For starters, this immediately inspired me to write something about it, so I can easily imagine others also being inspired to work on their own creative projects while listening to this. I was a bit sceptical at first, thinking it might cater to only one type of nerd, but the vibe diversifies the further I go (or the "farther" I go, imagining the album a system of caves, one deeper than the other, or the vast grounds of a castle, a forest, a field). There might be a slight lean towards fantasy. I can at least say with some certainty that fantasy nerds would probably love this. I could even imagine this being picked up by some live symphony orchestra (because kind of classical vibes) and the fans would go mad. And, for some reason, I keep imagining Mike Oldfield entering the stage on electric guitar. Ooor the artist himself… That would actually make much more sense.
On second listen, I start hearing more nuances and I can see how the nerd vibe diversifies a bit [time for signature bullet list]:
- tracks #1-5: general fantasy vibe, very "tolkien" [general outsider adjective],
- Track #2, Filling the Character Sheet: makes we want to go on a sublime adventure, horseback over vast fields, sit down at a campfire, enter secret temples, etc…
- Track #3, Rats and Roll (First Level Fight): fantasy adventure with the electric guitar somewhat suggesting modern times,
- Track #5, The Tavern and the Merchants Square: the happiest of the bunch, a favourite, love how it starts with a kind of random sequence getting looped in the intro, last peaceful day before the storm or a day's respite,
- track #7, The Twin Suns of Carcosa: more sinister vibe,
- Track #8, Blasphemous Rituals of the Cthulhu Cult: slightly sinister, could work while entering "The Maw",
- Track #9, Airspeeder Chase Through the Neon Planet: has its own unique vibe.
I would say the music is mainly meant to be functional (rather than following some great lofty artistic vision for stimulating your pineal gland and opening up a portal to another dimension whence hideous horrors cross over into our own… or is it? I mean, I hope not), and it works as intended. It works very well indeed as intended; Mental Soundtrack for Miscellaneous Nerd Activities by SounDuck is very much a "fun musical landscape for your favourite nerdy hobbies" [artist quote].
Side-note: Does modding a 25 year old video game count as a nerdy activity? Probably. Are there tracks that fit this kind of activity even if said game is more steampunk than fantasy? Yeah, a few, but, still, fantasy and cosmic horror fans seem like the main target.
Side-note: Apparently a side-project for learning band-related stuff (the artist's own band, that is).
