It’s a rare event when a video game licences the soundtrack and gets above-average results. Sure, EA Sports will continually drive “whatever the kids are listening to” down your throat while playing NHL or Madden, and at times a random sandbox title will throw down some cleverly chosen classic tunes. Hell, their was a Prince of Persia video floating around a few months ago that had a Sigur Rós song in it. But never in any of my experiences have I seen licensed music in a video game that could have easily been the lineup for day two of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Of course, most people that have seen and played Little Big Planet on the PLAYSTATION 3 will argue that there has never been anything quite like Little Big Planet.
The most noticeable (and some would argue definable) track that indie rockers across the globe will recognize is the Go! Team’s “Get it Together,” which not only perfectly defines the mood and play of the game, but sets the stage for every other licensed track. Sure, as with all video games, the original compositions have their moments, but I would argue that running around as a burlap sackboy and dodging fire while clinging to felt and listening to Battles’ “Atlas” has got to be one of the greatest moments in video game history.
If Go! Team and Battles aren’t surprising enough, then perhaps the rest of the soundtrack is — would, say, DJ Krush’s “Song 2″ surprise you? Or maybe James Pants’ “Rhythm Trax 7?” How about the absolutely adorable “My Patch” by Jim Noir? For the worldy folks we get tracks from Café Tacuba, Ananda Shankar and the Toumani Diabate’s Symmetric Orchestra (who incidentally set back the release date of the game due to some “controversial lyrics”).
The point doesn’t have to be who the bands are, but the fact that these bands are in a VIDEO GAME — not in the title screen, playing in the background, title of a sports game, not in the pattern-copy, glorified Simon Says kind of way of Guitar Hero, not in the “radio” function of a sandbox car thieving of GTA IV — the music is an integral part to the look and feel of how Little Big Planet works. It’s a massive toy for the world to play with and share, and embraces the ideal’s of D.I.Y. with a massive, creative level builder. This is our game, not the developer’s not the publishers — this is your game and mine, we make it what we want.
It might be too early to call whether Little Big Planet will be the video game industries Garden State or its Wes Anderson, but the point is that it gets closer to both than anything before it.
It’s coming up on December, which means, well, it means that its time to take a look at all the cool things that came out in the year of 2007. For fetishistic list makers like myself, this is our favorite time of year. Time to display our cool, our ingenuity, are told you so’s and ha’s. It’s what makes writing about gadgets and music and games and all that crap worthwhile. When you do it early like this, you might miss some December hits, but you don’t have to be worried about people accusing you of stealing the list or being influenced by some other jerkoffs list. This is off the cuff bitches. So to kick it off, let’s start with the ground rules, five picks in each genre, and, well, I guess that’s the only rule. 1, 2, 3, GO!Today, music. Tomorrow, books or video games, or stuff, or gadgets, or news stories, blog posts, who knows!?!
- Black Moth Super Rainbow – Dandelion Gum-This is not only the best release this year, its one of the best releases in the last decade. BMSR fuses the stoned 60s and 70s haze of groups like Silver Apples andKraftwerk into a tight sound that still breathes life from its electronic musings. This isn’t going to revolutionize electronic music, but it does humanize it. It changes beat and tempo and time, it shakes and rattles, it rolls. It clean and dirty. It’s music, solid, real music. If you ever thought to yourself that, “yeah, I can put in a bunch of filters and make electronic music, easy,” then you need to hear Dandelion Gum.
- Battles – Mirrored Who would have thought that the son of Anthony Braxtonwould be a part of one of the greatest rock bands this side of 1990? Well, okay, when you say it that way it makes sense especially when you add on members from Helmet, Don Caballero and Lynx. Mirrored is one of those records that you can put on at any time, in any setting, in any mood, with any lighting and will still sound fucking fantastic. Pure rock ‘n roll that might be able to slide into the instrumental category since Braxton’s vocals are shifted through enough effects to be classified as an instrument itself.
- Wilco – Sky Blue Sky Yeah, okay, this is going to be on everyone fromPitchfork to Time Magazine’s list, but with good reason. Wilco’s return to the basics proved to be a solid record with a great sound. I appreciate everything about Sky Blue Sky, even the Volkswagen commercials.
- Yeasayer – All Hour Cymbals This is the sort of record that opens up for you. It doesn’t’ really reveal its true intentions until a few listens. What you begin to realize as the record goes on is that All Hour Cymbals is a bizarre combination of Gabriel era Genesis, modern indie-pop and a slight nod to some weird type of electronic calypso. In the end its a great record that warrants a lot of listens to really delve into the entire idea of it.
- Dizzee Rascal – Maths and English When you invent your own music style its hard to really shine on release after release. You usually get stuck in a movement and continue on until your records begin to fizzle and die. Mr. Rascal, however, doesn’t let that happen, he straight up throws himself into your face and doesn’t leave until Maths and English ends. It straight up dubstep/grime/hip-hop/dance from start to finish with a production that should make Kanye West curl up into a ball and cry like the baby that he is.honorable mentions: Menomena – Friend and Foe, Iron and Wine – Shepherd’s Dogs, Burial – Untrue, Justice – Cross, M.I.A. – Kala,Akron/Family – Love is Simple tho
