Quick Look: “Skyrim Main Theme” by Tay Zonday

Tay Zonday, YouTube personality known for the “Chocolate Rain” video, covers the main theme from Skyrim, “Dragonborn”.

Adam Nyerere Bahner (born July 6, 1982), better known by the pseudonym Tay Zonday, is an American actor, singer, musician, announcer, voice artist, comedian and YouTube personality. He is well known by listeners for his baritone singing voice.

– From the Tay Zonday Wikipedia page.

Zonday became famous on YouTube in 2007, when his “Chocolate Rain” song became one of the first viral videos on the site. He has also done covers of many other songs on his YouTube channel (not all video game related, but still worth checking out!)

Quick Look: “Final Fantasy – Medley” by Super Guitar Bros.


Garnering over 3,000 subscribers and 359,800 video views in under a year with only six videos , the Super Guitar Bros. have been making headway with their amazing video game covers. Little is known about their background in music except formal training in classical guitar, but all we really care about is that both Steven Poissant and Sam Griffin take their sessions seriously and really know how to put on a captivating show.

The “Final Fantasy – Medley” video  by Super Guitar Bros. is definitely a great example of how the pair work to complement each other in an almost ethereal manner, carefully arranging iconic songs such as “Chocobo Theme” and “The Prelude” to include a heavy air of nostalgia that is surely not to be missed. Armed with steel and nylon string guitars, these bros (and no, they’re not related) will make you think twice about all those bad YouTube covers you thought you listened through already.

Quick Look: Danimal Cannon on Chiptunes @ PAX East

 

Yeah, yeah. We know PAX East 2012 seemed like forever ago. And yes, we’ve probably covered everything from live streams of PAX East to some pretty cool live shows. But we figured that we can give you a little nostalgic run for those who went and for those who haven’t… well, we wanted to give you a more personal glimpse of the event itself. This week’s Quick Look features the awesome Danimal Cannon sharing his seemingly infinite knowledge on chiptunes. Yeah, that’s right. An hour of one of the foremost artists within the chip music genre talking about chip music. Chippy, right? Although intended for a more general audience, we think that it’d be good for you to refresh or maybe even be (gasp) schooled on the subject. Check out the video above and let us know what you think.

Quick Look: aivi & surasshu’s “Mabe Village” Collaboration

The incredibly talented instrumental composer and Olga Brose Valente Memorial Prize winner Aivi Tran and sound designer surasshu  have come together at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference for a pretty awesome collaboration, featuring “Mabe Village” from The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. When prompted of how the project came about, Aivi writes:

Last month at GDC, I met Surasshu, a game composer/sound designer and friend who I knew of for chip music. I’d been curious about blending piano with chip sounds for awhile, so we decided to collaborate, starting with “Mabe Village” from Link’s Awakening. The whole process of this collab was way too fun – I cracked up every time we talked, and couldn’t keep a straight face in most of my video outtakes, either. Even in this video, I still end up with a big goofy smile!

Check out the product of their chip x piano collab above and be sure to check Aivi’s YouTube channel for great VGM piano covers and more cool aivi & surasshu projects coming at you soon.

Quick Look: The Protomen On-Stage @ PAX EAST 2012

 

Chip Music Chronicle has tickled our senses recently by recording and posting tons of live performances on YouTube for those who missed this year’s PAX EAST. Along with their fastidious documentation of chip music sets shot on location from all over the East Coast, Chip Music Chronicle seems dedicated to bring us great audio and video quality of the shows that we simply cannot attend. For that, we express gratitude towards founder and  curator Emily K. Feder for making these viewings possible!

This week’s Quick Look highlights Protomen’s “The Hounds” from Act II, featuring the established “guerilla-style” recording that CMC has specifically chosen to echo an exclusive, in-person performance. With this being said, The Protomen absolutely kill it with their staggering on-stage presence, allowing for a exhilarating view at each band member while the audience excitedly rages on. Peep and click the video above to be directed to an entire Protomen playlist, live from PAX EAST 2012. Oh, and be sure to check out and like Chip Music Chronicle’s Facebook page for more action-packed performances of your favorite chip music artists.

Quick Look: Brandon Strader’s “Sage of Confession” Video

So we know that we’ve been sort of MIA the past couple of weeks… And we know how hard it was for you to miss ThaSauce, especially for all that hard work that we do gathering the latest VGM news straight from the source. Right?! Right..? Well, maybe not. In any case, we’re back! Alive and kicking!

To celebrate our return, we’ve decided to show you Brandon Strader’s epic metal remix of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim‘s “Age of Aggression”  in all its fantastic glory, visuals and all. Previewed above, “Sage of Confession” highlights Strader’s playful yet deft precision with great instrumentation and staggering vocals. Oh, and this song also happens to be hosted right here on ThaSauce for free download. Get it here.

Quick Look: Rhythm Heaven Fever Event @ iam8bit

Remember the Rhythm Heaven Fever launch event in Los Angeles that we talked about a few weeks back? If you don’t live near the Los Angeles area, we just wanted to show you a quick clip of the Rhythm Heaven Fever celebration that served an exclusive promotion for the game’s release last week. As the third release in the Rhythm Heaven series, the game features various levels with their own set of rules, requiring the player to play in time to the rhythm in order to clear them. iam8bit founder John M. Gibson also makes a cameo in the video, aptly describing the soiree in full details for those who missed out. Check out the clips above for extensive coverage of the event to catch a glimpse of how Los Angeles nerd enthusiasts like to party!

Quick Look: Mega Ran’s Jeremy Lin Rap

We’ve really tried straying away from posting any more enthusiastic posts about Mega Ran, but this video is just too good to pass up. Even with Black Materia: Remixes managing to stay on Bandcamp’s top seller list since its January 21st release until recently, Mega Ran still manages to rile folks up with his eclectic rap style and wonderful sense of humor. Enter Mega Ran’s freestyle ode to Jeremy Lin, which made popular headway on both YouTube with over 131,000 views and ESPN today. With smooth lyrics like “First ivy leaguer in the league since Chris Dudley / Must be some kinda desire / To make everybody who doubted you out to be a liar”, Mega Ran’s affirmative image of Jeremy Lin inspires us to root for the underdogs out there.

Kudos to Random for being featured on national television for such an inspirational song. If you enjoyed his rap as much as we did, grab the song for free here.

The ‘Quick Look’ series  is your biweekly source for videos of emerging artists, rad performances, or just about anything awesome that we can get away with posting that involves the VGM community. Have any cool videos to link us with? Shoot an e-mail at [email protected]. Be sure to click on the ‘Quick Look’ category below to satiate your visual appetite here at ThaSauce.

Quick Look: Minibosses Perform “Double Dragon” & “Dr. Mario” in 3D


Since 2000, Minibosses has been making huge headway within the VGM scene for their innovative covers, dynamic instrumentation, and an overall awesome presence when performing on-stage. While many would consider these guys a progressive rock band, the Minibosses have continuously pushed the limits of video game music covers (with an award to show for it!). Today’s Quick Look features the Minibosses performing their fantastic interpretation of “Double Dragon” and “Dr. Mario” at this year’s MAGFest X. If you’re feeling naughty, you can download this video and watch it in 3D for the cool effects. If not, well… this video is great all the same.  Peep more of the Minibosses’ eclectic sounds on Bandcamp.

Quick Look: The OneUps @ MAGFest X in HD


Think you know video game music? Think again. Since the band’s inception in 2000, The OneUps have long been praised for their diverse approach to VGM as a specific genre. At ThaSauce, we really do appreciate and applaud those who have quite a persistent determination to push past their own boundaries of musicianship. As a musical collective that continuously changes up the VGM scene through a variety of experimental styles, we would definitely say that this band truly delivers.

The Unofficial PAX Community DVD team have come together to deliver what we think is one of the best OneUps performances to date. Did you happen to miss the OneUps at this year’s MAGFest X? With consistently stunning multi-angle shots and such high-quality camera work, you really do feel like you are right there in the front row. Special thanks to the Unofficial PAX Community DVD guys and the OneUps for allowing us to relive one of the best experiences of MAGFest!