Most Recent: Music

Batman: Arkham City soundtrack rocks with Panic! at the Disco, Coheed & Cambria, more

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and WaterTower Music have announced that Batman: Arkham City – The Album will be available on October 4, two weeks ahead of the game’s October 18 release date on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The album will also be available digitally as a bonus download inlcuded with the Arkham City Collector’s Edition.

Featuring music “inspired by” the highly anticipated sequel, Batman: Arkham City – The Album will include new songs from Panic! At The Disco, Coheed and Cambria, Daughtry, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Serj Tankian and more.

Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez is very excited to bring his musical storytelling to Gotham City. “I write in a very conceptual format with the stories that surround Coheed and Cambria, but Batman has a much larger, defined history and rules that go along with it. My goal was to find universal themes from Batman’s existing history to help give the lyrics legs and dimension so that the song could live within that world,” Sanchez said.

The full track listing can be found after the break. (more…)

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Rock out with Johnson and the Shadows of the Damned soundtrack

Shadows of the Damned was a unique game to say the least. It was chock full of memorable characters and weapons. I quite enjoyed the demon harmonica player. But the most striking thing about the game was that it eschewed the expected heavy metal soundtrack in favor of a more haunting and melodic blend of nylon string guitar, horns, and reverberating drums.

Now you can experience the music of Shadows of the Damned in a brand new way with the release of its stellar soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka. He set out to do something a little bit different with the release of this album.

“I wanted to craft a soundtrack that was more than just a collection of the most popular songs from Damned. I set out to create an experience that would take players back to the game, as if they were ‘watching’ a movie,” Yamaoka said.

The music certainly does bring back the macabre atmosphere of the game. All you have to do is close your eyes and you can watch the whole story unfold once again. The famous rock band The Damned even make an appearance on the album. How appropriate.

You can purcahse the Shadows of the Damned soundtrack now at the Grasshopper Manufacture WebStore. But you better hurry, it’s limited to 1,000 copies.

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Kanye West headlining Call of Duty XP

Kanye West, whose duet with Jay-Z (Watch the Throne) is this week’s #1 album, will also perform the closing concert at next month’s Call of Duty XP event.

“We’re pulling out all the stops,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “We promised our attendees and fans around the world a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the first Call of Duty XP, so we’re thrilled to have Kanye on board. Everything about XP will be as epic as the games themselves. Whether you’re competing for one of the open slots in the $1 million [Black Ops] tournament, playing Modern Warfare 3 for the first time, dodging paintballs in a spectacular life-size recreation of Modern Warfare 2‘s Scrapyard level or just mingling with developers and fellow gamers, Call of Duty XP is a celebration of one of the greatest games in the world. So what better way to top it off with one of the greatest artists in the world?”

Is it too late to drop an “I’mma let you finish” in the middle of Hirshberg’s comments? Call of Duty XP will held on September 2nd and 3rd in Los Angeles. Tickets are still available at CallofDuty.com/xp/tickets.

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Ice-T unveils “Gears of War (Horde 2.0: Five Against All)” music video

As promised at E3, Ice-T and Body Count have reunited to bring the world “Horde 2.0 (Five Against All),” a new song inspired by Gears of War 3. The song was released alongside this awesome new gameplay trailer for the game’s Horde Mode.

So listen to the song, watch the trailer and get ready to experience Gears of War 3 on September 20.

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Nintendo sheds more light on 2012 Zelda Symphony tour

Nintendo recently hashed out more of the details on the upcoming Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony tour. Speaking with Destructoid, Nintendo’s Bill Trinen said the 2012 global tour will differ from the October 21 show in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles show is an extension of a Japanese concert Zelda composer Koji Kondo put on, featuring a set list “hand-picked by Koji Kondo and his team.” This is a kind of “three time only” event, as a final show will take place at an unannounced European venue before the global tour kicks off in 2012.

The 2012 tour will focus on North America and the U.S., and will likely feature a distinct set list from the October show. JMP Productions, also known for PLAY! – A Video Game Symphony, will manage the run. There’s currently no plans beyond next year, but Trinen promised it would be pretty extensive.

Tickets for the October 21 event go on sale August 1 and you can get more information on the upcoming tour from the official site.

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Legend of Zelda Symphony Concert set for Oct. 21; nationwide tour in 2012

Break out those ocarinas and Wind Waker wands! To celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo is hosting a symphony concert, which will be held October 21 at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. Tickets are $35 and will be available beginning August 1st.

All of the songs will be hand-picked by Nintendo composer Koji Kondo and his team. This is sure to be a compilation of some of the most iconic music in gaming history. But we all remember the swelling feeling of adventure the first time we stepped out onto Hyrule Field in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and in 2012 we’ll all get to experience that lovely music live as Nintendo plans to follow up the Los Angeles concert with a nationwide Legend of Zelda Symphony Concert tour!

Tour dates will be announced soon, but for the time being, you can get your Zelda kicks on the 3DS with Ocarina of Time 3D.

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MC Lars’ b-side collection 21 Concepts (featuring the Bayonetta song) now available

Nerdcore rapper extraordinaire, MC Lars, has released a new b-sides compilation today: 21 Concepts (But a Hit Ain’t One). The album is available in trusty compact disc format as well as digitally at leading online retailers such as Amazon and iTunes.

Sadly the album doesn’t contain the song titled “21 Concepts (But a Hit Ain’t One).” That track, which features an awesome sample of the “Type A” music from the Game Boy version of Tetris (which was itself just a reworking of the Russian folk song “Korobeiniki”), can be found on MC Lars’ first full-length disc, The Graduate. As you can tell, it was also the inspiration for the album’s cover (which actually features the correct width of a Tetris column, impressive Lars!).

However, it does contain the song “Reaping Beauty,” which was inspired by Platinum Games’ Bayonetta. MC Lars (along with special guests Beefy, Random and Tina Root) rap about Bayonetta’s killing skills and her resemblence to Tina Fey. Check out the full video for the song after the break. (more…)

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Video games get a little extra recognition at next year’s Grammys

As a new medium, video games are still struggling to be recognized as a legitimate form of art. At next year’s Grammy Awards, games will get one step closer to making its critical acceptance a reality.

Kinda.

The Recording Academy has announced that games will be getting equal billing alongside television and film for four categories: Music for Visual Media, Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, and Best Song Written for Visual Media. Previously, video games were inferred in the descriptors of the awards, which used to read like “Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Motion, Television, or Other Visual Media).” Now, they’ll be listed right alongside their counterparts in the parentheses.

It may not be a giant step, but it’s a step forward nonetheless. Still, it leaves the Grammy Awards far behind other similar events, such as Britain’s Ivor Novello Awards, which last year gave their inaugural Best Original Video Game Score to Joris de Man for his work on Killzone 2.

[Source: Industry Gamers]

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