The Gamer's Quarter

[Harveyjames]

Dhex I am listening to some Prince and the Revolution rehearsal tapes! They are awesome! Dr. Fink does scat-singing in the voice of Popeye. Wendy and Lisa make obscure lesbian in-jokes! Prince sings a Sly Stone song over one of the jams they do. They reference Talking Heads and diss Rick James! ! They sound exactly like a band in their prime having lots of fun together!

I will upload them if anyone wants them.

[aderack]

[Harveyjames]

Trent Reznor is a piss wizard.

[aderack]

Is that good or bad?

Or is it a reference to Wiz 'n' Liz?
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[extrabastardformula]

[dhex]

[kirkjerk]

[kirkjerk]

There's another interesting thread to this too, about the use of music in life.

(I'm willing to concede a fair amount of moral highground here, just like I do for vegetarians and vegans.)

Dhex, when you're listening to whole albums, what else are you doing? As little as possible, like just sitting and/or commuting? Outside of games, do you think it's less good to have music treated as background to other activities?

Myself, I rarely make time for music as focus. I dumped my 3-stars-or-better iTunes MP3s (the same 6.5 gigs I put on my iPhone, out of 30 or so gigs of albums I have on my hard drive-- so much of that seems like filler I don't want to listen to) onto CD-ROMs my car stereo understands, and it was super helpful in helping me focus while driving, and I like it as a foundation to do coding work on. But in the car I usually prefer some kind of talking, some thoughts presented, and on public transportation I'd rather read, and at home I'd rather do something online or maybe game-ish.

So I was just wondering what approach folks on the other side of this discussion, who seem a bit more like music purists, take to the albums they're listening to.
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==/\/ >_ kirkjerk.com

[dhex]

[Scratchmonkey]

Most rap/hip-hop singles come with a track that's just the beat.

[kirkjerk]

[dhex]

i'm also the third for "apagnostic"; though i swear i invented the word i'm beginning to think i ganked it from somewhere without realizing it.

anyway, barzun is less crazy than most traditionalists, and he does make a case you'd probably find compelling in terms of his focus on communitas and against what he calls hyperindividualism; or more broadly, for shared experiences and against the fracturing into sub-tribes phenomenon. (he'd probably point at video games - if he was even aware of them - as a whole as being a symptom of decadence, as well as the sheltered man-child stereotype/horrible reality it brings with it, but that's neither here nor there.)

i must say i had never considered game music to be part of a shared experience in that sense, or rather, an important shared experience. it is a novel argument (i mean that without any snarkery at all), though i obviously find it incredibly unconvincing.

[kirkjerk]

[dhex]

i had no idea you could turn anything off in vice city. huh.

worst possibles...jesus, there's been a lot. beyond just bad games (which are obviously stocked with shitty music) i am largely at a loss over the general nostalgia for the repetitive madness of the nes generation's music. i have no idea how my parents lived with that stuff in the background.

needless to say i do not get the whole let's cover old video game songs thing in the slightest.

symphony of the night stands out as possibly the worst console game music; which works as camp for a bit in combination with the hilarious voice acting, but it's too omnipresent to laugh at for too long. as funny as "the same can be said of all religions" is - and it's universally funny - constant repetition robs shitty work of its delight.

i would also include every western rpg (what other kind is there, after all?) or even the hybrids, really; 20 to 80 hours of gameplay is too long for only 12 songs or less. it all tends to be CINEMATIC STRINGS which is great if you're into CINEMATIC STRINGS but i'm more into subdued brushes a la fear, which had an ok soundtrack for a shooter (i.e. it was mostly nonexistent). deus ex's score was ok after 5 hours and unbearable after 10.

fallout 2 gets a pass for including some aphex twin and again, being largely incidental. arcanum gets credit for using just a four piece string set but even that's only got a few really great tracks on it. most of it is incidental, which is probably the best way things can go, were my ears il duce.

i will say titan quest's soundtrack would not be approved by edward said, incidental or not.

bloodlines was funny in a shit way because i spent some of the later 90s in bad goth clubs waiting for shitty opening acts to stop playing, but for the most part once you say "jesus, is that the fucking genitorturers?" it stops being amusing. sort of like once you get over bill leeb being really, really short. (i think they're basically homeless now so i probably shouldn't pick on them)

assassin's creed was pretty terrible too, again from the edward said school of OOAWWWAAAAHHHHAAAAMMMMAAAAHHHHWWWOOOOOOO

someone told me that a song by the streets was in a racing game, so i'd include that had i heard it. it doesn't matter which one.
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[boojiboy7]

[kirkjerk]

[dhex]

well, in some cases i do think music is misapplied. "survival horror" that's more on the survival side - sneaking, dark corners, limited battery life, no cell phone reception, can't find a decent thai place in alternate hell world, etc - really doesn't need music beyond the opening and closing credits. it seems it would be better served putting those ducats into sound design, which i think is far more immersive. unless the character has an ipod on, where is this music coming from? magical music land? the musicteria? music a go-go? singy mcsongster, the mayor of musictown?

ahem. anyway, yeah.

but seriously, i haven't gotten into this much trouble with people over music since i made fun of rush at the last nyc libertoid gathering.
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[Harveyjames]

[ApM]

I would like to see a {film, videogame} in which Singy McSongster, the Mayor of Musictown, is brutally killed halfway through, and the background music stops entirely for the rest of the {movie, game}.

[Cycle]

Space Station Silicon Valley had speakers in all the levels which was the source of the irritating elevator style music the soundtrack consisted of. The only way to turn it off was to go around blowing up the speakers.
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[Harveyjames]

Oh yeah! The Duke Nukem level set in a monstromart has that feature, too. I'd forgotten about that.

[dessgeega]

[dhex]

man whatever happened to psygnosis?

wikipedia sez: