Yoko Shimomura / Grant Kirkhope / Gareth Coker – Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope (3LP)

Album Info Hide Show Artist: Yoko Shimomura / Grant Kirkhope / Gareth Coker Album: Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Released: UK & US, 2024 Tracklist: A01 Yoko Shimomura – Prologue – On The Back Of The Darkmess Manta A02 Yoko Shimomura – The Galaxy Awaits (Main Menu) A03 Grant Kirkhope – First Contact – Beacon Beach A04 Gareth Coker – Metagalactic Marauders A05 Grant Kirkhope – Port In A Storm A06 Yoko Shimomura – Battle Of Beacon Beach A07 Yoko Shimomura – Dark Secrets On A Sunlit Planet A08 Grant Kirkhope – Augie’s Subterranean Sanctum A09 Yoko Shimomura – The Temple Under Siege A10 Yoko Shimomura – Beacon In The Darkness A11 Grant Kirkhope – Sunny Side Of The Galaxy A12 Grant Kirkhope – Headlong Into Darkness B01 Grant Kirkhope – Icy Battle Ballet B02 Grant Kirkhope – Ice-Bound Planet (Part One) B03 Yoko Shimomura – Cold, Dark Mask Of The Mountain (Part One) B04 Yoko Shimomura – Cold, Dark Mask Of The Mountain (Part Two) B05 Yoko Shimomura – Warmth Amongst The Snow B06 Yoko Shimomura – Clash In The Outer Galaxy B07 Yoko Shimomura – Uphill Battle B08 Grant Kirkhope – Ice-Bound Planet (Part Two) B09 Grant Kirkhope – Midnite Ball (Right Turn) B10 Grant Kirkhope – Midnite Ball (Left Turn) B11 Grant Kirkhope – Midnite Ball (Say Your Goodbyes) C01 Grant Kirkhope – Paean To Palette Prime C02 Grant Kirkhope – Paletteville In Peril C03 Yoko Shimomura – Root Of Corruption (Part One) C04 Yoko Shimomura – Root Of Corruption (Part Two) C05 Yoko Shimomura – Kaleidoscopic Canopy C06 Grant Kirkhope – An Uncanny Village C07 Yoko Shimomura – Pixies And Poets C08 Grant Kirkhope – Interstellar Invaders C09 Grant Kirkhope – Wither And Fade C10 Grant Kirkhope – Drama In The Plaza C11 Grant Kirkhope – Hitting Bedrock D01 Yoko Shimomura – Yearning To Bloom D02 Gareth Coker – Fight Songs From The Flower Planet D03 Yoko Shimomura – Planet In Pre-Bloom D04 Yoko Shimomura – Fuzzy And Fleeting D05 Gareth Coker – Galaxy Encounter D06 Yoko Shimomura – Sights And Secrets Of Terra Flora D07 Gareth Coker – Spout Forth E01 Gareth Coker – Ballad Of Barrendale Mesa E02 Gareth Coker – Desolate Beauty E03 Yoko Shimomura – Dancing In The Sand E04 Yoko Shimomura – Ride Out The Storm E05 Gareth Coker – Daphne’s Trap E06 Gareth Coker – Never Center Of The Desert F01 Grant Kirkhope – Rulers Of Darkmess F02 Grant Kirkhope – Heart Of Darkmess F03 Grant Kirkhope – For The Galaxy! F04 Grant Kirkhope – The Liberation Of The Sparks F05 Gareth Coker – DJ Cheep Tuna’s Super Slime Unicorn Rainbow Dragon Castle (Remix) Info About Buying Vinyl From Our Record Store We are a small independent record store located at 211 High St, Preston in Melbourne, Australia (North of Northcote, between Thornbury & Reservoir) We buy and sell new and used vinyl records – if you have a collection you’d like to sell please click here . We ship Australia wide for a flat rate of $10 for standard shipping or $15 for express post. Free Shipping for orders $150 and over. You can also pick up your order in store, just select Local Pickup at the checkout. We also ship internationally – prices vary depending on weight and location. We ship vinyls in thick, rigid carboard mailers with a crushable zone on either side, and for extra safety we bubble wrap the records. 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You can contact our Melbourne record shop at (03) 9939 3807 or at [email protected] Happy Listening! Description Hide Show Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is the kind of soundtrack you put on out of curiosity and end up replaying because it quietly sinks its claws in. Released digitally on 21 October 2022 via Ubisoft Music, it brings together a dream trio of composers, Yoko Shimomura, Grant Kirkhope and Gareth Coker, who each bring a distinct voice that somehow lands in a shared pocket of colour and charm. The game itself is a big, starry adventure by Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris, and the music matches that scope without losing the cheeky grin that defines the Rabbids side of the crossover. You can hear the personalities straight away. Kirkhope, whose Banjo-Kazooie and Viva Piata scores helped shape a generation of playful orchestral game music, leans into bright melody and rhythmic bounce. Brass pops, woodwinds chatter, and the rhythm section nudges you forward like a friendly tap on the shoulder. Shimomura, famed for Kingdom Hearts, Street Fighter II and Final Fantasy XV, threads in long, lyrical lines that feel almost sung, the sort of themes you catch yourself humming while making a cuppa. Coker, known for the Ori series and Halo Infinite, brings sleek orchestration and that airy, cosmic sheen, with elegant strings and choir textures that give the adventure real lift. What makes it work is how the album treats space. Not outer space, though there is plenty of that, but musical space, the way a cue breathes and then bursts. The galaxy here is chopped into distinct planets, each with its own mood, and the score paints them with a clear palette. The sunny beach zones get mallets and guitar that sparkle without tipping into novelty. Snowy stretches lean on bells, cool strings and quiet woodwind flurries that make you feel the bite. The autumnal forests feel warm and woody, with clarinet and oboe colouring the air like smoke from a campfire. When the story swerves toward the villain Cursa, the harmony darkens, and you get that low brass and choral rumble that says trouble is circling. Battles are where the composers really show their craft. Fights start with stealthy pulses and clipped figures, like the heroes testing the ground, then bloom into full statements of the main motifs once you start landing big moves. Percussion is tight, never muddy, and the way strings dart around the brass gives the action a cartoony snap. It is not just wall-to-wall bombast though; there are rests, feints and little comic asides that make the climaxes hit harder. A late game boss cue piles on choir and pounding timpani in a way that feels properly operatic, but you still hear the series wink. This collaboration could have felt patchy, three composers trading scenes like a relay. Instead there is a clear conversation going on. Kirkhopes buoyancy gives Cokers glossy textures some grit, Cokers harmonic turns give Shimomura fresh places to land her melodies, and Shimomuras themes, stately but tender, give the whole thing heart. Interviews around launch had creative director Davide Soliani talking about assigning different worlds to different composers so each planet would sing with its own character, and you can hear that intention paying off in how cleanly each area speaks. It helps that the game itself landed well, winning Best Sim/Strategy at The Game Awards 2022, and the soundtrack was part of why players stuck around. There is a generosity to this album. Even the lighter incidental pieces feel considered, like postcards from odd little towns you wish you could visit. And when Bowser stomps into the party, the writing gets satisfyingly heavy, all low brass swagger and crunchy rhythms that still keep a grin. For anyone who collects, this is the sort of score that sends you down a rabbit hole. You start by hunting for Yoko Shimomura vinyl or checking which Grant Kirkhope albums on vinyl are out there, then realise Gareth Cokers catalogue also sounds brilliant on the shelf. If you like to buy Yoko Shimomura records online, keep this one on your list of digital essentials, and if a Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope vinyl pressing ever appears, every Melbourne record store will have a queue. Until then, it is a strong digital listen that sits nicely alongside your other game music favourites, and it sounds great blasting from a lounge room on a lazy Sunday. Put simply, this is smart, tuneful writing by three composers who know how to build worlds. It respects the Mario lineage, revels in Rabbid silliness, and still finds new corners of the galaxy to light up. If you are crate-digging for vinyl records Australia wide, pop it in your mental crate anyway, then press play and let it take you planet hopping. Product Reviews Hide Show Write a Review