OK, so this one's a little odd, but the story stuck out to me since it (literally) hits so close to home. Japanese singer Ai Kago (former member of Morning Musume, Hello! Project, and W) recently attended a performance from Japanese rock group ZAMZA at Webster Hall in New York City (EDIT: It turns out that Ai decided instead to attend and perform at the open mic at Lucky Jack's), and she will appear Sunday, November 22 (that's tomorrow) at the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Fort Lee, New Jersey – a mere half-hour from where I live! There the singer and author will give a press conference and "say hello to her fans."
I'm away at college right now (and I'm not big into J-pop), so there's no way I'm getting down there for the press conference on Sunday. Still, let us know if you're planning on going!
Otakon, the massive, 16-year-old anime convention, and the most popular one on the East Coast, has announced their first musical guest, and its not the expected J-Pop or J-Rock band. This year's Otakon will see the United States debut of cellist and pop vocalist Kanon Wakashima.
The rising pop star began performing at age 15, and was signed by Sony's DefSTAR Records label soon after. Visual-Kei star Mana became her producer, and worked with her on her first single, the May 2008 "still doll." Wakashima's first album, Shinshoku Dolce, just released in February 2009, though some anime fans might be familiar with "still doll," which was used as the ending song for the Vampire Knight anime.
It's interesting to see Otakon bringing in a brand new performer like Wakashima, who doesn't yet have a large following in the United States. Mind you, this could simply be due to financial constraints, but I'd like to think that it could represent a positive trend in anime fandom going into the future. Perhaps anime really is a gateway to popularity for Japanese musicians. Perhaps, with the help of anime conventions here in the States, they can "Hit in America."
OverClocked ReMix, the fan site devoted to remixing and reimagining classic gaming tunes, has been given a unique opportunity by Capcom studios. In preparation for their high-definition remake of the arcade classic, Street Fighter II, Capcom has turned to the talented folks at the OC Remix to craft for them a new soundtrack comprised of remixed classics.
Personally, I think it’s great to see a developer, especially one as large as Capcom, giving their fan community a chance to contribute to a title they’ve helped to make so successful. Look forward to their booming soundtrack later this summer, and if you’d like to check out more of the OC Remix you can look them up here.
Not to be grim, but I'm afraid there's yet another slice of news that deals with death and video gaming/anime culture. Sorry!
I feel ashamed to say that I've never heard of Bo Diddley before today, and if you have, please don't chew me out... But then again, if you already know about him, this shouldn't be news: he passed away on June 2nd, 2008 at the age of 79.
It's never nice to hear about anyone's death, especially when they're as much of an influential person as Bo Diddley was. I'm not going to sit here and babble on about how great he was because, honestly, I couldn't tell you. If you were a fan, you knew what he meant to modern music.
Rock Band 2 developers, obviously wishing to pay their respects are planning to incorporate his unique cigarette-shaped guitar into the game (as either a peripheral or an in-game feature, not sure which but my money's on in-game). Fun.
Oh yes, welcome to the first EVER Ani-Gamers Podcast! The podcast is going to host any bonus audio content that I want to add to the site, including audio reviews, interviews, and debates. This episode contains a brief interview I held with world-renowned video game and film composer Andy Brick. Show notes below.
[0:00:00] Intro from Ben Schoedel, fearless leader of our partners at C.R.A.Z.Y.O.T.A.K.U.
[0:00:10] An excerpt from Andy's bonus track from the game Merregnon 2.
[0:01:42] I talk for two minutes about what this here 'cast is all about. Also, I apparently didn't realize that we DID talk about Zelda. Whatever.
[0:03:55] The 16-minute interview with Andy Brick. We talk about the differences between composing, orchestrating, and conducting, the music Andy has worked on, his career, and...uh, Rock Band. Yep. I'll post the full interview transcript eventually (this may mean never).
[0:20:13] This little bit of music is also composed by Andy Brick, but for Sim City Rush Hour.
[0:21:47] Podcast outro. Yeah, you can't quite digg us until we're actually on Digg. And iTunes... yeah, still working on that. Till I get it on the main iTunes store, you can subscribe by going under Advanced>Subscribe to Podcast, and typing in feeds.feedburner.com/AniGamersPodcast.
Anime News Network is holding a contest in which 10 lucky winners will receive a free copy of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Character Soundtrack 2: Yuki Nagato before it hits stores. All you will need to do is write an entry describing how big of a Haruhist (or fan of TMoHS) you are. The winners will be chosen at random, but ANN will weed out those who are not big enough Haruhists.
[via Anime News Network]
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