Sound Shapes: Corporeal
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Album Title: Corporeal |
| Record Label: Bandcamp |
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| Catalog No.: N/A |
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| Release Date: March 5, 2013 |
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| Purchase: Buy at Bandcamp |
Overview
The music platformer Sound Shapes was scored by an impressive quintet of composers, namely Shaw-Han Liem, Jonathan Mak, Jim Guthrie, Deadmau5, and Beck. Guthrie only provided four songs for one section of the game’s soundtrack called Corporeal. But realizing the demand, he still decided to package these tracks into an album of the same name.
Body
Corporeal inhabits the same melancholic sound world as Sword & Sworcery, underpinned by a wealth of different synth rhythms and riffs pulled from various decades of electronic music, all playfully combined in one coherent and imaginative mix. But Sword & Sworcery’s majestic, lingering melodies have gone, replaced by short motifs that emphasise the wiry beats that Guthrie patiently manipulates by adding and subtracting layers of rhythms.
There’s still an undercurrent of otherworldly whimsy running through Corporeal, but all things told, this is a far more inward-looking, pensive work. Despite its inherent warmth, it takes on a chilly industrial edge on “Research and Development”, before turning quite forlorn on “Purgatory” and “Event Horizon”, as Guthrie thins out the textures further and further.
Summary
Even at just under 15 minutes, this EP-sized album is a satisfying work that can stand on its own outside of the game. The album can be previewed and downloaded on Bandcamp on a name-your-price basis now.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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Posted on September 5, 2014 by Simon Elchlepp. Last modified on September 5, 2014.
About the Author
Simon Elchlepp A former German film student now living in Melbourne, Australia and working at the University of Melbourne's Architecture faculty - and a passionate music lover with an eclectic taste. Specialising in Western game music, I'm here to dig out the best scores Western video games have produced in the last thirty years.
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Oh man, that album cover.