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| Track list: 1. Blues and Bullets feat. Izä 2. Lost Children 3. Main Theme 4. The Diner 5. Investigation 6. Garrison , O'Reilly, Di Pietro, Dockers 7. Capone's Mansion 8. Entrance Cleared 9. Capone 10. O.B. 11. Reconstruction 12. The Guest 13. Delphine 14. Nikolai Ivankov 15. Blues and Bullets intimate Running time: 31 minutes Released: 2015 |
Long time no post, and I return with a videogame soundtrack. I picked up Blues and Bullets in a Steam sale; needless to say I have yet to play it, but it's an episodic, noir themed adventure game so I'm pretty much the target audience. Wonder how well the soundtrack supports that mood.
Slow thematic keys, an attempt at a femme fatale vocal... yeah. There is a bit too much light and depth in this though, it's not raunchy enough and its sensibilities are too modern, with layers of stings and orchestral percussion. It's more movie-song than shot at a period piece, which is a little bit of a disappointment. It makes me think Bond theme, not noir. The song itself is alright I guess, but it seems misplaced for theme.
It was a proper theme song for the series, though, and now we're into the incidental music, which I presume is the background to actual scenes. I really should dive into the game to find out, but I've been sidetracked by other things (and Darkest Dungeon, which leaped ahead in the "I must play this now" queue). Finding the time, and right mental space to make these posts has been tough of late - busy weekends, plans during the weeks, and a raft of things I had intended to do but never found the time for. A week off is just what I need, and what I will be having, so I hope to get back into the swing of things.
The Main Theme is much more noir-appropriate, hinting at secrets, lies and darkness. Most of these pieces are over before they really establish themselves though, but now I've hit Investigation it seems to last long enough to get a real sense for it... and I think it's pretty good. Perhaps it is still erring on the side of too modern, but the timbre is right this time, and a low sax is a good call, whilst the pacing of the tune is totally in keeping with the genre. Man, I feel like I should be necking a straight bourbon now (ugh, give me a proper Scots or Irish Whisk(e)y any day).
I am not sure the shorter pieces really work or belong on a released soundtrack - however much effort and skill goes into composing vignettes for short cutscenes or similar, the pieces lose their punch when devoid of context, but thankfully there are a couple of longer tracks here too. Capone's Mansion has me thinking James Bond again, though. Rattling drums give it a strong pace and the soaring strings combined with them lend a very Craig-era 007 dark action tone. I can see that particular piece of story being quite... fraught, but action in adventure games? Hmm... perhaps it gets caught between two stools. Another vignette suggests a victorious debrief, then Capone... singularly fails to bring a mob boss to mind. It's a reasonable piano melody, but incredibly tinny of sound.
This coming week, carried over from last year, is a much needed de-stresser in purpose. Too many busy weekends to now have worn me down. A slow week - whilst getting stuff accomplished - is a much needed recovery period. I find myself drifting and my eyes wanting to close during O.B., the soft melody nicely evoking a late night. It's only 21.30 but it feels later. Reconstruction is generic tension, and my plans to tag it as such on LastFM were foiled by UI changes that seem to have removed the ability to easily find and apply tags one has used previously. I'm sure I coined a "generic movie tension" tag after a prior listen, but can't seem to find it to confirm. Ah, sod you LastFM. Not the same since it became a glorified front end for Spotify.
Overall I think Sanchez has done a reasonable job. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing egregiously out of place, and very movie score appropriate, which you might expect. I can totally see the penultimate track as fitting for The Untouchables, for instance... a good touch point since this game I've not played centres on an older, out of retirement Elliot Ness. We end with a reprise of the first song, a more intimate rendition - a better rendition. Still too modern in sound somehow - something to do with how the vocal was recorded perhaps? - but stripped back to keys and voice it has a connection to the source ideas that the more lushly orchestrated version did not. A perfectly serviceable and quick-to-play soundtrack then.
Slow thematic keys, an attempt at a femme fatale vocal... yeah. There is a bit too much light and depth in this though, it's not raunchy enough and its sensibilities are too modern, with layers of stings and orchestral percussion. It's more movie-song than shot at a period piece, which is a little bit of a disappointment. It makes me think Bond theme, not noir. The song itself is alright I guess, but it seems misplaced for theme.
It was a proper theme song for the series, though, and now we're into the incidental music, which I presume is the background to actual scenes. I really should dive into the game to find out, but I've been sidetracked by other things (and Darkest Dungeon, which leaped ahead in the "I must play this now" queue). Finding the time, and right mental space to make these posts has been tough of late - busy weekends, plans during the weeks, and a raft of things I had intended to do but never found the time for. A week off is just what I need, and what I will be having, so I hope to get back into the swing of things.
The Main Theme is much more noir-appropriate, hinting at secrets, lies and darkness. Most of these pieces are over before they really establish themselves though, but now I've hit Investigation it seems to last long enough to get a real sense for it... and I think it's pretty good. Perhaps it is still erring on the side of too modern, but the timbre is right this time, and a low sax is a good call, whilst the pacing of the tune is totally in keeping with the genre. Man, I feel like I should be necking a straight bourbon now (ugh, give me a proper Scots or Irish Whisk(e)y any day).
I am not sure the shorter pieces really work or belong on a released soundtrack - however much effort and skill goes into composing vignettes for short cutscenes or similar, the pieces lose their punch when devoid of context, but thankfully there are a couple of longer tracks here too. Capone's Mansion has me thinking James Bond again, though. Rattling drums give it a strong pace and the soaring strings combined with them lend a very Craig-era 007 dark action tone. I can see that particular piece of story being quite... fraught, but action in adventure games? Hmm... perhaps it gets caught between two stools. Another vignette suggests a victorious debrief, then Capone... singularly fails to bring a mob boss to mind. It's a reasonable piano melody, but incredibly tinny of sound.
This coming week, carried over from last year, is a much needed de-stresser in purpose. Too many busy weekends to now have worn me down. A slow week - whilst getting stuff accomplished - is a much needed recovery period. I find myself drifting and my eyes wanting to close during O.B., the soft melody nicely evoking a late night. It's only 21.30 but it feels later. Reconstruction is generic tension, and my plans to tag it as such on LastFM were foiled by UI changes that seem to have removed the ability to easily find and apply tags one has used previously. I'm sure I coined a "generic movie tension" tag after a prior listen, but can't seem to find it to confirm. Ah, sod you LastFM. Not the same since it became a glorified front end for Spotify.
Overall I think Sanchez has done a reasonable job. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing egregiously out of place, and very movie score appropriate, which you might expect. I can totally see the penultimate track as fitting for The Untouchables, for instance... a good touch point since this game I've not played centres on an older, out of retirement Elliot Ness. We end with a reprise of the first song, a more intimate rendition - a better rendition. Still too modern in sound somehow - something to do with how the vocal was recorded perhaps? - but stripped back to keys and voice it has a connection to the source ideas that the more lushly orchestrated version did not. A perfectly serviceable and quick-to-play soundtrack then.
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