Unoriginal Soundtracks: Battlefield Bad Company 2 Edition

Every other Wednesday I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, songs about world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for random terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and rediscover old classics.

This week it's Battlefield: Bad Company's turn. DICE proved with Mirror's Edge that they can make you feel like you're controlling a real human body -- Battlefield does the same thing, except this body is weighed down by 110 pounds of kit. The story is stupid though -- Bad Company 2 has been in my Xbox a lot this year, but its campaign of building-destruction and super weapons did nothing to engage my brain.

Or listen in Spotify.

#1 - Dr. Ring-Ding and the Senior Allstars - Bad Company

Already I've found something I like from a genre I typically scoff at. In the eighties, the German (not a real) doctor started exploring Jamaican music from reggae to dancehall to dub. This is an infectiously catchy ska track from 1998. He doesn't perform with the Allstars any more, but is still around as a producer and occasional collaborator.

#2 - Jr. Walker and the All Stars - Shotgun

Walker was a saxophonist first and foremost. He must've had a powerful set of lungs in him to belt out verses and play sax solos. The generic band name doesn't do justice to the funky players who back him on this single, which was a number one hit on the US R&B charts in 1965.

#3 - 7L and Esoteric - Battlefield

Until 2006 they were one of the duos elitists like me would point to as proof that hip hop was still alive. It still lives underground and 7L and Esoteric are there, but no longer collaborating. They came together through a mutual love of old school hip hop, and there's a hint of Boogie Down Productions and De La Soul in there -- the mellower side of rap.

#4 - Jon Ramsey With Todd and Kelli - Modern Warfare

If you wondered what the Hold Steady would sound like if they were to slow down in their old age, this is it. Unlike the Hold Steady, they're a real bar band, so you probably won't see them outside of their native Richmond, VA. You can find Jon Ramsey's albums at Song of Chance though.

#5 - The Ike Reilly Assassination - The Reformed Church of the Assault Rifle Band

Ike Reilly half speaks, half sings gleeful songs about people in hard places. To promote Hard Luck Stories, Ike and friends released a great weekly podcast in which they played (mostly other people's) songs and chatted. Also, look at the initials of his band's name.

#6 - Maggie Holland - If I Had a Rocket Launcher

She may have a less hilarious name, but Maggie Holland does a great job with Canadian folkster Bruce Cockburn's protest song. The singular bass pedal and the reverberation applied to her powerful voice gives it the drama it deserves. She's British folk veteran, so she's earned the right to make dubious use of synthesisers.

#7 - Bad Company - Bad Company

Bad Company, Bad Company? Bad Company Bad. Company.