album of the week: 9.3

!!!

Strange Weather, Isn't it?

Warp Records (2010)

why you'll love it: Good party music

why you'll hate it: diminishing returns with each !!! album

One thing you gotta admire about !!! is they've never gone out of their way to play for a certain crowd. At the hight of their popularity, both the party kids and the indie critics approved of the "Can goes to the disco!" style !!! brings to the table. They did this without ever playing up any persona, despite having their choice of being retro worshippers, hippies, or krautrock savants. It seems like they've only been making music for themselves, and we're free to join in on the fun.

Strange Weather doesn't seem like it's trying to impress anyone. There is no swear-laced "Pardon My Freedom" or fired-up tracks like "Intensify"… it's a single-less album. Aside from "Hollow" the songs are never meandering, but have no real discernible features. Nothing but a whole lot of jamming makes the album feel a bit nebulous. It lacks a bottom line.

I wish they would have played this up in the track list and tried to tie every single track together, so that it sounded like one long studio session. As it stands now, the songs are enjoyable while they last, but forgotten once they end. Even after a few listeners, I've had trouble remembering what parts I liked belonged to what songs. !!! aren't stupid though. There are only 9 songs here, only a couple stumbles, and they were smart enough to end with their strongest beat, "The Hammer"

vidya gams

Buy Space Invaders: Infinity Gene (available on XBLA/PSN/iPhone)

I've been playing it almost every day for over a week. I can't get enough of it. It's basically Space Invaders turned into a bullet-hell shooter. The leveling up system is addictive, and the sound effects are abrasive as all hell. There is also a music mode, where (if you can be bothered) upload an mp3 of your choice to be turned into a level that matches the beat. You can play a relaxing Kings of Convenience level, or a truly maddening Hella level.

album of the week: 9.2

Rockman 10 宇宙からの脅威!! Original Soundtrack

INTI Creates (2010)

why you'll love it: best Rockman music since the second game.

why you'll hate it: 8-bit music is for baby ears

Thanks to a recent episode of Retronauts, praising 25 years of the NES, I'm feeling very nostalgic this week. Which is handy, because I've been looking for a reason to give the Rockman 10 soundtrack precedence over more contemporary sounding new releases. To me, the NES was Mega Man, not Mario. I can't remember if I owned Super Mario Bros 3, but I definitely owned all 5 Mega Man games. Capcom was so kind in 2008 to give reality to the dream I never even considered fantasizing about, and make Rockman 9; a modern day 8-bit successor to the original NES series that defined my childhood.

Let me back up, actually… although this is common game trivia, some may be lost… Rockman is the Japanese title of Mega Man. This is why his female robot sidekick is named Roll, and why the little robot bird is named Beat. There are robot villains named Treble & Bass, (but they are in the crappy games, so who cares about him?) and Proto Man's original name is Blues. Now it should make more sense to anyone who has played the games, why the music rocks (no pun intended by me, but maybe by them). Rockman soundtracks are celebrated not just for nostalgic factor, but for being some of the most energetic tunes to come from the 8-bit era. The Rockman 2 soundtrack alone is a god damn triumph.

So here we finally come to Rockman 10, released earlier in the year. I wouldn't say the game is as enthralling as 9, but easily stands alongside it. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is a big step up, and I think my favorite since 2. "Solar Inferno" struck me immediately. The music for the challenge stages is great too, which was a smart move. That catchy theme was the sole thread of sanity I clung to throughout multiple restarts. The boss theme is one of my favorites in Rockman history.

good riddance

I just put my copy of Super Street Fighter IV online for sale. Buy it if you hate yourself, or read what I thought about after spending four months with it, and buy Alan Wake instead.

album of the week: 9.1

CocoRosie

Grey Oceans

Sub-Pop (2010)

why you'll love it: Best release yet by the duo. Weird without being obtrusive.

why you'll hate it: Odd voices may got on nerves; no real breakout songs

Let's point out the elephant in the room right away. The CD cover (not shown here, I used the vinyl cover instead) is the WORST piece of art ever created. These siblings like to dress funny and paint their faces… whatever. It's unappealing, yeah, but not much of a bother at the end of the day. What I found to be more offensive is the cheap pathetic font used to display the album title (present on both covers). If I knew nothing about this band, and saw this in a used bin, I would think it was printed over at the other end of the mall by the kiosk equipped with Photoshop 4.

And that's a shame, because there is no sign of laziness or unprofessionalism in the songs of Grey Oceans. It's a superbly produced, accessible, and often beautiful album, despite the eccentric habits of the performers. It wasn't until a recent Daytrotter session, that I realized little to no studio effects are used to alter the vocals. Those peculiar accents and stunning range in songs like "Lemonade" really are their natural voices!

I first was drawn to CocoRosie because of their vocal talents. The first thing I thought when hearing one of their songs was "Wow, she reminds me of Karin Dreijer!" (Vocalist of Honey is Cool, and The Knife) From then on, I've casually enjoyed their songs as innovative relaxing tunes, with a few fun interesting fanfare thrown in. Never as much more.

After reading up on these girls online, it appears their flourish is met with quite a lot of resentment. It's the same old cries of "pretentious" and tries to hard" you've heard all before. Come on, internet. When are you going to rise above this? It's all secondary. These are some very well composed songs. Their personality does not suffocate the music at all. Stop the psychoanalyzing, and just enjoy some music. Life's too fucking short.

Grey Oceans is a solid album you can get lost in and find quite a few surprises, or just chill out with and never get derailed. Yes, they may look like they crawled out of the art school wasteland, but the music will connect with you if you'd just let it.

How Gaijin Games won PAX10 without being there.

The Penny Arcade Expo is this weekend, which to the internet is just another video game announcement dumping ground; but for those attending is apparently a load of fun.

Developers of the much praised Bit.Trip series, Gaijin Games, aren't there, but picked a great time to announce new info for Bit.Trip Fate.

It's a shmup! A genre that I am not traditionally a fan of, but a few games like Ikaruga have won me over at times. I'm sure I'll love (and hate) this entry in the series as much as the rest.

We're back to a 3-level format with this game. The names are quite telling. "Patience - Frustration - Anger"

In a more surprising turn, the game's soundtrack had already hit the internets! No release date announcement yet for the game itself, yet the soundtrack has arrived. Strange...

And one last announcement, that is more amusing than exciting; Bit.Trip Runner is hitting Japan's WiiWare with an unusual subtitle...

That's "A Flat-Out Run of the Rhythm Alien." Lovely.

Thanks goes to Bit.Trip's facebook account for the awesome news.