Video games and albums that go together very well + OTHR STOOF

You know, I don’t like video game music a lot, it’s kind of obtrusive. That’s why I always knock down the sound and play something from my collection to them. Strangely, some albums fit very well with some games. For example, Funkadelic’s 1970 “Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow” goes well with Super Mario Bros. 3, as do good old Jimi’s “Electric Ladyland” and James Brown’s four year younger “Hell”. I don’t really know why… Must be that special kind of feeling acid rock and soul have to themselves – for acid rock, it’s that raw, tripped out sound, and a very direct one, too. …And soul is just great. Tracks 1 and 3 on “Free Your Mind…” go especially well with the game. Another Mario game, this time Super Mario World goes very well with another Funkadelic album (and a favorite of mine, too) – “Uncle Jam Wants You!” (1979). You know, the record with the iconic 15-minute dance track, “(Not Just) Knee Deep” which was later heavily sampled by hip-hop artists. Oh, and it has the only dancable guitar solo I know of, starting at 7 minutes into the classic. Then you got another Mario game, Super Mario 64, which has whole 3 albums (or maybe even more!) like ordered for it – The Beatles’ “Let it Be”, Led Zep’s “Led Zeppelin II” and Jimi’s “Are You Expirienced”. Hell, “What is and What Should Never be” even has lyrics that fit course 15 – ‘castles in the sky’ and so on…

Another game, this time not a Mario one, but a Zelda one – “The Minish Cap” or however you call it also has a musical companion, Grant Green’s magnum opus, “Idle Moments”, originally released in 1964. I don’t know why, but despite the huge ‘mood gap’ between the album and the game, they still seem to share a lot with each other. Track 2, “Jean de Fleur” fits one of the levels especially well. Oh, and while we’re talking about games and music, check this out. Might be very old news, but I find it nice and mention-worthy how they brought in one of the greatest musicians of all time to work on the music for one of the greatest games of all time. (Sadly, the Sonic franchise is today as dead as Michael Jackson’s career)

(Here begins OTHR STOOF)

Here are some great (free) games I’ve been playing in the past few days:

• Armor Picross II ;
• Nitrome’s Jack Frost, Magic Touch and Frost Bite;
• Gotmail?’s The Privacy (solved), Strawberry Tomato and Bon Voyage (sequel to “Strawberry Tomato”) .

And as a closer, here’s my personal album of the day:

Grant Green: “Street of Dreams”

It’s a great record, mainly because it’s a laid-back/chill thing and gets you into a great mood. And it fits bad weather perfectly. I not only like it, but I recommend it also. Here’s a track listing:

Side A:

1. I Wish you Love;
2. Lazy Afternoon.

Side B:

1. Street of Dreams;
2. Somewhere in the Night.

The runtime is some 33 minutes. Pretty short, but I don’t mind that.