Video Game Vinyl and CD Soundtracks: This thread has a warmer sound

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Reindeer Games > Video Game Vinyl and CD Soundtracks: This thread has a warmer sound

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Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

Physical video game soundtracks have been sold for decades now. CDs are waning and vinyl is waxing. The repopularity of vinyl records has lead to a bunch of boutique labels specializing in video game music. There's no limit to what's getting releases, new, indie, retro, are all getting beautiful releases.

Why would I buy a stupid pressed album when I could just stream/download it?

I’m not an audiophile. I’m not here to go into an audiophile debate. I won’t make any claims that vinyl records sound better than mp3s or CDs. Most everyone buying these has probably grown up listening to CDs and mp3s. That said, there is something to the act of listening to something analog and focusing on what you got, rather than being able to skip through to the songs you like. It puts you closer to the music. There's also something to being able to enjoy the gorgeous cover art.

Here is a list of the various record labels:

Record Labels:

https://blipblop.net/current-vgm-labels/Blipblop.net posted:

Black Screen Records
Black Screen Records is a small independent label based in Cologne, Germany which started in early 2015. In November 2015 they put out their first vinyl release – the Oddworld: New ‘n’Tasty Soundtrack.

Brave Wave Productions
Brave Wave have been going strong for years as a label primarily focusing on releasing original music by video game composers. It’s based in Japan, but has employees in several countries. They announced their first vinyl release – the ambitious 4LP Street Fighter II: Definitive Collection – in mid-2015 which shipped out to customers in April, 2016.

Data Discs
Data Discs is an independent label based in London, UK which started in early 2015. They released their first two titles in August, 2015 – Streets Of Rage and Shenmue. They are known to collaborate closely with Sega and have so far only released soundtracks to Sega games.

F.I.X. Records (フィックスレコード)
F.I.X. Records is a record label founded in 1999 based in Osaka, Japan. They specialize in soundtracks to anime and visual novels. Over the years they have mostly done CDs, but recently moved to vinyl releases as well. Their first vinyl release was the Utawarerumono: Itsuwari No Kamen & Futari No
Hakuoro Song Collection release from 2016.

Fangamer
Fangamer is a video game merchandise company from 2008 based in Tucson, Arizona. They’ve been acting as a distributor for other VGM vinyl labels for a little while before releasing their first two vinyl titles in December 2017 – the Nex Machina and Tormentor X Punisher soundtracks.

G4F Records
G4F Records is a French label focusing on soundtrack releases – primarily game soundtracks. Their first vinyl release was the Furi soundtrack, which they released in August 2016.

Gamemusic Records
Gamemusic Records is a Polish label run by staff from game music news site GameMusic.pl. Their first vinyl release is the Kholat soundtrack, which they released in May 2017.

Gamer’s Edition
Gamer’s Edition is a UK based company that started out as a service intending to release special collector’s edition packages for indie games. In 2016, however, they announced their first video game soundtrack release on vinyl – the Rogue Legacy soundtrack – which they released in January 2017.

Ghost Ramp
Ghost Ramp is a more traditional label who’s mainly been working on indie, alternative, and garage rock titles. They announced their first video game music release on vinyl – the car-shaped Drift Stage 7″ – in late 2015 which was released in February 2016.

iam8bit
iam8bit is a production company and art exhibition based in Los Angeles, CA, which started in 2005. They released their first video game vinyl soundtrack – a promotional picture disc with the TRON Evolution Soundtrack – in 2010, but their first commercially available release was the Hotline Miami 2 soundtrack released early 2015.

Laced Records
Laced Records is a dedicated video game music label established in 2015. It started out focusing on releasing video game soundtracks digitally but as of 2016 they have started working on vinyl releases. Their first release was the Hotline Miami soundtrack which was succesfully funded via Kickstarter. It released in August 2016.

Materia Collective
Materia Collective is a video game music label and producer founded in 2015. While they have mostly worked with digital releases they partnered with
iam8bit for a few vinyl releases starting in 2016, and in early 2018 they released their first vinyl release on their own with the Sins of Hyrule Zelda arrangement album by Rozen.

Minimum Records
Minimum Records is a label based in London, UK founded in 2017 who publishes digital game soundtracks as well as vinyl releases. They released their first game soundtrack on vinyl in February 2018 – the soundtrack to Future Unfolding.

Mondo
Mondo is a company working on limited edition screen prints, but also vinyl records, movies, and apparal relating to pop culture. They have primarily focused on releasing movie soundtracks, but in August 2015 they put out a much anticipated 4LP box set for the soundtrack to The Last Of Us.

Ship To Shore PhonoCo.
Ship To Shore PhonoCo. is a small independent label based in Brooklyn, NY, which started in 2013. They are mainly focusing on releasing soundtracks that have not been on vinyl before. Their first video game soundtrack release was the MOTHER soundtrack which was released in late 2015 after a succesful Kickstarter campaign.

Spacelab9
Spacelab9 is label dedicated to releasing soundtracks to films, tv shows and video games on vinyl. They are based in New York and started out in 2013. Their first video game soundtrack release was the Mega Man: Best Of Mega Man 1-10 compilation which was released in mid-2015.

Wayô Records
Wayô Records is a video game music label based in Paris, France and founded in 2011. They focus on soundtracks to Japanese games and have mostly released CDs. However, they put out their first vinyl release in 2018 – the Sonic Forces soundtrack.

Yetee Records
Yetee Records is the record label division of US-based t-shirt and art company, The Yetee. They put out their first game music vinyl release – the Octodad 7″ – in March 2015.

quote="Coca Koala" post="501099354"]

Edit: There's also a couple small labels that are missing from the OP. Debug Records has done Mother loving Earthbound, a cover album of music from Earthbound, and Killing Floor 2 on vinyl; they also helped distribute Castlevania Rebirth. Respawned Records has pressed Vectormania and Glover on vinyl so far, and I know both labels intend to do more in the future. They're both run by guys who started out as collectors themselves.
[/quote]

CD discussion is totally cool too. Most of my favorite game music comes from JRPGs, which usually have soundtracks much too big to be put onto vinyl.

So far my favorite releases that I've picked up have been to retro titles. Today at a used bookstore, I scored a copy of Streets of Rage II. one of the best Sega soundtracks and probably Yuzo Koshiro's magnum opus.

Detective No. 27 fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Dec 27, 2019

# ? Dec 22, 2019 02:23

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# ? Dec 8, 2024 04:11

wash bucket: Feb 21, 2006

Video game soundtracks on vinyl don't make sense because they're inherently digital. But on the other hand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Gp90DGidY

# ? Dec 22, 2019 03:06

Chumbawumba4ever97: Dec 31, 2000; by Fluffdaddy

Any chance FFVI ever gets a vinyl release?

I have a decent 90s hip hop collection but only one video game soundtrack (Mother 2). I'd buy virtually any snes rpg soundtrack on vinyl but there doesn't seem to be much.

# ? Dec 22, 2019 03:08

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

McCracAttack posted:

Video game soundtracks on vinyl don't make sense because they're inherently digital. But on the other hand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Gp90DGidY

That's pretty rad.

# ? Dec 22, 2019 03:09

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

Chumbawumba4ever97 posted:

Any chance FFVI ever gets a vinyl release?

I have a decent 90s hip hop collection but only one video game soundtrack (Mother 2). I'd buy virtually any snes rpg soundtrack on vinyl but there doesn't seem to be much.

The TJ&E album cover is made to look like 3 Feet High and Rising.

Have you heard of Switched on SNES? His Secret of Mana album is amazing.
https://switchedonsnes.bandcamp.com/album/switched-on-secret-of-mana

I've listened to it a bunch of times now. (it's on Spotify too). There's a vinyl version for $21. Highly recommended.

My #1 vinyl dream release is Brink of Time, the crazy jazz fusion Chrono Trigger album. Secret of Mana+ makes my #2.

# ? Dec 22, 2019 03:17

Chumbawumba4ever97: Dec 31, 2000; by Fluffdaddy

Detective No. 27 posted:

The TJ&E album cover is made to look like 3 Feet High and Rising.

Have you heard of Switched on SNES? His Secret of Mana album is amazing.
https://switchedonsnes.bandcamp.com/album/switched-on-secret-of-mana

I've listened to it a bunch of times now. (it's on Spotify too). There's a vinyl version for $21. Highly recommended.

My #1 vinyl dream release is Brink of Time, the crazy jazz fusion Chrono Trigger album. Secret of Mana+ makes my #2.

Buying that SoM album. Thank you!

# ? Dec 22, 2019 03:44

falz: Jan 29, 2005; 01100110 01100001 01101100 01111010

Not only is it on vinyl but also on cartridge

https://youtu.be/zcZRhHzPV4w

# ? Dec 22, 2019 05:08

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

That cartridge is wild. Too rich for my blood.

# ? Dec 22, 2019 14:19

Anonymouse Mook: Jul 12, 2006; Showing Vettel the way since 1979

Data Discs have branched out a little. They are still mostly Sega, but they have also released Okami, Metal Slug and Policenauts.

# ? Dec 22, 2019 20:08

Mercury Crusader: Apr 20, 2005; You know they say that all demons are created equal, but you look at me and you look at Pyro Jack and you can see that statement is not true, hee-ho!

There's a local game store that has several vinyl soundtracks and I'm usually temped to buy a couple, but I can't afford to dip into yet another bad collecting habit. Those Data Disc Sega releases are neat, though.

# ? Dec 23, 2019 00:26

exquisite tea: Apr 21, 2007; Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."

I own the limited edition vinyl of the Life is Strange soundtrack, which is probably the most expensive and solitary physical piece of video game-related paraphenalia to my name. But drat is it ever a good soundtrack. Daughter wrote the original score and song list for the prequel Before the Storm, which was also great but I personally do not own.

# ? Dec 23, 2019 00:30

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

Mercury Crusader posted:

There's a local game store that has several vinyl soundtracks and I'm usually temped to buy a couple, but I can't afford to dip into yet another bad collecting habit. Those Data Disc Sega releases are neat, though.

That's how I was about a year ago. My local used book store had a bunch of them, and I held off. I super regret not getting Sonic Mania when I had the chance.

# ? Dec 23, 2019 00:43

Nebakenezzer: Sep 13, 2005; The Mote in God's Eye

I've a musician friend who has a new album coming out, apparently in addition to more usual options it is being put on cassette, which blew my mind. I feel like there is a symmetry to that discovery and that game OSTs are coming out on vinyl

Also, I mentioned this in the retro game music thread, but this dude deserves some vinyl releases (Or 8-track, or waxed cylinder, or whatev,) he's awesome. If you want to hear multiple albums of Chrono Trigger music arranged for orchestra, or maybe a complete OST of Super Metroid, this dude.

# ? Dec 23, 2019 01:50

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

Tomorrow, Friday December 27th, will be the last day to preorder Limited Run Games's 2LP Tetris Effect soundtrack.

# ? Dec 26, 2019 15:02

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

Oh dang, a thread for VGM music on vinyl! I need only the highest of fidelity for my beeps and boops.

I've been collecting vgm vinyl for a few years now; probably my favourite one is the Nier Automata and Gestalt/Replicant box set? Just some extremely top tier music there, if you find either of those soundtracks for sale I highly recommend them.

Edit: There's also a couple small labels that are missing from the OP. Debug Records has done Mother loving Earthbound, a cover album of music from Earthbound, and Killing Floor 2 on vinyl; they also helped distribute Castlevania Rebirth. Respawned Records has pressed Vectormania and Glover on vinyl so far, and I know both labels intend to do more in the future. They're both run by guys who started out as collectors themselves.

Coca Koala fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Dec 26, 2019

# ? Dec 26, 2019 23:26

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

Cool. I added those to the list.

I managed to snag this, sealed, at a local game store.

# ? Dec 27, 2019 00:52

wash bucket: Feb 21, 2006

Happy to learn that game soundtracks on cassette were totally a thing.

I'm curious to know how they were mastered back in the day though. Did they just play them on a nice Yamaha keyboard or did they use some dev hardware to record the tracks in high quality?

# ? Dec 27, 2019 01:20

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

I really have no idea how they do it.

One of the recent episodes of Retronauts briefly touched on Data Discs and how they have to basically choose the definitive version of the music and sound when doing Genesis albums because there's so many variations of the Genesis sound chip.

# ? Dec 27, 2019 03:16

Nebakenezzer: Sep 13, 2005; The Mote in God's Eye

If you are Earthbound, a CD of covers from Mother 1 and 2 (SNES Earthbound) among other things:

quote:

The music has inspired several album releases. Mother saw the release in 1989 of an album primarily composed of vocal arrangements of pieces from its soundtrack; this album was re-released in 2004 in an expanded form. Earthbound had a soundtrack album associated with the game released in 1994 and again in 2004 that contained both original tracks from the game and medleys of multiple tracks. A compilation release, Mother 1+2, received a soundtrack album release in 2003, as well as an album of MIDI piano versions of songs from the two games in 2006. The latest release in the series, Mother 3, has two soundtrack albums: Mother 3+, released in 2006, and the online-only release Mother 3i in 2007.

# ? Dec 27, 2019 12:58

Freakazoid_: Jul 4, 2013; Buglord

I think this fad of putting game music to vinyl is incredibly silly.

I do think soundtracks printed on casette and cd are cool though, but mostly the stuff from the 80's and 90's when this sort of thing was really niche.

# ? Dec 30, 2019 09:05

Archer666: Dec 27, 2008

As someone who is into collecting vinyl records and video games, this fad is okay with me.

This is what I managed to collect so far.

# ? Dec 30, 2019 11:54

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

It's a neat fad.

Yesterday I traded in some old stuff and picked up the soundtracks for Turtles in Time and Resident Evil 2. _{Also The Chromatics's Night Drive.} They had the soundtrack to Drive Club real cheap, but I wasn't interested.

# ? Dec 30, 2019 19:54

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

poo poo yeah, my copy finally came in.

# ? Dec 31, 2019 02:05

Nebakenezzer: Sep 13, 2005; The Mote in God's Eye

Detective No. 27 posted:

poo poo yeah, my copy finally came in.

I came across this image in a random old ad, and I think it'd be a good theme for a Secret of Mana Album:

# ? Dec 31, 2019 14:58

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

What was that an ad for? It's neat. I'm looking forward to the Secret of Mana art book that's coming out next month. I don't really buy art books, but the Secret of Mana art is gorgeous.

Remute will be releasing his tenth album on SNES/SFC cartridge. I haven't heard of him before, but the preview track was solid.

https://twitter.com/remute/status/1212049234817671168?s=19

Ships in March. €36 (~$49)

# ? Jan 2, 2020 21:00

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

I'll try to post more news as I sees it. Here's a significant announcement.

https://twitter.com/BraveWaveMusic/status/1220721717720637440?s=19

# ? Jan 24, 2020 16:46

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

Detective No. 27 posted:

I'll try to post more news as I sees it. Here's a significant announcement.

https://twitter.com/BraveWaveMusic/status/1220721717720637440?s=19

I've got the other albums in the Generation series, so I'm hype for this next one. Bravewave tends to do some really good stuff; the Manami Matsumae album (Three Movements) that they helped put together is also really excellent and probably on-brand for the thread even if it's only video game adjacent.

# ? Jan 25, 2020 04:19

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

Kentucky Route Zero is getting a 2LP Vinyl Soundtrack: https://www.iam8bit.com/products/kentucky-route-zero-2xlp-vinyl-soundtrack

And also getting a 1LP "Mystery" Vinyl Soundtrack that is "Definity Not the Official Soundtrack": https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/krz/products/kentucky-route-zero-mystery-1xlp-vinyl

I haven't played this game, but I've heard lots of great stuff about it.

# ? Jan 29, 2020 13:47

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

https://twitter.com/blipblopwax/status/1222968851199033347?s=19

# ? Jan 30, 2020 21:05

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

Attn Swery65 fans:

https://twitter.com/LimitedRunGames/status/1222975743115898883?s=19

# ? Jan 30, 2020 22:21

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

I'm not super into the Metal Slug 3 soundtrack, but I've been pretty impressed by the Wayo stuff I've picked up; their Skies of Arcadia box set is quite good.

# ? Feb 5, 2020 04:06

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

I got the Sonic Mania vinyl. Overall it's really good. But I'm disappointed it's only the brand new original music tracks made by Tee Lopes. I totally get why. Classic Sonic music is a labyrinth of legal rights.

# ? Feb 14, 2020 16:20

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

Do you remember Plok!?

He's back.

In vinyl form.

https://twitter.com/RespawnedRec/status/1235923060752101387?s=19

# ? Mar 6, 2020 15:17

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

iam8bit is repressing Ori and the Blind Forest and also pressing Ori and the Will of the Wisps: https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/ori

Blind Forest was a great soundtrack and I was bummed when I couldn't find a copy on vinyl, so I snapped up both of these. Be aware that if you get the lowest tier of shipping and the records come with seam splits in the sleeves, 8bit will straight up tell you to gently caress off - I learned that lesson when I bought Grim Fandango from them and both sleeves were split on both sides, so I went for the mid-tier shipping this time. It's only a few bucks more but presumably it'll get me some support from 8bit if the records are damaged during shipping.

# ? Mar 11, 2020 17:33

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

https://twitter.com/datadiscs/status/1239217676586823682?s=19

I ordered this one without hesitation.

# ? Mar 15, 2020 16:30

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

https://twitter.com/theyetee/status/1239234934214197253?s=19

I'm super excited for this. Equip's doing Secret of the Forest, the absolute best track in the game.

# ? Mar 16, 2020 05:02

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

iam8bit�s pressing of Sayonara Wild Hearts just showed up, so I�m spinning it because what else am I gonna do, go outside?

This is a nice soundtrack! I didn�t play the game because the gameplay didn�t look too compelling for me but the music is quite good, some really dope synth-pop stuff with a vaguely hopeful bent and that works for me right now.

# ? Mar 23, 2020 23:05

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

My wife put my copy of Zelda and Chill on the player a couple nights ago and really enjoyed listening to it, so yesterday I ordered a copy of Poke and Chill to get more of the same vibes.

I fully understand the goofiness of buying music with artificial record hiss on an actual record, but it's fun to listen to!

# ? Apr 11, 2020 14:30

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

https://twitter.com/blipblopwax/status/1251148838376574979?s=19

# ? Apr 17, 2020 20:23

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# ? Dec 8, 2024 04:11

Detective No. 27: Jun 7, 2006

https://twitter.com/RespawnedRec/status/1251536051505639426?s=19

# ? Apr 18, 2020 15:44

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Reindeer Games > Video Game Vinyl and CD Soundtracks: This thread has a warmer sound

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