Recommended game and music combinations (Part 3)

Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Splinter Cell: Double Agent
The unrivalled stealth series places the player in the shoes of a spy who clocks up kills (or not) using the shadows rather than a machine gun.

Genres - Ambient, drone, experimental electronic.

Artist walkthrough (Splinter Cell: Double Agent)
Iceland - Brian Eno, William Basinski, Stars of The Lid, Tim Hecker, Keith Fullerton Whitman
▼
Kinshasa - Alva Noto, CoH, Frank Bretschneider, Taylor Deupree
▼
Bonus Mission



Multiplayer

Battlefield 2
This is the best multi-player action money can buy. The semi-realistic modern warfare is as exhilarating and fun as it gets.

Genres - Minimal techno, Detroit techno, drum ‘n’ bass.

Artists - Matthew Dear/Audion/False, Cristian Vogel, Gabriel Ananda, Surgeon, Aphex Twin, Ceephax Acid Crew, Ed Rush & Optical, Photek, Technical Itch.



Team Fortress 2
The reincarnation of Team Fortress Classic turned out to be a staggering success. This is a wildly fun game with an awesome graphical style.

Genres - IDM, electro, drum ‘n’ bass, acid techno.

Artists - AFX/Aphex Twin, Plaid, Squarepusher, Luke Vibert, Ceephax Acid Crew, Plug, Drexciya, I-F, Legowelt, Orbital, Wagon Christ.

Recommended game and music combinations (Part 2)

Portal
Portal is a cold and minimalist work of utter genius and a game in which not a single bullet is expired by the player. The portals are a worthy replacement for bloodshed in this criminally short but innovative outing.

Genres - Ambient, drone, minimal techno, experimental electronic.

Artist walkthrough
Test Chamber 00 – William Basinski, Stars of the Lid, Gas
▼
Test Chamber 10
Test Chamber 11 – Keith Fullerton Whitman, Tim Hecker
▼
Test Chamber 15
Test Chamber 16 – Alva Noto, CoH, Taylor Deupree
▼
Test Chamber 18
Test Chamber 19 – Plastikman, Richie Hawtin, Frank Bretschneider, Ø

Also see 'Memorable experience 1'



Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
This is the cream of the crop in the overcrowded World War 2 shooter scene. This series carries on what Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (also recommended) started with unforgettable moments of pure adrenaline and feelings of fright and hopelessness.

Genres - Drum ‘n’ bass, breakcore, Detroit techno, minimal techno.

Artist walkthrough (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)
Prologue - Dieselboy, Ed Rush & Optical, Technical Itch, Venetian Snares, Bong-Ra, Enduser
▼
Act 1
Act 2 - Cristian Vogel, Surgeon, Underground Resistance
Act 3 – See ‘Prologue’
▼
Epilogue



Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
This is the best third-person shooter ever. The bullet time and brutal combat ensure this is among the coolest and most eminently playable games there is.

Genres - Drum ‘n’ Bass, breakcore, electro, acid house, tech house, Detroit techno.

Artist walkthrough
Part One - Ricardo Villalobos, Gabriel Ananda, Alex Smoke, Cobblestone Jazz, Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, Luke Vibert, Ceephax Acid Crew
▼
Part Two - High Contrast, Photek, Plug
▼
Part Three – Dieselboy, Venetian Snares, AFX/Aphex Twin, Squarepusher

Recommended game and music combinations (Part 1)

The Extreme Electronic Experience can be achieved in countless different forms. It can be intense, frantic, chilling, dark, minimalist, technical, or brutal. The list could go on.

There are a number of ways I could have written this article. One method could have been recommending a range of games for specific music and another could have been recommending specific games to specific music. However I decided the best way to deliver the combinations was to recommend a range of music for specific games, as there is probably only one good shooter for every 100 good electronic music albums, and this way the variation on show is strongest. Each game has recommendations for accompanying genres and artists and an example track.

Single-player

Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War
Deus Ex is the best game ever, and Deus Ex: Invisible War is a great follow-up that was unfortunately somewhat diluted by the restrictions a multi-format release created. The games mix shooter elements with RPG elements into a blend that is dark, technological and downright phenomenal.

Genres - Game soundtrack, ambient techno, ambient house, ambient, electro, IDM.

Artist walkthrough (Deus Ex)
Liberty Island – Biosphere, B12, Higher Intelligence Agency
▼
Hell’s Kitchen
NSF Airfield - Drexciya, Arpanet, Radioactive Man, Urban Tribe, Aux 88
Majestic 12 - Keith Fullerton Whitman, Tim Hecker
Hong Kong – The Field, Norken, Kaito, Triola, early Aphex Twin, early Autechre
Naval Shipyards – See ‘NSF Airfield’
▼
Paris – See ‘Hong Kong’
▼
Vandenberg – See ‘NSF Airfield’
▼
Area 51

Also see 'Memorable experience 2'



Half-Life and Half-Life 2 + Episodes
The Half-Life series is the most critically acclaimed PC game series ever. The staggering action and interactivity that both games bought to the palette on release were boundary pushing and remain pretty much unrivalled in the shooter world.

Genres - IDM, experimental electronic, acid techno.

Artist walkthrough (Half-Life 2)
Point Insertion – Plastikman, Richie Hawtin
▼
Route Kanal
Water Hazard - AFX/Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Venetian Snares
▼
We Don’t Go To Ravenholm - Luke Vibert, Ceephax Acid Crew, Gescom
Highway 17 - AFX/Aphex Twin, Squarepusher
▼
Nova Prospekt - AFX/Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Autechre, Luke Vibert, Ceephax Acid Crew
▼
Follow Freeman
Our Benefactors – Gescom, Autechre, Luke Vibert, Ceephax Acid Crew
▼
Dark Energy



System Shock 2 and Bioshock
Bioshock is the spiritual successor to the immense System Shock 2, which was released ten years ago. These are the only games that truly challenge Deus Ex for the crown of the thinking-mans shooter, with similarly ingenious RPG elements to significantly enhance the experience over a standard shooter.

Genres - Ambient, drone, minimal techno, electro, experimental electronic.

Artist walkthrough (Bioshock)
Welcome to Rapture - William Basinski, Stars of The Lid, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Tim Hecker, Max Richter, Gas, Biosphere, Colleen
▼
Smugglers Hideout
Arcadia - Autechre, Gescom, Arpanet, Urban Tribe, Plastikman, Monolake, Cristian Vogel
▼
Proving Grounds
Fontaine – Venetian Snares

Music review: Autechre - Quaristice

Fans of Autechre will be aware that when scrutinising a new release first impressions count for little as the music is packed with so much detail. There are layers upon layers of concealed sounds that do not become apparent until the umpteenth listen.

So during the time that Quaristice landed on my hard drive and this review was posted, my count of thorough listens was hefty. Sadly, in hindsight I realised that it needn’t have been, as Quaristice seems to lack the gradually revealing nature of previous releases, and even fails to conjure up the usually over-whelming and hard-hitting clout of the first few listens. That is not to say this is a bad album, as that is clearly not the case.

Quaristice clocks in at a bulky 73 minutes, and with an unorthodox 20 tracks making up the length there is a lot for a reviewer to get his or her teeth into.

Altibzz is a suitable opener, with crisp and (dare I say) Eno-esque melodies leading into the second track The Plc, which is a solid track but regrettably nothing more, as the morphing process of the catchy beat and bass line sounds like Autechre functioning rather than excelling.

plyPhon and Perlence are deliciously dark tracks with gloomy melodies and bass reverb used to monstrous effect, yet the listener is not truly convinced this is an Autechre record until the splendid Simmm reveals the more luminous side of the duo. The track begins with a saccharine melody and beat work reminiscent of Untilted. The track degrades towards the middle, but the delicate final minute and a half is a highlight.

From paralel Suns through to Fol3 the album takes a turn for the worse. The five tracks in this bracket all seem to lack the inventiveness and edge Autechre usually accomplish with ease. However, from the schizophrenic fwzE through to the delectable closing ambient tracks Notwo and Outh9X, the listener is treated to an incredible range of sounds. 90101-5l-l, bnc Castl and chenc9 are fantastically playful and thoroughly enjoyable listens, while the melodies in WNSN and Theswere are also highlights.

In terms of Quaristice’s suitability for shooter gaming, the mechanical and buoyant tracks work well with fast-paced multiplayer games like the recent Unreal Tournament 3, while the darker tracks lend themselves nicely to a moody shooter like Bioshock.

Quaristice is out now on Bleep, however for those who would rather wait to get their hands on a physical copy it will be released worldwide on March 3. A limited edition of the album was made available for pre-order in conjunction with the Bleep release; however the 1000 copies sold out within 12 hours. The main draw is an extra CD of 11 tracks (68 minutes), which are reportedly different versions of selected tracks from Quaristice.

Returning to the here and now, the vanilla release should not only keep you bewildered and astounded until the bonus tracks arrive, but for the foreseeable future.

8/10

Music review: Clark - Turning Dragon

Going out and buying a new album from a record store as opposed to acquiring it digitally is an extremely rare event for me these days, reserved only for albums by favourite artists that have me salivating in anticipation prior to release. The promise of Clark’s latest release was strong enough to trigger the act, and the first listen eventually turned this great promise only to mild approval.

Turning Dragon is Christopher Clark’s fourth full-length album for Warp Records after 2001’s Clarence Park, 2003’s Empty The Bones Of You and 2006’s Body Riddle. Fans were told to expect an album of more dancefloor-friendly tracks and that is generally what they are.

A number of the tracks, especially Volcan Veins with its poor vocals, tend to grate to the extent that they become unpleasant, which can be put down to Clark’s questionable decision to coat his tracks with an overly rough and distorted sound. However there are strong and memorable moments as one would expect in an album of stomping beat ridden tracks from a producer very much holding the torch lit by Warp’s electronic giants. These include the tremendous melodies in the final minutes of the opener New Year Storm, the epic centrepiece For Wolves Crew, the deep and acidic thuds of Ache of the North and the marvellously executed closer Penultimate Persian. From a gaming perspective, Turning Dragon sounds as if it was made for turbulent online fragfests in places.

Despite this scattered praise, I consider the album a step sideways rather than a step forward for Clark. There’s plenty of energy and aggression here, but it lacks the consistent panache of yesteryear.

6/10

Game review: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

The latest in the excellent series brings the setting forward from the arguably tired World War II backdrop to the modern day, and this incarnation is the best yet.

I am still feeling an immense buzz from my latest game of multiplayer Call of Duty 4, one that easily matches those given by Battlefield or Counter-Strike when they were fresh. The frantic fire-fights coupled with the rank-climbing and unlocks make this the most addictive online shooter I’ve played. It may seem unorthodox for this review to focus on multiplayer first, but despite the awesome campaign it is far and away the star of the show, which is a breath of fresh air compared to the excuses for multiplayer usually tacked onto shooters at the last minute.

The single-player campaign is very short (I ran through it in about six hours) but so tight and enjoyable that you won’t feel short changed. There is a commendable amount of variation throughout (which couldn’t have been truly said for its predecessors), meaning that different styles of electronic music fit different missions.

For example, drum ‘n’ bass or breakcore seemed to enhance the action-packed skirmishes, while I’d go as far as to say that ambient music matched the tension of levels such as the chilling Prypiat sniper mission.

The graphics and environments are visual pleasure at its finest, the realism and polish further showing how much love has gone into this product. Missions are cinematic and brilliant (if still teetering on complete linearity) and combat, online and off, rarely fails to be intense and overwhelming.

Call of Duty 4 has taken me by surprise. Instead of the merely good single-player romp I was expecting, I was treated to a fabulous campaign and the finest multiplayer action currently available to boot.

10/10