0095 // Jennifer Walton

Our latest mix comes composer and sound-designer, Jennifer Walton. Following on from our latest Resonance FM show on Video Game Music, Walton has made a mix of tracks from Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). To be perfectly honest, this is not a genre I'm particularly familiar with. But thankfully, Walton has provided the following text, to give some context:

I've been pretty obsessed with rhythm game music since i got heavily into DDR around 2 years ago. The crossover of heavy dance genres, gets pushed to a stupid extreme with the removal of a boundary for what is dance-able. The focus becomes how fast someone can physically move their feet or tap buttons rather than any cohesive dancing style. This creates bizarre musical moments, with 32nd or 64th notes becoming the regular division for any element of the song to allow the chart creators ample material to challenge players.

Over the years the boundary of physical skill has been pushed so far out, forcing the music to keep up. The original challenge chart in DDR 1 was PARANOIA, a 180 bpm drum and bass track, in the most recent release the hardest challenge chart is EGOISM 440.. A (you guessed it) 440 bpm song with hideous amounts of slow downs, beat switches and key changes. With this hellbent focus on physical difficulty, when tracks are removed from their charts they become weird disjointed beasts, never settling into a groove or pattern leaving you adrift in a sea of gabber kicks, too fast to ever dream of dancing Hakken to.

All tracks chosen for this mix are from mainline Konami games, Dance Dance Revolution, Sound Voltex and Beatmania, with all the tracks being available either on home releases or cabinets. Konami have some of the strictest rules regarding IP and approval, making the fact that these tracks have mostly been created by in house composers all the more bizarre. I often imagine a room full of stock holders nodding along to at Eurobeat version of Mickey Mouse March.

A playlist featuring the in game charts is also available here.

Tracklist

DDR EXTREME JP SELECT
LESSON BY DJ - U.T.D & Friends (DDR A)
METALGEAR ～ SOLID Main Theme ～ - ESPACIO BROTHERS (Beatmania 3)
Mickey Mouse March (Eurobeat Ver.) - Domino (Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix)
DANCE ALL NIGHT (DDR EDITION) - Sota Fujimori (DDR 2016)
Freaky Freak - Kamome Sano (Sound Voltex Booth)
Ace For Aces - TAG×U1 (DDR A)
Come To Life - ARM(IOSYS) feat.Nicole Curry (DDR A)
Strobe♡Girl - colate (Sound Voltex II Infinite Infection)
EGG - ginkiha (Sound Voltex Booth)
She Is My Wife - SUPER STAR -MITSURU- (BeatMania IIDX 22 PENDUAL)
Taboo Tears You Up 2008 -REDALiCE (Sound Voltex Booth)
GEROL - Hommarju (Sound Voltex II Infinite Infection)
Garakuta Doll Play - t+pazolite (Sound Voltex IV HEAVENLY HAVEN)
上海紅茶館 ～ Chinese Tea Orchid Remix - Yooh (Sound Voltex II Infinite Infection)
NEXT BILLIONAIRE - Nana Takahashi & SOUND HOLIC (SDVX BOOTH)
Feels Seasickness - かめりあ (Sound Voltex IV HEAVNLY HAVEN)
iLLness LiLen - かねこちはる (Sound Voltex IV HEAVNLY HAVEN)
FIN4LE - Kamome Sano (Sound Voltex IV HEAVNLY HAVEN)
ENDYMION - fallen shepherd ft. RabbiTon Strings (DDR A)

• Published
• Jun 13, 2019

• Credits
• Words by Georgie_McVicar