Hi, so I was directed here by someone who ordered a zelda vinyl (I am the guy who makes them) and I guess I should explain myself a bit as there seems to be some mystery about what Im doing (which is pretty funny I think).
Anyway, so technically I am an artist by trade (you can see stuff I make on my instagram if you're bored http://instagram.com/unfortunateface/ I have collected records for the last 15 years (I have another instagram just for records too http://instagram.com/thevinylsolution/ and last summer I had a bunch of extra money so I decided to do something Ive wanted to do for a long time, which was press my own record. I personally feel super strongly about video game music being treated as a legitimate artform that deserves respect that, for the most part, it doesnt recieve on a large scale even though it is probably one of the most influential modern genres of music there is (ex: if you have listened to hip hop at any point in the past two decades, it is literally IMPOSSIBLE for you not to have heard a sample taken from a video game http://www.spin.com/gallery/50-rap-songs-based-on-video-game-samples/). I collect pretty much any video game related vinyl I can find but the problem is there are both crazy rare and generally expensive and also very limited in scope of titles available. I contacted 6 different game companies trying to buy a license to make soundtracks of their games and was denied by all of them on the basis which essentially the same answer each time, which was that it was "not a market they see much demand for".
So then I basically said "fuck it", and I did it anyway, and pressed what I think is one of the seminal game soundtracks of all time "Mega Man 2". Since it was a bootleg, I did the cover as a meta tribute to 70s record bootlegs. I hand silk screened all the covers myself based on my own design, as I wanted them to be sort of functional art pieces as well. I also knew from the start of this I wanted to make these releases celebrate the actual composers that made the music as well, so the composers name is right next to the title on the front cover. They sold out almost immediately. The reaction was so intense that I started a new pressing of The Legend of Zelda 1 & 2 OST (with tracks from zelda 3 and OOT as well) and this time paid extra to make everything look legit (full color front and back cover and labels, on gold vinyl) as I want all future releases to be proof of concept examples to show all these backwards game companies that dont think there is a market for vinyl, that not only is there a giant one, but I want to do the design of everything with more care than most giant corporations would even care to, as I am both a huge record collector and a huge video game fan, and I make these as some I personally would want in my own collection, not just a cash grab for people's money. This has become a labor of love for me and one of the most personally fulfilling things Ive done and I really hope I can continue doing it and that at some point one of these stupid companies will let me buy legit licensing so more people can enjoy them.
So here are all the releases Ive done so far and the ones I am making:
001 - MEGA MAN 2 (sold out)
002 - THE LEGEND OF ZELDA (just released)
003 - CASTLEVANIA (in production, contains full OSTs of CV 1 & 2, plus selected tracks from CV 3 & 4)
004 - NES GREATEST HITS VOL 1 (in production, contains 25 tracks of some of what I think are the best NES music tracks of all time)
005 - POKEMON RED & BLUE OST (being designed and mastered now, will go into production in Jan.)
006 - EARTHBOUND (has been mastered, being designed, will be the first 2lp release on 180gram vinyl, production in Mar)
007 - MEGA MAN 3 (had been mastered, will be designed and in production in Mar, in talks to secure legit licensing for this hopefully)
future presses I want to make are:
Metroid & Super Metroid OSTs
Final Fantasy IV & VI OSTs
Ninja Gaiden NES trilogy OST
Chrono Trigger OST
Silent Hill OST
Shadow of the Colossus OST
Sonic 3 OST (with michael jackson inspired cover as he actually wrote the music for the game)
Sega Genesis Greatest Hits
etc
I master everything directly from NSF, SPC and similar uncompressed original audio files and I hand make every aspect of the design myself from scratch (no boring stock images are ever used or ever will be used). I kind of want to go for a criterion collection vibe, quality wise.
Anyway, so thats everything I think. Hope this clears up some mystery a bit and Ill probably be starting a email list to notify of future releases soon, so any of this sounds interesting to you, just let me know and I can put you on it. You will only be emailed when a record is announced or ready for sale.
Also if someone wanted to do their own game soundtrack record, I would help design art for it for free, and help with the mastering as well. I would love to inspire other people to do this and there are so many games I would love to see soundtracks for as well
