Elf Titled
by The Advantage (2006)
Albums category pick for the week of 8/18/08
When Jim brought me an album of video game music interpreted by a rock band, I expected a novelty amusement that would quickly get on my nerves. A few days in listening to it nearly all day quietly at work, I have to admit my preconceived notions about Elf Titled, the cleverly titled second release by The Advantage (which includes members from Hella) were wrong. It’s so fun and listenable and very soothing in an eight-bit way (but it does work best, like the originals, as background music.)
Much of the credit must go to the original writers of the music, who managed to turn dungeon levels, victory stages, and bosses music into audio enjoyment. The re-envisioning of these jingles is a huge subculture phenomena with bands like minibosses, OneUps, and Chromelodeon in the arena with The Advantage. It's quite a trend and one that makes sense considering our generation of sentimental video game nerds and meta musicians.
It’s worth noting that I didn’t grow up playing these games so this isn’t merely an album accessible to those with rose colored glasses of nostalgia. Songs like Solar Jetman’s Braveheart Level, Ducktails’ Moon song, the Castlevania intro, and particularly Tree Trunk, Woods, Victory from Wizards and Warriors are exciting, a bit kitschy, and make me interested to compare the originals. Wonder if my old NES is still lying around my old bedroom?
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