American Pixels Tribute Album Honors Game Music Composers From The United States
If you are reading this I have to assume you like video games, or at least have a passing interest in them. With that being the case you should absolutely check out the 14-track tribute album, American Pixels. The album is presented by composer and video game music arranger Christopher “Mazedude” Getman, and is currently up on Kickstarter to raise funds for mastering, licensing, and physical CD duplication. It features tracks from several games Diablo, The Elder Scrolls, BioShock, Maniac Mansion and others. Check out the quote below from “Mazedude” himself regarding the project.
“While the original American Album from 2005 was a success, I’d always felt like there was another level to go with it.What if the project could be transformed into a vehicle that not only honored American composers, but also provided an opportunity for a new kind of video game remix, a new caliber of genre fusion, and with it, virtuoso performances by talented soloists? Not only could the project live beyond a simple album release, but it could be an eye-opener that brings various facets of the music industry together in one place. That’s the ultimate goal of this project, to go beyond me, and to challenge musicians and audiences alike to re-think what it means to arrange music.”
And of course, this news wouldn’t be complete without the tracklist, which we have right here for your convenience.
01. “The Dragonborn Concerto [The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]” originally by Jeremy Soule
02. “Liquid Tribes [Puzzlejuice]” originally by Jimmy “Big Giant Circles” Hinson
03. “Aurelia for Trombone [Advent Rising]” originally by Tommy Tallarico
04. “Switch Force Ballad [Mighty Switch Force 2]” originally by Jake “virt” Kaufman
05. “Agent Sprawl [Dead Space 2]” originally by Jason Graves
06. “Purple Streets [Sam and Max Season One]” originally by Jared Emerson-Johnson
07. “Maniac Muzak [Maniac Mansion]” originally by George “The Fat Man” Sanger
08. “Metropolis for Guitar [DC Universe]” originally by Gerard K. Marino
09. “Angelhenge [Brutal Legend]” originally by Peter McConnell
10. “Tribal Clayface [Batman Arkham City]” originally by Ron Fish
11. “Bernard Electric [Maniac Mansion]” originally by Dave Govett
12. “Transponder Mission [Mass Effect 2]’ originally by Jack Wall
13. “Big Sister Matti [BioShock 2]” originally by Garry Schyman
14. “Tristram in Flames [Diablo]” originally by Matt Uelmen
The Kickstarter campaign offers a digital copy of the album for $9 USD, a physical copy for $15 USD, and rewards that include commissioning custom arrangements by Mazedude at higher tiers. The campaign aims to raise $5,000 USD by August 4, 2016, and will see a worldwide release by the end of 2016.
For more news about American Pixels, video game music, and many other topics, be sure to stay tuned to The Nerd Stash.
