Be Excellent To Each Other

Right, general music recommendation threads don't work sometimes because they have no context. Fine, chuck stuff you like in there and maybe some readers will pick up on it, but there's nowt like a bit of context... "Music for cunnilingus" is always going to beat "stuff wot I be listening to".

With this in mind, I propose a series of themed music threads, created with integrity whenever the fancy takes someone. I've just this evening realsied the lack of an mp3 station in GTA4 isn't a lack at all, due to the Guide being accessible, and thus my network music server and Zen jacked in by USB.

I've recently reached the second safe house, on the north east island, and am playing Biotron Shelf's 33 Minutes North which is one of my favourite 'electronica' (blergh) albums in the world... evar. Really seems to fit mooching, cocking about, cutscenes and missions, if sometimes in an off iilter way. I find ramming my own persistant soundtrack over the game (particularly when listening to an album so unique) makes me find my own psychological path through the game - the narrative pace of it (carefully tuned to suit sandbox and mission play) is forced to compete for the first time against your own internal musical dialogue - the game has no idea what you are listening to, when it plays cutscenes or triggers events.

Chaos is in effect, and it works. I'd recommend Biotron Shelf to anyone who ever liked any music, give it a couple of runs through and see if it grabs you, then ram it into GTA4.

Or, try your own stuff and recommend that, and come up with a thread with another theme. I reckon music to 'bury your mates to' might throw up some interesting choices, because the implications are not stuff we usually contemplate.

Problem is that you have to turn it off when the cut scenes are on. That's a bit annoying.

I recommend the following for GTA

* Padded Cell - "Signal Failure"
* Black Devil Disco Club - "The Devil in Us (Dub)"
* One + One - "No Pressure (Deadmau5 Remix)"
* Alex Gopher - "Brain Leech (Bugged mind remix)"
* K.I.M. - "B.T.T.T.T.R.Y. (Bag Raiders Remix)"
* Simian Mobile Disco - "Tits and Acid"
* Nitzer Ebb - "Let Your Body Learn"
* Kavinsky - "Testarossa (Sebastian Remix)"
* Chris Lake vs. Deadmau5 - "I Thought Inside Out (Original Mix)"
* Boys Noize - "& Down"
* Justice - "Waters of Nazareth"
* Killing Joke - "Turn to Red"
* Playgroup - "Make it Happen"
* Liquid Liquid – "Optimo"
* David McCallum - "The Edge"
* Roy Ayers - "Funk in the Hole"
* Gong - "Heavy Tune"
* David Axelrod - "Holy Thursday"
* Grover Washington, Jr. - "Knucklehead"
* Aleksander Maliszewski - "Pokusa"
* Ryo Kawasaki - "Raisins"
* Marc Moulin - "Stomp"
* Billy Cobham - "Stratus"
* Tom Scott & The L.A. Express - "Sneakin' in The Back"
* Lonnie Liston Smith - "A Chance for Peace"
* War - "Galaxy"
* The O'Jays - "Give The People What They Want"
* Gil Scott-Heron - "Home is Where The Hatred Is"
* The Meters - "Just Kissed My Baby"
* Mandrill - "Livin' It Up"
* Manu Dibango - "New Bell"
* Fela Kuti - "Sorrow, Tears & Blood"
* Femi Kuti - "Truth Don Die"
* Creative Source - "Who Is He And What Is He To You"
* Hummingbird - "You Can't Hide Love"
* Fela Kuti - "Zombie"
* Count Basie - "April in Paris"
* John Coltrane - "Giant Steps"
* Chet Baker - "Let's Get Lost"
* Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers - "Moanin'"
* Miles Davis - "Move"
* Charlie Parker - "Night and Day"
* Roy Haynes - "Snap Crackle"
* Sonny Rollins - "St. Thomas"
* Duke Ellington - "Take the 'A' Train"
* Dizzy Gillespie - "Whisper Not (Big Band)"
* Peter Brown - "Burning Love Breakdown"
* Tamiko Jones - "Can't Live Without Your Love"
* Gino Soccio - "Dancer"
* Suzy Q - "Get On Up And Do It Again"
* Electrik Funk - "On A Journey"
* Don Ray - "Standing In The Rain"
* Cerrone - "Supernature"
* Rainbow Brown - "Till You Surrender"
* Harry Thumann - "Under Water"
* Skatt Brothers - "Walk The Night"
* Murphy's Law - "A Day in the Life"
* Maximum Penalty - "All Your Boyz"
* Underdog - "Back to Back"
* Leeway - "Enforcer"
* Sick of it All - "Injustice System"
* Cro-Mags - "It's The Limit"
* Sheer Terror - "Just Can't Hate Enough"
* Bad Brains - "Right Brigade"
* Killing Time - "Tell Tale"
* Agnostic Front - "Victim in Pain"
* Gruppa Kino - "Gruppa Krovi"
* Marakesh - "Zhdat"
* Zvery - "Kvartira"
* Seryoga - "King Ring"
* Seryoga - "Liberty City: The Invasion"
* Splin - "Liniya Zhizni"
* Basta - "Mama"
* Leningrad - "Nikogo ne Zhalko"
* Ranetki - "O Tebe"
* Dolphin - "RAP"
* Glukoza - "Schweine"
* Ruslana - "Wild Dances (Ukranian FM Version)"
* Oleg Kvasha - "Zelenoglazoe Taksi (Club Remix)"

etc!