The Music of Tomáš Dvořák (Floex)

When I played Machinarium, I was impressed by many aspects of the game. One of those aspects was the soundtrack. The song “Clockwise Operetta” especially stood out to me the first time I heard it.

You can listen to the game’s soundtrack here, and you can download some additional music from the game for free here. (My favorite song from the bonus EP is “By the Wall.”)

When I went looking for more music by Tomáš Dvořák, the Czech composer of the Machinarium soundtrack, I found his 2001 album Pocustone. I was happy to discover that it is just as good as the music in Machinarium (and in fact, it was the reason Amanita Design asked him to work on Machinarium).

Dvořák released another Floex album called Zorya ten years later in 2011. It is also excellent. You can download the song “Casanova” from it for free here.

From an interview with Gamikia:

My studio it is really laboratory with different components what I am trying to mix up together. I am originally clarinetist so this is my main acoustic instrument. However you can also find piano, metalophones, pianet, kalimba, melodica, acordeon, shakuhachi and several other instruments in my studio. And then there is computer, synths, effects – sound design and mix is maybe 70% of the time I spent over the song when I work on it.

 

 

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LAKE R▲DIO and “Witch House”

Even after a little research, I’m not sure exactly what qualifies music for the “witch house” genre, other than often including triangles in names. But I’ve now come across two things I like that are apparently in that genre. I probably would not have given them a chance had I heard the genre name before I heard the music.

The more recent of these two discoveries is Lake Radio. Lake Radio is Caden Moore, and I came across his album Dream House while looking for interesting free music at Bandcamp.com one night.

Here are a few other albums on the same label, all of them worth a listen. Musical styles vary, and they are all either free or pay-what-you-want:

I also recommend these two sampler albums, which include songs by the artists listed above and others (some of which may well deserve to be mentioned specifically as well–I’m still making my way through them):

I mentioned that I’ve come across two so-called witch house musicians that I like. The other is an Australian who goes by Horse Macgyver (and who has in the past been known as ///▲▲▲\\\ and _v_o_i_d_).

I don’t know of an official download source for Horse Macgyver’s music. (The Bandcamp page seems to be broken as of this writing.) But you should be able to find something if you search for Horse Macgyver Void EP.

Here’s a sample (Youtube link) that might help you decide whether it’s something that would appeal to you.