Video Game Soundtracks + Composer Interview
Rewiring a work environment with new switcher boxes is great only at the end point when things actually work as planned – which isn’t always the case – so while I did integrate some new & helpful tools (analogue to VGA box and needed extra cables), there’s the ongoing headache of patching HDMI cables into what should be a simple switcher box, so one monitor can be fed up to 5 inputs. Simple. Space-saving, and yet a few hours of fiddling haven’t yielded any success, hence the rather fragmented upload of video game soundtrack reviews.
The podcast interview with composer Penka Kouneva went up about 2 days ago, alongside a review of her CD A Warrior’s Odyssey [M] (Howlin’ Wolfe Records), and I’ve just uploaded reviews of UBISOFT’s double-header: Assassin’s Creed III [M] by Lorne Balfe, and Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation [M] by Winifred Phillips. The common thread among each score is high quality writing, strong and diverse theme variations, and a musical programme that offers plenty of drama.
When Shirley Walker emerged on the scene and gave us Turbulence, Final Destination, and The Flash, she proved with gusto and finesse that women can score any genre, and how foolish it is to try and discern the gender of a score’s creator. Like Walker, Kouneva and Phillips have crafted muscular scores that meet all the requirements of action, suspense, and mayhem in film and video games, and I hope we’ll not only see more of their work in both filmic and digital streams, but other women composers. Also recommended: Jessia de Rooij’s Far Cry (MovieScore Media) which isn’t just a solid action score, but transcends the innate flaws of Uwe Boll.
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Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com ( Main Site / Mobile Site )
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