Pseudonym, Reveal Thyself! morusque’s “Blocks That Matter” (Review)

I picked up the indie game Blocks That Matter via the latest Humble Bundle, which also featured an alpha build of Voxatron and the excellent roguelike The Binding of Isaac. As is their way, the bundle also included free digital soundtracks. Said bundle is over now, and yes, I feel bad for those of you who missed it.

But the game is still available through many outlets (including Steam) and the soundtrack is available separately via Bandcamp. I’m telling you all this because I personally find both the game and the soundtrack to be remarkably charming.

And I’m also frustrated that the composer, “morusque,” doesn’t have a very big public presence. I want more from this guy (girl?), and I want it now. After the jump, a brief review of the soundtrack for Blocks That Matter.

I’m not going to reproduce the tracklist in full, but it’s there (on Bandcamp, or vgmdb) for you to look at. It ties itself to the game perfectly. In the game, you are a tiny robot named “Tetrobot” and your job is to break blocks (either by head-bump or drilling) and then place them elsewhere to reach different areas. There are over a dozen different block types, and they also serve as the titles for most of the songs. It’s interesting to hear how the composer associated different melodies with these different blocks.

For example, there’s “Sand.” Though the block appears early in the game, the song is found late in the soundtrack (track 15). This song incorporates really awesome lo-fi bass and beautiful, ethereal keyboard synths. It’s rare that a song would be pleasant for both dancing and sleeping. Yet, here we are.

The piece of music written for the protagonist, “Tetrobot,” is wildly fun. Here we find a clever mix of “bleep-boop-whirr” robot noises, a nice jazz drum (trap) set, and the rest I can only describe as “toy music.” Oh, and there are great jazz keyboard solos. This song is made of win.

In attempt to be more balanced, I’m going to try to be critical. Everyone tells me I’m too much of a cheerleader. So, um… ugh. I can’t do it. I like all these songs too much! The best I can do is say, if this music isn’t your style, then it’s not your style. For a strong example, track 6 “Ice” is the sort of going-everywhere-and-nowhere dubstep piece that you may not enjoy. And if that’s the case, fine. But as for me, “Ice” is one of my favorite tracks on the album. Also, “Jade.” Wow, what a sublime piece of music.

Oh, I got another critique! The album is short. The songs are short. They’re less like fully fleshed out musical movements, and more like clever musical ideas. If you didn’t like Bartok’s “Mikrokosmos” collection, maybe you won’t enjoy this either? Some people just can’t get into a collection of songs between 90 and 180 seconds. That’s the best I can do. Other than that, I love this little album.

Again, the album is available on Bandcamp for 3 Euros. It’s priced to sell, and it fits the track/album length. Get your lo-fi groove on, people. And, if you know anything about this French (I’m guessing?) composer, please feel free to leave it in the comments section so we can all become a little smarter!