Last week I ended up discovering new music, courtesy of Gilles Peterson, via Instagram. This weekend I again channelled Mr Peterson, but through two of my new favourite things.
I’ve never been a massive gamer, though I’ve always loved arcades and used to have a Pac-Man digital watch that I’m actually thinking about buying again. The cost of buying the consoles, let alone the games, always kind of put me off getting more into them. But the fact that you can now get great games on a tablet for less than a tenner…
So, anyway, I’ve recently started to develop minor addictions to Grand Theft Auto 3 & Grand Theft Auto Vice City. When the new GTA was released one of the DJs who was selected to curate one of the stations you can listen to whilst driving your stolen car between missions to rob or kill people (it’s even more fun than it sounds), was the one and only Gilles Peterson.
This video captures Gilles playing at a GTA V launch party in New York, and features some great footage of him discussing why he did it. To be honest, being part of the biggest entertainment event of all time was probably a no-brainer.
But as he says, the fact that by doing so meant that he might introduce some 15 year old gamer to Donald Byrd, and everything that’s likely to follow from that, was too much for him to turn down. And, as someone who has discovered untold acts thanks to Mr Peterson’s dedication to finding and promoting new music, as well as the best old stuff you’ve never heard of, I almost envy that 15 year old the journey of discovery he’s about to go on.
So, with no further ado, here’s the (almost complete) playlist of Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM from Grand Theft Auto V. There’s a Donald Byrd track in it, I’ll leave the rest as a nice surprise.
Grand Theft Auto V poster courtesy of Rockstar Games