yet. So I thought I could do with something nice and quick to post to just buy me a bit of time, and wouldn't you know it, recent friend of us and fellow lover of the PS1 Sean Seanson dropped another entry in his themed series of mixtapes. Volume 6 is a bumper edition of all Namco soundtracks, which gives him an absolute goldmine of material to work with - from Ace Combat to Ridge Racer, from Tekken to Klonoa - there are no shortage of tracks to choose from.
Namco's sound team around that time was absolutely on fire, not just in terms of the sheer amount of work they were putting out but how stellar a lot of it is. Ridge Racer Type 4's soundtrack alone is a masterclass in House and Drum & Bass - Pearl Blue Soul in this mix is a perfect demo of the overall funky vibes that it has in spades. Stay tuned immediately after that for the Tekken block - the mix of Chicago's theme into Nina's Theme from Tekken 2 is excellently done, and Nina's theme itself is a primo slice of sassy 90's house.
Some other random highlights that stood out to me: Times Square from Smash Court 2 is a delicious jazzy Drum & Bass number that wouldn't have been too out of place on some Moving Shadow compilation of the time, fans of my previous Ape Escape posts might also hear a tinge of similarity with Soichi Terada's work as well. Beats From Above from the Klonoa OST is fittingly fit to burst with breakbeats, not the first thing you'd expect from a cute 2.5D platformer, though it is a boss theme if I recall right! Meanwhile Be Warped Time sounds much older, though that's perhaps to be expected as the original arcade version was from 1993 - still, those bombastic, almost 80's drums and euphoric synth riffs give it an air of modern Synthwave.
There's plenty to enjoy here, I highly recommend the full series of mixes even if you're not super into VGM as Sean and I, there are plenty of hidden gems to be had out there. And once again I'm considering making my own bootleg entry to this series, especially as Sean actively encouraged it over on Twitter! I'm going to try and get another post out this week but until then, as always, stay safe and and enjoy the music.
-CVF
Namco's sound team around that time was absolutely on fire, not just in terms of the sheer amount of work they were putting out but how stellar a lot of it is. Ridge Racer Type 4's soundtrack alone is a masterclass in House and Drum & Bass - Pearl Blue Soul in this mix is a perfect demo of the overall funky vibes that it has in spades. Stay tuned immediately after that for the Tekken block - the mix of Chicago's theme into Nina's Theme from Tekken 2 is excellently done, and Nina's theme itself is a primo slice of sassy 90's house.
Some other random highlights that stood out to me: Times Square from Smash Court 2 is a delicious jazzy Drum & Bass number that wouldn't have been too out of place on some Moving Shadow compilation of the time, fans of my previous Ape Escape posts might also hear a tinge of similarity with Soichi Terada's work as well. Beats From Above from the Klonoa OST is fittingly fit to burst with breakbeats, not the first thing you'd expect from a cute 2.5D platformer, though it is a boss theme if I recall right! Meanwhile Be Warped Time sounds much older, though that's perhaps to be expected as the original arcade version was from 1993 - still, those bombastic, almost 80's drums and euphoric synth riffs give it an air of modern Synthwave.
There's plenty to enjoy here, I highly recommend the full series of mixes even if you're not super into VGM as Sean and I, there are plenty of hidden gems to be had out there. And once again I'm considering making my own bootleg entry to this series, especially as Sean actively encouraged it over on Twitter! I'm going to try and get another post out this week but until then, as always, stay safe and and enjoy the music.
-CVF
Monday, 11 July 2022
Apes: Escaped (A VGM DJ Set Special)
I've talked before about Ape Escape, and more importantly its composer - Soichi Terada. Likewise, I've also mentioned Dedeco as well - thanks to my recent descent back into the world of the PS1. I don't mean to sound reductive, Terada has a long production history beyond just Ape Escape, with his own label Far East Recordings and plenty of House records under his belt (and his most recent release being this year). But that is how I and many others were first introduced to the man's works. His brand of D&B is lovely, different from what might come to mind when you think of the era's soundtracks but at the same time fitting right in. I seriously recommend the OSTs even if you're not into games at all as they stand alone very well, case in point here when Dedeco opens the mix with a snippet of the opening theme before diving right into Cryptic Relics, one of my all time favourites from the first OST. This mix is incredibly well thought out, Dedeco is obviously very familliar with the content and does a fantastic job of making them flow together - this ain't just some nostalgia bait.
That's not all either, as pointed out in the video before the mix starts, there's a commentary track of an interview with Terada himself (it's not by Dedeco however as he mentions in the YT description, I believe they are quoted from this interview with Nick Dwyer). It's kind of an odd way to present it I thought, but after a couple mins I settled right in, after all you can't have audio playing over audio in this format. If it wasn't obvious already, he really went above and beyond with this mix. I'm glad that Terada is open to talking about stuff like this for what is relatively a small-time act, especially as he mentions in the interview he's trying to take a more relaxed approach these days. Dedeco obviously impressed as well, with Terada tweeting out in both Japanese and English his praise for the mix not long after!
If you like what you hear above, the two Ape Escape OSTs that Terada worked on are readily available on streaming (I'll be linking to Spotify here but they are on others) - they are the punnily titled Ape Escape Originape Soundtracks and Ape Escape 3 - Originape Soundtracks. Of course I definitely recommend his solo work from there, a lot of it is not on streaming sites but if you're after more of the Ape Escape feel then seek out Sumo Jungle for more delicious D&B. There is also Terada's Omodaka alias, where he fuses the traditional and the technological in very interesting ways, check that out if you're in the mood for some chiptune Enka!
That'll be all for today, I'll be back soon enough with more but until then, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
That's not all either, as pointed out in the video before the mix starts, there's a commentary track of an interview with Terada himself (it's not by Dedeco however as he mentions in the YT description, I believe they are quoted from this interview with Nick Dwyer). It's kind of an odd way to present it I thought, but after a couple mins I settled right in, after all you can't have audio playing over audio in this format. If it wasn't obvious already, he really went above and beyond with this mix. I'm glad that Terada is open to talking about stuff like this for what is relatively a small-time act, especially as he mentions in the interview he's trying to take a more relaxed approach these days. Dedeco obviously impressed as well, with Terada tweeting out in both Japanese and English his praise for the mix not long after!
@dedeco_VGMDJ がサルゲッチュのサウンドトラックを使ったDJミックスを披露してくれました。曲同士のキーを意識したミックスが超絶で全体の流れも美しい〜 @dedeco_VGMDJ showed us a DJ mix using only the Ape Escape soundtrack. The mix while being aware of the keys between songs is amazing! https://t.co/To1yFxCIhd
— Soichi Terada / Asakusa Light on 1/7(Fri) (@fareastrecordin) July 6, 2022
If you like what you hear above, the two Ape Escape OSTs that Terada worked on are readily available on streaming (I'll be linking to Spotify here but they are on others) - they are the punnily titled Ape Escape Originape Soundtracks and Ape Escape 3 - Originape Soundtracks. Of course I definitely recommend his solo work from there, a lot of it is not on streaming sites but if you're after more of the Ape Escape feel then seek out Sumo Jungle for more delicious D&B. There is also Terada's Omodaka alias, where he fuses the traditional and the technological in very interesting ways, check that out if you're in the mood for some chiptune Enka!
That'll be all for today, I'll be back soon enough with more but until then, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
Monday, 4 July 2022
Club PlayStation - Psygnosis Special
Indulge me once more as we once again take a trip to Sean Seanson's channel. I've posted a couple of his 'Club Playstation' mixtapes in the past, I have a real affinity for them as in hindsight the PS1 was my first exposure to a good amount of electronic music, something I've come to appreciate more in hindsight. There's been some big hitters spread over Sean's previous entries - Ridge Racer Type 4's soulful mix of House, the pulse pounding techno of the Ghost In The Shell adaption and of course, Soichi Terada's Drum & Bass OST from primate platformer Ape Escape. But there's been one studio that arguably is the most iconic when it comes to soundtracks of this era, and that is Psygnosis.
Psygnosis had been around a long time already by the time the PS1 era rolled around, having worked on the Amiga and the like back in the 80's, their publisher logo adorning many a sleeve, the font making the whole thing look like the cover of a power metal album.
You may perhaps know them best for Wipeout, a franchise that seemed to be laser guided to target the 90's market. From the Asian-inspired graphic design from The Designer's Republic to the soundtrack featuring titans of the electronic music world of the time spread across 3 games, it was destined to become a classic. Combine with the Rollcage duology having a sizeable amount of Drum & Bass (the second game even having an official album released by Moving Shadow). Between the two series you have more than enough mix material already, and I haven't even mentioned some of the titles Sean covers here. So enough chat, let's dive in shall we?
The end result is probably my favourite intro of all of the Club Playstation mixes so far - the transition from the intro into CoLD SToRAGE's Cairodrome is deliciously 90's (and by the way, CS has remastered and uploaded all his contributions to the Wipeout OSTs to Bandcamp), from there it's a whirlwind tour of all things Psygnosis both licenced and original. Major highlights throughout, the Rollcage Stage II OST is the best of the best of Moving Shadow at the time - the Wipeout choices are select but it's hard not to have any choice be top notch when your soundtrack has The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Leftfield, Photek and even Daft Punk to name a few. Of course as with all of Sean's mixes so far there's a light shone on others you might not be as familiar with, I know I've found some tunes (and by proxy, some games!) to check out here, and I hope you will too.
That'll be a wrap for today, I should be back in a few days with the retro review I started penning a little while ago, assuming that the tracks are all able to be previewed when it actually releases but if not I'll find a workaround. Until then, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
Psygnosis had been around a long time already by the time the PS1 era rolled around, having worked on the Amiga and the like back in the 80's, their publisher logo adorning many a sleeve, the font making the whole thing look like the cover of a power metal album.
You may perhaps know them best for Wipeout, a franchise that seemed to be laser guided to target the 90's market. From the Asian-inspired graphic design from The Designer's Republic to the soundtrack featuring titans of the electronic music world of the time spread across 3 games, it was destined to become a classic. Combine with the Rollcage duology having a sizeable amount of Drum & Bass (the second game even having an official album released by Moving Shadow). Between the two series you have more than enough mix material already, and I haven't even mentioned some of the titles Sean covers here. So enough chat, let's dive in shall we?
The end result is probably my favourite intro of all of the Club Playstation mixes so far - the transition from the intro into CoLD SToRAGE's Cairodrome is deliciously 90's (and by the way, CS has remastered and uploaded all his contributions to the Wipeout OSTs to Bandcamp), from there it's a whirlwind tour of all things Psygnosis both licenced and original. Major highlights throughout, the Rollcage Stage II OST is the best of the best of Moving Shadow at the time - the Wipeout choices are select but it's hard not to have any choice be top notch when your soundtrack has The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Leftfield, Photek and even Daft Punk to name a few. Of course as with all of Sean's mixes so far there's a light shone on others you might not be as familiar with, I know I've found some tunes (and by proxy, some games!) to check out here, and I hope you will too.
That'll be a wrap for today, I should be back in a few days with the retro review I started penning a little while ago, assuming that the tracks are all able to be previewed when it actually releases but if not I'll find a workaround. Until then, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Continue?
Hey all, just a quick one to tide you over for today, Sean Seanson is back at it again with another 'Club Playstation' Mixtape, beautiful slices of era ephemera in which Sean does his utmost to take a deep dive into that Playstation sound, I covered the first volume a little while ago. There is no singular genre that takes the crown - across the three volumes we've dabbled in House, Techno and of course, Drum & Bass. Volume 3 continues that trend, with once again some choice deep cuts from the library. Highlights include tracks from Square's street racing RPG Racing Lagoon - I've posted a couple from that OST here before actually, the whole thing is a super stylish experience and the OST is a deliciously 90's mixture of jazzy breaks and House grooves.
It opens with yet another cult classic advert for the console, this time the 'I have lived' one. It's got a certain charm to it, and is also much less surreal than Chris Cunningham's Mental Wealth one from last time (I've skipped over it for the embed below, but it's definitely worth a look). From there it's a whirlwind tour of the little grey box's library - kicking off with some vintage FromSoftware in the form of Armored Core, a series with plenty of great soundtrack entries. Fans of current FromSoft games will find themselves in similar territory with the choral accompaniment, but unlike in your Souls-like games, there's a thudding 4/4 backing it up!
Fast forward to 14:48 or so if you want to get to my favourite section, three back to back slices of primo jazzy D&B style stuff. If you're at all a fan of Moving Shadow's output as I am, you will find a lot to like here. And that's a massive part of the appeal of these mixes for me, Sean's pulled some right corkers out for this one, I'd never even heard of Aironauts before this mix! The tune in question that Sean's chosen comes out sounding like a blend of the E-Z Rollers work, the rolling jungle of tracks like RS2000 mixed with the jazzier parts of Weekend World , quality stuff.
From there the South Yokohama theme from Racing Lagoon takes us in a cooler, more Gran Turismo-esque direction. A great intro to the soundtrack, seek out the whole thing if you like that one - it's pretty beefy at a massive 2CDs and 62 tracks. Cap that all off with a little bit from Sheep Dog 'n' Wolf (as Sean recently covered on his channel) and that whole section is just a treat to listen to. Not to repeat myself but once again that only highlights Sean's selections - who'd have thought there was a great piece of D&B tucked away in a Looney Tunes game of all things? Such is the wonder of the PS1 era!
And of course, what would a Club PS mixtape be without the token licensed song? This time it's Sasha with Xpander - a popular tune in its own right regardless, but I'm willing to bet it's hard wired to Wip3out in more than a few folk's heads. There's still so much more to delve into as well, I've been slightly tempted to try my hand at it myself in all honesty. If Sean is reading this and taking recommendations - the soundtracks to Need For Speed III and IV have some real gems on, and the soundtrack to Tomorrow Never Dies has some pretty chill stuff on there, maybe a bit too chill for the club vibe but certainly worth checking out!
That'll be all for now, I'll be back soon enough with more but I hope you get as much fun out of this mix as I did, and be sure to check out Sean's channel for more of them - and some interesting deep dives into the world of the Playstation (and as of recently, the Dreamcast too!). Until then, as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
It opens with yet another cult classic advert for the console, this time the 'I have lived' one. It's got a certain charm to it, and is also much less surreal than Chris Cunningham's Mental Wealth one from last time (I've skipped over it for the embed below, but it's definitely worth a look). From there it's a whirlwind tour of the little grey box's library - kicking off with some vintage FromSoftware in the form of Armored Core, a series with plenty of great soundtrack entries. Fans of current FromSoft games will find themselves in similar territory with the choral accompaniment, but unlike in your Souls-like games, there's a thudding 4/4 backing it up!
Fast forward to 14:48 or so if you want to get to my favourite section, three back to back slices of primo jazzy D&B style stuff. If you're at all a fan of Moving Shadow's output as I am, you will find a lot to like here. And that's a massive part of the appeal of these mixes for me, Sean's pulled some right corkers out for this one, I'd never even heard of Aironauts before this mix! The tune in question that Sean's chosen comes out sounding like a blend of the E-Z Rollers work, the rolling jungle of tracks like RS2000 mixed with the jazzier parts of Weekend World , quality stuff.
From there the South Yokohama theme from Racing Lagoon takes us in a cooler, more Gran Turismo-esque direction. A great intro to the soundtrack, seek out the whole thing if you like that one - it's pretty beefy at a massive 2CDs and 62 tracks. Cap that all off with a little bit from Sheep Dog 'n' Wolf (as Sean recently covered on his channel) and that whole section is just a treat to listen to. Not to repeat myself but once again that only highlights Sean's selections - who'd have thought there was a great piece of D&B tucked away in a Looney Tunes game of all things? Such is the wonder of the PS1 era!
And of course, what would a Club PS mixtape be without the token licensed song? This time it's Sasha with Xpander - a popular tune in its own right regardless, but I'm willing to bet it's hard wired to Wip3out in more than a few folk's heads. There's still so much more to delve into as well, I've been slightly tempted to try my hand at it myself in all honesty. If Sean is reading this and taking recommendations - the soundtracks to Need For Speed III and IV have some real gems on, and the soundtrack to Tomorrow Never Dies has some pretty chill stuff on there, maybe a bit too chill for the club vibe but certainly worth checking out!
That'll be all for now, I'll be back soon enough with more but I hope you get as much fun out of this mix as I did, and be sure to check out Sean's channel for more of them - and some interesting deep dives into the world of the Playstation (and as of recently, the Dreamcast too!). Until then, as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
Wednesday, 2 February 2022
Press Start to begin
I've talked a little in recent posts about that distinct PS1 era sound - it's a very 'of-the-time' collection of styles: Techno, Drum & Bass and the occasional dash of Trip Hop as well. It's an era that's become a bit of a meme (such is my luck with certain genres I enjoy), and I'm more than willing to admit a big part of my love for the style is tinged by nostalgia. It's unavoidable really, you can trace a line directly from my exposure to these sounds as a young'un and my current favourites of the respective genres. Similarly, the inherent humour is unavoidable too, as is the case with looking back on any old tech. If you've seen any media from around the time and you'll see it on full show - the late 90's is a time of ATTITUDE! Polygons! CD Audio! There's even a little nod to it in the video I'll be talking about today with the 'mind boggling effects' panel in the lower left. It's very easy to make fun of (and fun too!), but as with Eurobeat, I encourage people to look a little deeper as there are some real gems in there, some from unlikely sources.
Which leads me to the subject of today's post - during a recent YT jaunt I found the channel of a one Sean Seanson, a charming Irishman with a similar love for the little grey box. The videos are a great watch on the games of the era, but the real highlight are the Club Playstation mixtapes he's put together. Billed in the description as 'a mix of tracks that carry that iconic PS1 energy and sound.', as a fellow amateur mixtape maker I was interested to say the least. Volume 1 caught my eye straight away with the art of Major Kusanagi front and center, but having a look over the tracklist I knew I was in good company. There is some bias there some of my favourite OSTs make an appearance (Ridge Racer Type 4 and Ghost In The Shell to name a couple) but there are also some deeper cuts as well, let's get stuck in.
Opening with the Demo One theme was an amazing choice, if there was one sound that summarised that 'PS1 Energy' to someone who'd never heard it before, I think it would be that. I have a real love for this kind of ephemera, I used to follow the composer of a bunch of Windows 95 music on soundcloud and loved all that too, I just wish I had a name to put to this one so I could follow up on their other works. The transition into Eddy's theme is maybe little clunky (but then again, who am I to complain, some of my attempts at mixes have been clangers!) but it soon settles into a groove, if it were me I would have leaned real hard into the techno front, but I appreciate the variety. Beyond just original compositions though, there is an absolute bevy of great licenced tunes from the era too - with TMF's High being the first of the bunch - an exclusive mix of 5 Miles High for the first Gran Turismo that never appeared anywhere else, emblematic of the PS1 D&B sound.
Some other choice bits are scattered throughout the tracklist: Hardfloor's Spook & Spell from the PS1 Ghost In The Shell game is a great cut, there's two versions of it on the soundtrack album - the one featured in this mix is the 'Fast' one. Sasha (of Xpander fame) makes an appearance with one of many of the constructor themes from Wipeout3, a series that was already famous for its soundtrack by that point anyway - the first game was basically a who's who of big names in the late 90's dance world: Daft Punk, Orbital, Underworld, Leftfield and The Prodigy and more. Moving Shadow also crop up in the mix, with one of their few non-GTA contributions in the Rollcage: Stage II Soundtrack. It goes real hard in places and Sean has picked one of the more aggressive tunes of the bunch in Technical Itch's Deadline - a late release in the PS1's life, it's a marked change from the typical PS1 D&B mentioned above but that's not a complaint, the companion album released on Moving Shadow for the game is an absolute belter, featuring one CD of the tracks themselves and a bonus second disk with a mixed version.
It's the ending trio of the mixtape that might be my favourites of the whole mix though - not only a great encapsulation of the spirit of the mix as a whole, but also fantastic tunes in their own right from their respective soundtracks. Montage from Ace Combat 3 is up first, the game itself has some beautifully 90's hi-tech vibes anyway with it's UI designs, and the soundtrack does wonders to compliment that. A little on the chill-er side by comparison, doubly so when separated from the dogfights of the game itself! Ridge Racer Type 4 next, an iconic soundtrack with many a track that could easily slide into this mix. The whole OST is very slickly produced, flowing between House, Drum & Bass, Acid Jazz and hints of Techno effortlessly. This is one of the soundtracks I had in mind when writing this post, I'd hate to see someone write it off just because it's a video game soundtrack - the R4 soundtrack is legitimately great dance music in its own right and the Namco Sound Team totally nailed it.
For the final entry in the mix, another shining example of the era, though one that is perhaps a little bit more video game-y than the R4 OST but one that was very formative for myself. I've talked about Time Station and Soichi Terada's work as a whole a lot over the years, I even did an overview of his newest album a few weeks ago. I've always had a love for the track, and as I said many posts ago you can draw a straight line between the spacey breaks of this one and my current tastes. The in game one is slightly different from the one Terada would release under the delightfully punny 'Originape Soundtracks' name, likely technical limitations in order to fit it on the disc. I'm torn on which is my favourite, but the in game one is lovely and is probably my personal go-to example when trying to define that distinct PS1 style, so a fitting end to the mix.
This got a little longer than I intended! I imagined it as a little holdover post until I can do a big one this weekend with the return of Bandcamp Fridays but as it turns out, I can still go on at length about soundtracks. Be sure to check out the rest of Sean's channel if you'd like more deep dives into the world of PS1 - and if you liked this mix he also has a Volume 2 that you can check out, that opens with Chris Cunningham's infamously unsettling Mental Wealth advert and has a similar cross section of PS1 goodness.
I'll be back come this weekend with my Bandcamp scoops but until then, as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
Which leads me to the subject of today's post - during a recent YT jaunt I found the channel of a one Sean Seanson, a charming Irishman with a similar love for the little grey box. The videos are a great watch on the games of the era, but the real highlight are the Club Playstation mixtapes he's put together. Billed in the description as 'a mix of tracks that carry that iconic PS1 energy and sound.', as a fellow amateur mixtape maker I was interested to say the least. Volume 1 caught my eye straight away with the art of Major Kusanagi front and center, but having a look over the tracklist I knew I was in good company. There is some bias there some of my favourite OSTs make an appearance (Ridge Racer Type 4 and Ghost In The Shell to name a couple) but there are also some deeper cuts as well, let's get stuck in.
Opening with the Demo One theme was an amazing choice, if there was one sound that summarised that 'PS1 Energy' to someone who'd never heard it before, I think it would be that. I have a real love for this kind of ephemera, I used to follow the composer of a bunch of Windows 95 music on soundcloud and loved all that too, I just wish I had a name to put to this one so I could follow up on their other works. The transition into Eddy's theme is maybe little clunky (but then again, who am I to complain, some of my attempts at mixes have been clangers!) but it soon settles into a groove, if it were me I would have leaned real hard into the techno front, but I appreciate the variety. Beyond just original compositions though, there is an absolute bevy of great licenced tunes from the era too - with TMF's High being the first of the bunch - an exclusive mix of 5 Miles High for the first Gran Turismo that never appeared anywhere else, emblematic of the PS1 D&B sound.
Some other choice bits are scattered throughout the tracklist: Hardfloor's Spook & Spell from the PS1 Ghost In The Shell game is a great cut, there's two versions of it on the soundtrack album - the one featured in this mix is the 'Fast' one. Sasha (of Xpander fame) makes an appearance with one of many of the constructor themes from Wipeout3, a series that was already famous for its soundtrack by that point anyway - the first game was basically a who's who of big names in the late 90's dance world: Daft Punk, Orbital, Underworld, Leftfield and The Prodigy and more. Moving Shadow also crop up in the mix, with one of their few non-GTA contributions in the Rollcage: Stage II Soundtrack. It goes real hard in places and Sean has picked one of the more aggressive tunes of the bunch in Technical Itch's Deadline - a late release in the PS1's life, it's a marked change from the typical PS1 D&B mentioned above but that's not a complaint, the companion album released on Moving Shadow for the game is an absolute belter, featuring one CD of the tracks themselves and a bonus second disk with a mixed version.
It's the ending trio of the mixtape that might be my favourites of the whole mix though - not only a great encapsulation of the spirit of the mix as a whole, but also fantastic tunes in their own right from their respective soundtracks. Montage from Ace Combat 3 is up first, the game itself has some beautifully 90's hi-tech vibes anyway with it's UI designs, and the soundtrack does wonders to compliment that. A little on the chill-er side by comparison, doubly so when separated from the dogfights of the game itself! Ridge Racer Type 4 next, an iconic soundtrack with many a track that could easily slide into this mix. The whole OST is very slickly produced, flowing between House, Drum & Bass, Acid Jazz and hints of Techno effortlessly. This is one of the soundtracks I had in mind when writing this post, I'd hate to see someone write it off just because it's a video game soundtrack - the R4 soundtrack is legitimately great dance music in its own right and the Namco Sound Team totally nailed it.
For the final entry in the mix, another shining example of the era, though one that is perhaps a little bit more video game-y than the R4 OST but one that was very formative for myself. I've talked about Time Station and Soichi Terada's work as a whole a lot over the years, I even did an overview of his newest album a few weeks ago. I've always had a love for the track, and as I said many posts ago you can draw a straight line between the spacey breaks of this one and my current tastes. The in game one is slightly different from the one Terada would release under the delightfully punny 'Originape Soundtracks' name, likely technical limitations in order to fit it on the disc. I'm torn on which is my favourite, but the in game one is lovely and is probably my personal go-to example when trying to define that distinct PS1 style, so a fitting end to the mix.
This got a little longer than I intended! I imagined it as a little holdover post until I can do a big one this weekend with the return of Bandcamp Fridays but as it turns out, I can still go on at length about soundtracks. Be sure to check out the rest of Sean's channel if you'd like more deep dives into the world of PS1 - and if you liked this mix he also has a Volume 2 that you can check out, that opens with Chris Cunningham's infamously unsettling Mental Wealth advert and has a similar cross section of PS1 goodness.
I'll be back come this weekend with my Bandcamp scoops but until then, as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
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