Calum Thomas Bowen (born 26 February 1991), also known professionally as Bo En (stylized as bo en), is an English musician and video game producer based in London.[1]
Bo En | |
---|---|
Birth name | Calum Thomas Bowen |
Born | 26 February 1991 |
Origin | London, UK |
Genres | |
Occupations |
|
Instrument | Piano |
Years active | 2013–present |
Labels | |
Website | bo-en |
Career
editBowen released his debut album titled pale machine in 2013.[2][3] In 2014, he released a physical CD titled 'pale machine [EXPANSION PACK]', adding 4 new tracks composed by Bowen and 6 remixes of songs from pale machine.[4][5] Bowen's 2014 remix of "My Party" by Kero Kero Bonito was featured on their Bonito Recycling EP.[6] Over the course of the following years he wrote three singles, "By the Phone",[7] "sometimes" [8] and "love in a song".[9] In 2021, Bowen released a satirical remix of "love in a song", titled "love in a song - DJ HEARTBREAK ANNIHILATION MIX". In February 2023, Bowen announced that he is writing new songs together with Babymorocco. It is currently unknown how many songs they are producing, however three of them appear to be called "Love Wont Find U", "When We Were Young" and "idk_if_i_feel_enough".[10]
Bowen released a follow up to his debut entitled Pale Machine 2 which contained re-imaginings of songs off his pale machine record as well as original songs featuring a variety of other artists.[11] Two songs originally released in the pale machine expansion pack, "I'll Fall" and "Money Won't Pay", were included as tracks 9 and 10 on this release.
Video game composing
editUnder his real name Calum Bowen (stylized as calum bowen) he wrote the soundtrack to Up Up Ubie and Super Ubie Land. He then continued to write songs for smaller games such as Marble Time, Thief Story and Winnose. Bowen later composed the soundtrack for the 2014 game Lovely Planet, followed by Lovely Planet Arcade and Lovely Planet 2: April Skies.[2] He also composed the soundtrack for Pikuniku which was released in 2019, along with three songs for Omori, released in late 2020.[12][13] One of the three songs composed for Omori was a pitched-up (and shortened in-game) version of "My Time", a song which was initially included in his debut album Pale Machine, in 2013. The Omori soundtrack was expanded in 2022, with the addition of two new songs featured in the console version of the game, which were also composed by Bowen. Bowen composed the music for Voyage, which was released in 2021.[14] In addition, he produced the soundtrack for Netflix's Poinpy, a free mobile game released in 2022.
Discography
editStudio albums
edit- pale machine (2013, Maltine) [3]
- pale machine [EXPANSION PACK] (2014, Maltine) [5]
- pale machine 10 year anniversary re-master (2023, Maltine)
- Pale Machine 2 (2023) [11]
Extended plays
edit- ぼくらのいろとりどり (2016, ft. あきお)
Singles
editAnimation Soundtracks
edit- Beetle + Bean (2021) [15]
Video game soundtracks
edit- MOSHIMOSHI (2013) [16][17]
- Marble Time (2013)
- Up Up Ubi
- Super Ubie Land (2013)
- Thief Story
- Winnose (2014)
- Lovely Planet (2014)
- Lovely Planet Arcade (2016)
- Pakka Pets (2016)
- Snipperclips (2017)
- YIIK: A Post-Modern RPG (2019)
- Pikuniku (2019)
- Lovely Planet 2: April Skies (2019)
- Crossy Road Castle (2020)
- Omori (2020)
- Voyage (2021)
- Poinpy (2022)
- Ooblets (2022)
Video game sound design
edit- Valdis Story: Abyssal City (2013)
- Dragon: A Game About a Dragon (2015)
- Lovely Planet: Arcade (2016)
- Pikuniku (2019)
- Tangle Tower (2019)
Remixes
editReferences
edit- ^ St. Michel, Patrick (9 April 2015). "Britain's bo en finds a musical family in Tokyo's electronic scene". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ a b Powell, Mike (3 November 2014). "bo en". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Pale Machine - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ https://www.bo-en.info/ep [bare URL]
- ^ a b "Pale Machine Expansion Pack Singles - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Lismore, Kate (13 February 2015). "Kero Kero Bonito, Trading MP3s for Sick Beats". DIY. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ a b bo en (14 September 2015). bo en - by the phone. Retrieved 8 June 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b bo en (1 November 2016). bo en - sometimes. Retrieved 8 June 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b bo en (14 February 2018). bo en - love in a song. Retrieved 8 June 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ Bowen, Calum (21 December 2022). "I hope u like these songs when they're done. me & @bbmorocco__ going very hard on each and every one of them". Twitter. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Pale Machine 2". YouTube. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Remington, Kate (7 February 2019). "Calum Bowen's Funny, Lighthearted Soundtrack For 'Pikuniku'". WSHU. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ Romano, Sal (26 December 2018). "Pikuniku launches January 24, 2019". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ Smith, Graham (20 February 2021). "Voyage is a hand-painted cinematic adventure". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^ "@boenyeah". Twitter. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ^ https://www.freeindiegam.es/2013/05/moshimoshi-armel-gibson-calum-bowen/ [bare URL]
- ^ "MOSHIMOSHI | High Quality | Calum Bowen". YouTube. 17 November 2014.
- ^ "Candy Flavored Lips (Bo en イパネマREMIX)".
- ^ "Candy Flavored Lips (Bo en イパネマREMIX), by Mark Redito".
- ^ Kero Kero Bonito (7 April 2015). Kero Kero Bonito - My Party (bo en Remix). Retrieved 8 June 2024 – via YouTube.