In the last issue of No Fidelity I outlined a list of killer video game soundtracks that are so strong they can stand as their own albums, independent from the games they came from. In the process of writing it, I had come up with several games, most of which weren’t able to make it to the final article for space reasons. I still really wanted to write about some of them, so I decided to anyway. The following soundtracks are three of the strongest albums that didn’t make the first cut, but by no means are they any less worthy of your attention.
Jim Guthrie is a Montreal-based musician most famous for scoring critically accaimed iPad game Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP and widely well-received documentary Indie Game: The Movie. But fuck that shit, despite being just under a modest 15 minutes long, Corporeal is far and away the best work that Guthrie has ever done. Corporeal hails from 2012’s Playstation Network game Sound Shapes, an innovative platforming game in which every aspect of each level’s soundtrack corresponds to a different obstacle, enemy, or piece of scenery. Coins add loops and notes to the soundtrack as you collect them, making every playthrough an interesting, interactive way to experience the game’s music. Guthrie designed these sounds with this mechanic specifically in mind, but Corporeal more than holds its own as a static, pre-recorded album. Corporeal is a 4-track concept EP “exploring how music can free us from the corporate machine… if it doesn’t crush us first.” Indeed, upon starting it up, we’re greeted with mundane and mechanical marimba-like synths, heavy, industrial drum patterns,
and brooding spy-movie guitar riffs in “Personnel” appropriately oppressive, but certainly the grooviest oppression I’ve ever heard. “Research and Development” and “Purgatory” pick up the pace by bringing in jazzier, downtempo and hip-hop tinged drum loops and darker, heavier synth bass lines, with wispy, almost mournful leads before the EP comes full circle in “Event Horizon.” Beginning with a synth riff from the previous track, Guthrie slowly builds on themes and riffs from the previous two tracks, bringing back the bass and synth stabs from “Research and Development” and drums inspired by “Purgatory.” About halfway through, the distinctive sound of the kick (seriously the drum programming and production on this is rad as hell) from “Personnel” returns, before that delicious spy guitar and thick bass progression explode back into the mix in what is honestly probably one of the most musically satisfying moments I’ve heard on any album—familiar enough to be recognizable, but mixed up enough to not sound lazy. Corporeal might just be an EP length-wise, but its unique brand of trip-hop is definitely not to be missed.
Those familiar with the series may scoff at my choice here - after all, the next game in the Sim City franchise, Sim City 4, is widely regarded as the best in the series in every regard, including music. I mean, come on, Sim City 4 has a full orchestra! What does 3000 have? Some shitty synth strings? While it is true that all of the instruments on 12
the Sim City 3000 soundtrack, including the “real” ones, are all actually synthesized, it is this fact that I believe actually makes its soundtrack CD even more worth your time. All it takes is one listen to “Magic City” - a beautiful orchestral arrangement featuring a pulsing, almost Philip Glass-esque bed of strings underneath a plaintive woodwind section - to complete-
