The catch with this OST

Mixtape's soundtrack is unusual: 23 of its 28 tracks are licensed from existing records spanning 1969-1997, and 5 are original commissions. Annapurna has not (as of writing) released an official soundtrack album for licensing reasons — each of the 23 licensed songs would need its own clearance for OST inclusion, which gets complicated when you have Joy Division, The Cure, Portishead, and Iggy Pop on the same tracklist.

So if you want to own the soundtrack physically, you're actually shopping for 23 separate albums (the source records of each track). Below is the cleanest way to do that.

The 5 essential pickups

If you want the heaviest lifters of the OST in physical form, prioritize these five — they account for the most emotionally-loaded chapters in the game.

• Joy Division — Closer (Atmosphere, Track 1). Closer is the album that contains Atmosphere. The 2020 40th anniversary vinyl repress is the cleanest current pressing — find it on Amazon under "Joy Division Closer 40th Anniversary Vinyl."

• The Cure — Disintegration (Plainsong, Track 3). The 2010 deluxe edition or the 30th anniversary triple vinyl. Both are easy to find on Amazon.

• Portishead — Dummy (Roads, Track 11). The original 1994 Go! Beat pressing is collectable but expensive; the 2014 reissue on 180g vinyl is the practical buy.

• The Smashing Pumpkins — Siamese Dream (Love, Track 13). The deluxe edition reissue is the standard reference.

• Roxy Music — Avalon (More Than This, Track 16). The 2020 half-speed master is widely cited as the best pressing of one of the era's best-engineered records.

The 5 commissioned originals

The five tracks Beethoven & Dinosaur commissioned for the game are NOT on existing albums:

• Drunk Flamingo by Abrahams and Mole (Bodacious Cretaceous, Ch 16)

• Powder by Allclear (Drive to Party at the Ritz, Ch 22)

• Airwalker by Bertrand Dolby (Skate to Cassandra's, Ch 11)

• Deep Space Scan by Curtis Dunn (Night Drive, Ch 4)

• Zebra Crossing by The Eye Gougers (Fireworks Finale Prep, Ch 28)

• Moon Unit by Wooden Sword (Finale credits, Ch 30)

These are only available through (1) the in-game soundtrack feature and (2) the artists' own Bandcamp / Spotify pages. Some have released them as singles. Search the artist names directly — these are small acts and your purchase actually moves their numbers meaningfully.

The realistic recommendation

Unless you're a vinyl collector, the most cost-effective way to "own" the soundtrack is to (1) build a Spotify playlist from our Songs by Chapter page, (2) Spotify Premium gets rid of the ads that break the chapter-coded mood, and (3) buy 1-2 vinyl LPs of the artists who hit you hardest after playing.

If you want to go deeper, Joy Division's Closer and Roxy Music's Avalon are the two pickups we'd recommend most — they're also the two that work best as standalone listening experiences after the game ends.