Square Wave

0308 - Yellow Magic Orchestra

This week, Square Wave delves into the highly influential music of Yellow Magic Orchestra. They're one of the most successful Japanese bands of all time, known for making music on the absolute cutting edge of tech in the late 70s and a huge influence on video game music for years afterward. Learn how Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamotho first joined forces, their impact on music worldwide, and stories about the equipment they used, including the Roland TR-808, Roland MC-8 and more! Original air date: November 9, 2023

0310 - Tsukasa Masuko

Tsukasa Masuko might be the least appreciated, least documented video game composer relative to his body of work. His career stretches back four decades, beginning with arcade classics before expanding onto home consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, SNES, TurboGrafx-16 and more. Today, Masuko is best known for his music from the Shin Megami Tensei games and the Devil Summoner series. This episode features music from BlaZeon, Tehkan World Cup, Dungeon Explorer and Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei, and briefly detours for a look at the formative years of Tecmo/Tehkan Electronics Co. Original air date: January 11, 2024

0309 - Famicom Disk System

This week on Square Wave, Dustin delves into the Famicom Disk System add-on for Nintendo's Family Computer. This episode touches on the Richo 2C33 chip it featured along with a simple description of the wavetable synthesis sound it produced. We'll also hear music from some of the world's most popular video game composers, as Koji Kondo and Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka make their Square Wave debuts.

0307 - Risk of Rain (Chris Christodoulou)

Back for the first time, Risk of Rain returns to Winnipeg radios as Dustin celebrates the 10th anniversary of Chris Christodoulou's seminal soundtrack. Hear clips from the composer's commentary on how Christodoulou connected to Hoopoe Games, the tools he used to create and the musical themes woven throughout Risk of Rain. We'll also hear tracks from Christodoulou's Droidscape: Basilica and Risk of Rain 2 scores.

0306 - Manabu Saito

A heartfelt episode on the short life of Manabu Saito. Listen to The Dome, Euphory, Chatty and more of Saito's incredible music for the PC-88 and Sharp X68000, as we imagine what else this wunderkind of early video game music might have accomplished at System Sacom and beyond. Original air date: September 14, 2023