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Week 730: “Mother & Child” by Todd Baker
Manage episode 416751136 series 1375605
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If you’ve ever wanted to step inside a piece of art by MC Escher and explore the visual paradoxes within, then the Monument Valley games are for you.
Released in 2014 and 2017, they are wonderfully engaging puzzle games in which you lead a character through a hypnotic landscape of impossible structures.
In the original, the protagonist works her way through the levels by herself. But in the sequel she is followed by her daughter, who trots along dutifully wherever her mother leads.
Occasionally, the two characters are separated. In these cases, the mother must use her movements to coax her daughter – who always moves when her mother does, even if they are separated – into walking certain parallel paths in order to unlock subsequent levels. When mother and daughter are reunited, they always hug for a few adorable seconds. There’s a subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) theme of a parent’s need to let go that tugs at my heartstrings just a bit.
As is so often the case with games that receive critical acclaim for their immersive worlds, the success of Monument Valley 2 is in no small part thanks to the music and audio design, done by British composer Todd Baker. The game’s soundtrack, which skims past various influences without ever touching them directly, will alternately bring to mind Boards of Canada, Brian Eno, and Steve Reich.
I’m not much of a gamer, so take my recommendations with a pinch of salt, but I would definitely recommend playing Monument Valley 2. And when you play, be sure to use headphones to appreciate Baker’s soundtrack.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The warmth of the keyboard.
2. The high notes of the keyboard (daughter) and how they interplay with the low notes (mother).
3. The forever echo that makes each touch on the keyboard spiral off into infinity
Recommended listening activity:
Doing a puzzle with someone either much older or much younger than you.
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