VGM Essentials - SARE Vinyl Review By Lo Fi Lee "Music across all eras and systems, ranging from 1997’s Final Fantasy 7, all the way up to Genshin Impact" 📀 @FiragaRecords #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

The mighty Firaga Records return, this time with an album from British producer SARE and a cast of co-producers and featured artists. The VGM Essentials series consists of covers and remixes of game music across all eras and systems, in this case ranging from 1997’s smash Final Fantasy 7, all the way up to current mobile gachathon Genshin Impact. The ten-track record, pressed on black vinyl, comes in a card sleeve with anime-themed artwork from Ginkgosan.Play the album and you can’t accuse SARE (pronounced sa-ray, not sair) of shying away from the big tunes. Side A starts with a huge breakbeat remix of One-Winged Angel, aka Sephiroth’s theme from FF7. Choral samples weave in and out of driving basslines, handclaps and thumping kicks to really set the tone. That said, track 2 completely changes things up: Heartbeat, Heartbreak from Persona 4 is a funky slice of Japanese city pop with a sing-along chorus, featuring vocalist Slyleaf. Doki Doki, unsurprisingly taken from stealth horror title Doki Doki Literature Club, is up next and features Firaga heavyweight RoboRob on co-production. More breaks are the order of the day here, with a hyper-elastic bassline taking us on a wander past a sped-up vocal sample, fingersnaps and hi-hats.

Side A finishes with two more modern titles. Disco Despair (feat RoBKTA), from PSP genre mashup Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a bouncy hybrid house/UK garage banger with a lovely bassline and excellent drum fills, while Rapid As Wildfire, from the aforementioned Genshin Impact, leads with a house rhythm into orchestral strings before a big drop into bass and breaks. This one features RoboRob too so you really know what you’re getting.

Flip the record and we start with a Kingdom Hearts track, and I swear Firaga sneaks at least one of these into every release. Dearly Beloved is a downtempo drum ’n’ bass number with quiet amen-style breaks driving a piano melody and vocal samples, with oddly ravey keyboards contributing to a big drop. Of all the tracks on the album, I think this one has more in it than the 3-minute runtime. Vs. Yinu, from slightly-obscure action game No Straight Roads, starts with an extremely familiar melody before launching into a hip-hop break that’s crying out for a verse from some rapper or other and developing into a stuttery dubstep-adjacent number.

Given the number of games, and consequently, songs to pick from, it’s no surprise to see a Super Mario track remixed. Dire, Dire Docks, from Super Mario 64, is another light but extremely danceable affair, with the big chiptune-styled riff over wobbled bass and 90s synth. Big Arms, from Sonic 3 and featuring arthur x medic, takes us firmly into dark territory. This is filthy d’n’b at its finest, where dirty bass trades places with the original melody to leave us sweaty and ready for more, and we get it; closing track Don’t Forget, taken from Deltarune, starts out all plinky-plonky and nice, but vocalist Aleyna leads us straight back onto the dancefloor with a ridiculous chirpy hardcore number that’s nonetheless extremely fun.
SUMMARY
All in all, this one gets a big thumbs up. SARE has picked a wide-ranging list of tracks and shows all his tricks as a producer across multiple genres and moods. You can pick this up on Bandcamp across various formats and find it in the usual streaming places.

PURCHASE LINK 🔗

VGM Essentials: SARE (1xLP Vinyl Record) (materia.store)