Today, I am mostly wondering if Isao Tomita is responsible for one of the bosses in the Darius series.

First off: The trailer for Control Resonant has landed and in short: yes please, give it to me, I am going absolutely fucking rabid mad-bastard feral over here; it looks so compelling! It's also a pleasure to see that there appears to be more of an emphasis on melee combat this time 'round; much as I love the original Control, that's more for its engaging storytelling, varied and interesting characters and of course, its surreal atmosphere - the combat was the lowest point, really. However, there are two minor bones of contention to address. First, it looks like my deep-seated desire to see Dr. Casper Darling give us a rousing rendition of Starlight by Supermen Lovers is increasingly unlikely to ever come to fruition (for the record, there is a precedent for this and you never know, maybe he'll serenade both of the Faden siblings at some point, in the interest of fairness) and if owt bad has happened to Fra Mauro, then there's nothing for it but to let loose the hounds of Hell, frankly. The absolute banter between Jesse and that sassy sentient space suit is pure treasure and I would die for the pair of them. This is an important matter. Tubes it is, and anyone who disagrees is school and dirt for losing. Just sayin'.

Anyway, onto the main point of this post:

My choice of record player probably isn't going to curry any favour with audiophiles but in terms of my own priorities and preferences, this modest machine fits the bill quite nicely.

After quite a lot of fuss and faff, I was able to find a version of Isao Tomita's Kosmos (as it's called in the UK) which, most crucially, includes Aranjuez. I have no idea why that track is missing on the pressing from over here, but the additional effort (and the couple extra quid*) was worthwhile; this Japanese version of the album has a gorgeous cover, it includes the elusive track (my favourite!) and this particular copy is in absolutely fantastic condition. For real, this record is from the '70s and there's barely any surface noise on it whatsoever - either its previous owner took immensely good care of it, or the poor thing has gone mostly unplayed and sadly unloved all these years. Based on what I've read online, it seems to be a bit of a marmite album; personally, I find it to be incredibly charming. It brings the kind of eerie emptiness and majestic tone that you'd expect of space music, but it balances those with some straight-up '70s moog weirdness and some lovely whimsical moments. The main example that comes to mind here is the Star Wars theme, done with a comical synth whistling effect over a super funky little beat, which is placed facetiously low in the mix. It's adorable, I love it.

* - Over here,  a UK pressing can be found on the Bay of Evil for about a fiver, this one set me back about £8.

Aranjuez likewise includes the whistling effect but with a more melancholy atmosphere, like a lonely astronaut keeping themself amused in the endlessness of space (before inevitably meeting a horrendous death, most likely resulting from some atrocious cosmic horror or the atmosphere of Venus.) It then moves onto some coarse but quite moving synthesised strings, dreamy, gently lilting classical guitar effects and eerie theremin sounds. It seems like in the mid-20th century, the whooping and howling of a theremin was basically synonymous with space (that and the garbling computer bleeping sounds, not sure what the technical term is for that), and I am absolutely here for that association.

A closer look at the very appealing cover art. There's a lot to love here - the detail on the fish, the energetic waves with the fluffy sea foam, the eerie lighting on the distant planets. Absolutely lush.

The Sea Named Solaris is also essential listening, another one of my favourites. Out of all the tracks on the album, this one would feel most at home on an old documentary about space; it's got everything. It's majestic, dramatic, striking, elegant, surreal - I just can't get enough of it. The birdsong sounds are quite intriguing, maybe playing on that background motif in sci-fi of simulating familiar natural environments for people on space stations to mitigate homesickness, maybe (or I'm just reading too much into it.) This one also makes use of synthesised ethereal choir effects, and big, bold, dramatic organ and harpsichord sounds, which is just brilliant. From the perspective of someone listening in 2025, its an interesting thing to hear these instruments that are so strongly associated with classical music, replicated on an instrument that was considered futuristic in its time, and is now looked back on with nostalgia. I can't quite sum it up in a sentence, but it's a similar feeling to William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land, when the protagonist encounters the ruins of an aircraft that to him, is an ancient artefact but to the reader, is a futuristic object - those connections across time and how people at different points in time perceive them, that's where the intrigue comes from, if that makes sense.

While the moodier, more low-key Japanese artwork is winning for me here, the Western releases also have an interesting cover design. On the subject of vintage sci-fi art, can we get a proper dedicated Bruce Pennington book? Not just that teeny tiny Paper Tiger one. Please? Someone just get on that already! Anyway, back on topic. Here, we have a more up-front illustration, putting a very everyday-looking bloke on what is presumably the surface of a far-flung planet, and checking out the vibe. The speculative aspect of this one is appealing; it feels like a dreamscape made up of what people might hope to find out in the vastness of space.

(Source)

Meanwhile, as mentioned in the title of this post, the fish from the Japanese artwork is putting me in mind of Dimension Diver from G-Darius. Could the Japanese cover design have been an inspiration? I feel like the connection is there to be made. (Likewise, you can hear some general quirky space music elements in Zuntata's music, particularly in Metal Black and a bit in G-Darius, especially Kimera II which is another personal favourite - very atmospheric!) Where this idea is coming from is how Dimension Diver will tear open wormholes and use them in combat in an attempt to ambush either Sameluck or Lutia (or both if you're a jammy sod who can find someone else who also loves shmups to play with!), but then again, maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Either way, it's fun to speculate.

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Finally, it's getting late and I'm not entirely sure how to wind up this post. Well, on a related note of shmups, space music and vinyl; the Earthion soundtrack has really knocked my socks off lately. The game itself is great fun, the music is absolutely perfect for it - big, bold and exciting! - and the vinyl release really does it justice, it sounds absolutely gorgeous. Also a plus, the records are hefty affairs. A lot of the other transparent coloured vinyl I've collected thus far seems to be more on the flimsy side but there's no shirking here; they're big, substantial, beautiful blue discs and I'm very pleased. A strong recommendation if you're into collecting video game soundtracks.

Anyway, now I'm definitely winding up this post and going to bed (got to be up at 4am tomorrow. The joys of being a responsible adult.) Goodnight, and thanks for reading!