Long have the Grand Theft Auto games existed in their own musical stratosphere, so far beyond other gamesâ soundtracks that a comparison seems almost unfair. Itâs no surprise to hear that GTA V will have a phenomenal soundtrack, given the tracklist info thatâs already leaked. But now that Rockstar has begun to announce official info, itâs somehow sounding even better.
Rolling Stonehas got the scoop straight from Rockstar on the radio stations and the celebrity DJs theyâll feature, along with a great interview with Rockstar soundtrack supervisor Ivan Pavlovich. If youâre into GTA music, go read it. Theyâve also got music samplers from some of the stations, which Iâve linked to below
Here are some salient points:
GTA V will have 15 radio stations, two talk radio stations, 240 (!!) licensed songs, and what Pavlovich calls â20 moviesâ worth of score.â That is officially a shitload of music.
Thereâve got some outstanding celebrity radio DJs, including Pam Grier for a soul station, Bootsy Collins hosting an 80s funk station, and Kenny Loggins hosting the classic rock station. Which hopefully will still be set to play every time you climb into a helicopter.
The station âVinewood Boulevard Radioâ is a modern rock station hosted by Stephen Pope and Nate Williams from Wavves. Listen here.
âEast LOS FMâ radio will feature a bunch of different types of Mexican music, hosted by Camilo Lara. Listen here
âWest Coast Classicsâ will be hosted by DJ Pooh, who Pavlovich points out created the movie Friday, and who Iâm pointing out helped write Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Listen here
âRebel Radioâ will feature what Pavlovich calls âoutlaw countryâ music and will be hosted by Jesco White. Listen here
The original scoreâa first for a GTA gameâis sounding incredibly ambitious. Pavlovich says that the score will combine the work of three composers, Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream; Woody Jackson, who scored Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire; and Alchemist and Oh No. Hereâs Pavlovich on how the music will work in the game:
Although each of these composers is used to define a character or an environment, whatâs been interesting about this process is that itâs been the first fully collaborative score that weâve done. Even though you may be triggering one score with a particular character or within a particular area in the world, youâre always hearing elements from the other composers. The first time you come into the country youâre blown away by Woody Jacksonâs rock score, but within that youâre still hearing elements of Tangerine Dream, and Alchemist and Oh No. So youâre never too far away from this core sound that weâve established for the game.
That sounds amazing. Considering how well Rockstar has done recently with original scores for their games, Iâm dying to hear what the GTA V score will sound like.
Last, and perhaps coolest of all, is the fact that the (amazing) DJ Flying Lotus will be mixing music for another of the stations, called FlyLo FM. Pitchforkâs got the whole track listing and a sampler:
Flying Lotus will also be collaborating with rapper Tyler the Creator to do an original tune for GTA V. According to Pavlovich, Tyler has been a fan of GTA since San Andreas, and was happy to get on board with the new game.
Thereâs a bunch more over at Rolling Stone and Pitchfork I donât know about you, but combining those new stations with the ones that already leaked, as well as this talk of the original score.. yeah, this is all sounding pretty damned good
