After our look at the best indie game soundtracks ever, we had the realisation Czech composer Floex is one of the best of the lot.
Real name Tomáš Dvořák, he's from Prague and has been active as a musician and video game composer since 2005. He's formed a close working relationship with the brilliant Czech indie game studio Amanita Design.
Anyone who sneers down at video games as a hobby "for kids" need only listen to Floex's music to see a standard set here. As the guy is outstanding and he breathes life into these gaming worlds.
Floex (Tomáš Dvořák): Ambiance and Experimentation Makes for Gaming Perfection
Above is a piece from point-and-click romp Samorost 3 (2016). One of Amanita Design's surreal (and superb) adventure games.
By the time that launched Floex had worked his magic across various of the studio's games, including Machinarium (2009). His music has become so integral to the experience Amanita actually made it a gameplay mechanic.
He studied at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and has been active in music since 2001. Regarding his music name, it's a portmanteau of "float" and "experiment".
We really swooned for his work and became a proper big fan after playing Pilgrims (2019). The soundtrack is only 20 minutes, but listen to this thing!
Ofificially, he's a clarinettist, composer, and multimedia artist. Of his musical style his website states:
"Floex creates a unique atmospheric universe made of electronic and acoustic sound worlds. Besides releasing albums Tomas is experimenting beyond the linear music scenarios creating unique multimedia installations or music for games ...
Tomas is known mainly for his atmospheric music, which both live or from the records is rather listening experience. However, he loves to DJ as well. Beware of the fact, this is a very different side of his musical personality. His DJ sets are full of energy, ecstatic moments, made to experience intense and deep side of the electronic dance music."
So, yes, he's also released albums. That includes Pocustone (2001), Zorya (2011), and Gone EP (2014). Here's a sample from Zorya (complete with music video).
Despite his impressive canon of work, chances are you won't have heard of him. Most gamers won't have either, really, as most stick to AAA games rather than the abstract, quirky titles Amanita Design creates.
However, the cult follow they have is enough to keep him making music.
We guess it's the way of the more mainstream world, but it's ridiculous just how crap 99.9% of chart music is. And then we've got composers as brilliant as this with barely any recognition outside of the gaming industry.
There's a lot of beautiful melody to his work, typically relying on a focus on relaxing and quietly invigorating. That's all accomplished with a blend of acoustic and electronic sounds.
He explained in a March 2022 interview with Insounder (I believe in my own path and style):
"I'm very lucky that the projects I work on are profitable, but they're still primarily beautiful and a pleasure to work on. I don't feel any pressures in my artistic work, except perhaps the fact that one has to carefully distribute one's energy between collaborating on projects and creating."
When asked about his career highlight he said:
"I have to name the collaboration with Amanita Design again. They are truly unique and a worldwide phenomenon. Every project with them represents a lot of joy and inspiration for me."
Amen to that! Amanita just celebrated its 20th anniversary recently and we're huge fans of the studio and its weird, wonderful projects.
With the brilliant Floex there to back up most of the studio's games, it's a perfect match and we can't wait for their next collaboration. That'll be Phonopolis, which is in development, and we can hope for it in 2024.
The Floex Live Experience
As you can hear from the above, the composer does delve further into classical music and fuses it with modern avant-garde electronica.
The below was filmed just the other day (early October 2023) highlighting the composer is very active with his creative efforts. Good! The more the better.
That's an adaptation of a piece from Machinarium's soundtrack.
In fact, it was an incredibly busy week for the composer with Amanita and the man himself showcasing various live segments on social media.
Long may this shizz continue. It's truly gold standard stuff.
Addendum: The Evolution of Video Game Music
We'll end on a quick note of just how video game music has evolved over the last 40 years, as we've witnessed much of this change.
Technological limitations restricted game composers during the '70s, '80s, and much of the '90s. The likes of British composer David Wise had to take extreme steps to ensure he could add music to games in the way he wanted (see the video above).
His efforts in making video game music ambient and dramatic for 1994's Donkey Kong Country on the SNES was a landmark moment. It really helped shape what game music could be for future composers.
As the technology for this has improved since then, gamers have become accustomed to the type of grand-scale soundtracks you'd expect in cinema.
This is all for the better, as we still hold a game's soundtrack is more important than its graphics. It draws you into its world far more convincingly.
As Floex, and many other excellent composers, have demonstrated.
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