Music Monday: Portal 2 Spoilers Edition

Welcome to Music Monday, the best way to start off your week! Each week Jon or Jenny will profile a popular videogame-related musician/band to add to your music library.

Since I finished the single-player campaign of Portal 2, I haven’t been able to stop talking about it. I flag down people in the street, squealing about how “amazing Wheatley is” or “I wish Cave Johnson was my father”. That game did things with storytelling and puzzle creation that I did not think was possible in a videogame. I can give many, many reasons as to why I think everyone with a functional brain should play Portal 2 at least once in their lives. The one I’d like to focus on today is the music.

The musical team behind Portal 2 had a lot to live up to. Last time we visited Aperture Science, we left with a wonderful tune that I’m sure a few of you know. That song became the new gamer’s anthem, only a short period after its release. So Portal 2 had to somehow beat that.

And they sure as hell did.

“Want You Gone” is, in every sense of the term, better than “Still Alive”. I didn’t think it was possible, then I listened to it. Then listened again and again and again. Jonathan Coulton somehow created a tune that is better than his most recognisable one. Someone give this man a medal.

Aside from the great “Want You Gone”, on this Music Monday, we’ll be listening to two other songs. The first is another song from Portal 2‘s ending, the “Turret Opera”, and a song made especially for the game by The National, “Exile Vilify”.

“Turret Opera”

“Exile Vilify”

As a bonus activity this week, if you’ve seen Portal 2 all the way to it’s completion, click here for a soothing experience that incorporates “Exile Vilify”.