NPR: John Coltrane and Video Games

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John Coltrane and Video Games

by Bob Boilen

I think musicians make music for one of two reasons: to entertain, or because they have no choice; it's bursting out of them.

There's a new game for the iPod called "Phase." Basically, it's Guitar Hero for the jog wheel set. The music that comes with the game is just a hoot -- totally entertainment music.

Who writes this stuff? Do they know how funny it is? My son and I laughed so hard, it hurt.

When you play Phase, you have to click your iPod while these little "notes" come at you on the screen; they come at you to the beat of the music. The songs written for the game have great titles like "The Theme of the Awesome." This music is the epitome of music as entertainment. And I love the way this music can make me laugh.

One feature of the game Phase is that you can put any song on your iPod and play to its rhythm.

I wonder what would happen if I picked John Coltrane as my soundtrack to Phase. Total entertainment meets absolute soul.

If the sky turns blood red and tiny frogs fall from the clouds, you may know why.

5:07 PM ET | 11- 8-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Whoever it is, can you get them to guest DJ an upcoming show? That would be fantastic.

And how can I get this game? I have no idea how to obtain games for my iPod.

Sent by japansteve | 2:56 AM ET | 11-11-2007

That first clip has got to be Freezepop. They've got songs in some (all?) of Harmonix's games. "Science Genius Girl" in FreQuency, "Ready to Rokk" in Guitar Hero 1, and "Less Talk More Rokk" in GH2.

Sent by Ian | 2:20 AM ET | 11-17-2007

Where are they from?
Do they do anything besides games?

Sent by Bob Boilen | 8:55 AM ET | 11-17-2007

Wikipedia to the rescue!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezepop_(band)

Hah, one of the members of the band is the audio director at Harmonix. That explains that! I knew they were from Boston, since Harmonix used a bunch of local bands in their early games, but I didn't know they were THAT closely tied.

But yes, they do more than video game music. Looks like they just released an album in September, which includes "Pop Music is not a Crime" as well as such promising titles as "Ninja of Love" and "Do You Like My Wang?" (referring to the brand of computers, of course).

Sent by Ian | 1:44 PM ET | 11-17-2007

Not quite a video game, but it's animated Coltrane: http://www.michalevy.com/giantsteps_download

Sent by Herb Levy | 4:29 PM ET | 11-18-2007

WOW!!
Thanks
Bob

Sent by Bob Boilen | 11:32 PM ET | 11-18-2007

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