Brave Wave expands its roster with veteran video game composers David Wise and Akari Kaida

At Brave Wave, we pride ourselves in supporting the work of video game composers by producing and publishing their original albums while granting them full creative agency over their masterful compositions. Our passion is most evident in our Billboard-charted restoration of the Street Fighter II soundtrack, which we recorded from the game's original arcade boards before restoring to an unprecedented level of sound quality—all under the watchful eye (and ear) of original composer Yoko Shimomura. 

We applied this model again in our Ninja Gaiden soundtrack restoration, where composer Keiji Yamagishi (alongside series composers Ryuichi Nitta and Kaori Nakabai) assumed control of the project and approved our newly remastered restorations of both the NES and Arcade soundtracks, each polished to perfection by Brave Wave’s in-house engineer, Marco Guardia. Keiji Yamagishi also worked closely with Guardia and label director Mohammed Taher on his first-ever solo albums "Retro-Active Pt. 1" and "Retro-Active Pt. 2," produced and published by Brave Wave to critical and fan acclaim. Yamagishi also served as a showrunner at MAGFest 2018, where his solo albums were performed live for the first time by Brave Wave’s in-house band, comprised of Stemage (Metroid Metal), Dino Lionetti and Kev Ragone (Cheap Dinosaurs), and Steve "ap0c" Lakawiscz.

From top left: Brave Wave's BizDev Alexander Aniel, Kev Ragone (of Cheap Dinosaurs), Ninja Gaiden composer Keiji Yamagishi, Ninja Gaiden director Hideo Yoshizawa. Bottom left: Steve 'ap0c' Lakawicsz, Dino Lionetti (of Cheap Dinosaurs), Grant 'Stemage' Henry (of Metroid Metal).

We’re always working towards our goal of connecting the world’s most talented video game composers—and by extension, their music—with the rest of the world. Today, we’re honored to introduce two incredible additions to the Brave Wave roster, and we’re very excited to share their music with our fans and clients alike!

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David Wise

David Wise is a UK-based multi-instrumentalist and composer who has been making music since the 8-bit era. His work includes composing for games such as Battletoads and Snake Rattle 'n' Roll for the NES, but he notably rose to fame after composing the music for the Donkey Kong Country series on the Super NES. Recently, Wise leveraged his considerable talent to produce the scores for Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee, and Sumo Digital’s Snake Pass. Under the Brave Wave banner, Wise will be working on a fully original solo album, including tracks made in conjunction with Brave Wave’s Japanese composers. He is also contributing to the Brave Wave mega-album "World 1-3," collaborating with the likes of world-class musicians Manami Matsumae (Mega Man), Lena Raine (Celeste), Stemage (Runner3), and more.

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Akari Kaida

Akari Kaida is a Tokyo-based musician celebrated for her compositional work on a wide variety of Capcom games, most notably Breath of Fire III, Mega Man & Bass, and the inaugural Mega Man Battle Network. Kaida went on to compose for games such as Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, Onimusha 3, Okami, Mega Man 10, and more. Under the Brave Wave banner, Kaida will be working on her first-ever original solo album. She will also be contributing to the Brave Wave mega-album “World 1-3,” remixing Manami Matsumae’s “A Thousand Leagues Below” from Yacht Club Games’ hit game Shovel Knight.

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Label director Mohammed Taher is currently directing and executive producing the next Brave Wave compilation album "World 1-3" (tentative title), following the label's renowned compilation albums "World 1-2" (2013) and "In Flux" (2014). The new album will include original tracks as well as video game remixes by label newcomers David Wise and Akari Kaida, as well as Manami Matsumae (Mega Man), Keiji Yamagishi (Ninja Gaiden), Ryuichi Nitta (Ninja Gaiden II), Kaori Nakabai (Ninja Gaiden III), Masashi Kageyama (Gimmick!), Takahiro Izutani (Bayonetta), Monomirror (Octahedron), Lena Raine (Celeste), Stemage (Metroid Metal), Dino Lionetti (Cheap Dinosaurs), and many more. Keep an eye out on our Twitter and Instagram accounts to follow the album's latest developments.

Regarding Saori Kobayashi's Universal Fan Con Performance

Dearest fans and friends,

We at Brave Wave deeply regret to inform you that we have been forced to cancel Saori Kobayashi's upcoming performance at Universal Fan Con in Baltimore, Maryland. 

This is due to the postponement of Universal Fan Con, a decision made entirely by its organizers, due to a "financial deficit that will not allow [the organizers] to operate the convention within budget."

We realize that many people are disappointed by this news, and for this we extend our sincerest apologies. Our team spent six months coordinating with Universal Fan Con, Triforce Quartet and Flutist Maho Azuma to help get this performance together. 

We thank you for your understanding and sincerely hope that Mrs. Kobayashi and Triforce Quartet will have the opportunity to perform again in the near future!

Please note that Saori Kobayashi's attendance at any future event, by Universal Fan Con or otherwise, is not confirmed until announced otherwise. 

For any questions or concerns, please contact us through the Contact page on the Brave Wave site.

Brave Wave Productions Announces THREE MOVEMENTS, the First Solo Album by Mega Man Composer Manami Matsumae

Manami Matsumae, in collaboration with Tokyo-based music label Brave Wave Productions, unveils her first-ever original solo album THREE MOVEMENTS, which celebrates her thirty years of working as a composer in the video game industry. Matsumae’s career began in 1987 when she graduated from the Osaka University of Arts and joined Capcom’s Sound Production Department that same year. The solo album features Matsumae’s signature catchy and memorable tunes, while showcasing a new side of her that fans rarely get to see. She ventures into chiptunes, trance, orchestral, and ambient soundscapes – woven into a classical narrative that splits this blend of genres into three distinct parts. “By this point, I've created music for a number of video games,” says Matsumae about the album’s diverse lineup of tracks. “These songs come in a variety of genres, and I want everyone to listen to the different styles I've experienced throughout the years, which is why I ended up creating my album in this fashion.”

The solo album will be released on December 17th 2017, thirty years after the release of the original Mega Man. The album is available to pre-order on Bandcamp right now, with four tracks available to stream: the Mega Man-inspired ‘Fight For Peace’, the action packed ‘Aerial Clash’, the gloomy ‘Lost Artifact’, and the melodramatic ‘Elegy’. Matsumae deviates from her signature style at times, opting for unclear melodies and structures like in ‘Lost Artifact’. “This track is indeed different from the melodic songs I'm known for,” explains Matsumae. “I composed the song by relying on changing chords. I previously created the ambient version of the Mighty No. 9 Main Theme using this method. For me, these types of songs aren't at all difficult to create and is actually my favorite compositional method.”

For the album’s visual theme, Manami worked with label director Mohammed Taher and New York-based photographer Bao Ngo to capture the full breadth of her music. “Unlike the typical solo album, this isn’t a genre album,” explains director Taher. “Manami crosses chiptunes with everything from classical piano and SNES-inspired beats to melodically vague soundscapes and orchestral numbers. The music influenced our photography, and we toured around the Swiss Alps looking for the perfect shots.” The front cover was shot by photographer Bao Ngo with a long lens and symbolizes the album’s distinct genre-sweeping style, with the CD and vinyl booklets featuring full-page spreads of Ngo and Taher’s photographic escapade.

Matsumae’s music has touched the hearts of gamers since December 1987, when CAPCOM released the original Mega Man for the Nintendo Entertainment System, ushering in one of that company’s longstanding and most recognizable gaming icons. Since then, Matsumae has worked on dozens of game soundtracks, such as standouts Mega Man 10, Shovel Knight, and Mighty No. 9. She has most recently worked with Brave Wave on original songs and collaborative albums, notably collaborating with Evanescence’s bassist Tim McCord and contemporary chiptune extraordinaire Chipzel, thereby penetrating the borders of her home country of Japan to reach new audiences all around the world. She continues to be an integral part of Brave Wave, and is currently working with label director Taher on the upcoming mega-collaboration album World 1-3 slated for release in 2019, following the #1 album World 1-2, as well as contributing to the ZX Spectrum album Magenta by C-jeff which is planned for January 2018.

Pre-order the New Pressing of Street Fighter II The Definitive Soundtrack 4-LP Box Set

The wait is over! Brave Wave is excited to announce that a new pressing of the sold-out 4-LP Vinyl Box Set of Generation Series 001: Street Fighter II The Definitive Soundtrack is available to pre-order today!

Pre-order here: http://bigwax.fr/en/brave-wave/gs-001

If you missed out on the last pressing, this is your chance to own this beautiful box set containing 4 colored discs each accompanied by a unique LP sleeve with character art by Akiman. The full-sized booklet contains a foreword by Yoshinori Ono, Executive Producer of the Street Fighter series; an interview with composer Yoko Shimomura; an essay by Matt Leone, Features Editor at Polygon; and original archival artworks.

Street Fighter II The Definitive Soundtrack, released in 2015, features a new digital restoration approved by composer Yoko Shimomura, and includes the full arcade soundtrack: the original CPS-1 score that appeared in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, plus the newly arranged CPS-2 score for Super Street Fighter II Turbo. For further information on the implemented techniques, you can read FACT's interview with our recording and mixing engineers.

Note: The new pressing will be made by a new factory, therefore things like printed colors and paper material/feel might exhibit slight cosmetic differences to the original product. The sound quality is unaltered.

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We are excited to announce a new and exciting partnership with France-based BIG WAX, who will lend their expertise by operating Brave Wave's new vinyl online shop located at http://bigwax.fr/brave-wave. Big Wax will handle all future fulfilment and customer service for Brave Wave vinyl releases, including the upcoming Generation Series 002: Shovel Knight release (coming next week!) and Generation Series 003, which will be announced in October.

Big Wax operates out of Europe, but offers shipping options for our customers based in North America. Please note that the new Brave Wave vinyl shop operated by Big Wax has a separate customer service policy from the Brave Wave shop on Bandcamp. The terms and conditions can be found here: http://bigwax.fr/en/about/terms-and-conditions

We are also equally excited to announce a new partnership with Mondo who will be carrying Brave Wave's Generation Series products on their shop. Mondo will offer Street Fighter II The Definitive Soundtrack for pre-order at around the same time as Big Wax.

Brave Wave @ Japan Expo Paris 2016

Saori Kobayashi and two fans at Japan Expo Paris 2015

We here at Brave Wave are happy to announce that we will be returning to Japan Expo in Paris, France, for the second consecutive year! Last year's event was an incredible experience for us, and we're so excited to meet even more fans and VGM enthusiasts this year.

Our star guest this year will be composer Saori Kobayashi, who attended Japan Expo last year as well. This time around, she'll not only be at the Brave Wave booth to greet fans, but will also be performing two concerts along with the Japan Game Music Orchestra and vocalist Eri Ito. Definitely a performance not to be missed!

At the Brave Wave booth, Founder/Director Mohammed Taher and CEO Alex Aniel will be present, and Brave Wave merchandise will also be sold. We'll have much of our catalog on hand, including CDs of Street Fighter II: The Definitive Soundtrack, Saori's new solo album Terra Magica, Journey by AKANE, Smoke Thief's debut album Heart Beat Circuit, and our bestselling album World 1-2: The Complete Collection. We'll also have listening stations set up, so come treat your ears and hopefully discover some music you'll love!

For exact details and Saori's schedule, see below:

Japan Expo
July 7th - 10th, 2016
Parc des Expositions de Paris-Nord-Villepinte
93420 Villepinte - FRANCE

Brave Wave booth location:
Hall 6 / Booth number: A616

Saori Kobayashi's performance times:
July 8, 2016
8:45-10:00 - Autograph Session (@SUMIRE Stage)
16:30-17:15 - Performance (@KARASU Stage)

July 10, 2016
14:45-15:30 - Performance (@KARASU Stage)
16:15-17:00 - Autograph Session (@SUMIRE Stage)

Official announcement concerning Manami Matsumae’s U.S. appearance cancellations

Dearest fans and friends,

We at Brave Wave deeply regret to inform you that we have been forced to cancel Manami Matsumae’s upcoming performances at PAX Prime in Seattle, Washington and Re:Play in Houston, Texas. 

This is due to an unforeseeable issue concerning Mrs. Matsumae’s U.S. visa in which she was barred entry into the United States. We stress that this is strictly a visa processing issue and has nothing do with Mrs. Matsumae herself or her actions.

We realize that many people are disappointed by this news, and for this we extend our sincerest apologies. Our team believed everything to be in order concerning Mrs. Matsumae’s entry into the country, as she has indeed performed in the United States in the past without incident.

While this is unexpected for us, unfortunately cancellations of performances due to visa issues are a common occurrence. Many foreign artists across all disciplines struggle to receive visas that allow them to participate in events and performances in the United States. If you’d like to read more about this phenomenon, we recommend this excellent article by Larry Rohter for the New York Times: “U.S. Visa Rules Deprive Stages of Performers”.

We thank you for your understanding and sincerely hope that Mrs. Matsumae will have the opportunity to participate in U.S. events again in the near future!