iliketoforkmyself

 Last year I discovered this rare gem of a game soundtrack playing in the background of either a ThorHighHeels or NakeyJakey video. I can't remember exactly which of them it was. I also couldn't find any information on the composers of this specific version of the ost sadly. But definitely going to buy a copy of this game so I can vibe out to the ost on original hardware. The gameplay looks pretty shitty not gonna lie but the sprites are very y2k and cute.I don't know anything really about the Bratz franchise but I am told these girls have a "Passion for Fashion" and I am known to spend hours on character customization, so if the game at least has that then it can't be THAT bad can it?

My favorite track from the ost is definitley "Buying Clothes to Impress". The combination of the fusiony/upbeat trip hop drums, the funky and almost detroit techno sounding Juno bass, with the simple yet luxurious sounding 3 chord progression of the rhodes style piano is soo fucking jazzy and loungey. Then the most CPU Bach sounding lead solo comes in for like 8 seconds then abruptly stops which is both hilarious and adorable. But it also gives the track a little bit of room to breathe and find its groove again before the maestro comes back in and kills it again a second time. I imagine whoever the composer or composers were on this probably were just having fun riffing and just said "fuck it we'll keep it" on like the first or second take and I love it for that. This is some music you can drink mimosas to while out relaxing on the terrace of your beach house in Ibiza. Also, with a name like Buying Clothes to Impress, you can't not listen to this at least once while your out shopping.

"Office and Downtown" is another slamming banger of a track with the most ethereal and dreamy sounding intro that will put you in the chillest of chilled out headspaces. The solo is a little less obnoxious on this one and meshes well with the slower trip hop beat and the little stabs of happiness of the background synth. And it all soulfully builds to a crescendo that then releases us beautifully back into the intro of the loop.

"Tweevils and Burdine" whatever the hell that is supposed to mean, is an absolute heater acid jazz track. The intro on this one has a seductive and almost dark and mysterious vibe to it, which is totally fitting because as I write this I am learning that the Tweevil sisters and Burdine Maxwell (Ghislaine Maxwell reference?) are the villains of the Bratz show. Once again, we have the formulaic inclusion of a dizzying solo, skillfully amplified by a rise in octave in the bass line, which then gracefully transitions us back into the loop's intro in an unfazed manner.

I've always had the mindset that whatever type of art I make or consume doesn't always have to be 100% super serious. I find it refreshing to always retain a bit of a sense of humor in my work and I tend to really enjoy works that have those types of qualities or characteristics that show that the artist can take a step back sometimes and not take themselves so seriously. In this case, the lead solos on pretty much all of the tracks of this ost can be so bizarre sounding or even off putting but I think that is what makes the tracks interesting as a whole. Sure you could just loop the intros and have chill beats all the way through, but then you would just end up with mini repetetive ass loops with less character and there wouldn't be any tension, build up, and rewarding feeling of release once those intros kick back in.

Also, I low-key need this gameboy advance sp case ~