Ian Cowell and the Band of Exceptional Goblins are back! Join them on an adventure spanning more than thirty years of video game music history, from arcade and console classics to modern indie masterpieces! Welcome to the Wizards Lair, the MagicIan has been expecting you!

released November 22, 2024

Performed, mixed & mastered by Ian Cowell. All arrangements by Ian Cowell except Unsolved Dolphins which was arranged by Carrie Wood.

~~~~~~~The Band of Exceptional Goblins~~~~~~~

Carrie Wood - bass on Dive Man, Daddy Mulk, Boomer Kuwanger, Great Moments in Golf Glory, Secret of the Forest and Crashed Frigate Orpheon. Voice of Samus Aran on Crashed Frigate Orpheon. Arrangement on Unsolved Dolphins.

Kev Ragone - Drums on Dive Man, Daddy Mulk, Bury Me with My Money, Boomer Kuwanger, Great Moments in Golf Glory, Secret of the Forest, Crashed Frigate Orpheon, Reincarnated Echoes and Piranha Plant's Lullaby. Additional arrangement advice on Dive Man and Piranha Plant's Lullaby.

Joe "Newmajoe" Newman - Saxophone on Secret of the Forest and Reincarnated Echoes. EWI on Boomer Kuwanger.

Jay "Ronin Op F" Kim - Violin on Daddy Mulk, Secret of the Forest and Reincarnated Echoes. Vocoder on Daddy Mulk.

Chris "angrypolarbear" Doughty - Keyboards & Synthesizers on Dive Man, Daddy Mulk, Boomer Kuwanger and Piranha Plant's Lullaby. KK Slider on Boomer Kuwanger.

Logan "Biggoron" Tucker - Keyboards & Synthesizers on Daddy Mulk, Reincarnated Echoes and Race Results. Shamisen solo (synthesized) on Daddy Mulk.

Jacob Deaven - Aerophone on Front Line Base.

Kyana Sun - Drums on Front Line Base.

Erik "Viking Guitar" Peabody - Broadcast announcer on Great Moments in Golf Glory.

Album art by Carrie Wood.

~~~~~~~~Original Composer Credits~~~~~~~~

Dive Man - Original composition by Minae Fujii for Mega Man 4 (1991, NES)

Daddy Mulk - Original composition by Hisayoshi Ogura for The Ninja Warrior (1987, Arcade)

Flatulent Swamps - Original composition by Matt Furniss for Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure (1994, Sega Genesis)

Bury Me with My Money - Original Composition by Motoaki Furukawa for Sunset Riders (1991, Arcade)

Boomer Kuwanger - Original composition by Yuko Takehara for Mega Man X (1993, SNES)

Underground - Original composition by Koji Kondo, Shiho Fujii, Sayako Doi and Chisaki Shimazu for Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023, Nintendo Switch)

Front Line Base - Original composition by Manami Matsumae for U.N. Squadron (1991, SNES)

Great Moments in Golf Glory - Original composition by Motoi Sakuraba for Mario Golf (1999, Game Boy Color)

Secret of the Forest - Original composition by Yasunori Mitsuda for Chrono Trigger (1995, SNES)

Unsolved Dolphins - Original composition by Attila Dobos, András Magyari and Andy Armer for Ecco: The Tides of Time (1994, Sege Genesis). Unsolved Mysteries theme originally composed by Michael Boyd and Gary Remal Malkin (1993)

Crashed Frigate Orpheon - Original composition by Kenji Yamamoto and Kouichi Kyuma for Metroid Prime (2002, Nintendo Gamecube)

Reincarnated Echoes - Original composition by Daniele Zandara for Vampire Survivors (2022, PC)

Race Results - Original composition by Kenta Nagata for Mario Kart 64 (1996, N64)

Sky Chase Zone - Original composition by Masato Nakamura for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992, Sega Genesis)

Piranha Plant's Lullaby - Original composition by Koji Kondo for Super Mario 64 (1996, N64)

~~~~~~~~~Special Thanks~~~~~~~~~

The love of my life Carrie, my wonderful children Enzo and Elroy, my father Frank, my brother Zach, Ganon and Friday, the entire Band of Exceptional Goblins family - Nick, Jay, Chris, Kev, Joe, Tuck, Daniel, Chuck, Erik, Jon, Erich, Lacey, Jacob and Kyana, Gene and Michelle Dreyband, Ian and CeCe Luckey, Chris and Stephanie Ryberg, Joe Palfini, Ben Visini, Josh Jiraffe, Peter Hardee, Brian Stewart, Jeremy Nevis, Kent Ward, Ro Panuganti, Dan Hess, Dave Hughes, Adam Payne, Peter Gillette, Katy “Sick Riffs” Scary, Mark Schimmelbusch, Roque Cuellar, Mike Squires, Veronica Taylor, Brooks Bishop, Jesse Bishop, Diana Welsch, Yusef Kelliebrew, Nate Gould, Drew Gibson, Grant Henry, Pramodh Ramnath, Ian Martyn, Naop, Austin Green, Mike Doyle, Darmock, Bano, the entire Dwelling of Duels and Shizz families, and players like *you*