In May 2014, the video game company Ubisoft released Watch Dogs, about a vigilante hacker in Chicago in the near future. Here’s how the game is described on their website: “You play as Aiden Pearce, a brilliant hacker and former thug, whose criminal past led to a violent family tragedy. While seeking justice for those events, you’ll monitor and hack those around you.” It sold over 4 million copies in its first week of release.

The music for the game was made by Brian Reitzell, who played drums in the bands Air and Red Kross before becoming a composer and music supervisor for films like Lost In Translation and Beginners. He also creates the music for the NBC television show Hannibal.

In this episode, Brian talks about the unique challenges posed by scoring video games, where players control what happens on screen and as a result, what happens in the music. He’ll break down a piece called Donovan, which he wrote for a chase sequence within the game. He also describes the instrument he created from a hundred-year-old piano.

This episode is presented in conjunction with Polygon.

Buy “Donovan” on iTunes here, or on vinyl here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
The Tangerine Dream song that plays is “Mysterious Semblance At the Strand of Nightmares.”

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In this episode, rapper Open Mike Eagle talks about making the song Dark Comedy Morning Show, along with the track’s producer, Walker Ashby, aka Toy Light. Mike breaks down how Toy Light’s original instrumental version of this song inspired him, and how his view of his own vocals on the track has changed since recording them.

Buy the song “Dark Comedy Morning Show (feat. Toy Light)” on bandcamp.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
A Tribe Called Quest – Steve Biko (Stir It Up)

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