Neverhood Songs (1996)
39 tracks, 57 minutes (original CD version)
Bandcamp · iTunes
(Okay, this one has been released several different times throughout the years with various bonus tracks and extra discs and all that, but I want to write about specifically the original release of Neverhood Songs...or, as it exists in my own collection, Disc 1 of Imaginarium, which was released in 2000. But that’s boring discogs.com talk. About the record itself, and a bit more besides…)
This album is the first video game soundtrack to be featured on this blog, and there’s going to be quite a few, actually. I’m terrible at video games, but I really appreciate them as an art-form, and I’m particularly interested in how they use music not only to bolster the atmosphere they wish to create, but also to match the style of gameplay that is involved. Of course, the best soundtracks are not only perfect in situ, but can also hold their own as their own art. The music from The Neverhood, a point-and-click adventure game from 1996, fits that bill. In fact, it is still one of my all-time favourite albums.
The Neverhood itself is one of the most underrated video games and its visual style has never really been matched: it’s somewhere between Hundertwasser and German expressionism, and it was created entirely in claymation. And considering the silent protagonist and only a sparse cast of supporting characters, the game is outstandingly funny.
But we’re here about the music, and the soundtrack to The Neverhood is absolutely perfect for the game. It sounds like it was made out of the same clay as the rest of it – it’s just as gloopy and thumb-moulded as the world looks. The composer Terry Scott Taylor (betterwise known as part of Christian rock band Daniel Amos) mixed trad jazz, blues and rock’n’roll to create a wonderfully evocative nonsense, almost all sung in a made-up language (bah diddly cuddly op...). There’s a little or a lot of influence from Leon Redbone, I think – more about him at some point in the future.
I think the music for The Neverhood was the first time I experienced music being funny in and of itself, without the need for comedy lyrics or whatever. The music is irreverent and madcap, but its musicians are obviously top-notch as evidenced by some off-the-wall jazz ramblings. Sometimes it isn’t even really music. The last 17 of the 39 tracks are more like skits: funny musical snippets, bizarre comedy skits and other assorted recording studio high jinks that made it into the game in one way or another. Neverhood Songs is a brilliant album, and it’s still unique after so long. Give it a listen, tap your feet and laugh yourself silly.
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