Week 488: “Garbage Day” by Daniel Koestner

I can confidently state that “Garbage Day” is the only song on this list that owes its existence to a joke tweet from a parody Twitter account. Here’s how it happened.

There’s a legendary British video game designer named Peter Molyneux who, in gaming circles, is about as close to a deity as any person can be. Starting with Atari and Commodore 64 in the 1980s, he built up a resumé of games that comprise some of the gaming community’s all-time favourites. Molyneux is serial creator and innovator, and his ideas and his thinking are often well outside the proverbial box.

In 2009, a parody Twitter account appeared called @petermolydeux. The account tweets out concepts for video games that are at once hilarious, audacious, and kind of intriguing. A few examples:

But it was this tweet from early 2012 that is of particular interest with regards to this week’s song:

Creator Ben Esposito saw this tweet, and it stuck with him. Many years and iterations later, the finished product was ready.

The game was “Donut County” – a game where a group of sneaky raccoons are using a mobile app to control a hole, which they can move around to collect all the food and trash they want. You, the player, move the hole across the landscape, swallowing up anything that will fit. The hole becomes incrementally larger with every item swallowed.

It’s one of those physics-based, puzzle-solving games whose appeal is its deceptive simplicity. “Donut County” was released in 2018, and it was a hit. Reviews praised its easy gameplay, visual design, and a certain indefinable endearing quality that falls somewhere between cuteness and whimsy.

Composer Daniel Koestner can take the credit for the whimsy factor. His soundtrack is solid enough to stand on its own, regardless of how you feel about video games, raccoons, or gradually expanding holes in the ground.

What makes this a beautiful song:

1. The frenetic tapping percussion brings to mind the frantic rummaging of a hungry raccoon.

2. There are some synth strings in there, way far back in the mix. Koestner didn’t need to create this kind of sonic depth for a video game, but he did anyway, and I love that.

3. In the song’s final minute, things start to get glitchy and unpredictable, as if the whole thing is disappearing pixel by pixel. Or falling into a huge digital hole.

Recommended listening activity:

Making crafts from things you find in the recycling bin.

Buy it here.