Is Toby Fox a folk hero? A cult icon? The answer to a trivia question that divides us along generational lines? Well, he’s a heck of a talent. Its most endearing quality may be how thoughtfully edited and tracked it is as a stand-alone album, clocking in at under 30 minutes with memorable melodies and perfect form throughout. If I told you that Timberborn was a post-apocalyptic city-building sim with an all-beaver cast, would it change the way you listened to these nuanced, sophisticated arrangements? This incredibly deft and graceful effort from Polish composer Zofia Domaradzka is indeed what you would hear were you building a giant aqueduct with an army of bushy-tailed cuties, but I’m not convinced that’s the best setting for fully appreciating the precise twists and turns of the woodwinds on the Peter and the Wolf-y “Thirsty Lands,” or the soaring orchestral grandeur of “Seasons Change.” It’s a downright glorious soundtrack: surprisingly moving and sonically courageous, bouncing between clever chamber pieces and moving large ensemble work. (There’s also, slightly awkwardly, a stand-alone single from Jim Gurthrie that’s well worth your time.) Zofia Domaradzka We even get a brief, playful allusion to the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey on “Jett to Tor.” Like the gorgeous game it accompanies, it’s an ambitious and unusual effort from one of the most reliably surprising composers in games. We get ominous walls of sound buffered by alien throat singing (“Sauma”) and a number of vaguely cult-like choral numbers (the spooky “Hymnwave” being the most seasonally appropriate).
While the mood changes throughout The Far Shore, the intensity rarely lets up. His soundtrack for the long-awaited space exploration epic, JETT: The Far Shore, opens with the tense and cinematic “Soak in Brine.” Containing multiple movements, it’s fifteen of the most gripping minutes in game music history. Even so, this one’s particularly special. Andrew Rohrmann, aka Scntfc, is a prolific artist who has garnered significant attention outside of the game music bubble. Hoffman, who is also half of Knaddersound, would seem to take her cues less from traditional game and film scores and more from avant-garde composers like John Cage and Brian Eno, a tendency perhaps best illustrated by the cavernous, circular “There you are you there.” Scntfc The building blocks of Hoffman’s sound-new age-y digital woodwinds, chimes, bubbling synths-are typical of video game music, but here, the dynamics are more robust every hypnotic moment is painstakingly paced, composed, and mixed in far-flung stereo. German composer Mathilde Hoffman’s score is beautiful and revelatory, an organic ecosystem of little ambient sounds that come together to create something truly expansive. The game is a low-profile cooperative affair wherein rabbits solve puzzles.
I’m a sucker for a hidden gem, and my favorite soundtrack this month just might be Get Together. Pre-order buy pre-order buy you own this wishlist in wishlist go to album go to track go to album go to track
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