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As with the best film scores, the best video-game soundtracks can be easy to overlook until you hear them again. But whether it’s a melody from the Final Fantasy series or the theme to Super Mario Bros., it only takes a few bars to transport you back to the console or arcade where it all began.
Video games are also how an entire generation of ‘80s and ‘90s kids first heard electronic music. And while brands like Sony, Nintendo, and Xbox are no strangers to nostalgia, there’s another company capitalizing on the cultural impact of early video-game scores: Red Bull.
The third season of Red Bull Radio’s show, Diggin in the Carts, launches tonight (Sept. 27), and centers on composers of video-game music around the world. (The first two seasons focused specifically on Japanese composers.) The eight-episode season includes interviews with Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, pioneering UK composer Ben Daglish, and C418, the musician behind Minecraft, and covers just how influential video-game music still is today.
“Young kids would be stuck playing Mario, and that music would just be looping and looping,” says Diggin host Nick Dwyer, a Tokyo-based radio personality who wrote and directed the Red Bull Music Academy documentary series that inspired Diggin (and with which it shares its name). The games’ musical refrains varied in length, and were crucial because they would “energize and motivate the player,” and keep them hooked for hours, Dwyer says.
qz.com
This is an offbeat topic in video gaming discussions. Just wanted to share.
Video games are also how an entire generation of ‘80s and ‘90s kids first heard electronic music. And while brands like Sony, Nintendo, and Xbox are no strangers to nostalgia, there’s another company capitalizing on the cultural impact of early video-game scores: Red Bull.
The third season of Red Bull Radio’s show, Diggin in the Carts, launches tonight (Sept. 27), and centers on composers of video-game music around the world. (The first two seasons focused specifically on Japanese composers.) The eight-episode season includes interviews with Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, pioneering UK composer Ben Daglish, and C418, the musician behind Minecraft, and covers just how influential video-game music still is today.
“Young kids would be stuck playing Mario, and that music would just be looping and looping,” says Diggin host Nick Dwyer, a Tokyo-based radio personality who wrote and directed the Red Bull Music Academy documentary series that inspired Diggin (and with which it shares its name). The games’ musical refrains varied in length, and were crucial because they would “energize and motivate the player,” and keep them hooked for hours, Dwyer says.
Video games introduced electronic music to a generation, almost subconsciously
Game soundtracks from the '80s and '90s don't just take you back in time—they also influenced many popular artists today.
qz.com
This is an offbeat topic in video gaming discussions. Just wanted to share.
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