Singing Mountain, A VGM Podcast
129 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 93 ratingsHi. This is a podcast about video game music from the 16-bit era Singing Mountain is hosted by Drew Mackie, who feels most at home in the music from 16-bit RPGs.
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Episodes
Party With the Pixelated Prince of Darkness
October 25, 2022 03:04 - 2 hours - 210 MBAnd here, in the spirit of the season, is the second of the two “lost” Patreon episodes. Unfortunately, while I was able to find the file, I was not able to find the description or tracklist, so this one will have to be a bit of a mystery. I can tell you this much: It is definitely a Halloween episode. It is two and a half hours long. And I think it’s all scary, Halloween-appropriate music from 16-bit titles. It’s “all music, no talk,” and it may be a “best of” of all the Halloween episodes ...
The Pixelated Pumpkin of Doom
October 14, 2022 00:43 - 1 hour - 97.3 MBWay back in the distant past, there existed a Singing Mountain Patreon, where I managed to toss up four Patreon-exclusive tracks. Then, I closed the Patreon, thinking the content would still be accessible. It wasn’! Horror of horrors! However, as time passed, I realized that I’d actually downloaded these episodes onto my desktop computer, and could still share them on the Singing Mountain account. And I did that! Specifically for two of them. But the other two were Halloween-themed episodes,...
Winter VGM: Grand Finale
December 30, 2021 23:20 - 2 hours - 179 MBI know I said in the previous episode that there would not be another Singing Mountain winter VGM episode. I lied. This episode — a two-hour, ”all music, no talk” collection of 16-bit winter VGM — originally went live December 21, 2020 on the Singing Mountain Patreon. It has not been available since I took down the Patreon page, but now it’s posted for the public to enjoy. Now *this* is the finale installment of the winter VGM series. As a thank you for everyone who has continued to sup...
My Save Point Is a Hot Shower
December 21, 2021 04:34 - 1 hour - 106 MBGiven that Christmas is upon us, you might be expecting a 2021 edition of Singing Mountain’s ice music episode. Unfortunately, it turns out I used all the tracks I collected in last year’s winter episode and so I decided to lean in a different direction. This is the third in a different series I’ve been calling Save Point — all atmospheric, calming music that to me makes me think of a safe place to be, in video games but also IRL, because this one is inspired by taking a shower on a cold win...
The Final 16-Bit Halloween
October 24, 2021 07:47 - 1 hour - 153 MBHere it is: my last effort at celebrating the spooky season with VGM. I don’t have much to say other than that that this is a mix of new stuff and stuff I’ve played on previous episodes. I couldn’t think of a better way to say goodbye to Halloween episodes. Previous Halloween episodes: My 16-Bit Horror Movie The Dark Side of Nintendo 16 Bits From Beyond the Grave Street Fighter But With Vampires and Werewolves 16 Bits of Terror Cursed Spinach (a Game Boy Halloween) An 8-...
Cruise Into Sunset
September 20, 2021 07:52 - 1 hour - 89 MBSome of you bemoaned the loss of the Singing Mountain Patreon because it also meant the loss of the ”all music, no talk” versions of episodes that I sometimes posted there. Never fear: the files have been recovered, and I will be posting them on the main feed. First up, the ”all music, no talk” version of episode 105, “The End... as a Beginning.” Track listing: 0:00 Donkey Kong Rescued (Credits Roll) / Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong-Quest (Super NES) / David Wise 2:57 Credit Ro...
Afternoon Drive 2: Revenge of the Afternoon
September 13, 2021 06:09 - 1 hour - 142 MBYou’re still driving. It still doesn’t have to be a race. Listed to KVGM, “The Last Wave,” a podcast full of low-key, chilled VGM that you’ll like if you like this episode. Also listen to my previous driving music episodes: Afternoon Drive 1, Moonlight Drive, Sunset Drive, Drive Into the City Track listing: 0:07 On the Rainy Street / Dyna Brothers 2 (Mega Drive) / Masami Yitsuse 7:05 Menu / Pebble Beach Golf Links (Super Nintendo) / Yumi Kinoshita 10:30 Coast / First Queen...
Sunset on a Mountain
August 28, 2021 01:24 - 59 minutes - 81.2 MBThe good news: Singing Mountain is back. The bad news: It’s only coming back for a few more episodes before ending. Due to reasons I explain in the episode, I’ve decided to end this podcast. However, before I do that, I’ll be clearing out the odds and ends that are remaining in the shambles of the planning doc I’ve been making episodes from all this time. First up: a grab bag episode. Track listing: 0:19 Caverns / Risky Woods (Amiga) / José Antonio Martin Tello 6:06 Until the End of th...
The Forest of Remarkable Chill
March 06, 2021 03:09 - 1 hour - 129 MBThis is an experiment. What you have here is ninety minutes of 16-bit forest music, drawn from all four forest episodes of Singing Mountain, only slowed down, pitched down, muted and muffled in various ways and played over the sound of some royalty-free rain noise I found on YouTube. I initially made this for Patreon, and a few people noted how much they liked it, so I thought I’d put it on the main feed in case any of you needed some extra tranquility in your life. This is a slightly differ...
Pixelated Light Shining Through Pixelated Trees
February 28, 2021 23:32 - 1 hour - 102 MBI’m going back to my roots, and no, that is not a pun about trees. I decided to revisit the “relaxing forest music” theme that I first did back in the fifth episode of this show. If you’re into it, there’s also an ”all music, no talk’ version of this episode on Patreon, with some rain effects tossed in. You tell me if it works or not. Track listing: 0:13 Great Forest of Moore / Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom) / Nobuo Uematsu 3:05 Forest Stage / Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Super N...
Christmas Eve in an Ice Cavern
December 21, 2020 20:26 - 1 hour - 101 MBYes, it’s the annual Singing Mountain episode about chilly winter music. The big difference is that this year I’m actually allowing a few tracks that have sleigh bells jingling. Don’t worry — they’re still moody, but this is a less melancholy collection of ice level VGM than I’ve put together in recent years. And if this isn’t enough for you, an “all music, no talk” supermix of all the 16-bit winter VGM I’ve featured so far will be going up later today on the Singing Mountain Patreon feed....
A Road Walked by Heroes
November 30, 2020 21:41 - 1 hour - 92.2 MBA sequel of sorts to the “Lonesome Journeys” episode I did way back when, this episode is all about “sad travel music” — the kind of stuff you might associate with an RPG overworld, where the world is big and open and mysterious and you have to venture forth anyway. It’s a little somber, it’s a little hopeful, and it seems perfect for a late autumn day. And if you haven’t yet, also give a listen to my episode “The Overworld Mixtape,” which is nothing but RPG overworld themes — no talkin...
Attack of the Cutie Pie
November 16, 2020 02:20 - 1 hour - 97 MBThe episode I intended to put out this week isn’t done yet, but I decided to toss you guys an episode that was previously a Patreon-exclusive. Last year, around the time Singing Mountain hit one hundred episodes, I did a bonus that was just all the VGM tracks I’d encountered just through doing research for this podcast. You know, as opposed to hearing them while actually playing video games, like normal people. Also, if you’re seeing this episode, that means Singing Mountain has successfu...
My 16-Bit Horror Movie
October 29, 2020 07:43 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBThis year, I tried to pick tracks that sound like they could be from a horror movie — and not just any horror movie, but a solid B horror flick, watched on VHS, with a synthy score that’s way better that it should be given the quality of the movie. There is also an "all music, no talk" version of this episode up on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/43338773 BTW, if you dig this, then check out VGM101’s 16-bit horror episode from this week: https://prolefeed101.com/vgm-101-episode-43-16-b...
Game Over / The Return of Peach
October 22, 2020 19:55 - 1 hour - 94.3 MBIt’s a Halloween miracle! As Singing Mountain preps to transfer over to a new hosting site, some of the Patreon-only bonuses from back in the pre-16 bit days are getting folded into the main feed mix. Since this was in the process anyway, I decided that listeners might enjoy this all-music, no-talk Halloween episode. It’s all creepy Nintendo music! Track listing: 0:10: Joke’s End / Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions / Yoko Shimomura 2:01: Haunted Enigmansion / Paper Mario: Sticke...
Devil City
October 19, 2020 23:38 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBThe sun has gone down and the moon has come up, and it’s not a good time to be in the city. This is part three of a three-part series that began with a drive into the city and led to a fight through the city. Now you’re in a neon metropolis at night and you’re on your way to the big boss fight. Drive Into the City: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/16bit-driving-music Gritty City Sounds: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/gritty-city-sounds Also have a listen to the spotlight on Ma...
Gritty City Sounds
October 13, 2020 06:15 - 1 hour - 57.1 MBBack in the 16-bit era, urban streets were littered with no-good punks who would attack in wave after wave, leaving a group of musclebound heroes no choice but to keep on punching — and hope there is a whole roast chicken hidden in a garbage can somewhere. This episode is a celebration of those gritty city environments, the music heard in them and the music from other genres of game that nonetheless get at this same vibe. And if you want to check out my other podcast — my new music podcast, w...
Drive Into the City
September 28, 2020 06:03 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBIn the grand tradition of Singing Mountain episodes that make driving music of VGM that’s not from driving games, here’s a new one: the soundtrack for a drive into the city that starts out laidback but gets a little tense as you get toward the big city. This is actually a part one to a part two that you’ll get next that’s all gritty city music — basically what you here when you finally arrive at those scary skyscrapers on the horizon. Listen to my previous driving music episodes: Sunset Drive...
The End… as a Beginning
September 15, 2020 10:33 - 1 hour - 56.1 MBSinging Mountain is back. I said it would be back and I meant it. And to contrast this new run of the show from what I left you all on months ago, I decided to put out something a little more hopeful. Do you know that particular kind of video game ending where you see your character cruising toward the horizon, bad guys vanquished in their wake, and there’s maybe a sunset or something, and the music sounds like the end of an 80s movie? Yeah, this episode is all about that. Track listing: 0:09...
The Sealed City
April 14, 2020 08:55 - 1 hour - 92.2 MBA disclaimer: This episode won’t be for everyone. It’s been an odd few weeks, and for some reason I’ve been finding comfort in sad stuff rather than just trying to flood my brain with relentlessly happy things. As a result of this special mix of factors, the episode you’re getting from me is all about sad music — specifically sad music from 16-bit RPGs. While Singing Mountain is not yet back, when it returns it will be with a slightly different format that in this episode. I hope this is some...
All I Want for Christmas Is a Frost Dragon
December 25, 2019 08:58 - 1 hour - 71.1 MBWelcome to this year’s installment of my “Christmas Eve in an ice cavern” series. Do you think winter music could do with fewer jingle bells and more cool, clear chimes that call to mind a lonely, cold night? Then you’re in luck! Also listen to the other ice and snow VGM episodes! Diamond Dust: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/diamond-dust-ice-music Another Winter: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/53-another-winter Slip Off a Ledge and Die in a Hole: https://singingmountainpod.c...
A Relatively Brief Special Announcement
November 11, 2019 06:42 - 9 minutes - 8.7 MBThis is just a quick post to inform you that Singing Mounatin is going on hiatus for the rest of November — and beyond that too, despite some episodes in December. But no worries — I’ll be back. And if you miss my stupid voice in the meantime, listen to my other podcast, Gayest Episode Ever: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gayest-episode-ever/id1357463744 Website: https://www.gayestepisodeever.com/ Track listing: 0:13: Title Theme / Shin Onigashima / Koji Kondo 3:54: First Chapter: Road Through ...
A Relatively Brief Special Announement
November 11, 2019 06:42 - 9 minutes - 8.7 MBThis is just a quick post to inform you that Singing Mounatin is going on hiatus for the rest of November — and beyond that too, despite some episodes in December. But no worries — I’ll be back. And if you miss my stupid voice in the meantime, listen to my other podcast, Gayest Episode Ever: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gayest-episode-ever/id1357463744 Website: https://www.gayestepisodeever.com/ Track listing: 0:13: Title Theme / Shin Onigashima / Koji Kondo 3:54: First Chapter: Road Through t...
The Dark Side of Nintendo
October 28, 2019 07:39 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBNintendo may have a reputation as being family-friendly, but even its sunniest franchises have their dark moments. The second Halloween episode of 2019 looks at some of Nintendo’s more sinister musical moments. Listen to all of Singing Mountain’s Halloween episodes: https://singingmountainpod.com/minusworld/2018/10/18/halloween BTW, Singing Mountain now has a Patreon, and patrons can access to an hourlong bonus episode featuring even more spooky Nintendo music: https://www.patreon.com/singing...
16 Bits From Beyond the Grave
October 18, 2019 09:34 - 1 hour - 72.3 MBBecause horror always begets sequels, I’m giving your a follow-up to last year’s creepy 16-bit music episode. It’s all Hallloween-appropriate VGM from the Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, Sega Genesis and Mega Drive. Boo. Listen to all of Singing Mountain’s Halloween episodes: https://singingmountainpod.com/minusworld/2018/10/18/halloween BTW, Singing Mountain now has a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/singingmountain Track listing: 0:09: Omen / Final Fantasy VI / Nobuo Uematsu 0:55: Maridia Ro...
The 100th Episode
October 08, 2019 10:26 - 1 hour - 79.8 MBAgainst all odds, this podcast persisted and endured, and now we’re at the one-hundredth episode. The best idea I had to celebrate this milestone was sharing all the lesser-known VGM tracks I came to love since I began Singing Mountain — the VGM gems that I would have never unearthed if I hadn’t been doing research for this show. Enjoy. Please! Partake in the brand new Singing Mountain Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/singingmountain Track listing: 0:13: Baby Bird / Bravely Default / Revo 3:0...
Whiskered Eggplants (Songs I Haven’t Played Yet)
October 04, 2019 07:05 - 1 hour - 70 MBWe’re ninety-nine episodes in, and I’m taking the moment to share some tracks I haven’t yet featured on the show. Some got nixed from the final cuts of previous episodes, and others haven’t even gotten that far. Either way, I thought you might enjoy an eclectic mix of VGM you maybe haven’t yet heard or haven’t yet heard enough. Take a survey and tell me about your hopes and dreams: https://singingmountainpod.com/survey Do you regularly eat food? You may enjoy Singing Mountain’s sister podcast...
Through Creamed Spinach-Colored Glasses
September 25, 2019 21:55 - 1 hour - 64.3 MBLifelong gamers might like to reminisce about video game consoles past, but just by the numbers, system that got the most play back in the ’90s was the Game Boy. It outsold every console in its day, which means that a lot of players would have played famous video game franchises on the Game Boy before they played it on a standard system. This episode is all about those versions of famous series, and how the composers tasked with translating iconic VGM themes often worked wonders with the Game...
16-Bit Ruins
September 18, 2019 08:13 - 1 hour - 68.5 MBIf I made the things you know to suddenly seem different, would that be good? Think about that while you listen to this episode of celebrated 16 bit-era VGM made to sound weird, dark and maybe a little drunk. I promise this will not become a habit. Track listing: 0:10: Revenge of the Kraken / Singing Mountain 4:58: I Want You / Gary Low 6:12: Feel It All Around / Washed Out 7:03: Casual Friday at Booster Tower / Singing Mountain 9:15: Disco Train / Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest / ...
Bravely Default 1.0
September 05, 2019 22:56 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBReleased in 2009 for the Nintendo DS, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light is the game that ultimately ended up leading to Bravely Default in 2012. And while Bravely Default improved upon the core mechanics in almost every way, there’s a certain charm to 4 Heroes of Light — and that includes a soundtrack by Naoshi Mizuta. The music mixes the best of what the Nintendo DS could do at the time along with a nifty, chipune-y throwback style. And that makes all the sense in the world, because this ...
Sunset Drive
August 29, 2019 08:35 - 1 hour - 58.8 MBWhat does a sunset sound like? This episode may well fail to answer that question, but what you might get anyway is the third installment in the (so far) trilogy of Singing Mountain episodes about driving music but drawn entirely from non-racing, non-driving games. This one follows the narrative from bustling freeways to that perfect moment of sunset to early evening in the city. Track listing: 0:10: Silent Gravity / Bloody Roar (Arcade) / Atsuhiro Motoyama and Kenichi Koyano 2:08: Sunset Bri...
Choo Choo! (Yeah, It’s a Train Music Episode)
August 22, 2019 06:21 - 57 minutes - 52.3 MBHey, who likes trains? Because I do, and this episode is all about how different VGM composers interpret the sound of the train into actual music. Track listing: 0:25: Charge Man Theme / Mega Man 5 / Mari Yamaguchi 2:05: Train Ride / Animal Crossing (Gamecube) / Kazumi Totaka, Kenta Nagata, Toru Minegishi and Shinobu Tanaka 3:34: Excess Express at Night / Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door / Yoshito Hirano, Yuka Tsujiyoko and Saki Haruyama 4:45: Railroad Wrath / Cuphead / Kristofer Maddigan ...
Welcome to Our Town!
August 16, 2019 08:09 - 2 hours - 162 MBThree hours of classic RPG town music. Enjoy. Track listing: 2:13: Town / Final Fantasy (PSP) / Nobuo Uematsu 3:59: Village / Dragon Quest III (Super NES) / Koichi Sugiyama 5:35: Birth of the People / ActRaiser / Yuzo Koshiro 7:45: One Day for Sure (Threed) / Earthbound / Keiichi Suzuki 10:57: A Curious Tale / Secret of Mana / Hiroki Kikuta 13:25: Village / Shining Wisdom / Motoaki Takenouchi 18:14: Home Arni / Chrono Cross / Yasunori Mitsuda 21:28: The Mines of Narshe / Nobuo Uematsu / Final...
My Village Is Number One: RPG Town Themes
August 14, 2019 01:16 - 1 hour - 68.6 MBThis is not a definitive list of the best-ever RPG town themes. This is the first in what will be a regular feature on Singing Mountain in which I look at various town themes and talk about what I think the composers were trying to tell us about the fictional cities these songs are attached to. It’ll be good, I swear. Track listing: 0:09: Village / Shining Wisdom / Motoaki Takenouchi 3:04: Village / Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals / Yasunori Shiono 6:20: Hometown / Terranigma / Miyoko Takaok...
Four Flavors of Forest
August 08, 2019 07:52 - 1 hour - 80.8 MBDo video game composers speak a language that video game players understand? I’d like to think so, and maybe there’s some small proof in the way they score forest scenes. In this episodes, I talk about four different styles of forest VGM that might be particular to this genre of music but also happen to be pretty sweet to listen to. Track listing: 0:13: Lost Forest / Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box / Tomohito Nishiura 2:59: Boggly Woods / Thousand Year Door / Yoshito Hirano and Yuka T...
Save Point: Sixteen Bits
July 31, 2019 08:02 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBAn hour of relaxing video game music — a pixelated hideout from the world. For this go-around, all tracks are taken from the Super NES and Sega Genesis. The original Save Point episode: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/40-save-point More of the episodes where I shut up and just play music: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/playlist-chill-vgm Track listing: 0:19: Beginning / Monster World III: Wonder Boy in Monster World / Shinichi Sakamoto 2:24: Water Goddess / Shining Force II /...
David Lynch in Nintendo Land
July 24, 2019 21:06 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBIn a departure from the typical Singing Mountain episode, this one isn’t focused on video game music. There still is VGM, it’s just that the episode is more of a deep dive into a very niche subject: the popularity of Twin Peaks in Japan and its subsequent impact on two major Nintendo franchises. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of David Lynch. I will explain it all out for you. See links to all articles mentioned here: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/twin-peaks-nintendo Track listing...
Let’s Get Creative, Mario Maker-Style
July 19, 2019 08:19 - 43 minutes - 39.6 MBEvery version of the stage themes in Super Mario Maker 2 has both a regular, in-stage version and then a sort of remix you here when you’re in edit mode, building the stage. They’re cool, and they make for good thinky music. This episode is all them. Get to work! Listen to the other episode about Super Mario Maker 2: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/super-mario-maker-2-retro-vgm Track listing: 0:18: Sky (Super Mario Bros.) [EDIT] / Super Mario Maker 2 / Atsuko Asahi, Toru Minegishi and...
The Retro Sounds of Super Mario Maker 2
July 18, 2019 01:36 - 36 minutes - 33 MBOne of the not-so-obvious functions of the Mario Maker games is as history archive for the Super Mario series. The newly released Super Mario Maker 2 boasts a whole lot of music, much of which looks to the past for inspiration. This episode looks how the composers used music to bring Mario’s history into the present. Track listing: 0:10: Underwater (Super Mario 3D World) / Atsuko Asahi, Toru Minegishi and Sayako Doi 1:52: Course World (Version Two) / Atsuko Asahi, Toru Minegishi and Sayako Do...
What Does America Sound Like?
July 11, 2019 23:05 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MBVideo games allow American gamers to see depictions of America that don’t always line up with how they might see themselves. But how do VGM composers shorthand the U.S.A.? I listened to some of the more notable examples of themes for American characters in games around the Street Fighter II era to see what version of America they’re trying to communicate to us. Track listing: 0:09: Charlie’s Theme / Street Fighter Alpha 2 / Setsuo Yamamoto, Syun Nishigaki and Tatsuro Suzuki 2:04: Jazzy NYC ’9...
Gimmick! in 30 Minutes
July 04, 2019 01:07 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBReleased late in Nintendo’s 8-bit run — and even then, only in Japan and Scandinavia — the Sunsoft platforming game known either as Gimmick! or Mr. Gimmick has one of the best soundtracks of that era. In fact you might be surprised just how beautiful Masashi Kageyama could make the system sound, even when most eyes (and ears) were focused on the brand new Super Famicom. Track listing: 0:07: Good Morning / Gimmick! / Masahi Kageyama 2:23: No Limits / Gimmick! / Masahi Kageyama 4:47: Happy Birt...
Summer Vacation for People Who Play Video Games All Summer
June 26, 2019 19:28 - 1 hour - 57 MBIt’s the sound of summer.... specifically for people who’d rather not put on sunscreen or deal with beach traffic. Everything in this episode reads as summery to me, and I will try my best to justify my picks. Listen to last year’s summer episode: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/28-summer-vgm-mix Track listing: 0:09: Flashback / Akumajou Densetsu / Hidenori Maezawa, Jun Funahashi and Yukie Morimoto 1:35: Noki Bay / Super Mario Sunshine / Shinobu Tanaka 3:20: The Dim Light of Dusk / St...
Monster World IV in 30 Minutes
June 21, 2019 08:14 - 32 minutes - 29.3 MBSo there is the Wonder Boy series, the Adventure Island series and finally the Monster World series, which are all related but separate. But in 1994, Sega released Monster Hunter IV for the Mega Drive, and while it didn’t make it out of Japan for a very long time, it did sport a catchy soundtrack that you wouldn’t expect from an action platformer. Happy Friday! The Retronauts episode explaining Wonder Boy, Adventure Island and Monster World: https://retronauts.com/article/188/retronauts-episo...
Mario Artist in 30 Minutes
June 17, 2019 09:36 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBDid you know that Japan got a spiritual sequel to Mario Paint in 1999? An entire suite of programs released under the name Mario Artist, it was released for the 64DD peripheral, which never made it to the U.S., and it features a lot of the calm, creativity-inspiring music heard in Mario Paint. This episode is all about that. Whee. Listen to the Super Mario B-sides episode that inspired this one: https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/minus-world-super-mario-b-sides Track listing: 0:13: Title...
Your Favorite ’80s Action Movie
June 13, 2019 06:23 - 1 hour - 71.7 MBBecause console video games hit mainstream around the same time that America was watching a lot of B-grade action movies, there’s a more-than-occasional similarity between the way ’80s video games sound and the way those movies sound. It’s a good thing, and this episode is all about VGM that sounds like those movies. Track listing: 0:16: Title Theme / Final Fight (Amiga) / Jolyon Meyers (a.k.a. The Judge) 6:12: Pints and Punks / Final Fight 3 / Katsunari Kitajima 8:16: Fight to Survive / Stan...
Ric Ocasek in Moonside (Reprise)
June 06, 2019 11:26 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBIt’s not a rerun; it’s a special edition. This is redo of the fourth episode I ever did on this podcast. I thought that original was good. but being relatively ignorant about podcast-making back in the day, there are a few things, content-wise and production-wise, that I always wanted to change about the original version. Now I’ve done it: For your enjoyment and entertainment, a better-sounding and deeper-diving episode about the use of pop music in EarthBound, all tied together with a perso...
My Boiling Blood Bubbles for Battle
May 30, 2019 10:08 - 1 hour - 68.6 MBSamurai Shodown has a lot to offer… just not that one missing W. SNK’s fighter had samurai and non-samurai alike swinging weapons in one-on-one combat, and though it once appeared to be a moribund franchise, it’s actually being revived later this year with a brand-new entry later this year. This means more fighting game action but also more amazing music that draws on traditional Japanese compositions. This episode offers an overview of music from the series’ six main installments. Track list...
Lagoon in 30 Minutes
May 24, 2019 07:49 - 36 minutes - 49.6 MBAn early Super NES title, Lagoon is a Zelda-ish adventure that is today most remembered for its soundtrack. But here’s the thing: That music was initially composed for the game’s first incarnation on the Sharp X68000, which is both maybe the best version of its music and also a version you probably haven’t heard before. Happy discotastic Friday. Track listing: 0:13: Moonchild / Lagoon / Zoom Sound Team 2:34: Keep the Faith / Lagoon / Zoom Sound Team 3:22: Voice of the Spirits / Lagoon / Zoom ...
Winners Don’t Use Drugs
May 20, 2019 06:55 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBBack before mainstream pop started sampling video game music willy-nilly, The Pixies went a step further and wholesale covered a VGM composition: the theme from NARC, a 1988 arcade game. This says as much about The Pixies as it does Brian Schmidt’s great soundtrack for this game, and in the scope of Singing Mountain’s series looking into the intersection of VGM and mainstream pop music, it’s an outlier in that the latter isn’t screwing over the former. This episode’s show notes: https://singi...
A Different Kind of Desert
May 16, 2019 19:19 - 1 hour - 110 MBNot every desert sounds the same. The sitar and tabla are Indian instruments that, in video game music, are almost always used to signify the desert. Not every composer buys into this trend, however, and this episode focuses on desert themes that suggest a different kind of adventure. Track listing: 0:14: Tostarena Ruins / Super Mario Odyssey / Naoto Kubo 3:42: Lethal Lava Land / Super Mario 64 / Koji Kondo 4:07: Through the Desert / Castle Crashers / Matthew Harwood 4:31: Drums of Dalia / Go...