Yes We Can

I was listening to Sense.FM and this track came on. Holy shit.

Consider my mood lifted.

Music For A New Year

So I’ve been off work for a while now, enjoying some much-appreciated comp time after a particularly intense December. And one of the things I did with that time is discover a pair of absolutely incredible electronic music albums.

I am going to tell you about them, and then you will go purchase them, because they are made of win.

First up is Tri-State, by Above & Beyond. These guys do the excellent Trance Around the World radio show and podcast, available via iTunes. If you’re a trance fan, you are henceforth required to listen to this show every week.

Tri-State is an amazing blend of energetic trance and rich, atmospheric chillout. You’ll find better-known tracks like “Air For Life”, “Alone Tonight”, and “Good For Me” here, smoothly mixed with catchy bits like “Stealing Time” or the enveloping drama of “Hope”. The whole album is mixed, in fact, but it doesn’t come off like a typical trance mix (or worse, one of those horrible compilation albums places like Wal-Mart try to pass off as “dance music”). Every track sits comfortably in its own space, and the transitions are subtle and musically-appropriate; they add to the experience, rather than distracting from it.

Tri-State is available as DRM-free MP3 downloads via Amazon.com, a purchasing method I strongly recommend.

Next up is Sirens of the Sea, by Above & Beyond’s side project known as Oceanlab. This album is pure, lush chillout punctuated with a few notes of trance. Pretty much every moment of this album is truly epic, and perfectly complemented by Justine Suissa’s ethereal vocals.

Here you’ll find the original mixes of some of 2008’s greatest trance releases: “Breaking Ties”, “Miracle”, and “On A Good Day”. As incredible as those remixes are (and it should be noted that Above & Beyond’s Club Mix of “Miracle” is my #1 track of 2008), I almost like these versions better.

In addition to the better-known tracks, you’ll also find a couple of absolute treats. “Come Home” is the most upbeat entry and an amazing piece of trance that could blow up any dance floor, and “Ashes” is one of the most dramatic and immersive tracks I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

I’m also rather a fan of the album art. Seriously, that’s just awesome.

Sirens of the Sea is also available via Amazon.com MP3. Go! Purchase!

Finally… Drivers!

Several months back, I bought a new computer. It runs 64-bit Windows Vista, which is nice because it can actually address all 8 GB of RAM that it has. The sucky part is, I blindly assumed that 64-bit drivers would be available for all my hardware, seeing as Vista has been out for kind of a while.

This largely proved true, but I did run into one problem: none of my M-Audio hardware was supported yet. Neither of my audio interfaces would work, which meant no music creation for me.

But today, after what has felt like a truly epic wait, M-Audio has FINALLY released 64-bit beta drivers for my FireWire interface. EPIC VICTORY!

The studio lives again!

Chrono Trigger Jam

My favorite game of all time is Chrono Trigger; one reason for that is its stellar soundtrack. So imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this clip from jazz band the One-Ups performing some Chrono Trigger hotness at PAX ‘08.

(Via Kotaku, because apparently I can’t embed blip.tv videos on WordPress. Awesome.)

I had never really considered going to PAX before, but if they’re booking this kind of awesome shit, I may just have to plan a trip next year.

I’m Still Alive

Whew, it’s been kind of a while since I updated this here blog… :/

Today I stumbled across GameSetWatch’s Top 12 “Still Alive” Cover Versions, which was an amusing diversion for ten minutes or so. I wasn’t terribly impressed by most of the covers, but there were a few standouts, most notably the Commodore 64-style rendition that clocks in at #1. (There’s also a dude in a furry suit, but that one stood out for a whole different reason…) Go check it out at GameSetWatch.

That article got me thinking that there must be something better out there. And indeed there is! Granted, it’s not “Still Alive”, but as far as Portal-themed remix videos are concerned, this thing takes the cake (aww snap):

You can even download an MP3 of that one! (This shit is so going on my Zune…)