Sunday Serenade: Hackmud, Agatino Romero, and more!

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…

“responsible_infinite_skeleton_king” from Hackmud — This hacking-themed MUD landed on my radar this past week thanks to a column on it over on Massively OP, and I discovered that it actually had a soundtrack. Some very moody, occasionally exciting electronica pieces, including this one.

“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Agatino Romero — Classic tune with a snappier beat. I know I know I know I know

“Painful Gulch” from Lucky Luke — Can’t say I ever heard of this GameBoy title, but the soundtrack is actually quite excellent and a total earworm.

“Kiss and Tell” by Ludomir & SOWL — The fact that he makes a whole song doing just this makes him a raging hypocrite with a beat.

“Kings & Queens” by Ava Max — I can’t think of a song that applies to my actual life situation less, but hey, I’m still listening to it.

“I’m Feeling for You” by Agatino Romero — Simple, peppy, happy. I’ll take it.

Battle Bards Episode 165: LOTRO Composer Bill Champagne

On this Very Special Edition of the Battle Bards, Lord of the Rings Online’s Bill Champagne sat down for an interview to talk about his tenure in this long-running MMORPG as its lead composer. From his surprising origin story to tales behind the scenes at Standing Stone Games to his favorite soundtracks, Bill gives the flip-side of MMO music production while still sharing the love that we all have for these scores!

Special note: Bill picked specific LOTRO tracks for us to feature on today’s show, which is a first for the program! Bill Champagne can be found on Twitter @BillChampMusic.

Episode 165 show notes (show page, direct download)

• Intro
• “Where Dragons Dwell and Kingdoms Fell”
• “Life in Laketown”
• “Beyond All Darkness”
• “Valley Nourished by the Great River”
• “Dread and Drear”
• “Feast in the House of Grimbeorn”
• “Fury of the First Age”
• “She Who Walks in the Darkness”
• “The Remnants of Grárik”
• Outro (feat. “Lingering Shadow”)

• Talk to the Battle Bards on Twitter!
• Follow Battle Bards on iTunes, Stitcher, Player.FM, Google Play, iHeartRadio, and Pocket Casts!
• This podcast is produced using copyrighted material according to Fair Use practices as stated under Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act.

Sunday Serenade: Lethal Enforcers II, Five, Zelda, and more!

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…

“Self Control (Live)” by Laura Branigan — Something about a concert setting gives a track like this a healthy kick.

“Everybody Get Up” by Five — So dorky in only a way that a 90s band could attain. Plus, it totally stole from “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” but that’s a good riff so I’m fine with it.

“Never Back Down” by Jeremiah Kane — Yes, yes, yes… get your dark synthwave motivation right here!

“A Link to the Future” by OC Remix — This fan remix is going to kick you in your pants, it’s that amazing.

“Love (Anaa Remix)” by Lennon and Maisy Stella — This terrific female duet is made even better with a toe-tapping beat.

“Bank Robbery” from Lethal Enforcers II — Not just a catchy western action riff, but one that has an absolute killer bassline. Amazing!

Sunday Serenade: Ashe, Brandy Clark, Kim Wilde, and more!

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…

“Long Walk” by Brandy Clark — I’m starting to think she maybe doesn’t think the world of this person. Just a hunch.

“Monsters” by Katie Sky — This one had to do some work to win me over, but win it did in the end. I think it’d be a really good song to sing along with.

“Sir Ghostington” by Ghost ‘n’ Ghost — Dang, it’s hard NOT to dance to this one!

“Chequered Love” by Kim Wilde — For my life, it sounds like she’s singing about “chicken love” and that makes the song way better.

“Moral of the Story” by Ashe — Such a well-written and amazingly handled song that, on occasion, is more fast talking than actual singing. It’s like a short story bundled into a song, and I listened to it several times in a row upon finding it.

“Growing Pains Theme” by TV Tunes Acapella — I have a particular fondness for 1980s sitcom themes. So cheesy. So fun to sing along with.

“KDrive Race Music A” from Warframe — I’m prepping a Warframe music article, and this poppy industrial song caught my ear.

“Please Don’t Go” by KWS — Man, this is a forgotten guilty pleasure!

Battle Bards Episode 164: Away with the fairies

If you ever walked into a forest glade at the light of the first full moon of the year, you may spy an impish fae dancing among the moonbeams and singing to all of the woodland creatures that come out for the annual concert. And if you ever tune in to Battle Bards — in particular, this episode — you may hear a rare recording of fairy music along with very serious discussion involving (a) aerial kung-fu, (b) the taste of fairy wings, and (c) didgeridoos. You are so not prepared for any of this.

Episode 164 show notes (show page, direct download)

• Intro (feat. “Kelethin” from EverQuest II, “All’s Fairy in Love and War” from RuneScape, and “Fairytale” from EverQuest)
• “A Fairy of Peace” from Aion
• “Fairy Academy” from MapleStory
• “Fairy Tale Out of Time” from Allods Online
• “Fae Forest” from Project Gorgon 
• “Fae Wilds” from Trove 
• “The Fairy Valley” from Luna Online 
• “Pixie Beast Tribe” from FFXIV
• Which one did we like most?
• Listener note from Katriana and Caroline
• Jukebox Picks: “The Cause” from Elemental Gearbolt, “Beach Bunny” from Jazz Jackrabbit, and “The Crystal Shards” from Kirby 64
• Outro (feat. “Fairy in the Grove” from Lineage 2)

• Talk to the Battle Bards on Twitter!
• Follow Battle Bards on iTunes, Stitcher, Player.FM, Google Play, iHeartRadio, and Pocket Casts!
• This podcast is produced using copyrighted material according to Fair Use practices as stated under Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act.

Sunday Serenade: James Smith, Parry Gripp, Ghost ‘n’ Ghost, and more!

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…

“Cruel Summer” by Kari Kimmel — This cover of Bananarama’s song became famous in the season 2 trailer for Cobra Kai. It’s not as fun as Bananarama but I like the take on it.

“Whiskey” by Bassfolk — Whiskey makes the Irish happy? I’m not sure what the moral is, here.

“No Medical” by DJ Ekl — They call this “glitch hop.” I’m so behind on all of the different musical sub-genres, but whatever it is, it’s got a great beat. This one would be a perfect party track.

“Say You’ll Stay” by James Smith — Perfect to listen to with headphones. OK without them.

“Shelter” by Finneas — The intro here is quiet and smooth, and it really makes you anticipate when the chorus will eventually crash down. It’s catchy enough to sing along to after the first verse, too.

“Lazy Sunday” by Ghost’n’Ghost — Sometimes you just need light ‘n’ fluffy fun.

“I’m a Burrito” by Parry Gripp — It’s about TIME this delicacy got its own theme song!

“Ease Your Mind” by Joan — For the life of me, this sounds like the love theme to a cheesy ’90s teen flick. I’m cool with that.

Retro Reprise Episode 20: Chrono Cross

While the game itself was a messy and convoluted sequel to a classic RPG, Chrono Cross has nevertheless persevered over time to become a cult classic that is incredibly beloved for its amazing soundtrack. On the show today, Syl and Syp share a conversation about their favorite tracks and just what made this score so special to hear.

Retro Reprise Episode 20: Chrono Cross (direct download, show page)

• Intro
• “Time’s Scar”
• “Reminiscence”
• “Dreams of the Shore Near Another World”
• “Forest of Cutting Shadows”
• “Dead Sea”
• “Radical Dreamers”
• “Star Stealing Girl”
• “Voyage”
• Outro