Here’s an imaginative compilation concept. Document the history of the home video game console through an immense collection of bands/musicians who create music using old and new video game music and sound effects as their main sampling source. With a grand total of 27 different artists showcased here on VGM…, you start to realize that there seems to be somewhat of a new musical sub-scene that’s operating on a global scale, from the U.S. to Japan to Australia to Sweden. The artists here are mostly unrecognizable at first glance, but there are a few names you may have seen tossed around lately among your avant garde pals (Panicsville, Royal Space Force, COiN), not that you couldn’t most likely get an idea of the sound of the music contained within just by the title. The results range from (most often) jittery, glitch-tronics, to (often) blippy electro-pop, to (sometimes) avant-garde experimentation, and even (once) guitar rock. The source material is surprisingly recognizable on most tracks and you’ll instantly be scanning your memory banks to remember exactly which Super Mario Bros. that little beep is from or whether that distorted fiery sound came from a game you played when you were 10 or if it were from last week. This compilation is a nostalgia trip of the truest sense. Though the music sometimes can become a bit tedious, even for adventurous listeners, it switches itself up enough to never become boring, and with extremely strong tracks coming from Hi-Score, Role Model and Makunouchi Bento, it’s become one of my favorite comps of the year. Children of the video game generation rejoice, here is your soundtrack.