10 Producers That Should Be Scoring Video Games

The worlds of electronic music and video games have had an awesome history. While we've seen hundreds of tracks licensed as in-game music for the Grand Theft Auto series, it doesn't stop there. Remember when Wipeout XL had music from The Chemical Brothers, Photek, and Underworld on its soundtrack? That was 1996. There are a number of games that continue to look towards the booming beats of numerous dance music genres to properly soundtrack their fast-paced games.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

The worlds of electronic music and video games have had an awesome history. While we've seen hundreds of tracks licensed as in-game music for the Grand Theft Auto series, it doesn't stop there. Remember when Wipeout XL had music from The Chemical Brothers, Photek, and Underworld on its soundtrack? That was 1996. There are a number of games that continue to look towards the booming beats of numerous dance music genres to properly soundtrack their fast-paced games.

On the flipside, we've seen a number of producers who draw influence from video games in a number of ways, expressing their love for the quirky bleeps and melodies of these video games and incorporating it into their art. From the chiptune scene to the producers who are making tunes that straight-up sound like bonus level music from Super Mario World, we're seeing more of that gaming influence being thrown into the electronic music scene. Here is a collection of producers who are making tracks that would fit perfectly as the soundtrack to the platformer of your choice.

Wave Racer

Not Available Interstitial

Location: Sydney, Australia

When many think of that 8-bit wave that's washing over the electronic music scene, Wave Racer's the producer they associate with. The Future Classic-signee says he likes "vocoders and arpeggios" and has a way with those bright melodies, complete with super-cute flourishes. He's quite possibly the next to blow... or he'll just continue to churn out soundtracks for Super Nintendo games that should've been released in the mid-'90s.

Seablaze

Not Available Interstitial

Location: Chicago, IL

While Seablaze's vibes probably come from his love of anime moreso than any video game flex, he has a way with melodies that create complex works of art. Something similar to the µ-Ziq/Aphex Twin school, where the drumwork can be as hectic as can be, but the beauty of the riffs and melodies floating atop breathe life into the beats. You might not expect him to craft something for the more popular levels in Sonic or Super Mario games, but he'd definitely be able to drop some cut-scene ditties in your favorite RPGs.

Maxo

Not Available Interstitial

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Not as big room as his gamer-vibe counterparts but closest to the craft of game music, Maxo brings the styles of current jams and adds the classic instrumentation and arrangements of yesteryear, making his tracks sound as if they were lost soundtracks to your favorite platformer.

PUSHER

Not Available Interstitial

Location: Toronto, Canada

It sucks that people ends up leaving so many "Wave Racer" comments on his tracks. We get it, but while Wave Racer tends to go into different realms with his productions, one of the beautiful things about PUSHER is that his music might actually live in a Super Nintendo. It's almost as if Yoshi found someone's joint, got the entire Mushroom Kingdom smoked out, then introduced them to bass music. PUSHER might want to just go ahead and start submittingb its to Nintendo for whatever new Mario game is on the way.

Ultrademon

Not Available Interstitial

Location: Chicago, IL

There's something captivating about the music Ultrademon creates, and part of that might be his influences, which incorporate everything from "nautical elves" to "teen anime love stories." Those long, sprawling cuts that keep you focused and intrigued while making your feet stomp? That's where Ultrademon's music resides. Unforgettable melodies that you wouldn't mind hearing for hours on end while trying to reach the flag at the end of the level.

Joker

Not Available Interstitial

Location: Bristol, England

When Joker isn't crafting purple dreams within a dubstep mindstate, he's out here remixing Sonic The Hedgehog 2. He's dropped his 16-bit-influenced ditties in mixes before, and created an entire Sega Joker Drive tape that "Tokya District" is from. He captures that sound perfectly, and might need to either finance a video game or start shopping those beats for the nostalgic programmers out there.

Scattle

Not Available Interstitial

Location: U.S.

You probably saw Scattle's work via his 8-bit reworks of big tunes for POTATO's Bitcrush series. While all of his music isn't in this vein, he knows how to capture those nostalgic clicks and bleeps and transform them into tunes that straddle both sides of the fence.

Anamanaguchi

Not Available Interstitial

Location: New York, NY

While some might have first heard Anamanaguchi's work via their remix of Porter Robinson's "Sad Machine," they've been chiptune darlings for a bit. Never did we imagine that the chiptune scene would've been thrown over some pop/punk vibes, complete with charging guitars and drums. We swear there's a video game out there just waiting for a touch of Anamanaguchi.

Ultrasyd

Not Available Interstitial

Location: France

Now if you're talking chiptunin', you're talking France's Ultrasyd, a self-described retrogamer who makes "simple sounds on simple machines." The chiptune scene might not be everyone's cup of tea, but Ultrasyd's finding ways to take those intoxicating sounds and bring in modern EDM tempos and sounds into the mix.

Lindsay Lowend

Not Available Interstitial

Location: Washington, DC

Of the newbreed of producers on a whole, Lindsay Lowend not only has one of the best names ever, but is one of the most promising. He's oozing funk, has an obvious love of that throwback look, and knows how to incorporate video game beauty into his soulful tunes. He's crept back up and started throwing more of his productions out there, and truly feels like one to watch. Give him a 2015 Leisure Suit Larry game to soundtrack and we'll be golden.

Latest in Music