Laced レコード& CD

Review: Survival horror franchise Alan Wake saw its second instalment in 2023, following the game series' 2010 debut. Again, we follow novelist Alan Wake, as he attempts to escape his imprisonment in an alternate dimension by penning a horror story about an FBI agent, Saga Anderson. Both a detective story and a shoot 'em up, the second game bolsters the franchise's neo-noir and gothic Midwestern tropes; the soundtrack is fittingly both lachrymose and chilling, with its contributing scorers - Petri Alanko, Old Gods Of Asgard, Jean Castel and more - portraying Nordic moods of modern, nailbiting mystery. Through stark, grim, minor-keyed anthems, trip-hop furrowers and trembly orchestral laments, we find dead bodies found in the woods, fight spriggan-esque creatures, and soak in moods of noir crime psychodrama, all chillingly captured in a single sonic melange.

Review: Bethesda Game Studios and Laced Records have teamed up to release the Starfield soundtrack on deluxe vinyl. Music is central to Bethesda's games and composer Inon Zur has worked with the studio since Fallout 3 in 2008. For Starfield, Zur crafted a blend of orchestral and electronic sounds to capture the vastness of space and human curiosity. Influences range from John Williams and Vangelis to Debussy and John Cage, and it was all recorded by the Budapest Film Orchestra. The score features sweeping melodies, cosmic textures and Aeralie Brighton's vocals which help bring it to life in HD sound.

Review: Bethesda Game Studios and Laced Records team up to bring the music of Bethesda's latest video game release, Starfield, to a deluxe vinyl edition. The anticipated follow-up record to titans in the open world genre, such as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - also developed by Bethesda - the 2023 game makes ample use of orchestral scoring and motifs, befitting of the interstellar sci-fi genre it operates in. Suitably, they chose composer and producer Inon Zur for composition duties; Zur's deft electronic palette weaves astrally through orchestral and classical traditions, bringing several centuries' worth of musical convention into a single OST, backed by the Budapest Film Orchestra.