Terra Magica release date and exciting pre-order remix update

After more than a year in development, composer Saori Kobayashi's latest musical journey will arrive on Bandcamp and iTunes on April 13. For those who know her prior work on Panzer Dragoon Saga, Orta and Crimson Dragon, you know what to expect - soaring, beautiful tunes that whisk you away into a fanciful, imaginative soundscape. We know these words can sound hyperbolic, but believe us, this is thoughtful, notable work.

What is Terra Magica? Here's Saori's own words from last year:

"For my solo album, the music takes precedence over any story or imagery, allowing listeners to visualize a world that only I have created. I hope to create an album whose music will inspire listeners and give them complete control over what they see in realm of their own imaginations. 

"I personally enjoy fantasy games and RPGs; worlds where dragons soar across the sky, and cosmos where a vast bed of planets lie scattered across... these images are my fantasies. What are yours? I hope that when people listen to my solo album, they conjure up their own worlds like I do as I compose with Brave Wave."

While most of the tracks are instrumental, you'll also be treated to occasional vocals from Yumiko Takahashi (Suikoden II, Panzer Dragoon Orta) and Eri Ito (Saga and Orta). Their spirited contributions further elevate the Terra Magica experience and give the album a Studio Ghibli (or specifically Joe Hisaishi) feeling.

Rounding out the experience is the package itself. The art recalls unique architecture and distant horizons of past Panzer titles, and that's no accident - it's from Saga illustrator Manabu Kusunoki! Series fans will know the style well and how it's hard to articulate the "feeling" Panzer Dragoon artwork places in your mind... but it's our hope this album cover stirs those same feelings in you today.

But Terra Magica has two more important tidbits worth sharing ahead of its release - remixes by Castlevania's Michiru Yamane and Bayonetta's Takahiro Izutani. If you pre-order the album starting today, you'll have immediate access to these tracks ahead of the album's 4/13 release. 

The music found within Panzer Dragoon Saga and Orta, and now Terra Magica, further demonstrate the talents and range of video game music composers. We sincerely hope you give it a listen and share with anyone who loves music in general - video game or not!

If you enjoy Terra Magica, then be sure to check out AKANE's 2nd album Journey, which Brave Wave released in September 2014. Like Terra Magica, Journey features new original music inspired by the Panzer Dragoon series of games, as well as compositions from Crimson Dragon, Crimson Dragon: Side Story, and a special appearance by legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu (of Final Fantasy). 

Photos, release info for Street Fighter II: The Definitive Soundtrack vinyl set

While the Bandcamp page already has a handful of gorgeous product shots for our upcoming SFII album, Mohammed has shared brand new, not-studio-fancy pictures of the album and its discs in the real world.

For those who've pre-ordered the set, we will begin shipping them your way later this month and into early April. We're quite proud of this project and can't wait for you to hold this in your own two hands.

Please note the price is now $85 for new orders and any orders from subsequent pressings. We priced the 4-LP set quite competitively during the pre-order phase but now that we've begun shipping orders and have a better sense of the cost, we had to slightly increase the price. Still, even at $85 you're getting an incredible amount of music, top-tier packaging and access to digital FLAC/MP3 files.

For more information on the creation of the SFII set, please check out our podcast!

Official announcement concerning Manami Matsumae’s U.S. appearance cancellations

Dearest fans and friends,

We at Brave Wave deeply regret to inform you that we have been forced to cancel Manami Matsumae’s upcoming performances at PAX Prime in Seattle, Washington and Re:Play in Houston, Texas. 

This is due to an unforeseeable issue concerning Mrs. Matsumae’s U.S. visa in which she was barred entry into the United States. We stress that this is strictly a visa processing issue and has nothing do with Mrs. Matsumae herself or her actions.

We realize that many people are disappointed by this news, and for this we extend our sincerest apologies. Our team believed everything to be in order concerning Mrs. Matsumae’s entry into the country, as she has indeed performed in the United States in the past without incident.

While this is unexpected for us, unfortunately cancellations of performances due to visa issues are a common occurrence. Many foreign artists across all disciplines struggle to receive visas that allow them to participate in events and performances in the United States. If you’d like to read more about this phenomenon, we recommend this excellent article by Larry Rohter for the New York Times: “U.S. Visa Rules Deprive Stages of Performers”.

We thank you for your understanding and sincerely hope that Mrs. Matsumae will have the opportunity to participate in U.S. events again in the near future!

Brave Wave announces solo album and tribute album by Manami Matsumae

Manami Matsumae attended Japan Expo 2015 in Paris. She is pictured on the left alongside Saitama, Japan-based video game cosplayer, Fujihime. 

Manami Matsumae, in collaboration with Tokyo-based music label Brave Wave Productions, is officially underway with her first-ever original solo album, which will celebrate thirty years of working as a composer in the video game industry. Matsumae’s career began in 1987 when she graduated from the Osaka University of Arts and joined CAPCOM’s Sound Production Department that same year. The solo album will feature Matsumae’s signature technique of catchy, memorable tunes that people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy. The solo album will be released by December 2017, 30 years after the release of the original Mega Man.

Before her first solo album releases, Brave Wave will collaborate with a group of artists for another Matsumae album, tentatively titled MANAMI MATSUMAE 30TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE ALBUM. It will feature remixed renditions of up to 12 songs composed and selected by Matsumae herself as her all-time favorite compositions. The list of participating remixers includes other composers from the Brave Wave lineup and others who were influenced by Matsumae’s work. The participating artists will be revealed in the coming year. The remix album will be released in 2016 ahead of the solo album. 

Matsumae’s music has touched the hearts of gamers since December 1987, when CAPCOM released the original Mega Man for the Nintendo Entertainment System, ushering in one of that company’s longstanding and most recognizable gaming icons. Since then, Matsumae has worked on dozens of game soundtracks, most notably Shovel Knight and Mighty No. 9. She has most recently worked with Brave Wave on original standalone songs and collaborative game soundtracks, penetrating the borders of her home country of Japan to reach new audiences and touch the hearts of gaming music fans in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

The solo album and MANAMI MATSUMAE 30TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE ALBUM simultaneously represent a tribute to her past work and an impactful opening to her fourth decade of musical composition. In deciding to create a solo album, Matsumae says, “It’s a shame I couldn’t get in touch with fans from around the world during my first decade as a composer. I see this solo album as a way to make up for lost time, so I hope everyone is looking forward to it!” 

Brave Wave donates 100% of its month-long sales to Layan GCC, aiding Syrian refugees in the month of Ramadan

Today marks the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Muslims around the world believe this to be the holiest month, as it’s the month in which the Quran was first revealed. During Ramadan, Muslims spend the daylight hours in a complete fast, abstaining from food, drink, and other physical needs. Regretfully, the ongoing Syrian civil war has torn the country apart, and it is estimated that over 10 million Syrians have been displaced. Syrian refugees go through an immeasurable amount of hardship, and Ramadan becomes a stressful month as millions of families struggle to find food and healthcare.

Kuwait-based non-profit organization Layan GCC has been aiding Syrian refugees in their time of need, and for $99 they’re able to feed a family of six for the entire duration of Ramadan. Brave Wave is donating an advance payment of $1,000 to Layan GCC today, and is committed to donating 100% of its digital sales to the nonprofit for the remainder of the month. We encourage our fans to consider donating to the cause through Layan’s website, or instead to purchase any album through Brave Wave’s store. Brave Wave is a multi-national music label that includes people from many races, religions, and positions in society, and we hope to inspire compassionate people to make a positive change in the lives of many.

As a way to encourage people to donate, we have marked our best-selling albums World 1-2 and In Flux as pay-what-you-want. Any amount you enter will be donated in full to aid the Syrian refugees during the month of Ramadan.

Read about Layan GCC on The UN Refugee Agency website. Sadly, Layan's website has no English support, which is why we'll act as a liaison and donate on your behalf.

Contest winner Daliesk headlines "Retro-Active Pt. 1 Remixed" with Chipzel, ABSRDST

On March 15th, we opened a worldwide remix competition sponsored by Grado and Plogue for Keiji Yamagishi’s high-energy track Kaleidoscope. The song Kaleidoscope is a collaboration with Mega Man’s legendary composer Manami Matsumae, and the fifth track off of Yamagishi’s debut solo album “Retro-Active Pt. 1”.

Throughout the contest period we received an incredible number of remixes, and today we’re excited to announce the Grand Prize winner! Daliesk’s Kaleidoscope remix opens Keiji Yamagishi’s new remix album Retro-Active Pt. 1 Remixed, joining Chipzel (of Super Hexagon), ABSRDST, KOZILEK and more.

Daliesk is the alias of Peruvian producer Eduardo Reategui. Eduardo hails from Lima, where he is currently studying music at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences after changing his focus from communication and media studies. He is a fan of a large range of genres, specifically house, disco, Caribbean and Latin music. He decided on the alias Daliesk as an alternate spelling of “daliesque”, as he is a fan of surrealist artist Salvador Dali. Check out more of his music on his Soundcloud and Facebook pages!

By winning the Kaleidoscope remix contest, Daliesk’s remix will headline Retro-Active Pt. 1 Remixed. He will also receive a pair of Grado PS500e Professional Series headphones courtesy of Grado Labs, three audio production plugins courtesy of Plogue, and a cash prize of ¥30,000 (JPY).

Pre-order Retro-Active Pt. 1 Remixed on our Bandcamp store and get an instant download of Daliesk’s dazzling remix of Kaleidoscope — Yamagishi's summer anthem, as confessed by him! The full album releases on June 10th and will be available to purchase on iTunes, Amazon and the Google Play store.