Here's another great song that didn't make it onto the soundtrack for a great movie. As you can see from the video, this song was used in the intro to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King video game. It's also been used in several commercials. I can see why it was only used in a trailer. It's a very short, dramatic piece and probably wouldn't have fit any scenes from the movie very well. Anyway, it comes in 3 movements, which seems kind of odd for something so short, but there you have it.Movement 2(there is no movement 1)Movement 3Movement 4... Read More »

I've never seen the movie Requiem for a Dream, but after doing a little research on a song I initially heard in a video game, Lord of the Rings Return of the King for Xbox, I found that this song was the original version. This one is much more subdued than the derivative song found in the game (and a movie trailer for The Two Towers as well apparently), which is called Requiem for a Tower, but it's different enough to be good on its own. I include it because... well because I like it. I'll create another post on the derivative song as well.... Read More »

Another great song from a car commercial. The album this is on has some other interesting remixes as well.

Auto manufacturers (and insurers too I guess) are coming up with all sorts of great music for their ads, much of which I'd never heard. Here's another one I had heard in a Volvo ad. I wish they'd start crediting artists in these ads, it'd make finding the music a lot easier.

Honda seems to have a knack for putting catchy tunes in their ads over the past few years. I heard this one in their ad and immediately hit Google trying to figure out which song it was, and ended up finding an artist I had never heard of before, Mocean Worker. I iTuned this, and a few of their other songs as well.

This is the song that's played at the menu of The Matrix Reloaded DVD. What's odd is that it's not included in the soundtrack, go figure, so I had to do some Googling to find it. It definitely fits in the electronic genre, but it's listed under pop in iTunes. Not sure how that happened... <scratching head />

Found this one as I was reviewing Crackdown for the Xbox 360. You can hear it by hopping in any car and cycling through the song selections until you find it. It's definitely of the electronic genre and may be annoying to some, but it's pretty cool if electronic music is your thing.

Every once in a while, a game comes along that redefines a genre. It takes an existing formula, and may add one or two really innovative twists, making the game feel like a whole new experience. Well, ummm, Ninety Nine Nights doesn't, really, do, any of that... right, on with the show. This would usually be the part where I describe the story, but really the story in this game is pretty much throw-away. Goblins vs. Humans. See, that was easy. Okay, okay, so some power stone or some such has been destroyed, and each side has a piece, giving them super powers. So it's "Super" Goblins vs. Humans (sounds like a SNES game). Anyway, each of the seven playable characters shows a different aspect of the struggle by way of cleverly dubbed yet incoherent cut scenes that give you an idea of where they each came from and what personal demons they're wrestling with during the conflict. In spite of the obvious sarcastic tone I've struck right up front, this game actually does do the beat-em-up,... Read More »

It finally happened. I guess it couldn't be avoided. It was inevitable. I thought I was safe. I thought I had taken precautions. I thought it couldn't happen to me. Behold, the stars and planets hath aligned and hast conspired with the moon, and hath dealt deceitfully with my Xbox 360. Oh, Xbox, where is thy hum? Where is thy haughtiness now that thou hast been cast down?...Anyway, enough of that. Just thought I would share my experience of what so many of "us" have gone through so far. Yes, if man never achieves world peace, we will still have the common thread that is the Red Ring of Death. More after the tone, but first, a moment of silence please...So I was minding my own business one day, just turning on my 360 for a CPU/GPU intensive and pulse pounding game of... Carcassonne (puzzle game), having already turned on the EXTERNAL COOLING FAN I bought for the express purpose of avoiding the problem I am now writing about. Anyway, right in the middle of the game, the thing freezes. Okay, no... Read More »