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The Music of The Legend of Zelda

7 Aug

Welcome all of you spectacular bundles of 1-dimensional vibrating strings! In this game of life there are games, some of them even containing games of their own! Meaning that we can at will play a game within a game within a game! And who knows if it even ends there? /inception

Today we will be talking about a particular game, one that employs video at that. Unless you have been living under a rock, or are downright ignorant, you probably have heard of video games… in particular the series entitled, The Legend of Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda is an action adventure series where you play as a boy named Link who is usually tasked with rescuing the princess Zelda and ridding the world of evils by combating monsters and solving puzzles. One could compare it to any other video game of the same genre, but then that person would have clearly never played this game.

The thing that differentiates this series from other action-adventure series the most, in my opinion, is the art style. Created by Nintendo, more specifically Shigeru Miyamoto, the series is essentially a Japanese take on traditional Western Fairytale. The result is a bizarre marriage of cultures and a breath of fresh air in the entire fantasy genre. And to top it off, the series also boasts some of the best music in the entire video game industry.

Music in video games serves multiple purposes. Aside from adding a bit of aesthetically pleasing noise, it can serve to set the tone of different parts of a game or to signify the type of area you’re in. For example, if you hear battle music, prepare for battle, and if you’re in a forest, you’re probably listening to the forest theme. In the case of the Zelda series, music is even entwined into the actual story, requiring you to play certain songs in certain situations to proceed. If only real life were like that.

Let me now show you a few of my personal favorite Zelda songs, all of which were composed by a man named Koji Kondo, who does much of Nintendo’s music.

Hyrule field is the large central field connecting all of the locations in the game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This is the song which plays whenever you are in Hyrule field during the day. The song is peaceful yet adventurous, perfectly befitting as you ride calmly on horseback to the next destination of your epic quest.

This version is played by an orchestra and I find it to be a particularly soothing version. The strings do a very good job of conveying the warmth of the song. In my opinion it is the perfect song to play while simply lounging in the sun.

This song is from my favorite Zelda game, Majora’s Mask. Probably the darkest game of the series, it features a world which is doomed to end in three days. It is impossible for you to save the world in these three days, so you are forced to replay them over and over until you do. As you do so, the routines of every single character are set to repeat exactly unless you interfere. And even if you do interfere, your efforts will be forgotten as soon as you reset the cycle. The Japanese sure know trippy.

The song of healing is played to cure the sick and wounded in this hopeless world. It conveys that perfect feeling of hope despite the unattainable odds. It is quiet and soft, yet strong and dignified. A perfect piano hymn for a world where certain doom is inevitable.

The Ancient Hero is actually a remix of sorts. The game The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker opens with a brief video explaining the central legend in the game. The video is set to a song named The Legendary Hero and is the main inspiration behind this remix.

It is pretty much a definition of epic. It open with soft harp which lays down this legendary tune. It is slowly joined by other instruments and before you know it is playing at full roar. The build is so gracefully executed that you almost don’t even need to play the game to understand the magnitude of the adventure you are about to undertake.

Music from video games is a strange thing. Standalone it is like any other piece of music, with a lot of it being compared to classical music for obvious reasons. But in the context of the game it comes from it becomes something new entirely. It becomes the feeling that holds the story together and the beat which paces the action.

As a kid, playing a Zelda game was basically a life changing experience. The way I see it, men growing up these days will be put into either one two categories – those that played a Zelda game as a kid and those who didn’t. A game itself can be a series of experiences, and that is what qualifies you in life. Who knows, maybe one day the experiences you put down on a resume won’t necessarily have to be real life. Besides, if life is a game, then are not games like lives?

&)

-oko

P.S.

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Reckoner (Flying Lotus Remix)

24 Jul

“A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version.”

-Wikipedia

Two of the best musicians today happen to be close friends. Their musical styles are very different, but their music meshes so perfectly that something completely new and pure is born as a result. It leaves you wondering if there is an end to the limits of music.

The artists I am talking about are Flying Lotus and Radiohead, more specifically Thom Yorke. Their relationship is strange, bringing together British and West Coast influences. They often play each other’s music at live shows and when they get together to make a song the result is usually astounding.This song which you are presumably listening to right now is a take on the Radiohead song Reckoner as remixed by Flying Lotus.

The first thing you should notice is that he completely replaced the beat with one of his own. It has essentially been turned into a hip hop song, but a ghostly one which cuts a completely new road for the genre and solidifies FlyLo‘s experimental capabilities. The clicking noises are my absolute favorite as they maintain an extremely uneven beat which is so strangely gratifying. The vocals, perfectly layered over each other, are darker and filtered, giving the entire song this haunted feeling. At 2:20 the song ends culminates to what could be the ending of a cheap horror film, a very strange last note. Most of the original song had been cut out, but that which remains is so beautifully mixed that it just demands quiet respect. If I were a member of Radiohead, I would be utterly enthralled that something like this could be made from my music.

Now by no means do I think this remix to be ‘better’ than the original song. It is its own complete separate entity and a unique listening experience. Comparing the two would be like comparing apples and oranges. Except maybe that in this case, both of them would be the color gold.

-oko

&O

P.S. One of the song’s off of Flying Lotus’s Cosmogramma features Thom Yorke performing amazing lyrics. Just in case you didn’t go out and listen to the album like I so direly urged you to… here is that song. And let’s not make the same mistake twice now. lulz

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The Fall of Troy – Phantom on the Horizon

10 Jul

My head was jerking violently, my eyes following a picture of a musical note scrawled onto a piece of paper hanging from piano wire. It was making me dance for my life, the snipers and high powered machine guns waiting for just a single misstep. As the subconsciously ritual unbuckling and buckling of seatbelts continued, I tried to calm myself without the help of my heart which had already sunk out of reach. Bloody smiles and mangled cars watched as the powerful magic I attempted to wield spun out of control. I hit the brakes but it was too late, my mind had strayed too far from the fine line. I had been thrown into the mercy of the other half…

**********************************

Uhh… hi everyone. Today we will be exploring a little bit of the darker side of psychedelia. I’ll start with a little bit of history. Psychedelic rock was a main influence in what today is known as heavy metal. The genre is splintered into many sub-categories, such as death metal, thrash metal or even punk. There are countless forms of metal these days, but the one thing that is common among most of them is that the psychedelia has been phased out.

The band I bring to you today is the Fall of Troy. They are a hardcore band from Washington state that is also guilty of phasing out pyschedelia, up until recently anyway. One of their more recent EP’s, Phantom on the Horizon, is one of the best examples of heavy music implementing psychedelic elements out there. It does this, however, in a much different and darker manner than most traditional psychedelic bands would. This naturally suits a hardcore band.

If I had to accurately apply a genre to the EP, it could only be a psychedelic post-hardcore rock-opera. It consists of five songs, or ‘chapters’, and spans the length of a nightmarish and most-likely magic induced story about a Spanish galleon which encounters a ghostship from another dimension. It features amazing lyrics and is highly over-produced compared to the band’s other, more-raw albums, giving it almost this truly genuine hellish feeling.

Chapter II: A Strange Conversation opens with an extremely powerful introduction. The drums hammer away complex rhythms with precision while the guitar shreds away only building in intricacy as time passes. The combined sound creates that intense metal feeling right up until the beat skips and begins to stagger in a more hardcore manner in my opinion.

The vocals come in clear along with ridiculous guitar lines. The only thing that can make listening to this band better is knowing that both the singer and the lead guitarist are the same person. That means whenever you hear jaw-dropping shredding and raging screams, the source is the same entity.

Yes I did say screams. If that is cause for some alarm then let me try to ease you. I like to consider this song the friendliest introduction to screaming possible. They really aren’t that bad on this album in general, especially when compared to the rest of the band’s music, and they fit perfectly with the theme of the story.

What I love in particular about this song is that the screams truncate extremely clear and downright good lyrics, eventually leading into very powerful opera-esque wailing vocals which do justice to the singer’s wide range. In case you are wondering who is this extremely talented musician, his name Thomas Erak, a quickly blossoming guitar legend.

The song ends on a very slow and calm note, putting the post into post-hardcore. The music is one of a kind, and almost even more importantly, the feeling it conveys is a brand of overwhelming psychedelic insanity that bands in the 60’s only dared approach with a thick wall of dry-humor.

Chapter IV: Enter the Black Demon is the other song on the EP which I need to share. As kind of the musical apex, it opens with a flurry guitar notes and drum beats which melt into one another as if it all were riding on the edge of a massive volcanic explosion. A long howl does very nicely at indicating the mood at the current point in the story, and a second singer is implemented to represent the ‘black demon’.

The main vocalist and protagonist of the story fights for his sanity here with his confrontation with ‘black demon’ “Bang Bang Bang Bang, the thoughts in your head taking hold.” The representation of madness seen here is dealt with a passion that demands respect. A short heavy screaming part (MURDER) segues into a light and upbeat bridge. “Explanations turn to Explanations which turn to Explorations.” It gears you for a intense guitar solo which builds heavily into an abrupt and again peaceful ending.

The contrast between the endings and the rest of the songs on this album make for beautiful metaphors, kind of like sailing on the seas which one day are calm, the next stormy.

This sort of epic EP, with a length of only 37 minutes, is best enjoyed in a full sitting. Only then will you be able to truly appreciate a masterpiece of this sort of mood, which is actually very new to musical scene and is very psychedelic in nature. Just the screams alone convey a feeling which is truly hard to replicate any other way and even show a definite level of commitment to the music based on the negative effects of screaming. The sheer range of emotions in this EP creates an openness of interpretation which allows any listener enjoy it like a custom tailored movie experience.

Side- Note: If you are someone who refuses to listen to this because of the screaming then keep this in mind. Phantom on the Horizon is actually a remake of the band’s much earlier Ghostship demos. The demos were essentially the same songs, minus chapter three, much shorter, and a lot more raw. There is even a debate on the internet about which version is better, with supporters of the latter saying that the new release is way too tame for their tastes. In my opinion both are great in their own regards, and if you are willing to compare the two I will link the original version of chapter four down below. Just remember, screamed vocals are quite the… acquired taste… and please, for the love of god, don’t automatically associate them with ‘screamo’.

>&)

-oko

P.S. RRRROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR

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Animal Collective – Fireworks

3 Jul

With magic fresh on our minds we walk across the war-torn elementary school field. Hues of red in the sky discolored the smoke which blocked our vision and filled our noses with the scent of burnt elements. Flashes in the sky hastened our wavering walk, our destination a celebration of a baby nation.

I felt like this song would be an appropriate one for today purely based on its title. Fireworks, by Animal Collective, is probably the most popular and likable song from one of their more bizarre albums, Strawberry Jam.

The song starts with a beat that could only make sense if you accidentally inhaled a lung full of salvia divinorum while watching an episode of Spongebob Squarepants, consequently forgetting to exhale. The vocals do their part to attempt to cheer you up as you spin hypnotically into a severe feeling of strangeness. You slowly realize that there is nothing to make out of this song, yet you won’t stop listening to it because you like it.

It is something in between the lyrics and that feeling that your insides are being twisted into rope which resembles the bulk of the song. The result is a mind-bending psychedelic horror which Animal Collective is rightfully and most of the time unknowingly known for.  The transitions in this song float as if time were optional and the closer you listen to it the more bizarre and unearthly sounds you will uncover, a dirty pleasure sort of  like philosophically pealing apart the essence of joy. The melodies are cute and friendly, but the way in which they are used can only be reminiscent of a horror house disguised as a sunny beach, waiting for you to fall asleep so that it can reveal its true face when you wake from a peaceful nap. It switches from being mellow and cheerful to intense and upbeat like someone actively splitting their personality so as to only keep you interested in what they have to say slightly longer.

Hopefully you watch some fireworks while listening to this song. The two go very well together. The song really isn’t even about fireworks, but every time that one line mentions fireworks, you will get a fuzzy feeling inside. And fuzzy feelings are sort of what fireworks are all about after all. Too bad my cats don’t agree.

-oko

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Grizzly Bear – Yellow House

26 Jun

In the middle of the woods, somewhere no one has ever set foot, sits a Yellow House. A place of serenity and a place of magic, it is only inhabited by the souls of people who yearn to escape. Wooden and dusty, it was furnished during a time long ago, when posterity borrowed its thoughts. Cut off from peering eyes, it is open only to you, a space so relative you cannot even place the feel of the wooden floorboards under your feet.

You may have heard of the Brooklyn-based Grizzly Bear’s newest album Vekatimest. The name may have confused you, but you saw them on the David Letterman show and the poppy music intrigued you. You may have even bought (borrowed) the album and have since happily listened to its mystery.

*Puts on Hipster Glasses*

Well, I listened to Grizzly Bear before they blew up. Let me simply tell you now that their previous LP is one of the most mind blowing pieces of music ever. Their newest album strayed way too far and struggled to maintain the beauty of its predecessor whilst tackling the face of pop culture. It still turned out to be a very nice album, but today we focus on the pure musical serenity that is Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House.

I will start you off with the single. Knife, being the most approachable songs on the album. It features one of the most confusing music videos you will ever watch.

The song starts off with a slow and ghostly guitar riff. Try to imagine a sunny, yet haunted beach, where people go about doing the same thing forever, like on replay. The vocals are just the perfect brand of pop to make even the most hardcore magic user smile. The slow beat is just perfectly reminiscent of those unbearable summer days where simply walking down the street is putting oneself at risk of melting.

As the verse ends, a brisk guitar riff transitions the song like a cool breeze. But as quickly as it comes, it departs, leaving you again vulnerable to the sun. The vocals here are particularly amazing, the kind that ask you to remain calm as it is actually the ‘cool thing’ to be melting.

When that part ends a drumstick beat ushers in the main lyric. “Can’t you feel the knife?” It leaves you utterly shocked and confused as you scramble to figure out where you have been stabbed. But the song floats on as if it was just kidding about the knife part, hoping you will enjoy the rest of the song in peace. A nice touch of that 60’s psychedelic mind-trickery.

The extended ending is very soothing, just in case the knife part is still bugging you out. An interesting beat coaxes on piano notes, which wistfully echo a sweet tune.  The both of them remind you that you were actually inside a yellow house the entire time.

The last song on the album, my absolute favorite, is Colorado. It opens similarly to how Knife ended. This time though the beat is a low thumping kick and the piano notes are lower pitched and unevenly distanced.  The vocals fade in mid-sentence, unintelligible yet mystic. They eventually begin chanting “Colorado” in an almost confused manner, as if the state was the only thing responsible for some unknown misfortune

I am particularly fond of the use of many different forest-esque noises throughout the beginning. It makes me feel like I am sitting by some mountain lake somewhere in Colorado watching nature evolve in circles.

The drums drop in a very easy jazz beat which quickly grows on you. The song begins to build up, as the singer switches to asking “Now what?” A very nice and minimalistic guitar solo occurs and again “Colorado” is chanted.

The song builds and builds and finally just stalls, but only in the most brilliant way. The simple slow bass kick remains and a mysterious woodwind instrument transitions into one of the most epic drops my ears have ever heard.

Just the sound of the guitar. I am not sure what kind of effects or amps are being used, but the result sounds like pure gold. Combined with the piano and the drums, they together paint a ridiculously vivid picture. The vocals return, layered over one another and the entire song climaxes so high that any magic user would be thrown into an amazing upbeat state for a long after it’s over. And trust me, it’s a great feeling. You definitely don’t even need magic.

These two snippets of the album Yellow House definitely give you an idea for the entire album. A couple of the songs are a little bit hard to get into at first, but that is mainly due to fact that they are very slow. Not that the entire album is compromised of rather slow moving songs, but it definitely can take some time to learn to appreciate that kind of music. Also keep in mind that a bunch of the songs start out slow, but pick-up halfway in magnificent fashion.

Now my music player shows the genre of this album as rock, but if I had to label them I would most definitely go with Psychedelic-Folk, give or take the rock. If this is something you are into then most definitely listen to this album. You will not regret it. And if you don’t believe me on the folk part, then listen to the song I will post at the end.

And if you find yourself in a Yellow House at any point while listening to this album, you’re doing it right.

&)

-oko

P.S. Here ya go folks. This song has probably one of my more favorite lyrical lines. Enjoy.

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