Peanut Butter Wolf presents: 2k8 - B-ball Zombie War

Jul 9, 2008

The release of a new video game soundtrack is very rarely a cause for any interest, let alone celebration. Worse still are sport video game soundtracks. Depending on your allegiance, football games for example include either the twin nadirs of lad rock and big beat, or fake versions of the twin nadirs of lad rock and big beat.

American sport game soundtracks traditionally revolve around lowest common denominator hip hop and r'n'b. The only trans-Atlantic guarantees are that the soundtracks will be hackneyed, patronising and you will have anything resembling a decent tune already. Great kudos is therefore due to the 2K8 makers, for trying something extremely different.

The makers of one of the best loved Basketball series around has, rather than shutting their eyes and pointing at random tracks on Westwood 7: The Big Dawg to compile their soundtrack, instead enlisted a bona fide West Coast underground legend in Peanut Butter Wolf to create an exclusive backing to this year's release. It only takes until the haunting, RZA-esque 'Mash's Revenge' to realise that this is a unique take on video game soundtracks. Except of course, pedantic fuckwits, for Wu-Tang: Taste the Pain.

Yep, this is an altogether more esoteric experience. Doubling very much as an introduction to the Stone's Throw stable, all the 'big' names are present. Percee P is joined by J Rocc for an alternative yet equally banging take on 'Legendary Lyricist' from his Perseverance LP. J Rocc also provides the madcap flute workout of 'Super Sound'. Madlib appears in various guises, the most rewarding being the smooth, soulful piano of 'Trouble.'

For all the tried and tested performers present, special mention must go to 4 year old MC Niko, whose collaboration with Babu, the Premier-esque 'Now You Know', is an absolute gem, and suggests a bright future.

Some focus is lost as the electro takes over the second half. Much of it is extremely fine, particularly the retro vocal on 'Professor X Saga' by NWA legend Arabian Prince. But in putting all the electro together after a first half of predominantly backpack hip hop, it seems forcibly eclectic. Peanut Butter Wolf has produced a video game soundtrack that will educate and entertain the kids. Yet bizarrely, in the process of learning this new skill, he's forgotten the fundamentals in compilation making.

Oliver W J Rock

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