When we first began work on Lumines Electronic Symphony, we envisioned a game that would take Lumines players through a diverse but unified sampling of electronic music. This would allow us to entertain players and expose them to some amazing music. With that in mind, we gathered together a diverse array of artists who would collectively compose our “electronic symphony.” Below is the full list of artists and songs that will make up the 33-licensed tracks in Lumines Electronic Symphony:

• “4 AM” – Kaskade
• “Aganju” – Bebel Gilberto
• “Always Loved A Film” – Underworld
• “Apollo Throwdown” – The Go! Team
• “Automatons” – Anything Box
• “Autumn Love” – SCSI-9
• “Bang Bang Bang” – Mark Ronson & The Business
• “Celebrate Our Love” – Howard Jones
• “Close (To The Edit)” – Art of Noise
• “Disco Infiltrator” – LCD Soundsystem
• “Dissolve” – The Chemical Brothers
• “Embracing The Future” – B.T.
• “Flyin’ Hi” – Faithless
• “Good Girl” – Benny Benassi
• “Gouryella” – Gouryella
• “Hey Boy Hey Girl” – The Chemical Brothers
• “Higher State of Consciousness” – Wink
• “In My Arms” – Mylo
• “Kelly Watch The Stars” – Air
• “Moistly” – LFO
• “Out Of The Blue” – System F
• “Pacific 707” – 808 State
• “Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)” – Safri Duo
• “Rocket (Tiesto Remix)” – Goldfrapp
• “Sunriser (Publicmind Remix)” – Ken Ishii
• “Superstar” – Aeroplane
• “The Future of the Future (Stay Gold)” – Deep Dish
• “The Sun Rising” – The Beloved
• “What’s Your Number” – Ian Pooley
• “Windowlicker” – Aphex Twin
• “Wolfgang’s 5th Symphony” – Wolfgang Gartner
• “Wooden Toy” – Amon Tobin
• “Yesterday When I Was Mad (Jam & Spoon Mix)” – Pet Shop Boys

Finally, to end the game on a beautiful note, we enlisted the aid of Orbital’s “Never” to close out the credits of Lumines Electronic Symphony.

Now that we’ve announced the full tracklisting for Lumines Electronic Symphony, not only is this the perfect opportunity to delve deeper into the musical direction behind the game, but we’ve also reached out to some of the artists featured in Electronic Symphony to comment on their inclusion in Q Entertainment’s love letter to electronic music. That’s how ambitious our scope was when we set out to compile a sampling of the finest electronic musicians in the world in one game. In the end, we managed to do a pretty good job covering all the bases in a span of 34 songs.

Our goal was simple. We wanted to tell a story through sound. With this in mind, our song selection was done to replicate a groovy lounge instead of trying to develop a non-stop 140BPM megamix. The soundtrack is designed to rise and fall like waves, giving the player both rhythm and respite, which would feel like a musical journey.

Even more exciting than announcing this soundtrack is hearing some of the reactions from the artists that are being featured in our game. Joining us in the celebration of Lumines Electronic Symphony’s soundtrack announcement are Benny Benassi, SCSI-9, The Go! Team and Howard Jones.

Benny Benassi

James Mielke: We’ve included your song ‘Good Girl’ in Lumines because we love your distinctive electronic sound. How do you feel about your music being in a video game? Are you looking forward to playing it?

Benny Benassi: Hi, I’m here in the studio with my cousin, Alle Benassi, who is my producer and musician. We want to answer these questions together as they also concern the production. Thanks for the compliments and support! We are really happy that the track is in the video game. The music and the game are both forms of electronic entertainment, so it makes sense, for sure. And yes, we’re looking forward to trying out the game!

JM: With Sony’s PlayStation Vita coming out, are you excited to get your music in front of millions of gamers who may discover your music for the first time?

BB: This is one of the amazing ‘side effects’ of this kind of exploitation of our music. It’s a way to reach people who don’t normally go to clubs or listen to club music. It’s really exciting.

SCSI-9 (Electronic duo from Russia)

James Mielke: Is this your first time a song of yours has been licensed into a video game? If so, do you also play video games, and how does it feel to have your song Autumn Love included?

SCSI-9: So far we know about it only by email, so it stays a bit abstract right now. But, at some point people we know will play the game and – huh ?! – “This is SCSI-9 …?!” They will probably call us and that’s where the fun begins. But, seriously, this is great news. Videogames have developed into a really powerful dimension of graphics, production, SFX and music as well. This is the first time we’ve licensed a tune for a game, so we are quite happy.

JM: This LUMINES game is a collection of some of the greatest electronic music of the past 30 years. Your song is included along with groups like Faithless, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, The Art of Noise, Goldfrapp, and more. Do you think this is a cool way to expose your music to a new International audience?

SCSI-9: Exactly. Today the flood of music is so immense that you will appreciate any opportunity to promote your music. We rarely get international airplay on TV or radio so it’s great that Lumines can give us a lift to somebody’s mind.

THE GO! TEAM

(replied to by main songwriter, Ian Parton)
James Mielke: We included your song Apollo Throwdown in our game, because it has an incredibly uplifting atmosphere, a great beat and a funky rap. It’s actually quite a standout in the game’s soundtrack as a result. How do you feel about our selection of this song for the game, and what’s the inspiration of the song?

IP: I wanted to make Apollo Throwdown a kind of warped space-age old school hip-hop song. It’s quite strange and unmistakably The Go! Team, I think. There’s girl gangs, a strange flute through a delay pedal and even a Bollywood string section going on….

JM: We put your song ‘Bottle Rocket’ in Lumines II. Are you excited to introduce your music to a whole new generation of gamers in Lumines Electronic Symphony? We are!

IP: Yes, I always like it when Go! Team music is used on creative stuff and the LUMINES game looks real nice. It’s cool when you’re introducing yourself to a bunch of people who might never have heard you otherwise

Howard Jones

James Mielke: I don’t know if any of your songs have ever been used in a videogame before, but how do you feel about people discovering your music through games? Do you think ‘Celebrate Our Love’ is a good introduction to people who may not be familiar with your work?

HJ: I think a few pieces have been used in games before but nothing from the Revolution of the Heart album. I am very pleased that you see quality music as a priority in the gaming experience. I love all the tracks on ROTH and I think Celebrate Our Love is a great introduction to the album.

JM: Did you play video games during the 80s arcade craze? Wondering what your thoughts are on games in general and whether game music is anything you’d be interested in composing. Gaming consoles allow composers to do a lot with sounds these days.

HJ: I was a big Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Galaxians fan and then bought a Defender machine. Unfortunately I ended up playing it so much I had to give it away so that I could get on with some music! I also enjoyed the problem-solving games like Myst. I am interested in all new ways of interacting with music.

In 2005, Lumines was released as the number one-ranked title for the PlayStation Portable, and still holds its place as one of the top five games currently available for the system. Now, we are taking steps to build beyond the PSP classic and bring the best Lumines experience to PlayStation Vita with Lumines Electronic Symphony.

For the newcomers to the series, Lumines Electronic Symphony is a music-puzzle game that merges vivid colors and shapes with the intoxicating beats of an electronica soundtrack. It’s easy to play for five minutes, but you’ll tend to find yourself entranced for hours. Here are a few ways that Q Entertainment and Ubisoft are working to create an amazing experience that takes full advantage of the PS Vita hardware:

· Updated graphics and highly integrated sound. Let’s kick this off with saying that Lumines Electronic Symphony is a brand new game. We are now using animated 3D blocks instead of 2D sprites, which allow us to integrate dynamic lighting and animations mechanics. Along with our high quality graphics, we have tailored the audio in our game to be highly integrated with music and game sounds.

· Alternative control methods. We are taking big strides in terms of accessibility of Lumines Electronic Symphony. The game will support the front touch screen controls to move and rotate blocks. This will be perfect for new comers to the series. For those focused on boosting their scores, Lumines Electronic Symphony also supports analog and d-pad controls.

· A new XP system. In previous Lumines titles, a player unlocked skins based on their ability to successfully reach that skin. This meant that there was a potential that some players did not see certain skins. However, in Lumines Electronic Symphony, we have integrated an XP system. Now all the points that a player receives in a session are converted into XP, so as you level up, you will unlock additional skins and avatars.

· New avatars and abilities. Speaking of avatars, we have revamped our avatar system. Previously, the avatar was nothing more than a visual representation of the player. Now, each avatar has a single player and multiplayer ability mapped to them. Unlock more avatars and find the abilities that best suit your style of play.

That’s a quick breakdown of the key features that you will find in Lumines Electronic Symphony. We’ll have more information on Lumines coming soon, so keep your eyes on the PlayStation.Blog. Look for Lumines Electronic Symphony to hit the PlayStation Vita on February 14th — just in time for the First Edition Bundle!