RE-VGM

Here’s Part Two of episode 100, as we continue to celebrate a milestone for the podcast. As with Part One, we’re playing a track from each episode, whether it’s an original, a cover, or a remix. We may also hear from other podcasters about their favorite episode or track. Sit back and enjoy this long playlist of video game music…     Track Listing (A word from VGM...

Wow! One hundred episodes. I never thought I’d make it this far but here I am. Welcome to a very special episode, in parts. To celebrate, I’ve decided to play a track from each episode, starting with the first one. Each track, whether it’s an original or a cover or remix, will be significant or have some special meaning to me. Along the way, we’ll also hear from other podca...

1999: The year in which Nintendo released Jet Force Gemini for their N64 console. It first came out in October, on the 1st in North America and on the 30th in Europe. It finally came out in Japan on December 1st, under the name “Star Twins”. Jet Force Gemini was a third-person adventure about a crew of intergalatic defenders: siblings Juno and Vela and their mascot dog Lupus. They figh...

It’s that time for our last special episode of “On Stage Now” for this year 2023, as December approaches and lots of things are being planned. This month’s feature is Voltz Supreme, an award-winning composer, story-teller, Iron Synth Chef Remixer and Performer from Australia. In addition to remixes, he also composes original music for film, video games, and several self-rel...

Did you ever look at your friends list lately on social media? I’m betting there are some people on there that are strangers or acquaintances that you friended a long time ago. Maybe you haven’t kept up with them. Maybe you’re getting tired of seeing their posts about food, politics, religion, or unusual interests. Well, today is National Unfriend Day, and this is your opportunit...

This week, we’re taking a deeper look at Spyro: Year of the Dragon. The game, as known as Spyro 3 by most players, was released in Europe on November 10, 2000; it was actually first released in North America on October 24th and the following year 2001 on June 8th. Spyro is off flying into the Forgotten Realms, where he must gather the stolen dragon eggs scattered throughout several areas. He...

Ohayo, Konnichiwa, Konbanwa… Today is a celebration of Bunka no Hi, in English translated as Japanese Culture Day, held on November 3rd. Coinciding with Education and Culture Week, Japanese Culture Day celebrates the Japanese culture, in academics, the arts, music, and other aspects. It’s a great time to be familiar with such Japanese artists as Takashi Murakami (printmaking) and Katsu...

October 27th is International Black Cat Day, which celebrates this particular color of feline and promoting their good points, while dispelling the myths and superstitions associated with the black cat. While most black cats tend to be of the Bombay breed, other breeds can have cats covered with black fur. Most may fear or stay away from them, but some cultures and countries encourage the presence...

It’s that time of the month for another special episode of “On Stage Now”. This month’s feature musician is Jonny Atma (aka GaMetal), a multi-instrumentalist with an itch to rock your ears out to his remixes of video game music. With 10+ years of music and averaging 3 tracks a day on his YouTube channel, he has strummed and drummed to a variety of tracks, from Japanese and...

Oh no! It’s the 13th of Friday this month! Quick, take out the horseshoes and four-leaf clovers. Walk around those ladders and watch out for those cracks on the sidewalk! Unless you’re a paraskevidekatriaphile (an admirer of Friday the 13th) like me. Yes, it’s the second Friday the 13th (first one was back in January of this year), and this week’s episode will be discussion...

Autumn has arrived. Well, it arrived a couple of weeks ago, The daylight hours are becoming shorter and the weather is turning colder. Such changes may put some of us in the mood to lie down in our bed or couch and nestle into our pillows while reading our favorite book or playing our favorite video game. This week’s episode will have tracks from video games that help you get cozy and comfy...

Coffee: one of the three most popular beverages in the world, according to Britannica.com. Light or dark, with or without cream, it can be enjoyed hot or iced, in a take-out cup or your favorite insulated tumbler. It’s been studied and shown to boost energy, support brain and heart health, and increase longevity. While Arabica is a popular coffee bean, there’s also robusta, and there a...

It’s time for another monthly episode of “On Stage Now”, featuring Sleeping Forest. Sleeping Forest was discovered while doing an episode about Mental Health Awareness Month. The track was “The Days When My Mother Was There”, a cover from Persona 5. I was immediately attracted to it and has become a personal favorite track of mine. Sleeping Forest has done many collab...

The Caped Crusader. The World’s Greatest Detective. The Gotham Guardian. The Dark Knight. Bats. He’s known by many names, but everyone knows him as Batman. Bruce Wayne takes on this identity to solve the city’s mysteries and deal with its denizens of criminals and underground organizations. Thanks to his many vehicles and arsenal, Batman is able to carry himself through thick and...

Time to leave my desk and head out to another public venue in Anaheim, CA, called Anime Impulse. This venue travels along California and in Arizona, with a host of vendors both small and large. Some of these vendors, especially at the Artist Alley, may be local to the area where it appears. It also has several voice actors from a variety of entertainment media, mostly anime and video games. This w...

Every year, we all get older, wiser, and more experienced. It then becomes a choice of celebrating or dreading that time we birthed into the world. This weekend, I’ll be turning another year older and have decided to celebrate with this week’s episode about balloons. Yes, those rubbery, stretchy bags of air that float above our heads, anchored down by a string. Surely, there’s be...

August 24, 1997, North America… Nintendo released a licensed title called “Goldeneye 007” for the Nintendo 64 console. It was based on the movie of the same name, released two year earlier, following the exploits of James Bond (at the time played by Pierce Brosnan). The game was a first-person shooter, which was impressive at the time, but even more impressive was the ability to...

Say cheese! *click* We’re celebrating World Photography Day, coming up on August 19th. Founded by Korske Ara, this is the day that commemorates the patent for the daguerreotype process of photography (created by Louis Daguerre) back in 1837. The process was initially sold to the French Academy of Science, who then patented the process in 1839. This week, we’ll be listening to tracks fr...

Welcome to another wonderful episode of “On Stage Now”. Our special guest The Messenger, host of A VGM Journey , introduces us to our featured musician this month: Qumu. Qumu has been creating covers and remixes of video game music for ten years, as well as original music. Many of the covers and remixes include games from the Pokemon series, The Legend of Zelda series, Sonic, Banjo-Kaz...

In 2005, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company published a follow-up to Pokemon Colosseum called Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. The game was released on August 4th, a month later from its announcement, and developed by Genius Sonority for the GameCube. While it was criticized for similar or recycled assets from Colosseum, it sold more than 1 million units since its release. This week, we’ll be hon...

Tomorrow is July 29th, a day known as Rain Day. A pharmacist noticed that it always seemed to rain on this particular date and decided to start recording the rainfall on this day every year. His brother did the same. It was until a novelist decided to write stories about this interesting date, and it spread across the globe. This week, we’ll be listening to tracks from games that feature rai...

Welcome back to “On Stage Now”, a monthly episode that highlights cover and remix musicians of video game music. This month, we’re featuring Ferdk. Hailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ferdk has been shredding his guitar for almost 15 years, playing covers of video game music and anime. He has released singles and several tribute albums, covering games such as Final Fantasy, Cas...

Hurry for France! Today marks the Bastille Day, when a group of French citizens stormed a medieval fortress called the Bastille in 1789. There were rising tensions with the monarchy at the time, and this day marked the beginning of the French Revolution. A year later, the day was formed “to honor the French Republic and commemorate both the Fête de la Fédération (Festival of the Federation)...

School’s out, and that means it’s time to wile away the hours with your favorite activity, or just lay in bed in sweet solace. Perhaps one of those activities is playing video games, on your computer, in your console, or on your mobile device. It’s a great time to catch up on those old saves or open a fresh new game you just bought or left in your backlog. This week, in celebrati...

June is not over yet, which the means one more episode for Masters of VGM. While the latest four episodes featured lesser-known composers, this week’s episode will focus on four composers that are up and coming in the last 10 years. They are: The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra, Ferdk, Jacob Shrum, and insaneintherainmusic. We’ll be playing original tracks from video games that thes...