Friday, November 30, 2012
20 years ago Neal Stephenson gave the world Snow Crash, my favorite cyberpunk novel. It's hard not to fall in love with a book with a main character named Hiro Protagonist who has a business card that says "Last of the freelance hackers and greatest swordfighter in the world." Not to mention Hiro is a pizza delivery guy for a not so subtle Mafia-front business called Uncle Enzo's CosaNostra Pizza. The novel is chock full of cyber-anarchistic fun, and some of the technology described in the book has been fully realized today, as with avatars and Google Earth.
For the 20th anniversary of the publication, Austin-based synthesizer guru Xander Harris has teamed up with the good folks at Mishka for a soundtrack inspired by the book.
The music is excellent—it plays like a cross somewhere between Daft Punk and Harold Faltermeyer. Imagine Chevy Chase as Fletch in Tron and that'll give you a good idea.
Did I mention this is a free download? Have fun in the Metaverse!
Tags: xander harris , snow crash , neal stephenson , mishka , soundtrack , synth , cyberpunk