Composer John Robert Matz wanted to record as many live instruments as he could for the score to Fossil Echo. Recorders, a dulcimer,  a kalimba (also called the mbira, or thumb piano) and other lovely sounds float in and out of the chill music. He and I spoke about a year and a half ago about this game,  and he’s added a lot of music since that chat.

We also talked about two of John Robert’s other projects: Song Cycle: The History of Video Games, a new collection of art songs based on game themes, released on November 4th. John Robert arranged one piece and sang on several others. And he’s written music for a new turn-based RPG called For the King.

Our Patron of the Week is Dani Barstad. Dani is a beast of a drummer and the majority of the music he chose demonstrates his love of changing up the beat. He’s also a composer, arranger, and a good friend. Here’s his list of favorite video game music; we talked about the first two:

1. “Here’s to You, Ms. Phillips” from Bully by Shawn Lee
2. “Every Day the Same Dream” from Every Day the Same Dream by Jesse Stiles
3. “Halls of Science 4″ from Portal 2 by Mike Morasky
4. “Overture” from Castlevania 3 by Hidenori Maezawa
5. “Main Theme” from Final Fantasy VII by Nobuo Uematsu