My Sprawl Soundtrack
A few months back I finally finished reading all of the stories in The Sprawl. I started with Neuromancer probably about three years ago then finished the trilogy with Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive. Then I was hungry for more so I read the short stories set in The Sprawl (Johnny Mnemonic, Burning Chrome, and New Rose Hotel). I’ve been consistently blown away by everything I’ve read and I find (as I’m sure a lot of others do) that these are a particularly relevant read in today’s world.
I personally read the books while listening to old 90s tracker music from Andrew Sega (Necros), Dan Gardopée (Basehead), and Alexander Brandon (Siren). All of them were in a video game music company called Straylight Productions (an obvious reference to the books) and are known for their music in classic computer games like Crusader: No Remorse, Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Tyrian, Jazz Jackrabbit 2, and Deus Ex. They were also involved in a computer subculture called Demoscene and two of them were in an important netlabel called Five Musicians. I think some of their music is unbelievably fitting for the books and has the perfect combination of sounding futuristic while also being relatively “period appropriate” with its use of outdated computer technology from the mid nineties.
I know plenty of people probably read the books without music but I was curious what others might like to listen to while reading. I’d also like to know if there are any other old school Demoscene and tracker music fans in this sub.
Here’s my playlist (some are on YouTube and some are on the Netlabel Archive under Five Musicians):
Andrew Sega (Necros):
Gateway
Isotoxin
Wired96 report
Babylon (demo)
Dan Gardopée (Basehead)
Passion Play
Glow Bug
The Zen Garden
Icarus Rising
Alexander Brandon (Siren)
Exploration
Heavy
NightVision
Technojunkie
The Blue Hippo
Universe Electric
Werd7