RE-VGM

Last year, my world was shaken by the passing of my mom. It was a sudden, almost unbelievable, moment in my life, despite having attended the funerals of other people, from co-workers to friends. My emotions were running rampant and my thoughts are a hot mess. Much has changed for me but the feelings are still there, albeit faded and mere remnants of an intense moment. For this week’s episod...

It’s time for another edition of “On Stage Now” for the month of March. This month’s featured musician is Firamiel. Hailing from Brazil, Firamiel plays celtic, epic, and medieval/medieval fantasy music, from both movies and video games. Her main instrument is the violin, while she also plays other instruments, such as the tin whistle, lyre, and ukulele. She enjoys Lord of t...

St. Patrick’s Day is here, and green is everywhere: on the clothes worn to avoid getting pinched, in the beer, and the four-leaf clover. People are hoping to get lucky in gambling, dating, and video games. Speaking of video games, St. Patrick’s Day also means the re-run of last year’s episode (#07), so to speak. I mean, yes, they are gacha games, but it’ll be a different se...

You know it’s a big deal when a company recognizes a fan-made holiday. Oh yes, we are celebrating (another) special holiday, called National Mario Day. Thanks to the realization of a fan writing out the date (Mar. 10), Nintendo officially endorsed the date afterwards in 2016. While it could be argued that any day is a day to celebrate, March 10th is officially the day to walk, talk, and play...

Have you ever heard a track that made you say “Hey, I played that game in that franchise!”, turn up the volume to 11, and well up with pride as tears flowed from your eyes? More than likely, that track was the main theme for that video game franchise. In a sense, it could be considered that the anthem, a song that fills you up with a sense of identity, purpose, and prestige. It’s...

“I wanna be the very best…” Admit it, you started humming the the tune and even finished the rest of the verse. Now that you’ve got that earworm, it’s time to celebrate an upcoming date, February 27th, known as National Pokemon Day. It was on this date in Japan that Pokemon Red and Green were released for Nintendo’s Game Boy.  Two years later, Pokemon Red and Bl...

Welcome to the February edition of “On Stage Now”, a special monthly episode in which a cover or remix artist or band is featured with a playlist of their work. This month’s featured guest is The Consouls, an ensemble band based in Sydney, Australia. They started in 2014 with jazz arrangements and have since expanded into other genres, such as funk, fusion, and rock. They will, o...

The United States and Mexico have Independence Day, France has Bastille Day, Germany has Unity Day, and both Russia and Australia have a Day. All of these days, in common, celebrate a country’s or nation’s birth or reformation.  They mark a time when a group of like-minded citizens decided to declare itself separate and apart from another ruling party or establish a place of their own...

Wow! Happy Anniversary to RE-VGM! One year ago, I decided to start a podcast to showcase covers and remixes of video game music (VGM). I’ve listened to other VGM podcasts (Rhythm and Pixels, VGMporium, VGM: A Very Good Music Podcast, XVGM, A VGM Journey, Shujin Academy VGM Club), along with another podcast about movie soundtracks, called “The Soundtrack Show”. While I enjoyed the...

Do you remember, as a child, getting a box of plastic bricks that let you build a house, a police station, or a spaceship? How about having a chest of loose pieces so that you can build anything limited by your imagination? Or, maybe you heard your parents screaming as they hopped across the floor, cursing and complaining that you need to pick up your toys off the floor. January 28th is Internatio...

It’s a special-special episode for this week. To begin, we’re celebrating Mariachi Day, on January 21st, to honor this music genre that is the pride of Mexico. While it is widely known for its heritage, mariachi has expanded from Mexico to other parts of Latin American and even across the ocean to Japan (search for Samurai Mariachi). Most recognize the music for the instruments (guitar...

Muhahah! It’s BAAA-aaack… This year, Friday the 13th appears twice, in January and in October. While most may think this is already looking like a bad year, I’d like to think that this will be most interesting 2023. If some of you listeners may remember, I like to consider myself a paraskevidekatriaphile. This week’s episode, we’ll be talking about some of the superst...

Everyone knows the Lakers, the Celtics, the Suns, or the Nicks. You may even know the Bruins, the Blue Devils, or the Aggies. However, have you ever heard of… the Harlem Globetrotters? They are an exhibition basketball team known for their on-court antics. Once you hear their theme song, you’ll remember their warm-up routines with their red-white-and-blue basketball: passing and bumpin...

2022 will be history in a couple of days. The parties will be dripping in style, decorated to the nines, and loaded with food and drinks. New York will be filled as the crowd gathers to watch the ball drop during the final seconds of the year. The world will see sun set and the moon rise for the new day as 2023 arrives. For this week’s episode, we’ll be playing some video games tracks...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! This week’s episode is the culmination of the 25 Days of Holiday VGM covers and remixes that were featured on Instagram and Twitter. We’ll be playing all 25 tracks in order, starting with Day One. These tracks were from Overclocked Remix, an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of video game music as an art form. They are...

Okay, so perhaps you’re tired of celebrating Christmas. You know, because of how much more commercialized it has become, how few understand the real meaning of the holidays, and why so many people feel burned out after the 25th of December. How about celebrating a non-traditional holiday known as Festivus! This week’s episode will attempt to match video game music related to parts of t...

Christmas is less than two weeks away, but I’ve decided to celebrate it early. This week, I’ll be gifting several podcast hosts with some tracks, along with covers and remixes. It’ll be a long episode as I talk about several podcasts in particular: Rhythm & Pixels, VGMporium, Very Good Music: A VGM Podcast, A VGM Journey, and Shujin Academy VGM Club. Hopefully, I’ve pic...

Put on your best dance outfit, gather your friends together, and break out the lightsticks! December the ninth of Friday, according to DaysoftheYear, is known as World Techno Day. It is a day to celebrate two things: the genre of techno and dance music, and the birthday of a musician (Juan Atkins) who founded and promote techno. Four on the floor and running at 120 to 150 beats per minute, techno...

See you next year, November. Hello, December… As the last of the leaves fall from the barren trees, and the last of the migrating flocks of birds make their way to warmer areas, the winds blow cold and crisp on your face, nipping your nose and shivering your skin. The sidewalks are getting covered in sporadic wet piles of fallen ice, much to the consternation of workers furiously scrapping t...

Thanksgiving is here, and that means every family member and their friends are gathered together at home. The dining table is decorated with the colors of brown and yellow, from the table cloth, to the name placard. Each seating place has their plate and silverware, set upon a table cloth and highlighted with a tall wine glass. The food table is dressed up with a variety of dishes: a tray of gravy...

This month’s special episode of “On Stage Now” goes across the ocean to Europe, where we feature a delightful and folksy musician who calls herself Alina Gingertail. She plays a variety of instruments, most of them that are traditional and a few that are modern. In addition, she displays a lovely voice that serenades with sweet lullabies and chorus. It’s not enough for me t...

Raise those fists and scream your face into melted madness, headbangers! There’s an important event that we’re celebrating, called “National Metal Day”! If you’re a fan of the movie This is Spinal Tap , then you know that any heavy metal music sounds awesome at eleven. Thanks to VH1 Classic, National Metal Day is celebrated on November 11, the eleventh day of the elev...

It’s a new month, and November is known for more than just Thanksgiving. It’s a special time of the year called National Novel Writing Month, when writers around the world attempt to write a novel of their own creation of at least 50,000 words. It doesn’t matter your level of experience (beginner or professional), your amount of education (self-taught or formally educated), or yo...

Okay, I confess that I have played some scary video games. This includes mobs I encountered that were inhuman: mutated by some genetic experiment, infected by a widespread disease, or conjured by the imagination of the main character. These mobs may jump out of nowhere, ready to hurt with sheer strength or surround in great numbers. The settings of these games are often dark and obscure, with hint...

Yes, October is meant to be a scary month but how about we do something that’s not so scary. I mean, I get scared of seeing people getting severely cut or eaten. I shiver when I hear strange sounds of empty footsteps, creaking doors, and tapping windows. I get freaked out when something gross appears in front of me without warning. So, yes, I’m a wimp when it comes to scary things. So,...