Various Artists - The Playboy Mansion: Soundtrack Mixed by Felix Da Housecat

(Koch Records/Shock)

The original soundtrack to new game developed by Ingrooves Games has some big names and big tracks, and is mixed by old schooler glitz house specialist Felix da Housecat.  Delivering a soundtrack that even gamers would be excited about is not an easy task, big beats and genuine class get this release where it needs to be by track twelve. The computer game soundtrack is not an easy task by today’s standards being set so high after the success of soundtrack heavy games like NFS: Underground 1 & 2 as well as Tony Hawk’s series.  It would seem that big names are worming their way into the games scene with guys like Cypress Hill, The Prodigy and the Crystal Method working on some projects to exclusively do the musical score to big budget games, this release (on those terms anyway) had a lot to live up to.

To kick things off Armand Van Helden’s ‘Fly Away Love’ is deep, bassey, electronic and full of late night grooves that set the release’s mood from the very first beat.  The vocals are electronic but meld perfectly with the beat before the crazy electronic slowdowns and set the stage for the very similar chaser ‘Wickeddy Beats’ from DJ Sneak.  The big bass and groove factor appear in the following tracks with big house beats taking over in ‘Swanky’ by Steve Porter where some tripped out synth owns the spotlight in the mid sections.  In an effort to recreate the mood of the Playboy Mansion itself this soundtrack bounces, twists and sways along a deeply electronic path that’s full occasional funk, weird samples and glitz provided by High Caliber in ‘Shakedown’ that is then totally changed to a reggae funk anthem in the form of Mark Knight’s ‘The Groove’.

The first half of the soundtrack is great, starting off deep and laid back before moving through some glitz then some late night funk before Kaskade hits with ‘Strong’ - the bass comes back with the beat and some eccentric voice overs that keep the vibe of the release pushed towards the later night vibe.  The middle section of the disc is full of long tracks that are mainly just filler for the game I’d say, with a few extended remixes here and there before Johnny Fiasco’s ‘Mocha Disco’ kicks in with some upfront house high hats behind the generic house beat for some groovin’ fun later in the track.  As the release beings to reach the finale Ray Roc comes in with a fantastically groove orientated track in ‘Jungle Kisses’ with occasional female vocals before the final track from the big man himself Felix da Housecat.  ‘Do Me What I Do’ kicks in with its intentional static scratch and follows the beat for the rest of the track in true Felix style, similarly the glitz factor is there with the keyboard samples synthed out as usual.

All up this release is good, however full of some filler to make the release longer than it really should be in the middle sections but is a game soundtrack and it does need that filler to keep gameplay going.  The release has got some big names and some bigger tracks, its very chilled in places and full of some awesome beats – maybe we’re about to see some more dance acts filling the soundtracks to newer games? Lets hope so cause Felix has done an awesome job with this one!

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