In this weekly feature, I recommend game soundtracks. I share a few of my favorite tracks, talk about why everyone should listen to the soundtrack, and a little bit about the composer. This week's choice is Oxenfree by Night School Studio.
THE STATS
Name: OxenfreeDeveloper: Night School Studio
Publisher: Night School Studio
Release Date: January 15, 2016
Genres: Graphic adventure
Composer: Andrew Rohrmann (scntfc)
MY FAVORITE TRACKS
(The full list of tracks are linked below... and I highly recommend some good headphones to best enjoy all of the subtle elements of the music!)(Length: 3:34) This reminds me of something... but I can't for the life of me remember what. Something about the chord progression is insanely familiar to me. I like it, but not just because it sounds familiar. It has a groove and doesn't do what your ear expects it to, lending itself some weight to the mystery aspect of the game.(Length: 4:03) In my head, this is the warped soundtrack to an old nature documentary without dialogue, surveying a frozen tundra, the film of the tape clearly distorted from time or the decay of weather.(Length: 2:54) Three-quarter time! You know it caught my attention. This track sounds like it would fit well in a murder mystery show on TV. This is my second-favorite.(Length: 1:39) Drama! Climax! And those chord progressions! It's serious now! This is my favorite.(Length: 4:57) I haven't played the game, but this sounds like outro music. I like it. It's chill but has that mysterious quality about it. Like maybe you experienced some stuff, but now it's past and you have to reflect on it. There's a part halfway through that actually reminds me of some Portal 2 music!
You can listen to the entire soundtrack here, courtesy of a bandcamp widget,
or you can click this link to go visit the bandcamp page directly, or if you prefer you can acquire it over here on Steam.
WHY DO I RECOMMEND IT?
Normally this isn't my kind of soundtrack. There's a lot of distortion worked into the compositions because of the nature of the game itself -- a mystery involving the paranormal and supernatural. After just a couple tracks, you start to think you're watching part of a 70's or 80's sci-fi movie where things are happening but there's no explanation forthcoming -- which is not a bad thing! This is the sort of ambient music that lets minds wander and build connections between sound and experience.
This might be a little awkward to study to or have on in the background
during a social gathering, but it's great if you're of the artistic
persuasion or reading a sci-fi novel or anything else that's ideal for
solitude. It gives your mind an outlet to traverse while it's doing other
things, without having to engage with others. Does that make sense? Possibly
not. It makes sense to me, as I listen to the music.
Bottom line: Give it a listen. It's worth your time!
THE COMPOSER: ANDREW ROHRMANN (scntfc)
No, that little parenthetic bunch of letters doesn't stand for anything --
that's Andrew's stage name, which used to be Scientific American. He does a
lot of electronic, hip-hop, rock and in between, landing various musical gigs
from places like The Seattle Art Museum, Hewlett Packard and Discover. He also
formed a production company called Polar Empire which has done commercial
compositions for brands like Nike, Volkswagen, AMC and MTV. That's some major
street cred!
Info from Wikipedia aside, I didn't find too much else listed about scntfc (and the scntfc website just lists all musical works), so
you if you want to hear more or know when a new musical project is
forthcoming, you can
follow @scntfc on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment