Bleep

Video game music is designed for focus and immersion, and there may be no better example than the hypnotic, heartracing rhythms of CoLD SToRAGE’s acclaimed wipE’out’’ soundtracks. Synths seem plucked straight from the engines of the game’s antigravity motorsports, and vocal hooks characteristic of 90s dance ecstasy sound from the cockpits of drivers’ crafts, who speed ahead and throw bombs of breakbeats at the competition. Previously these exhilarating songs could only be ripped from the original PlayStation discs. Now, Lapsus give CoLD SToRAGE’s wipE’out’’ legacy a definitive remaster, compiling tracks from the original 1995 game and its 2097 sequel with remixes exploring even more dizzying heights.

Bass-booming kicks and laser guns at the ready, ‘wipE’out’’ Intro’ is a hardcore primer beamed directly from a rugged, hi tech, neon-lit future. There is never a dull moment in this world of space-age speedsters: zipping between vertigo-inducing arpeggios and morse coded pulses, ‘Hakapik Murder’ combines spring-loaded breakbeats with punk-adjacent synths, shredding to the distinct tune of the 90s. Punching rhythms break a sweat on ‘Messij’ as they scramble for the finish line, with ephemeral sections shooting through tunnels of racing lights while the bassline chugs.

μ-Ziq opens the remixes with a whirlwind of drum chops and choirs adding spectral tension, introducing a lineup of high energy, forward thinking producers. Kode9 burns rubber on his ‘Messij’ remix, pitting glittering loops against stomps and wobbling, rumbling bass. Simo Cell’s industrial reconstruction of ‘Tancevaal’ speaks to a murky sci fi underground with heavy concrete and metallic impacts, while Datassette suspends synths in antigrav, flipping the classic PlayStation startup sound into earthshaking rhythmic abstraction.

Not only has CoLD SToRAGE made some of the most influential video game soundtracks to grace consoles worldwide, but also some of the most invigorating electronic music of its era.