3 out of 5

Produced by: 65daysofstatic, Dave Sanderson

Label: iam8bit

What’s up, guys?  Do you like video games?  Do you like Mogwai?  OMG would you like a video game scored by Mogwai?  Okay, we couldn’t get Mogwai, but here is a group with a similar aural aesthetic – maybe with shorter songs, for our on-the-go generation, y’know – who’ve garnered good internet hype; perhaps we should match them with this upcoming game that’s also generated a lot of internet hype?

…I haven’t played no man’s sky.  I wasn’t familiar with Aussie instrumental group 65daysofstatic prior to this.  I’m not really into open world stuff, and I’m not really into the pretty-to-loud buildup of groups like Mogwai or Godspeed!  Here is a positive: Perhaps you recall the opening scene of 28dayslater, with its blisteringly jarring instrumental accompanying a frenzied pan around the abandoned streets of the new world.  While the song didn’t so much for me (nor did the movie, really), I respected the unexpected juxtaposition of tone, both within the song (the pretty/ loud shtick) and the movie, matching the horror genre with a musical style we wouldn’t normally associate with it.  And that’s what I felt when putting on this soundtrack, that same kind of respect for the planning and resultant effect of the matchup; all of the pre-release visuals I’d seen for no man’s sky had me visualizing something rather peaceful and euphoric.  There would be battles, of course, but it felt like an exploration game.  Smashing that with the loud guitars of 65 is impressive, and I imagine adds a nice energy to actually playing the game.

After the shock wore off, I trawled through some bandcamp of previous releases by the band, and the shruggy Mogwai comparison was born.  It’s not boring music by any means, and the group’s twist on things is an inclusion of electronics more often than not, segueing between or into and out of tracks, but even with that element included, it’s not all that distinctive.  And ignorantly, it makes me wonder if the group is appealing to a younger crowd that just hasn’t heard this stuff before.  With some perspective stuffed in my ears, I came back to this soundtrack.  While I think theyve definitely zeroed in on their pacing from album to album, the concept has remained very much the same – meaning yes, on this album as well – and the runtime of tracks just doesn’t feel along enough to support an “epic” feel that might’ve gone even further in working with the game’s vibe.  (But, y’know, not playing it, so I dunno.)

Not factored into the rating: This is the iam8bit version of the soundtrack, which oddly isn’t the full one.  I’m not sure why.  We’ll pretend there’s a reason, like to keep pricing at a certain level, or maybe these are the songs actually used in the game or something, but – cool though it is – it seems a waste to have spared a side of LP 2 for a laser etching when there was more music.  That being said, the design is aces (that being the label’s forte) and the sound quality is good.