Play Video Games
Music to play video games celebrates video game music in all of its forms
featuring artists like
Carpenter Brut, Timecop1983, Ghost, Prince, Monster Magnet, Electric Six
Video game music has come a long way since the primal 8-bit grunts of Pong and Space Invaders. Music to play video games celebrates video game music in all of its forms. It features some of the most important tracks in gaming history and also spotlights more recent music that has captured the imagination. Music to play video games crosses boundaries of genre and style without compromising on its overall sense of direction and flow. Music to play video games represents the standout moments in video game music, from the familiar mainstream songs that have popped up in AAA titles to those pieces of experimental and electronic music that score a new wave of indie classics. It also celebrates innovation in video game music showcasing some of the tracks that have helped to drive innovations in game audio and music technology.
The Glasshouse with Butterfly – Tomáš Dvořák
22 May 2018
More original instrumental music from really good independent games this week. We’re going to have a look at some atmospheric and experimental sounding electronic music. The Glasshouse with Butterfly by Tomáš Dvořák is a track from Amanita Design’s Machinarium…
Welcome to Tajunga – Timecop1983
15 May 2018
I’ve been playing a game called Stories Untold. It’s a text based adventure but with with some really great and atmospheric world building going on. It’s a horror game technically but it’s that kind of “exciting not scary horror” that was in last year’s remake of Stephen King’s IT or Netflix’s Stranger Things, with which, by the way, it shares a common nostalgic 80s aesthetic.
Square Hammer – Ghost
7 May 2018
Alright. Remember Video Game Music? Music composed specifically for games? We were going back to it this week. That was the plan. The past few posts were more mainstream tracks that ended up in games but now we were supposed to get back to take a look at some tracks written specifically for Video Games.
Let’s Go Crazy – Prince
23 April 2018
I’m a huge Prince fan. I’ve got memories of The Most Beautiful Girl in the World being on heavy rotation on MTV one summer during my youth. I was also enthralled by his album covers when I came across them in my dad’s vinyl collection…
Space Lord – Monster Magnet
16 April 2018
My oh my how time flies. Track 15 already.
Monster Magnet are a great band. I have yet to listen to their most recent album, which I hear is great, but I plan to spend this coming weekend doing just that. They’re a kind of enigma. Like last weeks featured track-wranglers Electric Six, they’ve got a sense of humor about themselves…
Danger! High Voltage – Electric Six
9 April 2018
Now I know I promised this week we’d be sticking with indie games but something came back across my radar and I had to find a crappy game it featured on in order to wedge it into the list. So here you go…
Intro – Elkony
3 April 2018
We’re getting back to our indie roots this week and we are staying there for a while. After a foray through some of the bigger artists to ever grace a video game soundtrack I need a breather. I’ve enjoyed the trip and I’m sure we’ll visit some other big names again but right now we need to change gears…
Spell of the Gypsies – Buckethead
26 March 2018
In a recent interview the ever elusive virtuoso guitarist Buckethead put to bed a debate that has raged amongst his fans for years. That question was why exactly does Buckethead wear a KFC bucket on his head? And why does he wear that mask over his face? When did he decide on the bucket mask combo? What motivated him? He told the Coming Alive Podcast:…
Discipline – Nine Inch Nails
20 March 2018
In 1996 legendary developer id Software released Quake. The game borrowed the first person shooter mechanics introduced in Wolfenstein, perfected in Doom and lampooned in Duke Nukem 3D and injected imagery and stylistic flourishes from H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos. The dark and menacing world conjured in the game was brought to life with an original soundtrack by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails (NIN) acclaim. It represented Reznor’s first soundtrack work and he would later win an Oscar for his work alongside Atticus Ross (the recently announced second member of NIN!) on The Social Network soundtrack…
All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
13 March 2018
Jimi Hendrix fiery interpretation of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower, from Hendrix’s classic Electric Ladyland struck a deep and resonant chord on its release in September 1968. According to Dylan, Hendrix “could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them” and with all along the watchtower he found something which spoke to the frustrations and confusion surrounding US involvement in the Vietnam War in both the pro and anti war camps.
Roller Mobster – Carpenter Brut
6 March 2018
Carpenter Brut’s Roller Mobster appeared on the soundtrack for Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number an ultra-violent top-down shooter that balances rich and nuanced storytelling with quick and gruesome gameplay mechanics, all rendered in an 8-bit pixel art style…
Something Beneath – Douglas Holmquist (feat. Susanna Lundgren)
27 February 2018
Something Beneath, written by Douglas Holmquist and featuring a haunting vocal performance by Susanna Lundgren, is a track from Mediocre’s mobile masterpiece PinOut! for iOS and Android. PinOut! puts a beautifully designed new spin on the old arcade classic pinball, turning it into a race against the clock through a seemingly infinite range of intricate and varied pinball tables…
Nicole Paulus has always been a huge music nerd. When she's not on a dance floor waving her arms like a madwoman, she’s busy running her own digital marketing company: Nicole Paulus - Squarespace Webdesign & Digital Marketing Solutions