Ain, tsvai, dry, shiki-shiki shvanie
September 24, 2008 8:30 AM   Subscribe

Arguably the most addictive song on the formidable 214-song GTA IV soundtrack is "Schweine" by Russian singer/actress Glukoza ("selling music without sex since 2003").

Unfortunately, it's not on the official soundtrack disc (which, in all fairness, must have been hell to make), but Rockstar has made the in-game station playlists available on Amazon.
posted by jbickers (37 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Yep, no sex here at all.
posted by adamdschneider at 8:42 AM on September 24, 2008 [3 favorites]


Heh, I was playing the game early enough that the soundtrack wasn't listed online yet, and after the first time I heard the song (at that particular moment, I was too busy being shot at by the cops to find out what it was), but it bugged me enough that I got a car, pulled into a parking lot, and let Vladivostok FM play till I heard it again and could do the phone trick to find out who the artist was.

Totally worth it too, because that song is great.
posted by quin at 8:47 AM on September 24, 2008 [1 favorite]


You were expecting maybe a babushka?
posted by exogenous at 8:47 AM on September 24, 2008


She always has sweet computer-animated music videos. This one's from 2003.
posted by nasreddin at 8:51 AM on September 24, 2008


Isn't it "eins, zwei, drei"? I figured she was counting in German.
posted by quin at 8:52 AM on September 24, 2008 [1 favorite]


Quin, I believe you are correct: as the russian should be (roughly) Ras, Dva, Tree

Someone correct me if I am wrong..
posted by MysticMCJ at 8:53 AM on September 24, 2008


Probably right ... I took that spelling from her "transliterated lyrics" page.
posted by jbickers at 8:55 AM on September 24, 2008


Yeah her videos are pretty rad, better than the music maybe even they certainly work together well: Svadba Sneg Idet Танцуй, Россия!!!
posted by headless at 8:56 AM on September 24, 2008


I didn't play GTA4 much at all, but this is definitely the most memorable song on the soundtrack.
posted by demiurge at 9:01 AM on September 24, 2008


Yeah, this one caught my ear while playing, too, although I didn't go as far as quin did. I liked that whole station better than pretty much anything else in GTA4.

Neat video. For whatever reason, it never occurred to me to look any of that music up in the real world -- it was kind of like it was part of the fictional Niko Bellic universe, and didn't coincide with ours or something. :)
posted by Malor at 9:06 AM on September 24, 2008


so this is about world war 3? right? which is around the corner? right?
posted by nmr8 at 9:07 AM on September 24, 2008


Yeah, this really is a great song. When my wife and I were sitting through the intro sequence for GTA4, we ended up ignoring the action for a while when it came on because we were busy talking about that awesome song playing in the background.
posted by cortex at 9:21 AM on September 24, 2008


When I visited Moscow a few years back a guy in a battered minivan came to drive us to the hotel. As he pulled away from the (rather soviet and gloomy) airport he turned on the radio and “The Final Countdown” by Europe started playing. Pretty much the perfect start to the trip.

(Also he looked exactly like Robert DeNiro)
posted by Artw at 9:25 AM on September 24, 2008


Glukoza previously.
posted by Ljubljana at 9:26 AM on September 24, 2008


It is indeed one of the best songs in GTA4, but nothing beats speeding down Not Fifth Avenue on a motorcycle, T-boning a car and flying through the air to the tune of Phillip Glass' "Pruit Igoe".
posted by Spatch at 9:38 AM on September 24, 2008 [2 favorites]


And there was me disappointed that Vladivostok FM wasn't all Leningrad, and maybe some other Shnur stuff.
posted by opsin at 9:54 AM on September 24, 2008


I'm not so sure those subtitles are right; I saw this video earlier in the week, and I could swear the little guy at the beginning was complaining about gas shortages.
posted by hydatius at 10:01 AM on September 24, 2008


I don't get it.
posted by fourcheesemac at 10:01 AM on September 24, 2008


But maybe if it had more sex.
posted by fourcheesemac at 10:02 AM on September 24, 2008


By which I mean, "addictive?" I could take it for about 30 seconds.
posted by fourcheesemac at 10:02 AM on September 24, 2008


I beat the game and I've never heard of this song, but then I listen to PLR and WKTT exclusively.
posted by Science! at 10:18 AM on September 24, 2008


It's no TaTu...
posted by Artw at 10:20 AM on September 24, 2008


Possibly because my GTA-IV life consists mainly of shooting pool and, uh, working on my friendship with Little Jacob, I think the most addictive song on the soundtrack is Buju Banton's 'Driver A.'
posted by box at 10:23 AM on September 24, 2008


I think I have developed a new crush. Looked at live footage on YouTube. Thanks for the post. I do not play video games, so I may never have known.
posted by captainsohler at 11:40 AM on September 24, 2008


I beat the game and I've never heard of this song, but then I listen to PLR and WKTT exclusively.


You must have heard it; it's the first song that plays when Roman picks you up at the docks.
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 11:43 AM on September 24, 2008


Why oh why did GTA4 have to go from pretty easy to IMPOSSIBLY HARD in one mission? I can't get past the warehouse with Little Jacob... Too freakin' hard, I tell you. Up to then I think I only died once.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 11:46 AM on September 24, 2008


I fell in love with "The Journey" radio station in GTA4 and purchased all the songs. This game has the best soundtrack ever, including Guitar Hero and its ilk.
posted by mattholomew at 12:44 PM on September 24, 2008


@Quin, @MysticMJ - It's both - the majority of the lyrics are Russian but the "one two three / swanky pigs" is in German. You'll also note the pigs are Nazi-looking with a Hitleresque leader, I'm guessing that's related.
posted by abulafa at 1:12 PM on September 24, 2008


I can't get past the warehouse with Little Jacob... Too freakin' hard, I tell you. Up to then I think I only died once.

If you stopped there, consider yourself lucky. There's a few more missions after that which will make you grind your teeth down to fine powder in frustration.

On the other hand, you can totally ignore the story missions if you want, do all the side missions you can, and just mess around in the city. But as far as open-ended fun goes, San Andreas has this one beat.
posted by Spatch at 1:15 PM on September 24, 2008


Wow, the video for Sneg Idet linked above is pretty damned good.
posted by Michael Roberts at 6:37 PM on September 24, 2008


Will definitely be adding this song to my playlist. Thanks.
posted by xypher at 9:01 PM on September 24, 2008


Addictive and insipid at the same time.
posted by neuron at 10:00 PM on September 24, 2008


I've loved that "Schweine" song ever since the video first showed up here in the post Ljubljana mentioned. I played that station most of the time to so I could, you know, stay in character and shit (and also, honestly, I liked the soundtracks of Vice City and San Andreas better as far as the overall song selection went.)

There's a few more missions after that which will make you grind your teeth down to fine powder in frustration.

Take your time. Lead with your gun, especially on stairs, don't run if you don't have to and make sure you sweep all the corners. If everyone you can see is down and no one else is shooting at you, poke around for health packs.

The bank job mission was the one I had to replay the most. I think the biggest fun-killer of the game for me wasn't so much the lack of in-mission save points (GTA's never really had those) but the inability to buy/aquire more places to save the game outside of the missions. Having to do the same long drive to start the mission over and over started getting old after a while. Still loved the game, though.
posted by Cyrano at 9:13 PM on September 25, 2008


Sucking up your pride and taking taxis = the only way to fly. Save the long drives for the rare irreplaceable vehicle.
posted by cortex at 9:46 PM on September 25, 2008


Hrm. I never really remembered I could do that. Unless I was drunk. Which brings up my other major quibble. The Maintain Friends And Influenced People aspect was annoying and rarely useful.
posted by Cyrano at 8:41 AM on September 26, 2008


Yeah, I'm so uncool but I miss K-ROSE. Nothing like singing DEAR JOHN, PLEASE, Johnny, PLEASE COME HOME at the top of my lungs while vigilante'ing out in Bone County. Also I miss not losing a ton of health every time I crash my motorcycle. Because...I crash a lot.

Taxis help.
posted by lampoil at 8:49 AM on September 26, 2008


True, the Mandatory Hangout Time thing is obnoxious, but again you can sort of resolve to just be a lousy friend and only see them once in a while and it's not too bad. It just goes against the ol' micro-managing instincts to let something be imperfect. Like ignoring a sidequest, etc.

Nowhere near the pain of the gangwar shit from San Andreas; I stopped playing as soon as that became a major strain on my gameplay time, so I have no idea how SA finishes or if I was even close to done.

posted by cortex at 9:09 AM on September 26, 2008


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