hi it is me. I’ve been silent for a long time; I’ve actually been quietly putting videos up on Youtube for the past couple months?? Getting into the covering VGM tunes game, which is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid, but then didn’t because I was a fool. a fool i say
anyway, here’s Old Sinking Sanctuary from Castlevania Bloodlines!
I don’t really have a ton of time right now, so let’s do this post-mortem real quick: MAGfest 2017. Great. Awesome. Somehow, despite definitely going to less panels and less concerts than last year, it managed to feel MORE hectic.
Standout moments:
- Returners concert, even though I really only caught the tail end of it...
- Saori Kobayashi & Yumiko Takahashi concert
- Austin Wintory + Videri String Quartet concert
- Austin Wintory Secret Show!!
- Overcoming Shyness panel, which was cool - I met a couple people who were having their First MAG, and it’s probably especially good for helping those people make friends... IMO??
- Room Escape. Mmm... not sure if it was entirely worth the amount of time I spent trying to sign up for it, but it was good when it happened.
- Semi-drunk room Jackbox party
- Materia Collective meetup (i met so many people i really hope i don’t forget anyone bc my brain is probably overloaded)
and of course, fuckin midnight Materia jams and frickin 3am dogsong.
I got to meet and hang out with more cool ppl than i could’ve Ever Imagined so, uh, yeah! Successful MAG, I guess.
now i actually need to get good at music so everyone’s not like miles out of my league lol
Boy it’s been a while innit. It’s the end of the year, so have an end-of-year EP. It’s got a short story to go with it. Given how the last 2 months of this year have gone, I’d say it’s pretty appropriate.
50% of everything I earn from this album will go to the ACLU.
So this past weekend I got to go to my second MAGfest, which was super fantastic, and basically this is the part where I yell about it.
Super Smash Opera
a.k.a. a bunch of Huge Fricking Nerds set Smash Bros. to classic opera pieces, because why the hell not? Have to say I was kind of skeptical about it at first - both the premise, as well as the fact that the orchestra would be having their first rehearsal together at Literally 8 AM The Day Of The Performance - but then it turned out that signing up to play for this was probably one of the best decisions I could’ve made for this MAGfest?? The writing was clever, the performers were excellent and the orchestra somehow held it together despite being a ragtag bunch of misfits thrown together in a pit. Overheard people talking about it in the hotel lobby later and it really seemed like people enjoyed it - a bonus!
It was super fun. Would I do it again if it happens next year? I’m gonna put that down as a pretty solid “UH YEAH???”
Ninja Sex Party / Tupperware Remix Party
Basically everything I could’ve hoped for and more. Frankly, out of all the concerts I went to (with the possible exception of Journey Live?), I thought the TWRP/NSP one was the best mixed, sound-wise. Danny’s this incredibly thin, tall, lanky dude, but somehow he manages to fill the stage with his presence. It’s magical. Even the crowd was fantastic (there was a PHD chant at one point).
There’s nothing particularly profound about NSP/TWRP, but they’re just... good. They’re just fantastic! That’s about it. I was honestly not very familiar with TWRP’s work, but now I’m a fan. Dang.
Journey Live
If you don’t know what Journey Live is - basically it’s this thing, where there’s this game, ok, called Journey?? You might have heard about it?? Grammy-nominated soundtrack and all??? a-hem.
anyway they’re going around doing a thing where someone plays Journey live on stage and it’s accompanied by live music. They had the debut performance at MAGfest, and let’s just say - it was seamless. It was phenomenal.
Also you might be thinking “but why don’t i just watch a LP of the game??” which, i admit, definitely came to mind a couple times. It’s kinda where the genius of Journey’s multiplayer system shows itself - tl;dr basically sometimes you can run into other strangers who are also playing the game at the same time you are. And that’s exactly what happened during the performance - another player just... showed up. It was a completely unrehearsed moment, an unwitting participant in the event, someone who had no idea they were being watched by a huge crowd of people. It was... kind of that feeling of serendipity, of being part of something greater than you are, that Journey kind of encapsulates, in my opinion, and that moment - just that other player showing up - kind of made the whole thing click for me. It was just... wow.
DiscoCactus
Went from “I’ll stick around because my friend’s in it” to “I’ll stick around because they’re ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD.” Journey Live is a tough act to follow but DiscoCactus delivered - my favorite was the part where they set one of the Stanley Parable endings to music. Yup. Kind of has to be heard to be believed, but it was really clever.
DiscoCactus was super chill. I missed the Austin Wintory signing for it, but totally worth it tbh
Megaman Zero Concert
okay so first of all: holy shit, never expected to see the Inti Creates sound team at MAGfest, ever.
Second: Megaman Zero has FANTASTIC music, and yet it’s not often covered - many of the songs go overlooked (it’s mostly Cannonball that gets covered).
Third: They hit most - not all, but most - of my favorite songs. Cold Smile was one i REALLY wanted to hear, although I didn’t expect it, so when they played it i was all “holy shit. holy SHIt, are they actually PLAYING IT?!” They delivered in spades. They didn’t hit High Speed Lift or Volcano, but eh. The only song I’m kinda disappointed they didn’t play was Clash, but i think I’m kind of alone in liking that one, to be honest.
Fourth: Manami Matsumae came on stage?! and they played Cutman and Nitro Man’s themes?! with her on keys?!?!
Fifth: they ended with Departure segued straight into Cannonball. That was pretty the point at which my head literally exploded.
Jammin’
I got to meet with and jam with a lot of people - mostly finally got to meet people from Materia, which was super great!! Got to do flute trio stuff too??? Man. I should really just spend more time jamming at future MAGFests, it’s so fun!!
actually. now that i think about it, i have plans. Cunning plans...
Stuff I Didn’t Do, People I Didn’t Meet
well... I mean. You can’t do everything. I missed the Austin Wintory panel and signings, but fortunately still got to meet him. I also had to skip out early on the Materia meetup, which was sad; although fitting, I suppose, given my aptitude for socializing.
All in all - the previous MAGfest I went to 2 years ago exceeded all my expectations, which set a high bar for this year’s. And I’m glad to say that it completely blew past those expectations again. Thanks to the MAGfest staff, and everyone who I met, got to jam with, spoke to, etc., for making the con experience so great...
...eh. did anyone actually read the whole thing? s/o to you too
Presenting MEGADANCEVANIA, an EDM-inspired medley/remix/mashup of OVER THIRTY themes from the Undertale soundtrack. And here’s a little fanart montage to go with it!
Download it from Soundcloud
Full list of themes quoted
just kidding, kind of. Basically, I’m syncing up all my social media stuff, b/c they were kind of all over the place and also, not updated. SOOO:
my tumblr url has changed from catbossaudio to catbossstudio (or CatbossStudio. There’s 3 s’s in there.) This also applies to p. much all of my other Sosh Media:
Twitter
Soundcloud
Twitch (I’m going to start streaming me playing the flute, and hopefully production??)
Bandcamp
Facebook
Youtube
please consider giving me, uh, *shifts glasses, peers at paper* “Like” or,... or “Follow”,,, if you like my work!!
turnnoffyourmind
ellievsbear
snowghoul
blakekathryn
gracieabrams
amandla