Earlier this year a Canadian classical artist released an album on which she interpreted compositions from video game soundtracks. With that precedent, it's no surprise that an Oscar-winning composer for film should be tapped to write original music for video games.
Gustavo Santaolalla earned his Oscars for Brokeback Mountain and Babel, but emerged from the indie world with Amores Perros, 21 Grams and The Motorcycle Diaries. Along the way he won a couple of Grammy Awards for producing Latin pop and rock albums He enters the PlayStation world with music for The Last of Us (released on CD by Sony Masterworks).
Like so many recent movies and TV shows, The Last of Us is about survival in a post-apocalyptic Earth and the music echoes its subject: moody doom orchestration, deep sonic groans, the tense heartbeat of percussion and bits of wiry guitar. Santaolalla's score would sound comfortable on the soundtrack of any number of recent thriller films, futuristic or otherwise.
