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Dan Le Sac recommends videogame music on Bandcamp

By | Published on Friday 3 February 2017

Bandcamp

As Bandcamp today turns over 100% of its revenues to the American Civil Liberties Union, which is battling Donald Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ among other things, Dan Le Sac has selected some new music you might like to buy from the site, based on his recent work soundtracking an indie game release. So you can do your bit and delve into a scene you may not have considered before. Here’s Dan…

I’ve spent the last couple of years away for the music industry, still making music but without that focus on selling music. As I work on a soundtrack for a small indie game release, researching other soundtracks as I do, something has struck me, “Why the hell haven’t I heard all this before?”

In gaming, particularly with indie games, there is a wealth of gorgeous, intelligent, innovative music that just doesn’t see the light of day in the music press. This could partially be to do with a lack of overlap between the gaming and music PR machines, or it could be that these soundtracks’ primary distribution point is Bandcamp. Also these records rarely conform to the traditional LP format.

Whatever the reason, I wanted to go a little way toward fixing that by bringing some new noise to your ears, and with Bandcamp giving 100% of their revenue today to the ACLU, what better time to do it?

Austin Wintory – Journey
For the non-gamers reading this, I promise this album will change your perception of game music entirely. Orchestral, haunting, spiritual and soulful, conjuring images of the game’s far away, ancient world without even seeing the box art. (Recommended track: ‘The Call’)

Disasterpeace – Hyper Light Drifter
LA-based Disasterpeace’s music here wouldn’t be out of place on a Warp Records release. Lush electronics, filled with a sense of mystery and foreboding perfectly fitting to a game that relies entirely on visual cues to tell its story. (Recommended track: ‘Stasis Awakening’)

Danny Baranowsky – Crypt Of The Necrodancer
Danny B’s back catalogue puts most musicians to shame. As girthy as it is diverse, the game itself is designed to be played repeatedly, progressing only with your own skill, but impressively the myriad catchy, melodic bangers Baranowsky created for ‘Necrodancer’ can stand the pressure of repeat and repeat and repeat listens. (Recommended track: ‘Crypteque’)

Chris Christodoulou – Deadbolt
Christodoulou’s ‘Deadbolt’ is hard to define, shifting from sleazy rock, through broken hip hop to twisted acid, but always with a focus on musicality. But doesn’t that seem fitting for a protagonist like The Reaper himself? (Recommended track: ‘Now I Am Become Death’)

Chipzel – Super Hexagon EP
This short EP is just three straight up bangers. Brash, brittle electronics twisted into tough rumpshakers. Yes, I said rumpshakers. Yet by using soundchips from old consoles – think original Gameboy etc – it still has an 8-bit heart. (Recommended track: ‘Courtesy’)

This is just the tip of the proverbial, I’m missing so many here. Fez, Undertale, Furi, Firewatch, Super Meat Boy, Hotline Miami, VVVVVV, Bastion, Transistor, Sunless Sea, Thomas Was Alone, No Man’s Sky, Shatter, the list is endless.

And remember anything you buy today on Bandcamp supports the ACLU, and by supporting the ACLU you’re pissing on Donald Trump’s chips, which can’t be a bad thing right?

Phew, I managed to write an article about Bandcamp with out mentioning that I have my own store on there.



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