#NerdMusicMonday: Game of Thrones Spotify Part II
Welcome to #NerdMusicMonday, where we feature some of the greatest geek-inspired music to start your week on the right note. We also review geek-inspired music things that we see floating around the Internet, for better or worse.
In the spirit of riding with the high (and salt, and tears, and desperation…) that comes with watching yet ANOTHER season of Game of Thrones end too soon, here’s the second part of my review of the Game of Thrones Spotify sets. I’ve got an explanation for how I’m critiquing all of them over here, on the first entry.
As with the last entry, some of the Game of Thrones Spotify playlists here will have a genre breakdown while others will just list some of the artists featured on the list.
ROBERT STARK
Playlist Run Time: 1:44
Genre Breakdown: 60% Indie, 26% Pop, 14% Alternative Rock
I fondly call this playlist “Quintessential Beats for a Hipster in Love,” because there is literally no other way to explain the logic that binds this list together. It’s just slightly repetitive on the band/artist end of the things, but it IS a nice mix for fans of the genres listed above. Honestly, though, I would have loved to see more Robb Stark the Badass instead of Robb Stark Puppy With Feelings in this one.
KHAL DROGO
Playlist Run Time: 1:37
Featuring Artists Like… Torture Killer, Bloodbath, Suffocation, Nile, Nasum
Just gotta say: I LOVE those artist names. Rare can one judge a book by its cover, but this playlist is pretty obvious about what it’s about from the start. This is music you’d raze armies to in God of War, and I suppose I can see Khal Drogo listening to this sort of shit. That said – and this is coming from a metal fan – this set is not great unless you like 95% screaming. The 5% music that is left in every song doesn’t quite compensate for the ridiculous amount of deafening noise.
Did I mention how much I love the artist names? CATTLE DECAPITATION. NAPALM DEATH. DEAD FETUS!!!!
JOFFREY BARATHEON
Playlist Run Time: 1:32
Genre Breakdown: 65% Emo, 18% Indie, 17% Pop
And here we have the emo/screamo/punk playlist that you never thought you needed in your life until you found this one. There’s the occasional strange selection that doesn’t quite fit both because it throws the sound off AND because it just doesn’t seem like Joffrey or even something that he’d listen to (30 Seconds to Mars, “The Kill”??? Paramore???), but for anyone born in the 80’s or 90’s, you need to give this a listen.
That said, if you’re to judge this list as something that is supposed to represent Joffrey as a character, it doesn’t add up. I can see him listening to this stuff, but I can’t say that the selections are good character songs.
VARYS
Playlist Run Time: 2:14
Genre Breakdown: 56% EDM, 30% Experimental Electronic Music, 14% Rock
This one is highly repetitive with its artist selection. Given the huge umbrella that is electronic music and electronic dance music, you’d think that Game of Thrones Spotify could have afforded a bit more variety in its showcase. I saw some of my favorites here (like Aphex Twin), but I know for a fact that more could have been done with this.
I’ll close off with a casual observation: Spotify seems to have a thing for automatically associating queer characters with some fort of electronic music. It’s like there’s this weird belief that if you’re LGBTQ, ofc you’d listen to some kind of club music, it’s totally your sound. I don’t know whether to be amused or offended at this point.
MARGAERY TYRELL
Playlist Run Time: 1:32
Featuring Artists Like… Adele, Tom Odell, Vance Joy, Dido
While I can’t for the life of me see this as a fan soundtrack for Margaery, I can concede to the fact that this seems like the sort of music she’d listen to. It’s got some nice remakes on it that y’all should check out (see also: “Real Love”), but if you’re familiar with this music and are hoping to discover artists, don’t bother coming on over here. The list is extremely repetitive with its artists.
The next five playlists for this Game of Thrones Spotify review will come be posted next week, barring any other releases or the coming of Winter. Got anything to say about this set? Send us a raven over on Twitter or leave a comment below!
