A Whole New World

In recent years I have put together a compilation or two, so I can say with confidence that the process of assembling such albums is no picnic. It is, in fact, not like a picnic at all. There is, for instance, no handsome wicker basket, no babbling brook beside which to sit, no potato salad. What there is, instead, is a lot of hard work.

Hours upon hours of time spent pondering agendas and pouring over possible contributors. Scores of timid emails attempting to woe the cream of the crop of nerdy music to participate. Missed deadlines and delays galore. A veritable mad dash to the finish line that occurs just moment prior to the album’s release regardless of how well you planned shit. These are the things one has to look forward to when assembling a comp.

And while I’ve proudly fashioned a pair of these albums, my friends from Game Music 4 All, a site no older than my own, have produced something in the neighborhood of 600 times that amount! Yes, 1200 compilation albums in less than two years!

Does that strike you as unbelievable? It should, because I totally made it up.

On the side of truthiness, GM4A has produced far more comps than me in the two years since that blog launched, and I have found each to be an enjoyable endeavor. Recently, Ant and the boys have commemorated their second blogiversary with the completion of the Welcome to World 2 compilation.

Now it must be noted that these gents are my friends, and that I would doubtlessly say nice things about their effort regardless. But biasness aside WtW2 is a startlingly brilliant release the likes of which summarily outdoes even their admittedly superlative previous efforts.

Don’t believe me?

Of course not. I totally lied to you about the "1200 compilations" thing, so you should be suspicious. In that case, allow me to elucidate.

The album kicks off with a beautiful rendition of the Final Fantasy 6 Intro by Select Start and doesn’t let up until the final trains of its concluding track by UK geeks Elfonso. Along the way you hear Entertainment System’s take on the music of Fire Emblem, a Mega Man-centered rocker form The Megas, and some ninja chiptunes from Videogame Orchestra. And once you finished that, there’s a bunch more supplementary tracks on the companion disc from Dual Core, Doctor Octoroc, Player Two, and countless other high profile acts.

I twisted Anthony arm and had him confess to me that he would, in fact, be selling the album at this week's Nerdapalooza for a mere 5 bones, so if you plan to attend be sure to bring a little extra scratch to pick it up. It’s a damn fine value, especially at that price.

For those for you not in attendance, keep an eye on Game Music 4 All for an official release date and related order information. Or you can just listen to Radio Free Hipster, as I have a feeling I’m going to be playing a lot of it.