The Dog Solitude Jukebox
As promised, here's the sci-fi follow up to my fantasy RPG music post from early January.
This time I'll share some of the music I listen to when making plans for characters and campaigns with a high tech level.
One of my favorite bands of all time is the Japanese duo Boom Boom Satellites. I discovered them in the late 90s, so I've been listening to them for a long time. They've occasionally appeared on soundtracks, and their work on the Appleseed movie from 2004 is the best part of that entry in the series.
Sadly, their vocalist and guitarist Michiyuki Kawashima passed away in 2016. A few years later, the bassist and programmer Masayuki Nakano formed a new band, The Spellbound. Their musical vibe isn't exactly the same, but I enjoy it a lot. I thought it would be impossible to pick just one song to give a taste of either band's sound, but luckily for me, The Spellbound did a Boom Boom Satellites song in concert recently.
This next group of bands has appeared on my radar much more recently and make up the playlist that gives this post its name. They are similar in that their songs feature significant electronic elements. When I listen to them, I get the same feelings I had when I read the foundational books of the cyberpunk genre.
The band that first put me in the mind set of sitting in a seedy cyberpunk bar hoping to scrounge up a merc contract to keep my augs up to date is Pixel Grip from Chicago. Some of their songs are definitely NSFW, but "Bet You Do" is a safe way to get an idea of how they sound.
After some Pixel Grip, that janky old semi-sentient jukebox will queue up some Molchat Doma. This band from Minsk, Belarus, feels like the sound you would get from Morrissey being cloned by a mad scientist in a brutalist dystopia, and I love it. Their song "Belaya Polosa" is a perfect example of why I think they're a great addition to a sci-fi soundscape.
Lastly, there is the London band Kerala Dust. They're a bit art rock and a bit electronica, which perfectly fits the vibe I'm building. Their song "The Orb, TX" is a great example of the expansive vistas of americana they are trying to evoke with their latest album. I doubt the American vista they imagined was the Dog Solitude, but it works for me.
OK, so we've been cranking up some sci-fi-sounding music while making characters, but as mentioned in my previous post, I like to listen to something without many lyrics while playing in an RPG. I highly recommend the instrumental work of Scandroid. With song titles like "Datastream," you'll feel like you are in a road duel with a biker-clown gang in no time. Another of my favorites is Tycho. "Montana"
PS – I discover a lot of music through KEXP. I used to listen to them while driving around Seattle, and their YouTube feed is full of great stuff.