I don’t usually work with any music – it distracts me – but recently, when I needed some music in the background, I became obsessed with lo-fi remixes of video games on YouTube.
I have already recorded that I sometimes listen to video game music while working because a) I am a big nerd, and b) a lot of video game music has been designed to make pleasant background sounds that can run endlessly without becoming annoying. It would not be so much fun to spend hours upon hours in the worlds of Pokémon if the music was always in your face after all and was distracting. (I will give Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire‘s hilarious prominent horns here.
So it makes sense that the infinitely listenable quality of video game music, many of which after my days in virtual worlds was cut to my brain, combines very well with the soft electronic sounds of lo-fi chillhop beats, which I can also listen for hours on end. Now, I’m addicted.
Here are some remixes I recommend.
If you are a fan of Final Fantasy VII‘s incredible soundtrack, I think you’ll dig this set of remixes of Rifti Beats. I think I go back to this video more than any other. (And there’s a part two!)
“Zelda & Chill 2” from GameChops makes a fantastic twist on some classics Zelda tunes. (The “Midna’s Lament” remix is so, so good.) If you like what you hear, you might want to listen to the original “Zelda & Chill”.
I recently knocked Kidney: Automata, and I could not get the game’s incredible music out of my head. I recently turned to this remix of two of the game’s best songs – the city ruins theme and the amusement park theme – by Alex Moukala (a name you may recognize as the origin of the Wii’s funky remixes Mii Channel).
If you are familiar with the Person series’s very good music, you might want to give this set of Courtar remixes a listen.
And if you do not want to sort out the many mixes available on YouTube, turn on the GameChops’ Video Game Study Lounge live stream. (In a ghostly coincidence, I opened it to grab the link, and it plays the “Midna’s Lament” remix I mentioned earlier. The song is just as good!)
Happy listening. And tweet me with any recommendations you have!