I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.
UUUU – S/T
Perhaps it’s because I was getting deeper into Planescape at the same time that I was discovering more experimental industrial and post-punk music, but the stranger end of industrial and post-punk evokes the gritty philosophical struggles of Planescape and especially Sigil for me. With members of Wire, Thighpaulsandra and Vanishing Twin, there is an intoxicating eclecticism to the instrumentation and feel of this album that makes it perfect for the many portals, planes and factions of Planescape. Which the instrumentation, tempo and dynamics vary, there is still a unified sense of tension, mutation, propulsion, curiosity and shadowy unease that make the album feel like a whole. In addition to Planescape, it could serve very well as part of a soundtrack for a darker Numenera game or a cyberpunk or other harder sci-fi game.
UUUU – S/T
Perhaps it’s because I was getting deeper into Planescape at the same time that I was discovering more experimental industrial and post-punk music, but the stranger end of industrial and post-punk evokes the gritty philosophical struggles of Planescape and especially Sigil for me. With members of Wire, Thighpaulsandra and Vanishing Twin, there is an intoxicating eclecticism to the instrumentation and feel of this album that makes it perfect for the many portals, planes and factions of Planescape. Which the instrumentation, tempo and dynamics vary, there is still a unified sense of tension, mutation, propulsion, curiosity and shadowy unease that make the album feel like a whole. In addition to Planescape, it could serve very well as part of a soundtrack for a darker Numenera game or a cyberpunk or other harder sci-fi game.
- Vocals?...Yes, on “Boots With Wings” and “Verlagerung, Verlagerung, Verlagerung”
- Music Genre(s)…Experimental, Krautrock
- Perfect for…Planescape, Cyberpunk or Sci-fi games
- If you only grab one track, make it... “Five Gates” which mutates effortless through its 16 minute run time and well, I’ll just let the Joseph Burnett’s review from the Quietus sum it up:
- At UUUU’s heart lies the bloated, ridiculous, wild and frequently beautiful 16-minute wigout that is ‘Five Gates’. It surges out of the speakers like an early Cure song overloaded with fuzz and distortion, Magaletti maintaining a simple rhythm under cascades of icy synths. But the quartet quickly tear it down with a demonic chorus and a collapsed-building jazz freakout that plunges the track into a pit of seething noises and freeform drum and guitar friction. Ever impatient, UUUU then shuffle into a mesmerising motorik groove, complete with seesawing guitar lines straight out of the Manuel Göttsching handbook which they perversely lock into with apparent glee even as they allow the piece to meander almost aimlessly. “Almost” being the appropriate word, because ‘Five Gates’ surges back into focus with almost delirious potency, the band channeling Hawkwind, Haino, early Tangerine Dream and Coil all at once to create a bewildering cocktail of abrasive, hypnotic and ferocious rock mayhem. There’s nothing subtle on ‘Five Gates’ or indeed across the entirety of UUUU, even on the quieter moments, but the quartet’s enjoyment at such untrammeled ritualistic chaos is a thing of beauty in and of itself.
