From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V16 #1782 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, August 15 2016 Volume 16 : Number 1782 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- life is strange [Gregory Bossert ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2016 23:22:06 -0700 From: Gregory Bossert Subject: life is strange i just played the video game Life is Strange b more like an interactive miniseries, really, from a French indie studio. it really got under my skin, maybe a bit too much so for comfortb&but comfort isnbt really what i look for in art, so i guess thatbs good. anyway, one of the reasons i liked it so much was the excellent soundtrack, overseen by Jonathan Morali of the French group Syd Matters, who provide two pivotal songs. Morelobs score is a mix of acoustic guitar and electronics that feels very ecto, as does a mood of melancholy that occasionally drifts into menace. it would be 100% echo if there were more female musicians involved. still, therebs a perfect-in-context song from Amanda Palmer, a perkily disturbing ditty from Angus & Julie Stone, and maybe the standout discovery for me, a blistering version of Piano Fire from Sparklehorse with backing vox by PJ Harvey. other ear-catching tracks from folks new to me include JosC) GonzC!lez, Foals, alt-J, Message to Bears, and Bay Area game composer Kristen Miltner. and ibd managed to forget about Mogwai over the years... herebs the Sparklehorse track. (and yeeesh, what a tragic story behind that group!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2vZnKt-Nro and therebs a spotify playlist of the soundtrack: https://play.spotify.com/user/officiallifeisstrange/playlist/1f5ZzLDTXHTDR8CYIEddpW dunno if it has the same impact without the context of the game. still, what a surprise to discover a bunch of good music from a game. not to mention a great, soul-wringing, heartbreaking story. - -- www.gregorynormanbossert.com -- - -- www.suddensound.com -- ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V16 #1782 ****************************