Concert Line-Up for PAX East Finalized


If you don’t know what PAX East is, you’ve either been living under a rock or well… living under a rock. Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts on April 6th, 2012, PAX East is the ultimate three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers alike. In addition to nerdcore concerts, panel discussions, and an exhibitor hall filled with booths displaying the latest from top game publishers and developers, the best part of PAX East is partying with like-minded individuals who probably like gaming as much as the next guy.

So, what are you waiting for? Although three-day passes have been sold out for awhile, one-day passes are still available for $35 dollars. The concert line-up for PAX East has recently been finalized (which you can view below) and it’s looking very sexy.

[EXPAND Click here to view the finalized 2012 line-up for PAX East]

Friday:
VGO
Protomen
Metroid Metal
Minibosses

Saturday:
Supercommuter
Paul & Storm
Jonathan Coulton
MC Frontalot[/EXPAND]

Humbled to Dust Tour 2012 Commences East Coast Takeover

Canadian “rap legend” Jesse Dangerously, ThoughtCriminals vocalist Mikal kHill, and all-around raptacular talent Shane Hall have taken over the East Coast with The Humbled to Dust Tour. Combining a witty amalgamation of their album titles, this ten day tour spree started yesterday in Columbia, South Carolina and features a variety of key players within the nerdcore community such as MC Wreckshin, Rainbowdragoneyes, ThoughtCriminals, Schaffer the Darklord, People With Teeth, and more. If this line-up intrigues you, we’ve included a list of dates and locations for The Humbled to Dust Tour below.

[EXPAND Click here for Humbled to Dust Tour dates & locations]

Feb 3 – Columbia, SC @ Conundrum 8pm door/ 9pm show / $6 over 21 / $8 under 21 (Mikal kHill, Tribe One, cecilnick, Shane Hall & MC Stealth)

Feb 4 – Orlando, FL @ Back Booth 7pm door / 8pm show /$7 ALL AGES (Jesse Dangerously, MC Wreckshin, Rainbowdragoneyes, Mikal kHill, Shane Hall)

Feb 6 – Charlotte NC @ The Milestone 8pm door / 9pm show /$? over 21 / $?-2 under 21 (ThoughtCriminals, Jesse D, Shane Hall & MC Stealth)

Feb 8 – Baltimore, MD @ Bohemian Coffeehouse 7pm / 8pm show / FREE $0.00!!! ALL AGES (Collectible Humans, Jesse D & Shane Hall)

Feb 9 – Philadelphia, PA @ Little Bar (Voss, Sketch Lightly, Mikey Mo, Jesse D & Shane Hall)

Feb 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ moon-ii [319 Rutledge St, Brooklyn] (Schaffer the Darklord, People With Teeth, Jesse D, Mikal kHill, Shane Hall, remind) Hosted by Shane with DJ Halo on the tables ALL NIIIIGHT LOOONG

Feb 11 – Worcester, MA @ 97 D Webster St. / $5-$10 suggested donation / ALL AGES (Jesse D, Mikal kHill, Shane Hall, Jon Von Wonderful, The Grand Arkanum, HW) with an opening set by DJ Snaxx[/EXPAND]

The Humbled to Dust Tour will conclude with a last stop in Massachusetts on February 12th, 2o12. You can also get more information about the tour with their Facebook page for day-to-day updates.

Drummer of The Megas Requests Pledges to Release Acoustic Record

Mike Levinson, drummer of The Megas and former popular punk band Agent 51, has recently launched a Kickstarter project to help him release an acoustic album:

I’ve wanted to release an acoustic record for a long time, but I’ve never had the time, funding, or drive to make it happen. Now is the time. Playing drums comes naturally to me. I enjoy being the backbone of the band and its fitting of my personality that I get to hide behind my drums while the other guys do their thing in front of the crowd. While the spotlight generally isn’t my thing I still enjoy writing and creating my own songs. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done on drums, but I’d also like to release a piece of music that is undeniably a piece of who I am as a person and an artist. This album I’d like to record is the Michael Hell acoustic album which I’m planning on titling “A Tell Tale Heart” in a nod to my favorite author and fellow troubled soul Edgar Allen Poe.

While we know that this album is not directly correlated to VGM news, we’d like to help support Mike Levinson as a very talented artist who has boldly put himself out there. The incentives are also a bonus for you Megas fans out there: a $50+ pledge gets you a signed drumstick used by Mr. Levinson at a Megas show, a copy of the extremely rare Megas Comic-Con sampler from 2007 with some early mixes pre-Get Equipped, and a DLN01 “Demo Get” CD with demos from the band’s inception.

You can find more information on Mr. Levinson’s project and pledge incentives on his Kickstarter project page.

Nintendo’s Rhythm Heaven Fever Launch Event in LA @ iam8bit

Party-goers, unite! Nintendo has teamed up with Los Angeles-based production company iam8bit and Giant Robot to promote Nintendo’s upcoming groovalicious game Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii). While the game itself looks rather interesting, we’re more intrigued with the fact that Nintendo will host a party at the iam8bit gallery in Los Angeles next Friday, February 10th from 6-10 p.m. Multiple highlights of the party include hands-on time with the game before the scheduled February 13th release, refreshments and music throughout the evening, and the chance to film and submit clips to be included in a special Rhythm Heaven Fever interactive video experience.

While the event is public, Nintendo has specifically announced that it will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The iam8bit Gallery is located at 2147 W. Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, California. See you there!

In Loving Memory… Triforce Mike Tribute @ A Comic Shop This Wednesday

Mike Pandel, officially recognized as Triforce Mike, was fatally injured by a vehicle while routinely traveling on his bicycle. Affectionately known as a persistent driving force in the nerd music community, Triforce Mike was a man of many talents: a wonderful co-host of Nerdy Show, all-around comics overlord at the Orlando’s beloved A Comic Shop, and an overall generous, rambunctious personality to all who knew him.

John “hex” Carter, founder of Nerdapalooza and fellow co-host on Nerdy Show, has dolefully expressed how much Triforce Mike really affected the VGM community:

For those that don’t know, Mike was one of the four pillars of Nerdy Show; he got his nickname at Nerdapalooza 2008; his antics as Chair, the polymorphed furniture turned into a Dwarf, was probably won’t made Dungeons & Doritos listenable; but more than that, he was one of my best friends. I had come to connect my time in Orlando with him… and everything has changed now.

I was with during most of the evening, recording episodes of Nerdy Show. The topics were mainly on our favorite fandoms. It still doesn’t feel real to me. The universe is a much darker place without his light shining bright.

There are so many little things that are killing me, but one of them is that we were working on a Dungeons & Doritos comic that he was writing, and our pal Tony is drawing. Last night Tony had finished drawing the last page and we’ll probably have them in for MegaCon. It’ll be his first published comic and he’ll never get to see it.

I’m sure there are a lot of things like this that will keep popping up, but this was one thing I needed to share. He left an impact in so many people’s lives that will never be filled. You could meet the guy for two minutes and you would never forget him. I’m listening to the Protomen on repeat for a few days in memory of him. He was one of their biggest fans and because of who he was, Mike had a great friendship with them.

If you believe in a place after this one, then I’m sure Mike is up there partying hard with the greats. For others like me, take condolences in that no one else has wrung so much joy from life while giving it back in equal dosages than Michael Pandel. The best way to celebrate his memory is to try to be just as awesome as he was, and make sure that everyone is enjoying the party. <3

Many artists in the community are also coming together to raise funds that will go out to Mike’s family; DJ RoboRob has called for others to assist him for a tribute album while Random has pledged to donate money if Black Materia: Remixes and K-Murdock’s Hero Muzik, Vol. 1 both reach the top five category on Bandcamp. If you happen to live in Orlando, friends of Mike are holding a Triforce Mike tribute tomorrow night at A Comic Shop. During this time, our hearts go out to those who are grieving over one of the best personalities in the nerd music community. RIP Mike, we will truly miss you.

3rd Annual OSVOSTOTY Awards 2011 Nominees Announced

Our friends over at Original Sound Version have just released a list of nominees for the third annual Original Sound Version Original Soundtrack of the Year Awards for 2011. We’re actually pretty surprised with some of the choices this year, but generally agree with the line-up. Check out the list of nominees below:

[EXPAND Click here for an official list of the 2011 OSVOSTOTY nominees]

Soundtrack of the Year

Bloodrayne: Betrayal
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Rayman Origins
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Composer of the Year

Inon Zur
Jake Kaufman
Motoi Sakuraba
Naoshi Mizuta

Best In-Game Soundtrack
* This category refers to the soundtrack in the context of the game and how it enhances the gameplay experience

Child of Eden
Dark Souls
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dead Space 2
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Best Handheld Soundtrack

DJMAX Portable 3
Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Mighty Switch Force!
UnchainBlades ReXX
Valkyria Chronicles 3 -Unrecorded Chronicles-

Best Indie Game Soundtrack

Bastion
Cthulhu Saves The World
Escape Goat
Jamestown
Ravenmark: Scourge of Estellion
Sword & Sworcery

Best Sound Design

Batman: Arkham City
Dead Space 2
L.A. Noire
Limbo
Portal 2
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Best Official Arrange Album

Hideki Sakamoto Orchestral Works
NieR Tribute Album -echo-
Oboromuramasa Ongakushuu Hensou no Maku
SQ Chips
Symphonic Odysseys
The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD

Best Western Fan Arrangement Album

brass 2: mouth (the minibosses)
Harmony of a Hunter (V.A.)
Intergalactic Redux (The OneUps)
Made of Metal (Erik Peabody)
Metroid Arrange 25th Anniversary Album (The OneUps)
No NES For The Wicked (Vomitron)

Best Eastern Fan Arrangement Album

CHRONO TRIGGER ~Saihate no Kanade~ (earth Japan SOFT)
FF VIOLIN II -FINAL FANTASTIC VIOLIN 2- (TAMUSIC)
Kinoko Sanmai!! (Mackerel Sky)
North Wind (Magical Trick Society)
UMEMOTO ~He Lives Here~ (WOODSOFT)

Best Chip Music Release

Beautiful Lifestyle (George & Jonathan)
Cheap Dinosaurs (Cheap Dinosaurs)
Equilibrium (V.A.)
Roots (Danimal Cannon)
SOUNDSHOCK: FM FUNK MADDNESS!! (V.A.)
The Octagon (Jonathan Baken)

Best Live Concert

Back to the Future: Two Generations of Film and Video Game Composers (VGO)
Gamers X-Mas (David Westerlund)
JADE-II (Takeaki Kunimoto)
LEGENDS (Team Merregnon)
The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony (JMP Productions)
Symphonic Odysseys (Team Merregnon)

Best “Other” Release

IMERUAT
Now is the point at which I touch eternity
Oto Gift
Play for Japan
Songs for the Cure ’11: Remedy
Tree of Knowledge
[/EXPAND]

While the OSVOSTOTY Awards on Original Sound Version will commence within the coming weeks, we’ll be sure to keep you updated with a list of runner-ups as soon as possible. Be sure to check back to see the winners for 2011!

Super Mario Bros. Crossover‘s Jay Pavlina Scheduled to Appear on Nitro Game Injection


The wonderful VGM podcast Nitro Game Injection has just announced that Super Mario Bros. Crossover developer Jay Pavlina will appear as a a special guest this coming Sunday, January 29th:

Jay Pavlina will be a very special guest on Nitro Game Injection this Sunday, January 29th! Jay is a filmmaker, musician, and the developmental genius behind the Flash game that makes gamer dreams come true, Super Mario Bros. Crossover. He’ll be joining the NGI crew to talk about the mindblowing new game update coming soon, as well as sharing more details behind development of the game, as well as other projects that he’s working on with his production company Exploding Rabbit. You don’t want to miss this!

Covering extensive discussion on the game music scene, NGI began in early 2003 as a live webcast and has expanded into the ultimate VGM discussion podcast that covers original soundtracks, chiptunes, covers, and more. Hosted by Kyle “KyleJCrb” Crouse, Larry “Liontamer” Oji, and N. “Suraida” Carbo, Nitro Game Injection has exclusively partnered with Arecibo Radio to bring the show back to a live audience, so be sure to tune in every Sunday at 5 PM EST if you’re looking to get your weekly VGM fix.

Random’s Black Materia: Remixes Scheduled for Release on Jan 31st


Especially since we’ve called Black Materia one of the best Final Fantasy VII tributes out there, there should be no wonder that we’re huge fans of Phoenix-based rapper Random. Yes, we’ve probably spoken about him multiple times to the point of rambling like a prepubescent girl would her favorite movie star, but can you blame us? Random’s wonderful work on Black Materia shows that he can still appeal to a universal audience outside of the video game community, which may be seen as a great feat when discussing the inclusivity of the general public in such a tight-knit community.

Speaking of Black Materia, you’re in for a delicious treat. A full year after the original album’s release, Random’s Black Materia: Remixes featuring additional guests, rearranged songs, and exclusive remastered content is scheduled to be made available next Tuesday, January 31st. All production has been once again handled by Lost Perception, in addition to DJ DN3, and mixing and mastering by K-Murdock. There are at least three all-new tracks, with one featuring Adam Warrock. While you preview one of Random’s newest songs from the upcoming Remixes album below, we suggest that you pre-order Black Materia: The Remixes on Bandcamp, obtainable for a mere five dollars.

OverCoat Releases New Single “Phantom Bracelet”


Arecibo Radio late-night DJ extraordinaire and remixer Scott “OverCoat” Porter has just released a new single entitled “Phantom Bracelet”:

Just finished a new tune. I called it “Phantom Bracelet” in honor of the 21 and over wristband I had to wear for the entirety of MAGFest X. It still feels like it’s there as I type this. You can download the song here, or find it in the /single/ folder. MAGFest was awesome, as usual.

We don’t normally do a write-up for singles, but we have to say that “Phantom Bracelet”‘s synthpop wobbles get us going a little too much. Shown with the kind of quality that this song delivers, we definitely hope that this is a sign of good things to come from OverCoat. Be sure to tune in to his show Radio OverCoat on Arecibo Radio every Wednesday from 10 PM – 12 AM EST. We guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.

In Retrospect: Mirby’s Year in ReView

As another year comes into place and the one we just finished slowly slinks into the past, so too comes the time when Mirby must stop being lazy and start writing articles again instead of letting the release dates of albums fade into the obscuring mists of time. With a new year comes new articles, and there’s no better article to bring it in than a retrospective of 2011. A lot of things happened this year, even more than in 2010, so I’ll keep it brief. And so, here begins the retrospective.

ReMix: ThaSauce kicked things off on January 4 with three mixes; two from the Sonic games and one from Super Metroid. OverClocked ReMix posted their first mix of 2011 on the following day; this one was a mellow rock track from ilp0, remixing “Gold Mine” from the SNES game Wild Guns. With the mixpost came a call from djpretzel. “If there’s one theme I’d like to personally endorse for 2011, it’s ReMixing unmixed games.” We’ll see if his endorsement held up through the year. And then, on the tenth of January, the world got… The Answer.

THE ANSWER: An Armored Core Tribute Album by Mattias Häggström Gerdt

No, not the self-help book, the Armored Core Tribute Album. Mattias Häggström Gerdt headed up this album, featuring Jillian Aversa and DragonAvenger as well. And then, on January 27th, SEGA called OCR out for having zero SEGA Pico remixes.

On February 3, OCR posted their first Pico remix courtesy of zircon; it was a mellow mix from Tails and the Music Maker. Just four days later, Heroes vs. Villains was released. Pitting the Bad Dudes against OCR regulars, it took hero themes and villain themes from various franchises; OCR took the heroes and Bad Dudes took the villains. The result was a delight; the pairs of tracks work well on their own, but combined creates a melodious melee, one where each track plays off its companion. Near the end of the month, another original soundtrack was released on OCR, this one for Missile Master Episode 1: Invasion; it was composed by Kunal, one of the Bad Dudes. Fitting for the other album release that month.

March started off immediately, with the long-awaited Pokémon album, The Missingno Tracks, dropping on the first. Paying tribute to music from the series so far (except for the then-unreleased Black/White), it was two discs of remixes ranging various styles. On the 25th, OCR released another pure Joshua Morse album, this one for the Mega Man series. Entitled The Robot Museum, it took a single track from each of the first 8 games (along with the Data Base Accessed theme from Mega Man and Bass), and got the JM touch applied. Finally, on March 29, Benjamin Briggs released his Attention Deficit EP, an eclectic mix of styles all containing his chippy touch.

April started off with another OCR prank, this time a “reveal” of the full year’s album lineups, totaling thirty-eight new albums. Some gems included “Hers – Female Character Themes by Female Artists,” “Up, Up, Down, Down Lower – Porn Grooves of Game Tunes,” and “Beyond the Beyond – Beyond the Beyond the Beyond,” among others. Alongside the revelation of all of OCR’s albums for 2011, ThaSauce released the soundtrack for Fasto the Speedhog 2. The long-awaited follow-up to the original Fasto the Speedhog, it blew away listeners, many preferring it to the soundtrack for Sonic 4: Episode 1. In more realistic news, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Sound of Speed was released on the twelfth, completing the trilogy of Sonic albums on OCR. Though it was a single disc, the entire album was full of gems. Or should I say… emeralds?

May was a relatively quiet month. Support OCR Month, which usually happened in April, got off to a late start and carried into May. Though the goal was set at $5,000, people went abobe and beyond to bring the total for 2011 to an amazing $7,514! Incredible rally from supporters to get that much to OCR in just a month. halc released his Pixel Perfect LP on the 16th, which fit perfectly with his EP from the previous year. Together, the two create a complete album, and a good one too!

Malcos releasing his It Started in 2012 album in June. Equal parts orchestral and electronic, the album takes the listener on a quest as it details future events that will occur in a universe separate from our own. And while not strictly music-related, everyone’s favorite person to blame Liontamer AKA Black Dynamite and his long-time girlfriend Paige became engaged this month as well. WillRock also released his own EP on the 19th, entitled Refractions of a Dream. Loosely inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic “Alice in Wonderland” and possibly also “Through the Looking Glass,” the album is comprised of some pretty trippy songs. Seriously, I blame this album for all my sleeping problems (not really). Also of note was the general public’s introduction to the OverClocked Plaid Muffins, through the mixpost of “Ska Buffet (All You Can Eat: Clean Version)”, a clean cut of their track on the upcoming Milky Way Wishes album.

July may not have kicked off with a “Four for the Fourth” as in 2010, but it give us NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming on the fifth. Worked on with love for the game, Stevo Bortz, aka Level 99 or he of the awesome beard, the track featured two discs that took the listener on a journey through the game. Except guided by music instead of some flying jester. This was also the first album I reviewed without being familiar with the source material; doesn’t really matter, as the album is fantastic either way. Also in July, YouTube favorite FamilyJules7x began a hiatus from his weekly game music guitar covers; after a year of releasing a song weekly, he felt the need to relax. He ended Year 1 with a cover of the Super Mario 64 Credits theme.

August happened to be Metroid’s 25th anniversary, so a bunch of Metroid music was released. First it was Harmony of a Hunter on the 7th, and then Theophany’s Crystal Flash EP later that same day.Shnabubula and a friend also made a tribute song for the anniversary along with a video, which was later featured on IGN. The song itself was posted on the 12th. On August 14, Mazedude revealed his self-proclaimed opus American Pixels, the long awaited follow-up to 2006’s American Album. It will remix a bunch of songs from American composers, including Jake Kaufman and Danny Baranowsky. August 15th brought the release of Amphibious’s debut EP, Oceans. A soothing aural trip into the ocean, through its deeps, and back out once more, it was an excellent effort. Nario released an EP on the 19th, entitled More of Me. A chippy mix of a bunch of different songs, it’s a rather nice listen on the whole.

Then in September, Danimal Cannon released a video. It was a rather hilarious video (explicit too, I think), but it led to a bunch of people calling him out as racist and homophobic. The best part about all the hate? The video itself was making fun of rap, and thus was created specifically to mock those who’d complain. On the 7th, an album that often had questions about its status asked was finally released. No, it was not FFV: The Fabled Warriors – WATER. Instead, it was Mega Man 9: Back in Blue. The song arranged the majority of the soundtrack. Unfortunately, all the songs on a Mega Man soundtrack are rather integral, especially the stage themes. And this album completely neglected to have a Concrete Man remix. Sure, there were two Jewel Man mixes, but no Concrete Man.

This was even referenced in the album’s trailer, and remedied shortly thereafter with Rockin’ Sockin’ Cinder Blockin’ – A Concrete Man Remix EP. Spurred on by this grave injustice to the most concrete of ‘bots, DarkeSword arranged an emergency mixing round. Calling on all mixers via the forums, DarkeSword challenged everyone to make a mix in one week’s time. The album was posted a week thereafter, album art and all. A great tragedy was indeed averted (and the also neglected Castle of Evil got a mix from Jason Covenant, formerly known as Prophecy.) Jimmy Hinson, aka Big Giant Circles, also released a chiptune album on the 12th, entitled Impostor Nostalgia, with virt’s Bloodrayne: Betrayal Official Soundtrack released through Ubiktune the following day. Shnabubula also released his Game Genie album, a marvelous collection of original songs. The Binding of Isaac was also released at the end of September, with a soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky. The style was similar to his Super Meat Boy soundtrack, which is to say it, too, was excellent.

October was nowhere near as busy as the previous month (though that was mostly due to Concrete Man’s omission), but it was a good month nonetheless. The tenth heralded the release of Super Dodge Ball: Around the World, another of OCR’s albums that had been in the works for several years. It’s never planned that way, but there’s a few where that has happened (such as 2010’s Threshold of a Dream or 2009’sSummoning of Spirits). A lot of great tracks were to be found here, including two mixes of the Versus Play theme (appropriate for the 2-player motif of versus play itself). And on Halloween, the oft-loved Castlevania mix “Juese Belmont” finally made it to OCR. Albeit it was by Shael Riley and the Double Ice Backfire (who covered the song as part of the Kickstarter campaign for their album “Ultimate Songs from the Pit”) and not the original Disk Mastah Smokabitch. Longtime OCR members may say otherwise though, and for good reason.

November kicked off with “Cover Your Light,” a remix of the main theme of the Commodore 64 game Deflektor. OCR had been holding it for the German hard/glam rock band Zero Division since August of 2010, wishing it to be released after their latest album was released. However, since that took longer than expected, this mix sat around for 15 months. It’s fantastic, and sounds just like it was ripped from the ’80s. The 6th heralded the release of Ultimate Songs from the Pit, the album of which the Kickstarter campaign that produced the “Juese Belmont” mix mentioned above was for. I hope that made sense…

The first R:TS mix of the year saw release as an OCReMix on the 17th, giving JH Sounds his first mixpost and Cyril the Wolf another one; the mix is an emotional acoustic rendition of Final Zone from Sonic 1, entitled “Finality (Radio Edit).” It’s an edit from JH Sounds’s album Hedgehog Hysteria, releaed in 2010. On the day of release for the latest Zelda game also came a surprise album: 25YEARLEGEND: A Legend of Zelda Indie Game Composer Tribute. Released on the 22nd, the album took composers of various indie games and mixed them with songs from across the entire franchise and its 25 years of captivating minds of all ages.

Roots by Danimal Cannon

Danimal Cannon started December off with the release of Roots, a collection of chiptune originals. He was even nice enough to include the project files so that others could experiment with them. OCR released BadAss: Boss Themes on the 6th; this album was just boss themes from a bunch of different games, mostly rock and metal but with a great orchestral track and a couple others too. This is also only Volume 1; the Volume 2 thread’s already up and running in the projects board. The Bad Dudes released another album on the 20th, the Metroid Arrange 25th Anniversary Album. I’m working on getting a copy of this to review with the other two for a Metroid Triple Review, don’t worry. Also released on the 20th was the long-awaited Wild Arms: ARMed and DANGerous. This album took the the soundtrack of Wild Arms and arranged it in a multitude of styles, all of which worked wonderfully for them. And on Christmas, ProtoDome released his album BLUESCREEN, a follow-up to June’s BLUENOISE. This begs the question… is this the dangerous formula he saves Christmas with? Possibly, but it’s awesome regardless of that. As for the theme DJP set at the year’s start… I think that with all the albums released, it was more than met.

December also happened to be Reviews Month at OCR. The premise this year? OA had attained the Power of the ReMix and was poised to destroy OCR. Thus, King djpretzel and his ReMix knights had to review mixes to deal damage. Each remix dealt 50 damage to him, but each remix OA wrote healed 50 HP. Rexy and Bahamut annihilated OA, with a lot of help from many other members. However, that was but OA’s first form; the ground began to rumble… and then his true form awoke. A tentacled beast bearing the facial likenesses of other judges (including Jooj-cat) revealed itself and challenged the community to review 200 tracks to finish him off. Everyone kept doing their best, and I even got involved, doing 16 reviews a day on the 23rd and 24th, and then 16 more on the morning of Christmas. By Christmas night in my time zone, Final OA was down to needing a mere 20 reviews to finish him off. So I took the initiative and reviewed 20 more songs (bringing my total to 36 for that day alone; 78 total) to finish him. What were the spoils of battle, you ask? Well for every review written, a raffle ticket would be entered to win one of three $35 eStarland gift certificates or one of three custom avatars on the OCR forums. Rexy finished the month with a grand total of 200 reviews, and Bahamut with 118. It was a noble effort from all!

And now we find ourselves in 2012. The final tallies for the previous year are 206 mixposts and twelve albums on OCR, and thirty-nine mixposts for ReMix: ThaSauce. That’s twenty-one more songs and four more albums than 2010 for OCR, and nineteen fewer for R:TS. Regardless of that, there’s plenty more to come, just as there is plenty I’ve missed (I know for a fact there’s stuff I haven’t mentioned here). If you know of something else great from 2011 that wasn’t mentioned here, just post it in a comment! It was a wondrous year for the community, and I know that 2012 will be even better! So until next time, game on!