LogFAQs > #952583196

99nd
Game: Braid
Title: Undercurrent
Composer: Jami Sieber
Nominator: @azuarc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dNu2b8GdXA

i probably have some sort of grudge against johnathan blow for saying pretty dismissive things about ""vgm composers""---he's said something along the lines of that vgm composers aren't capable of having the emotional attachment to their work that non-vgm musicians can have (his reasoning for choosing to use liscenced music rather than getting someone to write something original for his games)

regardless of that comment that i'm viciously offended by; i do think that blow does have an adequately cool taste in music, as evidenced in this game. most of the tracks he's chosen are actually quite to my taste! mostly calm acoustic new age-y stuff, but often with some subtle intricacy hidden behind the unassuming exterior. by contrast though, this is actually a vaguely energetic and tense pick. it always stands out as like the SERIOUS tune;;;;you know something BIG is about to go down (like a hard puzzle or something idk). has the psychological effect in-game where if you're in an area this track plays you know it is one of the HARD places; even if it's not, it just feels like it's supposed to be.

actually the most striking part to me is that opening before any pulse or drums start; i think when i've heard this track enough times, maybe even in context of the game, but also just listening to the soundtrack outside of it or even within this playlist---THAT opening is so...evoking of dread? it's like...crying? it feels alive, and displeased, and i feel its pain. I KNOW something serious/dark is about to come next. slooow pitch bends tend to do that; i feel this emotion a lot in dandara tracks regularly too and it works very well.

the instrumenation overall is really cool, those phaser/flanger-y type filters on a lot of long held out layers give this a cool otherworldly etherealness. and the clanky percussion makes it feel like you are in a place that is either ANCIENT or OUTSIDE. sometimes the melodic cello layer doesn't even feel like a cello, it has the vibe more of a synth lead. something about this track feels like it could fit both a glowing red circuitry filled cyberpunk future city, and an intimidating forest never touched by humanity. it's expressive in a way that transcends the boundaries of the instrumentation's traditional implications. what seeps through is the emotion, which is a /strong/ emotion

i never noticed until recently that this actually has a pretty big polymetric section! or at least sort of, pseudo-polymeter anyway. 3:00 has the guitar doing endless groups of 3+3+3+3... it resets sometimes, but not consistently, and that's cool. if this was a TRANCE song it would be by ""zts"" because it has the same motions of disconnect from it's otherwise 4/4 pulse that something like deadangle or even worldenddominator do. something i unsurprisingly like~! very floaty and trippy result depending on what you choose to focus on there. actually i guess the bass loop this has in all the other parts earlier is sorta a foreshadowing of the rhythms to come here. it's almost like this is the chance for that aspect to shine kind of like my favorite part of "umineko worldenddominator at 2:57 to the loo"p where suddenly the 7 against 4 polymeter stops resetting itself every few bars and it's the "emotional "part of the song that is uplifting instead of oppressive. it has the same punch of "freedom from the DARKNESS" coupled with slightly more musical ambiguity and freedom, a thing i thing gives subtly more contrast than if it just followed the same rhythmic patterns from before

i've played this game and really deeply enjoy it. i disagree with jon blow on a pretty high amount of his philosophies, not just the dumb comments about vgm composers, but i'm also at odds with his game design beliefs. i could go on about all his design philosophies i disagree with, it's endless, almost feels like he looks for the opposite of what i do at times. but the end result? it's still something i love. I think it's interesting that his game design choices are informed by values that are so much the antithesis of my own, but the end result is something i'm in love with regardless. I guess it shows that strongly opposing viewpoints on what a game should be, can still converge on the agreement of ""this game is a cool game"" in the end.

Braid is a really cool game and i love the witness too. jon blow just consistently winds up making games i really like despite how much i disagree on why he does what he does in his games. i have to respect him a ton no matter how much his values in what makes a game a good game diverge from mine. Maybe that's even an accomplishment in the deep integrity of his ideas/execution in itself, that he succeeded multiple times at making something i love, even when the reasons behind his choices conflict with what i look for.

sorry that was sorta a random tangent and i don't want negativity about a specific person to pervade here...dogpiled hating on 'pretentious indie art people' is a pet peeve of mine that annoys me to see others do anyway and now i'm doing that with my own target

my memories of this game are very very fond. I found the puzzles fun and engaging, all the time-related gimmicks tickled my biased fondness for time travel/manipulation related themes. and the music choices are definitely tied with my appreciation of the game too. this track being the most memorable, even if not actually my favorite (my favorite is Long Past Gone). it may make it difficult for me to give an 'objective' evaluation of this tune as a result sort of, but i always come back to it happily. it just had the luck of an in-game context (which is mostly ""standing out as [The Intense Song] in a mostly slow-paced ost/game"") giving me more chances to focus on it and get emotionally attached to all the things that make it feel so cool

i'm excited for the next jonathan blow games and i hope they have music choices i like as much as braid's! even if they don't, i'd be surprised if i didn't enjoy the games, despite everything
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