8 Tracks: Of Music From ’90s Video Games With Scent

Music

British band Scent recently released to Wichita Recordings with DEEP SPRINGS, the third in a series of EPs that have marked them out as an act to keep a very close eye on. Dealing in swirling, hazy pop music, fans of Deerhunter, Tame Impala and Dirty Projectors would do well to give them a listen.

Scent have put together this excellent 8 Tracks selection of '90s video game soundtracks for us. From Secret of Mana and Ecco The Dolphin to more esoteric picks such as Kaite Dezaemon, dig in below, and check out the band's own video for the EP title track…

LISTEN

Ecco The Dolphin - Ice Zone (1992)

I guess I like a lot of these older video game OSTs because they’re proof you can do a whole lot emotionally with very few elements. This one nails that. Also the game itself lets you time travel as one of nature’s only masturbating animals, which is nice.

Ecco The Dolphin - Ice Zone (1992)

I guess I like a lot of these older video game OSTs because they’re proof you can do a whole lot emotionally with very few elements. This one nails that. Also the game itself lets you time travel as one of nature’s only masturbating animals, which is nice.
Secret Of Mana - Fear Of The Heavens (1993)

This was created by composer Hiroki Kikuta before the game was actually finished and with almost no brief. Rather than using MIDI and the onboard sounds, he created his own compatible samples and basically didn’t sleep as he arranged it. It’s the tip of the iceberg as far as his work is concerned but I like the little nod to ‘Pet Sounds’ at the end.
Kaite Dezaemon - Bad Data (1994)

This is from a lesser-known top-down shooter released by Japanese studio Athena in 1994. It would play if your save file was corrupted or destroyed. Those foreboding chords and flimsy militaristic drums are kind of prescient to that data-loss anxiety we have now, like losing all your saved eBay searches or having your social security number deleted.
Tarot Mystery - What Is Your Birthday? (1995)

This is from a Tarot card game released in 1995 in Japan for Famicom. I don’t really know much about the game itself but you could make a club extremely misty-eyed if you dropped this at 4AM.
Mario Kart 64 - Winning Results (1997)

11/8!
Vangers - Death Theme (1998)

Vangers was a Russian game released in 1998 which became a cult hit. It’s got this weird convoluted plot that I guess is a metaphor for post-Soviet Russia – fear of the other, technological confusion, uncertain futures. I just like that when you die you get this chintzy, indifferent fugue thing with these goofy pinging noises.
Ape Escape - Haunted House (1999)

Soichi Terada is this incredible house musician from Japan who flew under the radar in the early ’90s and went on to make a bunch of really wild video game music in the late ’90s and early ’00s. His ‘Far East Recording’ compilation is worth a look – but this one is definitely for hooking up your PS1 to some JBL subwoofers in an old Vauxhall Corsa and driving around.
Jet Grind Radio - Humming The Bassline (2000)

This is the XL-jeaned, XS-t-shirted, giant-headphoned, fat-sneakered future we were promised. It’s a shame it didn’t turn out that way and instead we’re stuck with Apple Pay rather than a skull-embroidered wallet hanging out of a dragon-embroidered pocket by a thick chain, but everything is supposed to operate on a 20 year cycle, right? Maybe it’s time to bust out the spray cans and deface this brushed aluminium and bare brick hellscape.