Episodes

There was a time when video game music (VGM) was considered a niche, something most gamers appreciated but a handful of people enjoyed wholeheartedly. In the last ten years or so, VGM has enjoyed a certain level of popularity; covers, remixes, and VGM-inspired medlies are appearing online (YouTube, Twitch, Spotify, etc) and in the public venues. There are a bevy of musicians releasing albums of their works. For the first time at the BBC Proms, video game music took center stage at the Royal Alb...

Welcome to one of many featured episodes for the podcast, and one I hope to develop as a monthly mainstay. This week, we are featuring works from an artist who does club covers and remixes of video game music. His name is Theology, an artist who’s been doing production and DJ since 16. He’s done several collaborations with many artists, such as Profetik, Jerry Tebbs of Table 18, and Euphoric Nation. He recently tapped into VGM, where he is currently focusing his efforts. This man is the real d...

Music has been played and stored on various analog and digital media. While most are recorded and played from streaming services, hard drives, and CDs, there has been a recent interest in older technologies such as cassettes and vinyl. Some may say that having music on MP3 or FLAC makes it more portable and accessible, but there are some who hold their hearts close to magnetic tapes and vinyl discs, because the sound quality feels more personal and warm than the cold and calculating bits and byt...

If you remember watching a commercial on TV about two kids looking dreadful as their father gleefully fills the shopping cart with pencils, notebooks, and calculators, then you know that summer is about to end and that school is about to start. The campuses will be filled with students brandishing their best backpack holding their books, papers, pens, and maybe a handheld game system with some games. The classrooms will be buzzing with talk and gossip about who is the teacher, how ‘interesting’ ...

Summertime is here! The skies are clear, the sun is shining, and the waves are beckoning. That means it’s time to hit the beach. Time to check that list: Summer clothes and glasses? Check. Basket of food? Check. BBQ grill and charcoal? Check. Ice chest filled with ice and drinks? Check. All devices charged? Check. Extra power banks? On this week’s episode, we’ll head to some famous beaches in the video game world. Our first stop is at the Isle Delfino, home to the the largest and sunniest beach...

We’re back with part two, in celebration of Anime Expo. This time, we’ll listen to tracks from video games which spawned from anime shows or movies (OVA) and manga. Basically, the anime or manga was created first and then later a video game was made based on that material. We’ll learn a bit more about the anime and then hear the remix track. And in case you’re wondering, no, I haven’t given up my usual outro music. It’s just that I find something in my research and I feel I have to play it bec...

“Minasan, kon’nichiwa. Kore wa ‘RE-VGM’ desu.” Hopefully, I wrote that correctly in Japanese, as it’s supposed to say “Hello, everyone. This is RE-VGM.” This week’s episode is a celebration of anime and video games, in relation to Anime Expo, which happened a couple of weekends ago at Los Angeles Convention Center in Downtown Los Angeles. It was a weekend event that allowed fans of anime and related media to experience many venues, such as attending panels for shows and video games, shopping a...

This week’s episodes returns us to the man-on-the-street interview session, this time at Brew Game Plus. Brew Game Plus is a 2-day music festival held in San Diego and is devoted to video game music. Musicians and bands come together to perform their covers, remixes, and original tunes. Some are familiar (“Guile’s Theme” from Street Fighter II) and some are popular enough to get the crowd dancing (“Power Drift”, covered by Kirby’s Dream Band). There are lovely voices, unique instruments, and co...

Hot Dogs! Hamburgers! Fireworks! Stars and Stripes! Red, White, and Blue! That could mean one thing: The Fourth of July is upon us! On the 4th of July, we celebrate a moment when the 13 colonies separated from the British government with their Declaration of Independence. The American Revolution was a bloody war yet it was fought with the understanding, at the time, that no one should be ruled by one, single person. It was argued that all people are created equal. Freedom for all! Of course, f...

And now, the final composer for “The Masters of VGM”. While she has only done one video game soundtrack, Cœur de Pirate (stage name for Beatrice Martin) has the receipts for her incredible work on the game. Playing piano at the age of three, she studied for several years at a conservatory, played in a band as a keyboardist, and released a debut album that would gain notoriety thanks to a viral video. After working on a collaboration with several different musicians, directing her first music vid...

Now we shall talk about one of the more famous and familiar composers among the VGM community and perhaps outside: Yoko Shimomura. She is best known for her compositions of the Kingdom Hearts series, but that required working on many titles beforehand. This week’s episode, we’ll go through her career, listening to several tracks from long list of her works, starting with Street Fighter II, going through several games in the JRPG genre, and then working on another fighting franchise. As usual, e...

Welcome to Part Two of “The Masters of VGM”. This week’s episode will be about a composer who’s likely to be more famous for his work on another medium besides video games: Hiroyuki Sawano. If you’ve been watching lots of anime, you probably have several shows on your list that you have watched, are watching, or have yet to watch: Seraph of the End, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096, Attack on Titan, Seven Deadly Sins, etc. Most likely, you may have found the opening and/or ending songs to be ...

Welcome to one of the four episodes in “The Masters of VGM”, an event during the month of June in which participating VGM podcasters get to talk about their love and admiration for certain composers. This week’s episode will focus on Hitoshi Sakimoto, a composer who started wanting to learn how to make video games and ended up founding a company that composes music and produces sound effects for them. We’ll be playing several songs, from his earliest solo piece to his current work. We’ll also t...

This week’s episode places a spotlight on mental health, an issue that has become more prominent during the pandemic. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, grief – these in addition to other forms of mental sickness are what plague our daily lives in a moment of crisis or confusion. It affects everyone individually and effects those close to them and their daily routines. While there are many ways to amend our mental health (therapy, medication, etc), certain video games have recently made it the focus of ...

This week’s episode is going to be un-bee-lievably honey-sweet, because May 20th is World Bee Day. Designated by The United Nations, the day brings awareness about the bees and their importance to the ecosystem and humanity. From pollinating flowers to producing honey, the bee is an important asset to the world at large. We’ll be listening to tracks from video games that have bees: a cybernetic bee, a game level located inside a beehive, and a galaxy world full of bees. We’ve also got some jazz...

Personally, I like months where the first day perfectly falls on Sunday, because that means it will have a Friday the 13th (bwahahaha!!!). Now, some will call me weird, but I prefer to be called a triskaidekaphile (an admirer of the number 13). If you want to get technical, you can call me a paraskevidekatriaphile (an admirer of the 13th of Friday) or a friggatriskaidekaphile. Unless you’re triskaidekaphobic (fear of the number 13), I hope you’ll brave the unknown and take some time to listen t...

This week’s episode is all about moms and I’ll be talking specifically about my own mom. I’ll be playing tracks from three different video games and their remixes, to explain how I felt about my mom before she passed. A nurse, a motivational speaker, and a home maker, my mom was all that I had in being comforted, encouraged, fed, and made safe from the world. I hope to inspire others about their moms in their lives. Rhythm and Pixels, Episode 32-5 Mothers Day Intro – “A Song for Mama” – BoyzIIM...

Ah, young Padawan. The Force is strong in you, I sense, yes. Perhaps you will walk in the light, or maybe you prefer to travel into the dark side. However you decide, this week’s episode celebrates Star Wars Day, which falls on May 4th. An MMO (massive multiplayer online) game, a single-player action adventure under Darth Vader, and another single-player action adventure taking place after Order 66, these games should give a good taste of the music involved. I do drop some knowledge of the univ...

(Apologies for the late upload of this podcast. It seems I haven’t uploaded the audio portion of the podcast at all. I was also away from the desktop, at a funeral, so I couldn’t finish the process until I got home. I promise you this episode is worth a listen, as it’s very important to me and to share with everyone subscribed or just happened to find my podcast via my website or a podcast search. Thanks for your patience and understanding.) Life is a wonderful thing, but in the end, death must ...

Did you just see something white and fluffy hop through this way? Was it carrying a basket with something colorful inside? That could only mean one thing: It’s Easter! Happy Easter, listeners (Happy Resurrection Sunday for any and all of the Christian listeners). It is the time of the year marked by several things: colorful eggs, beautiful baskets, egg hunts galore, Easter egg photos with the Easter Bunny, crowded brunch lines at the golf course, and lots and lots of chocolate and sweets (and P...

Yay! Ten weeks of podcasting about video game music and it’s an awesome feeling. Surely, there’s something special about reaching it. If not, by golly I’ll make it special. This week, I decided to take the idea from Episode 06 and ask podcasters within the VGM (video game music) community and present them with two questions: What games do you enjoy listening to the soundtrack or OST? What one or two tracks would you love to put on repeat? Again, it seems simple, but the responses I received ...

Don’t get fooled, everyone! It’s April Fool’s Day, when people decide to prank each other harmlessly, all in the name of good, clean fun. You can spin a joke, fool them with your Jedi mind tricks, or mess with their items in an unusual way. Witty or gross, sometime we all just need to laugh it out, because we can’t be stressed and serious all the time. This week’s episode presents a bevy of original and inspired tracks from funny and humorous games. A few chuckles here or rolling on the floor la...

With the world going crazy and absurd, perhaps it’s time to sit back on your favorite cushion or pillow, pull over your favorite blanket or quilt, and put on a pair of headphones to hear some easy-going beats. This episode, we’ll be listening to some lofi music based on the video game ‘Super Mario Bros.’, from the Nintendo Entertainment System. Sure, the game is frantic at times, but these fan artists have taken these songs down a couple notches so you can breathe deeply and slowly with your eye...

Ah, the luck of the Irish be with you, laddies and lasses, for this week’s early episode celebrates St. Patrick’s Day and the games that are about luck, namely gacha games. We’ll listen to three games that entice their players and fans with the possibility of winning something worthwhile as they play through the story line and partake in missions for materials and in-game credits, which are then used to try your luck. Sometimes you get a 5-star companion or an SSR (super secret rare), but someti...