Unoriginal Soundtracks #91: Spintires

Every other Wednesday, I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

Spintires is a surprisingly fun offroading simulator. Instead of Euro Truck Simulator's sat nav, you scout the terrain in your soviet Land Rover knockoff and devise the best route to take your log-laden trucks. This playlist of southern rock, country, and rap would fit on one of the vehicle's tape decks, if communist Russia allowed such western decadences.

Unoriginal Soundtracks #73: Viva Piñata

Every other Wednesday, I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for relevant terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and uncover hidden gems. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

The format shifts for this mini-series of songs about ecology simulator Viva Piñata. Throughout the next week, I'll update this post with bite-sized episodes featuring songs about candy and animals. Think of them as Revels -- you might spit out one, but you'll enjoy the rest.

Unoriginal Soundtracks #55: Audiosurf

Every other Wednesday, I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for relevant terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and uncover hidden gems. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

This is a podcast about a game about music using music about music. This episode about Audiosurf is full of sweet soul music, boogie music, and good music in general.

Unoriginal Soundtracks Podcast: Mass Effect 3 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, world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for relevant terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and uncover hidden gems. Make requests to @USPodcast on Twitter.

Mass Effect 3 finally delivers its threatened galaxy-wide extinction of spacefaring life when the reapers start their slaughter in London. In desperate attempt to stop it, Shepard meets oppressed robots, homeless aliens, and space zombies. All of this makes for a spoiler-filled playlist of punk, ska, and jazz.

Unoriginal Soundtracks Podcast: Red Dead Redemption 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.

Things are a little different this week as I'm piloting a podcast version of this playlist. The same mix of obscure and classic music is present, along with my carefully-researched anecdotes. The same painstaking attention to track order is there. The difference? You now have less text to read, and the playlist isn't influenced by the dictates record labels give YouTube.

Tell me what you think of the new format in the comments below. If you've got room for a bi-weekly, half-hour music/games podcast in your life then perhaps you'll see Unoriginal Soundtracks in iTunes soon.