Interview: 7 Video Game Songs That Get Ryan Hemsworth's Respect

The producer clues us into his eccentric taste in game music.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth knows his way around a beat. With a big bad buzz around the blogs, Hemsworth is known for bringing a brand new angle to Hip-Hop. His selection of favorite video game music is atypical like his production. It goes way beyond the blips and bleeps of Super Mario Bros. (who picks the music from Shenmue? Ryan Hemsworth does). As he celebrates the release of his latest EP Last Words, he checks in with Complex to discuss his favorites in the video music world. He even goes into intricate detail about the specifics in the songs. Don’t feel too bad about still being in love with the Street Fighter soundtrack – even though Ryan’s picks are way cooler than yours. 

Interview: 7 Video Game Songs That Get Ryan Hemsworth's Respect

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Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth knows his way around a beat. With a big bad buzz around the blogs, Hemsworth is known for bringing a brand new angle to Hip-Hop. His selection of favorite video game music is atypical like his production. It goes way beyond the blips and bleeps of Super Mario Bros. (who picks the music from Shenmue? Ryan Hemsworth does). As he celebrates the release of his latest EP Last Words, he checks in with Complex to discuss his favorites in the video music world. He even goes into intricate detail about the specifics in the songs. Don’t feel too bad about still being in love with the Street Fighter soundtrack – even though Ryan’s picks are way cooler than yours. 

7. "Stickerbrush Symphony"

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Game: Donkey Kong Country 2
Composer: David Wise

This song is perfect to me.

6. "I Feel As You Feel"

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Game: Final Fantasy V
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

I was never crazy into the series, so I'm kind of an outsider looking in on the Final Fantasy games. I probably watched my friends play them too much to want to play myself. I came across this album which contains music from Final Fantasy V arranged for a live orchestra / piano. This song just floats, and you usually don't hear piano and this kind of synth sitting together in the same song, but it's so perfect for that "cloud rap" sound and a lot of weird music phenomena going on right now. The way the chords are plucked on the lagging synth is something I try to incorporate into my songs all the time.

5. "Peace of Mind"

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Game: Resident Evil
Composer: Makoto Tomozawa

One of my favorite things in middle school and growing up was survival horror games. Games like Silent Hill, Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil created this sometimes-painful amount of tension thanks to their amazing composers. "Peace of Mind" is literally just the save music - you have to go to these certain rooms to save your game and this is the theme music for those rooms. The save room is one of the few places that you are almost always guaranteed safety, but it doesn't really matter because this song still makes you feel like you're about to be attacked at any second.

4. "Daily Agony"

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Game: Shenmue
Composer: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

Shenmue was for Dreamcast, which was one of those systems that a lot of kids wanted - and also a lot of kids poo pooed. Screw them, I thought it was a pretty cool system and I tried to use my cousin's every time I went over. I never played Shenmue, but the soundtrack is the reason I've been searching for a cheap Dreamcast. A lot like Animal Crossing, you're just basically living this dude's life (think Grand Theft Auto minus the missions you needed to follow, the killing and car stealing and all that fun stuff). So yeah, this game is probably painfully boring but I guess it shows how much a great soundtrack can lift something up. Melodramatic Japanese piano pieces like this one, can't go wrong.

3. "Mantis' Hymn"

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Game: Metal Gear Solid
Composer: (KCE) Sound Team Japan

There will always be a place in my heart for shitty choir presets on synths.

2. Steep Hill

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Game: Animal Crossing
Composer: Kazumi Totaka

This is from Animal Crossing for Gamecube. It's this weird life-simulator game where you just interact with animals and kind of just within a video game. It was popular for incorporating a clock, so you could go through the game night and day, and if you went to this bar at a certain time, you'd find a dog named K.K. Slider playing songs on his guitar. Why do I feel so much emotion from a ballad written by a squeaking, computer-animated dog singing gibberish lyrics? The weird midi guitar falls perfectly in out and out of key, and when that whistle comes in. Ooh, my heart. "Those industry fat cats try to put a price on my music, but it wants to be free."

1. Home Sweet Home

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Game: Earthbound
Composer: Keiichi Suzuki, Hirokazu Tanaka and Hiroshi Kanazu

The music in Earthbound is as strange as the game itself. It has a lovely, quirky charm, which "Home Sweet Home" kind of encapsulates. Where my music is influenced is in the synth pads, specifically how the fat synth notes are bent in this one. It all sounds really warm and emotional, but not melodramatic. There's a lot of fun in the sounds and effects they used for the whole soundtrack, which is something I try to keep in mind when I'm working on songs.

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