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Watcha Listening To: Into the Score

Posted by Bob Mackey

I'm a podcast fiend, and if my ears aren't necessary for a task, then they're probably busy listening to something nerdy. So it should come as no surprise that Into the Score is one of the dozen-or-so podcasts I download as soon as a new episode is available. As far as gaming podcasts go, it's completely unique; Into the Score is the only one devoted to the academic study of video game music--but don't let the word "academic" throw you off. A musical layman--like me, for instance--can safely go into an episode of Into the Score and actually learn something. Scary, I know.

Even though I lack the vocabulary to talk about video game music, I've always been obsessed with it. All you need to do is take a look at my iTunes library (though I never let anyone do this) or travel back in time to 1994 when i was making my own Final Fantasy III soundtrack by holding a crummy casette recorder up to my TV's speakers. So, needless to say, I'm consistently amused and educated by every episode of Into the Score. Host Kenley Kristofferson uses each episode to explore a different soundtrack while tying in a discussion about the prevalent musical concept(s) used within said soundtrack. I daresay it's given me greater respect for soundtracks I like, and has even shown me the greatness of soundtracks I wasn't aware of.

But to stop this post from being such an Into the Score love-in, I do have one major problem with each episode: the beginning section. Kenley spends an unnecessary amount of time going over trivia about the game(s) he's covering, even though his audience--who are downloading a niche-within-a-niche podcast--should be well aware of the nerdy details. My brain may just be a repository for information about video games, so this problem could be personal. But even so, my iPod still has the ability to fast forward, so this is hardly an issue worth bitching about.

If you're still interested, go ahead and check out Into the Score. It's edutainmentastic.

Related Links:

Watcha Listening To: Retronauts Episode 55: Snatcher Edition
Watcha Listening To: The Final GFW Radio
Watcha Listening To? Retronauts Episode 48

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Posted Nov 03 2008, 02:00 PM

Filed under: music, bob mackey, watcha listening to, podcasts

Comments

Demaar said:

Hmm, I have a very limited number of podcasts I listen to, and even then I'm falling behind. I'll check out the FFTactics one though, see if I get hoooked.

November 4, 2008 8:08 AM

About Bob Mackey

For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

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Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

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Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

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