Music

Sunday Serenade: Hurts, Human League, F1 Tornado, and more!

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Time for another Sunday morning dose of random songs that I’ve been listening to this past week! Welcome to Sunday Serenade — now let’s crank the jams up with…

“Stop!” by Erasure — There a pureness to Erasure that I have grown to love over the last few years. This song is dorky and simple but it’s likable too.

“Big City Greens Theme” by Saturday Morning Acapella — What is it with Disney’s ability to make the catchiest cartoon theme songs, anyway?

“Root Beer Rag” by Billy Joel — This is an oldie but a new one to me, and I found myself charmed by the dancing piano keys and the memorable riff.

“The Height of the Fighting” by Heaven 17 — This is a really dorky ’80s synthpop song that’s more about barking words than singing… yet it’s got that something that makes it pretty listenable.

“Tell Me When” by Human League — Pretty simple question that was repeated over and over and over again… and never answered! Should’ve been an answer at the end of this song.

“Beautiful Ones” by Hurts — This band is quickly rocketing up in my esteem after listening through its discography. Great anthem song here.

“Title Screen” from F1 Tornado — Another goofy Amiga theme that baaaarely made the cutoff for my attention. I guess it ended up being a not-so-subtle earworm in the end.

Battle Bards Episode 160: MMO cover songs vol. 2

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For the first time since Episode 50, the Battle Bards crew returns to the theme of cover songs of MMO tracks. Several extremely musicians tackled their favorite MMORPG tunes to our delight, taking us on a breathless tour of their spin of these classic tunes. Since we want to give all of the artists full credit, you can find links to their full tracks in the show notes — give them a listen!

Episode 160 show notes (show page, direct download)

  • Intro (feat. “Grizzly Hills Theme“ from World of Warcraft, “Main Theme“ from Albion Online, and “Fear Not This Night“ from Guild Wars 2)
  • “Gondamon Theme“ from Lord of the Rings Online, performed by Brandon Skelton
  • “The Secret World“ from The Secret World, performed by Lord Bif Music
  • “Forest Calling“ from Lineage II, performed by Dryante Zan
  • “Heavensward Synth“ from Final Fantasy XIV, performed by Dutyyaknow 
  • “Arthas Theme“ from World of Warcraft, performed by Eliott Tordo 
  • “The Tale of the Mad King Thorn“ from Guild Wars 2, performed by Sharm
  • “Stones“ from Ultima Online, performed by Mathias Semborg 
  • Which one did we like most?
  • Jukebox Picks: “Jade Plateau” from Blast Corps, “The Trial” from Epoch, and “An Endless Beach” from Death Stranding
  • Outro (feat. “Kelethin” from EverQuest)

Sunday Serenade: Fast Food Rockers, Hurts, Art of Noise, and more!

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Time for another Sunday morning dose of random songs that I’ve been listening to this past week! Welcome to Sunday Serenade — now let’s crank the jams up with…

“Fast Food Song” by Fast Food Rockers — This song is not high art. Not even close. It’s borderline annoying… and catchy. Of course, it’s not high class food, either. But both are tasty and weirdly appealing.

“Main Theme” from For a Few Dollars More — I can’t believe I haven’t heard this yet, especially after being infatuated with Morricone’s other classic works. This is going on the MP3 player for sure.

“Wonderful Life” by Hurts — Sometimes I find myself in the middle of listening to a song that that I’ve started to tune out, only to have it arrest my attention and demand that I rewind and start over. I did so with this one, and it definitely won me over.

“Muscle Beach” by Ace Marino — “The ’80s are strong in this one,” one commenter wrote. Yes. Yes it is.

“Close (To The Edit)” by Art of Noise — What is this glorious madness? It is my current joy, my friends!

“Don’t Tell Me” by Blancmange — It’s so great to keep discovering ’80s hits that I’ve never heard before. You can only listen to “Don’t You Forget About Me” so many times, you know.

Battle Bards Episode 159: Black Desert revisited

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It’s a return to a soundtrack that, over the past couple of years, experienced a lavish remastry. This week, the Battle Bards explore the wild notes of Black Desert, a soundtrack that relishes its situational and ambient tracks. It might not be the most memorable score, but enjoyable? Yes, we’d advocate that. Also, Steff finally snaps and tells her co-hosts off. Draaaaamaaaaa!

Episode 159 show notes (show page, direct download)

  • Intro (feat. “Florin,” “The Capital City,” and “Glish”)
  • “Serendia”
  • “Valtarra Mountains”
  • “Treant Forest”
  • “Northern Wheat Plantation”
  • “Acher Western Camp”
  • “Behr Theme”
  • “Terrmian Waterpark”
  • Which one did we like most?
  • Listener notes: George Wilson III
  • Jukebox Picks: “Main Theme” from Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, “Magical Merrymaking” from Wizard of Legend, and “Monolith” from Cloudbuilt
  • Outro (feat. “Hidel City”)
  • Stinger: The superiority of the Swiss

Bio Break 2019 Wrap-up: Battle Bards

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Battle Bards — the world’s first, only, and best MMO music podcast — had another tremendous year in 2019. Steff, Syl, and I produced 23 brand-new episodes for our listeners to enjoy, along with a handful of new Retro Reprise shows as well. If you missed any, now’s your chance to catch up!

As for Retro Reprise:

 

Sunday Serenade: A Hat in Time, Ane Brun, Alan Walker, and more!

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Time for another Sunday morning dose of random songs that I’ve been listening to this past week! Welcome to Sunday Serenade — now let’s crank the jams up with…

“Rush Hour” from A Hat in Time — A Hat in Time is an amazing soundtrack that continues to impress, such as this Japanese-infused action track. I must have played it six times in a row when I first heard it.

“Alone” by Alan Walker — Am I alone? This song assures me that I am not. That could be vaguely threatening.

“Looking for the Summer” by Chris Rea — So mellow that I felt myself unwind just listening to this, yet memorable enough that I wanted to hear it again.

“All My Tears” by Ane Brun — Well, I think I just found the song I want played at my funeral.

Sunday Serenade: Zelda, Mario Kart, Parry Gripp, and more!

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Time for another Sunday morning dose of random songs that I’ve been listening to this past week! Welcome to Sunday Serenade — now let’s crank the jams up with…

“Moo Moo Meadows” from Mario Kart Wii — Not only is this track’s name fun to say, but it’s a gee-willikers good time to hear as well! Mario Kart doesn’t pretend to be high class; it’s dorky music that’s catchy once you get over your pretensions.

“Lorule Castle” from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds — This is a good companion piece. Another famous Nintendo franchise, another “just having fun” tune. This time, it’s more of a swashbuckling adventure piece.

“Crazy” by FDVM — Lots of songs out there about guys falling for “crazy” girls. Guess it’s not as exciting to sing about sane, balanced, and smart women?

“Don’t I Know Enough” by I am Oak — Poppy track that fuses an old folk sound with a more modern beat. Makes for great driving music, I’d wager.

“Get Shaky” by The Ian Carey Project — To my ears this sounds like something straight from the ’80s, but I guess it was a popular dance track back in 2008. Must have missed it.

“Ice Cream Tiger” by Parry Gripp — This man is a national treasure and should be treasured for his contributions to musickind.