Monday, September 3, 2012

Behind the Drums: Asahiko Ishikawa


Linda AI-CUE (born June 12, 1971) is a music artist working in Bandai Namco Games, whose real name is Asahiko Ishikawa (石川哲彦). He first joined the games-making company way before the merge, in 1994. His first projects were for making arcade game music, which included Cyber Commando (a 1st person shooter), Abnormal Check (a 'sanity' checker) and its sequel, X-DAY2. Many of his old works became the inspiration when he started composing songs for Taiko no Tatsujin later.

He also composes music for some of Namco's other games, notably Ninja Assault, Dancing Eye, Galaga Legions, and of course, Namco's other rhythm game darling, The IdolM@ster. He has been colleagues with Namco's music team for many years now, including Kousaki Satoru (神前暁) and Go Shiina (椎名豪) and doesn't seem to be slowing down.

Checking out his portfolio in Taiko no Tatsujin, one wonders if he would have to undergo a test at the Abnormal Check machine himself; Linda AI-CUE is one of the most prominent names in the series' history for handling every single song in the 2000 series, which is famed for high difficulty and wonderfully insane music. The amazing thing is it spans all musical genres, somehow Linda AI-CUE always manages to put a crazy twist on any form of music given to him for this particular series. He does have more 'normal' projects, but he will always be remembered by Taiko players for 2000 songs.

All the songs below feature Linda AI-Cue as its composer, unless differently specified.

Variety
  • Eikyoku/Gyouan (郢曲/暁闇)
Game Music
  • Agent Yoru o Yoku (エージェント夜を往く)
  • I Want
  • Tatakae! T3 Booei Tai ~GDI mix~ (戦え!T3防衛隊 ~GDI mix~) - vocals
  • Doom Noiz
  • Honey Heartbeat ~10 Stars Mix~
  • mythmaker
  • Vault That Borderline!
Namco Original
  • Saitama 2000 (さいたま2000)
  • Kechadon 2000 (ケチャドン2000)
  • Koibumi 2000 (恋文2000)
  • Yokuderu 2000 (よくでる2000)
  • Taberuna 2000 (タベルナ2000)
  • Kita Saitama 2000 (きたさいたま2000)
  • Soroban 2000 (十露盤2000)
  • Tenjiku 2000 (てんぢく2000)
  • EkiBEN 2000
  • X-DAY2000
  • Hataraku 2000 (はたラク2000)
  • Kidaruma 2000 (黄ダルマ2000) - composer, vocals
  • Joubutsu 2000 (万戈イム-一ノ十)
  • Shimedore 2000 (〆ドレー2000)
  • Mata Saitama 2000 (またさいたま2000) - composer, vocals
  • Suuhaa 2000 (スーハー2000)
  • Donkama 2000 (ドンカマ2000)
  • Norudon 2000 (ノるどん2000)
  • Mada Saitama 2000 (まださいたま2000)
  • ≠MM
  • Reitouko CJ ~Amen Taiko Brothers~ (冷凍庫CJ ~嗚呼面太鼓ブラザーズ~) - audio voice clips
  • Gattai! Don Ranger Robo (合体!ドンレンジャーロボ) - composer, lyrics
  • Mekadesu. (メカデス。) - lyrics
  • Wadaiko Sentai Don Rangers (和太鼓戦隊ドンレンジャー) - lyrics
  • Kitto Motto Zutto (きっと もっと ずっと) - lyrics
Other credited roles in Taiko no Tatsujin
Taiko no Tatsujin 10 - Opening theme
Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Dodon~! to Nidaime! - Narration

Other Music Games Songs

Idolm@ster
  • Dokukinoko Densetsu (毒茸伝説)
  • Zekken, Aruiwa Nige Rarenu Koi (絶険、あるいは逃げられぬ恋)
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