Michael Vincent Fusco - The Bashful Ghost

Hear The Track Here

My first encounter with Michael Vincent Fusco, a native of California, was surprisingly mild, considering that Michael likes to fiddle with games soundtracks. Uh f***** oh, is exactly what you would say knowing my venom for the genre. Don't mind playing the games but the music leaves me cold - unless, of course, it's while playing the game. The whole point right there. Still, Michael Vincent neatly sidestepped my usual carnivorous appetite for all things soundtracky by making The Angry Block (April 2009) a very neat piece of electronica lightly seasoned with Super Nintendo sounds. The key with me is, as always, to make the track more interesting as a piece of music than a piece of a game.

A rare thing with soundtracks - that's their nature.

Not content with stretching his luck with his first track, along he comes with yet another. Let's go further. He gleefully admits that 'this is another track towards the Super Mario Brothers inspired album I am working on' Awww man, this just getting more and more lunatic by the moment. Just trust to luck that he doesn't ask me to review the album. Seriously. As good as it is - and it is - The Bashful Ghost is still closely aligned with irritation with my own personal taste. Definitely a point in it's favour though; I could well envisage playing Mario along with a soundtrack like this - I'd be grooving...

Again what saves the day is the intense musical style Michael Vincent brings to it. Sure it's a definable games soundtrack, complete with clouds of aural midges, but underneath all that is solid progression and structure - all in all a very nice piece of work. Moreover, it manages to crunch into less cheese than many attempts it has been my misfortune to hear, and that's always a good thing. There's a nice drum and bass feel propelling the track along, and it sits perfectly with the usual Nintendo sound suspects. I suspect this will appeal to many who share the same horror of console music as I do, and that is unusual. Most of us would just shoot it on sight.

Excellent Mario Brothers inspired soundtrack. Highly Recommended. (damnit!)