Jam of the Day: Balto by Yasunori Mitsuda (CREID Yasunori Mitsuda & Millennial Fair)

Given that I consider Yasunori Mitsuda my favorite game music composer, it’s a bit odd that I haven’t featured him on this blog very much. Better late than never, I guess!

CREID is a Xenogears arrange album that’s really something special. It’s filled with full band Celtic-style arrangements and hits me in all the right places. There really aren’t enough uses of this type of style in videogames. If the first half is too slow for your taste, make sure to give it a chance. By 2 and a half minutes in, it really takes off and is just a really wonderful arrangement.

Credit where credit is due: Yasunori Mitsuda (Composition/Arrangement), Maria Kalaniemi (Accordion), Maire Breatnach (Fiddle), Kinya Sogawa (Shakuhachi), Laurie Kaszas (Tin Whistle), HATA (Acoustic Guitar), Tomohiko Kira (Bouzouki), Hitoshi Watanabe (Electric Upright Bass), Tamao Fujii (Glockenspiel), KALTA (Drums & Programming).