Jam of the Day: Setting Sail, Coming Home (End Theme) by Darren Korb (Bastion Original Soundtrack)

A testament to the quality of the Bastion soundtrack is how many people who never normally talk about video game music were begging for an official OST. In any discussion of the game, the music was always brought up. That’s something that just doesn’t seem to happen outside of niche, game music enthusiasts.

“Setting Sail, Coming Home” combines two vocal tracks (“Build That Wall” and “Mother, I’m Here”) from some of the most powerful moments earlier in the game into something new for the ending theme. It works beautifully and still sends chills down my spine when I hear it.

The year’s not over yet, but at this point I still don’t think anything is standing in Bastion’s way for being my soundtrack of the year.

Buy this Soundtrack: Bandcamp

Jam of the Day: HODO by Yoko Kanno (Ragnarok Online II Original Sound Track)

I don’t know what it is about Celtic inspired music, but I have a tendency to adore it. Yoko Kanno, whose name you might recognize from… well… about a million fantastic things from various mediums, put together a hell of a soundtrack for Ragnarok Online II a few years back.

While there is a heavy Celtic influence throughout the OST, it goes a bit in some other directions too. It’s really an amazing piece of work.

Jam of the Day: The Sanctuary of Zi’Tah by The Star Onions (THE STAR ONIONS FINAL FANTASY XI- Music from the Other Side of Vana’diel)

It’s not uncommon for Japanese game composers to form together into bands. We’ve seen it happen with The Black Mages, The S.S.T. Band, and jdk Band just to name a few. The Star Onions are a bit different, though.

In their first album, The Star Onions cover a variety of styles with each track. Part of this is probably due to the fact that each track is done by a different group or individual. In the case of “The Sanctuary of Zi’Tah”, the arrangement of Naoshi Mizuta’s original track is done solo by Masato Koda.

I’d recommend checking out the whole album. Familiar artists such as guitarist Tsuyoshi Sekito and even Kumi Tanioka (one of the composers of Final Fantasy XI) contribute their talent to make a really versatile album.