the blizzard's a-coming, and in its honor is this collection of video game snow music. there's a large collection of it, because for a while there, it felt like every game had to have That One Ice Level. consequently, a weird kind of musical vernacular emerged: some of it borrowed from christmas carols or other programmatic music, some of it weirdly unique to the video games of the 1990s and after. let's see if we can catch it as we move across different game genres, moods, and energy levels. what does winter sound like to you?

another year, another sub shift spinning the best vgm the year had to offer.

2025 might not have brought much peace in video game music land, but it did bring a wild creativity and intimacy, especially in the indie scene. genre convention lies seemingly dead, and new experiments in palette and narrative have grown up out of its body. all featured games released in 2025.

let's hear some, and use what we learn to build a better peace when the right time comes.

another year, another sub shift spinning the best vgm the year had to offer.

2025 might not have brought much peace in video game music land, but it did bring a wild creativity and intimacy, especially in the indie scene. genre convention lies seemingly dead, and new experiments in palette and narrative have grown up out of its body. all featured games released in 2025.

let's hear some, and use what we learn to build a better peace when the right time comes.

another year, another sub shift spinning the best vgm the year had to offer.

2025 might not have brought much peace in video game music land, but it did bring a wild creativity and intimacy, especially in the indie scene. genre convention lies seemingly dead, and new experiments in palette and narrative have grown up out of its body. all featured games released in 2025.

let's hear some, and use what we learn to build a better peace when the right time comes.

8:01PM omw to friendsgiving, hope ur day was good <3

8:02PM anxious to see everyone again!

8:35PM omg so overwhelming

8:35PM memoriesssss but also more, y'know?

8:45PM i guess it's good i came?

9:30PM but, like, really who are these people???

9:32PM like how did i get so lucky

9:33PM everyone had such beautiful things to say, and the food is slamming

10:04PM and like now we're all just rocking out i guess?

10:20PM clouddddddddd 99999999

10:31PM en route, see you soon

10:32PM love you

10:59PM at the door now

for those that don't know, there is a long, long, long-awaited video game called Silksong that came out one week ago, and it is about bugs. it got me thinking about bugs, and bug music.

and in music, some bugs are just lil' guys. but some are creepy. and some are, like, weirdly horny?

some bugs seem vile. some seem industrious.

but all of the bugs are beautiful, if you're willing to give them a chance.

it has become a little bit of a tradition for this show that every so often we get together to celebrate the noble Doot...the majestic Honk...indeed, all the calls that a Horn might make.

in this installment, while we will continue to make some time for joy, we will also honor the original purpose of the Horn itself: to call people together for gathering, or even for battle.

we will remember that all doots are solidarity doots.

it has become a little bit of a tradition for this show that every so often we get together to celebrate the noble Doot...the majestic Honk...indeed, all the calls that a Horn might make.

in this installment, while we will continue to make some time for joy, we will also honor the original purpose of the Horn itself: to call people together for gathering, or even for battle.

we will remember that all doots are solidarity doots.

it was just recently my birthday, so i'm gifting this playlist of songs i believe in; not just songs i know are good, but songs i know have been good to me.

in going through it, we'll tour all the ideal birthday party moods: "oh i couldn't possibly," "i guess we'll try it," <full-on headbanging>, and "all is well with the cosmos."

thank you for joining me this year; here's to many, many more.

it was just recently my birthday, so i'm gifting this playlist of songs i believe in; not just songs i know are good, but songs i know have been good to me.

in going through it, we'll tour all the ideal birthday party moods: "oh i couldn't possibly," "i guess we'll try it," <full-on headbanging>, and "all is well with the cosmos."

thank you for joining me this year; here's to many, many more.

so cyndi lauper sang about one feminine desire, but surely there are others? here are some of them.

yo dawg, i herd you liek game soundtracks, so we're making a game full of games, so you can hop between the bops.

log into the wprb.com/chat to help choose our path! and hopefully do better than this guy:

so cyndi lauper sang about one feminine desire, but surely there are others? here are some of them.

this episode was going to air 7/14, but got stormed out; we're trying again!

originally it was a response to the two very cerebral shows that i ran 6/30 and 7/7; also, i had just gotten a tattoo, and i wanted something that spoke to the emotional and physiological depth of that experience.

so let's think today about how we endure: how we start from a place of home in ourselves; then, when pain finds us there, how we can escape it, or ignore it, or even revel in it. we'll do what we have to do to make it through.

this episode was going to air 7/14, but got stormed out; we're trying again!

originally it was a response to the two very cerebral shows that i ran 6/30 and 7/7; also, i had just gotten a tattoo, and i wanted something that spoke to the emotional and physiological depth of that experience.

so let's think today about how we endure: how we start from a place of home in ourselves; then, when pain finds us there, how we can escape it, or ignore it, or even revel in it. we'll do what we have to do to make it through.

i went on a trip, so this is a "what i did on my summer vacation" essay of sorts, but it's a lot of other things, too. words will fail me; good thing this is a radio show.

let's be with each other and figure it out together as best we can.

i went on a trip, so this is a "what i did on my summer vacation" essay of sorts, but it's a lot of other things, too. words will fail me; good thing this is a radio show.

let's be with each other and figure it out together as best we can.

two falls ago, i did a show solely devoted to my favorite video game composer, Miki Higashino. in researching that show, i found out about a 1998 album called Ten Little Plants, which featured Miki (a notoriously prolific collaborator) and a bunch of her video game music friends making some weird, fun little music together. many of the other participants were luminaries in their own right.

but there were a few i didn't know, including today's subject, Tsukasa Tawada. and it turns out that they rule, too. so today we're doing another deep dive with another one of the ten little plants. our Tawada, it turns out, has the pure heart, the proper technique, and the playfulness, to do something very few other composers can do: make really good happy music. let's give it a listen.

two falls ago, i did a show solely devoted to my favorite video game composer, Miki Higashino. in researching that show, i found out about a 1998 album called Ten Little Plants, which featured Miki (a notoriously prolific collaborator) and a bunch of her video game music friends making some weird, fun little music together. many of the other participants were luminaries in their own right.

but there were a few i didn't know, including today's subject, Tsukasa Tawada. and it turns out that they rule, too. so today we're doing another deep dive with another one of the ten little plants. our Tawada, it turns out, has the pure heart, the proper technique, and the playfulness, to do something very few other composers can do: make really good happy music. let's give it a listen.

two falls ago, i did a show solely devoted to my favorite video game composer, Miki Higashino. in researching that show, i found out about a 1998 album called Ten Little Plants, which featured Miki (a notoriously prolific collaborator) and a bunch of her video game music friends making some weird, fun little music together. many of the other participants were luminaries in their own right.

but there were a few i didn't know, including today's subject, Tsukasa Tawada. and it turns out that they rule, too. so today we're doing another deep dive with another one of the ten little plants. our Tawada, it turns out, has the pure heart, the proper technique, and the playfulness, to do something very few other composers can do: make really good happy music. let's give it a listen.