Hiatus

This blog has been/is on hiatus for a while. It contains music mini-reviews, playlists, and some videogame reviews I did for a media class in school.

More later.

Review

Ecstatic Sunshine
Way
"Herrons"

Their last album Freckle Wars was often criticized for becoming monotonous as it went on, but nevertheless I think it was still something new and fantastic. This new EP takes a different approach to album structure, sporting 30 minutes of music over 3 tracks instead of 12. I think the problem here is that I’d much rather skip over a track than however many minutes of annoyingly repetitive music because I end up feeling like I’m missing something. Fortunately, the repetitiveness pays off by melding flawlessly into new movements within the songs, where you begin to hear certain elements reintroduced in different ways. I like to see albums that play out like a learning experience—teaching you one concept before moving onto the next—incorporating what you’ve learned into what you need to figure out, and though it probably isn’t too intended and more of a side effect of drone-like music, Ecstatic Sunshine work on a similar premise with Way.

MART590e - Sins of a Solar Empire

Let's just go ahead and start this by saying that it should have won an award simply for its interface. Sins of a Solar Empire, developed by Ironclad Studios, bears a striking resemblance to its developers' Homeworld roots. It certainly looks and feels like Homeworld at a glance; however, it is not Homeworld. Sins of a Solar Empire is essentially a real-time 4X game.

Sins plays out in a full galaxy (or multiple galxies), drawing closer comparisons to games like Master of Orion. There are 3 races, each pegged with their own theme, boiling down to either diplomacy/colonization (Advent), economy/military (TEC), or technology/travel (Vasari). Unfortunately, there's no single-player campaign, but the game does support single-player skirmishes. The real focus is Ironclad's free online service where up to 8 players can go at it. There are probably more than 50 different game-types, some with objectives, others with the age-old prospect of beat-the-other-guy-first.

There is an alliance system similar to Master of Orion, but given the game's simple economy, I think it falls a little short. Where Homeworld had us constantly mining asteroids, Sins has a system where you build a mine on a resource and it acts like another structure in your empire, becoming upgradeable with specific research. In the game, there is metal and crystal, and a fluctuating public market where players can put their resources up for a price. This works much better in multiplayer than single-player, but also factoring in are pirates.

Pirates have a stronghold in the center of each galaxy, and are deployed throughout as bounty-hunters. Players can place bounties on one another, and the pirates take the highest bid, setting out on their mission at certain intervals. Pirates announce when they begin taking bribes, and when the bidding ends. At this point, the person with the highest bounty quickly shouts, "Oh, fuck," and does everything they can to prepare for the oncoming wave of annoying bee-like (apologies for that link) pirate fleets.

Fleets are all combat-centric. You won't find any salvage corvettes or dockable motherships in Sins. Certain ships have non-combat abilities like colonization, but this is more of a formality, as the game puts it onto both the small scout ship and a powerful capital ship. I mean, it has to be in there somewhere, right?

One of the most interesting parts of the game is that each race gets a mega-weapon. Advent get a propaganda cannon, which when fired at a specific planet, adjusts its loyalty (plus or minus depending on if it's a friendly or hostile planet). Vasari have a portal which warps in ships from around the universe. TEC have the coolest mega-weapon, though. The Novalith Cannon. It fires a destructive beam across the entire fucking universe, capable of hitting absolutely any planet.

The game has a lot going for it, but its design is not terribly deep. In fact, you may find yourself at the end of the tech tree, wondering, "That's it?" The genius behind it is in how well everything opposes one another. The game isn't rock-paper-scissors, it isn't how fast someone can build something, and it isn't about how many asteroids you can snatch up from the get-go. There's a crafty way around any obstacle, and according checks and balances.

All in all: Pirates will fuck your shit up, big time.

December 04, 2007 Playlist - O&E

01. Cinemechanica - Brain Trap - The Martial Arts (Hello Sir 2006)
02. Watchers - (We've Got) A Witness - Vampire Driver (Gern Blandsten 2007)
03. White Rainbow - Mystic Prism - Prism of the Eternal Now (Kranky 2007)
04. 33.3 - Quilted Giraffe - Self-Titled (Aesthetics 1999)
05. Unwound - Nervous Energy - Fake Train (Kill Rock Stars 1993)
06. Fursaxa - Black Haw - Alone in the Dark Wood (Eclipse 2007)
07. Black Swan - Altered - Demo (Self-Released 2007)
08. Blank Dogs - In a Web - Sweet Rot (Self-Released 2007)
09. The Units - I-night - Warm Moving Bodies (415 1979)
10. Desperate Bicycles - Holidays - New Cross, New Cross (Refill 1978)
11. Dow Jones and the Industrials - Can't Stand the Midwest - Self-Titled EP (Hardly Music 1980)
12. Factums - The Night is Freedom - Alien Native (Siltbreeze 2007)
13. A-Frames - Black Forest III - Black Forest (Sub Pop 2005)
14. The Pink Noise - Wicked Wasteland/Peter Pan World - Soundtrack (Self-Released 2007)
15. The Anals - Wake Up, You're Dead - Self-Titled 7" (Phil Scrotum 2006)
16. TV Ghost - Atomic Rain - Atomic Rain (Die Stasi 2007)
17. Daniel Striped Tiger - Disconnection - Capital Cities (Clean Plate 2007)
18. Envy - Thousand Scars - Abyssal (Temporary Residence 2007)
19. Ashtray Navigations - Hey Sunflower Motherfucker - Four More Raga Moods (Ikuisuus 2006)
20. Mouthus - Armies Between - Saw a Halo (Load 2007)
21. GHQ - Untitled 4 - Seven Sisters (Self-Released 2007)
22. Lorelei - Quiet Staid Debt - Everyone Must Touch the Stove (Slumberland 1994)
23. No Neck Blues Band - Live Your Myth in Grease - Qvaris (5RC 2005)
24. Racoo-oo-oon - Black Branches - Behold Secret Kingdom (Release the Bats 2007)
25. The Skull Defekts - Unholy Drums Are Singing - Blood Spirits and Drums Are Singing (Conspiracy 2007)
26. The Music Tapes - What the Single Made the Needle Sing - 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad (Merge 1999)
27. Anne Laplantine - Comment c'est a la Radio - Nordheim (Groom 1999)
28. Aphid Ant Constructions - For Fiery Hearts - Originary Presents (Shake Got the Beets 2004)

November 20, 2007 Playlist - O&E

01. The Jesus Lizard - Monkey Trick - Goat (Touch and Go 1991)
02. The National Acrobat - Triangular Wheel - TNA: The Complete Recordings (Initial 2004)
03. These Arms Are Snakes - Deer Lodge - Easter (Jade Tree 2006)
04. Amanda Woodward - Dans le Cas Ou les Flammes - La Décadence de la Décadence (Level-Plane 2004)
05. An Arrow in Flight - One Bold Stroke from Right to Left - Filling the Sky (Coldbringer 2004)
06. Ampere - Wormwood, Radiation - Split LP w/ Sinaloa (Ebullition 2006)
07. Black Eyes - Some Boys - Shut Up, I Never (Dischord 2002)
08. Former Members of Alfonsin - Itty Bitty - Split LP w/ Project Hate (Phyte 1998)
09. Fag Static - Another Day Another Name - Demo (Self-Released 2007)
10. Thank God - It's Like Fire on Fire - Split 10" w/ Monarcs (Mashnote 2006)
11. Jacob and I - Shadout Maps 3 - Shadout Maps (Self-Released 2007)
12. Hand-FED Babies - Simon - Self-Titled EP (5nakefork 2005)
13. The Creeping Nobodies - Red Weather - Augurs & Auspices (Deleted Art 2007)
14. Matias - Only My Hands Went Free - The Split Leaf EP (Self-Released 2007)
15. Tree Creature - Molten Tropics - Odyssey (Barbarian Tapes 2007)
16. Fur Elise - Ghost Tropic - The Pines (Stickfigure 2007)
17. Giant Lion - Children - Nature Split (Deadbird 2007)
18. Parade - Slow Tuesday - The P EP (Self-Released 2004)

November 13, 2007 Playlist - O&E

01. 33.3 - Latex Matrix - Self-Titled (Aesthetics 1999)
02. Telegraph Melts - Indigo Azure Cyan - Illium (Absolutely Kosher 1999)
03. Tulsa Drone - The Plague - Songs From a Mean Season (Perpetual Motion Machine/Dry Country Records 2007)
04. Wata - Angel - She's So Heavy (Diwphalanx 2007)
05. Ai Aso - Islands - She's So Heavy (Diwphalanx 2007)
06. Miscarriage - Untitled - Infected Orgasm (Heavy Psych 2007)
07. Arab on Radar - 7.2 - Stolen Singles (ThreeOneG 2003)
08. Gay Beast - Mama, Wrap My Coffin In The A.I.D.S. Quilt Cuz It's Cold In Hell - Disrobics (Release the Bats 2007)
09. Rolo Tomassi - C is for Calculus - Self-Titled (Holy Roar 2006)
10. Belong - Red Velvet or Nothing - October Language (Carpark 2006)
11. Small Sails - Corners - Similar Anniversaries (Other Electricites 2007)
12. Japandi - 3 - Tour CD (Self-Released 2003?)
13. Library Tapes - Leaves Abstract In A Village Plunged Into Mourning (Feat. Colleen) - Feeilngs for Something Lost (Resonant 2006)
14. Ghastly City Sleep - Suchness - Self-Titled (Robotic Empire 2007)
15. The Wind-Up Bird - He Waited and Waited, and Now, at Last, in the Stillest Hour of Night, the Sounds Got Busy Once Again - The One Am Radio / Wind Up Bird Split (Alone/Paramnesia 2002)
15. Resplendent - Stately & Graceful - Am I Free? I Am Free (Mixx Tape 2005)
16. Tom Burbank - The Chop - Famous First Words (Planet µ 2006)
17. Kemialliset Ystävät - Superhimmeli - Self-Titled (Fonal 2007)
18. Corsican Paintbrush - Mutable Earth - Aquarian Hymns (Digitalis 2007)
19. Talibam! - Lunch Break At Naan - Ordination of the Globetrotting Conscripts (Azul Discografia 2007)
20. Lichens - Vevor of Agassou - Omns (Kranky 2007)
21. Polliné - Continue a Hymn - Parallel Canvas (Boxcar 2000)
22. Siouxsie - One Mile Below - Mantaray (Universal/Decca 2007)

November 06, 2007 Playlist - O&E

I've been way behind on posting these. At the very least, it'll increase my hits from Google, right? Whether or not you actually listen to this shit is irrelevant.

01. Alasehir - Nazca - The Stone Sentinels (Archive 2007)
02. MV & EE - Get Right Church - Eye in the Pines (Child of Microtones 2007)
03. Red Favorite - Routine - Self-Titled (Spirit of Orr 2006)
04. Coach Fingers - Late Night Westtown - No Files on Frank (Locust 2006)
05. Matta Llama - Thetan Cruise - Self-Titled (Mad Monk 2007)
06. Alligator Crystal Moth - Mother Stars - Magic Swamp Kingdom (Foxglove 2005)
07. Plastic Crimewave Sound - Far In-Out - No Wonderland (Eclipse 2006)
08. Indian Jewelry - Lesser Snake - Invase Exotics (Monitor 2006)
09. Softwar - Psychic Shake - Self-Titled (Digitalis 2007)
10. Spectre Folk - Italian Tv 1 (Don Cherry) - Papa Smurf Smiles Down On Us From Heaven (Abandon Ship 2007)
11. The Phantom Family Halo - Electric God in Your Galaxy - The Legend of Black Six (EMI 2007)
12. Voice of the Seven Woods - Second Transition - Self-Titled (Twisted Nerve 2007)
13. Amps for Christ - AFC Tower Song - The People At Large (5RC 2004)
14. Jackie-O Motherfucker - Northern Line - Liberation (Road Cone 2001/ATP 2005)
15. Grails - Soft Temple - Burning Off Impurities (Temporary Residence 2007)
16. Gutevolk - Ao To Kuro - Tiny People Singing Over the Rainbow (Noble 2007)
17. Anna Ranger - Guitar - Above and Under Ground (Plastiq Musiq 2005)
18. Rocketship - People I Know - Hey, Hey, Girl (The Bus Stop 1994)
19. Cruise Control Pills - Here for the Show - Self-Titled (Bees Make Honey 1996)
20. The Music Tapes - Song for the Death of Parents - 1st Imaginary Symphony For Nomad (Merge 1999)
21. Hi Ho, Six Shooter! - It Don't Mean a Thang, If it Ain't Got That Twang - A Brief Discourse On Death and Dying; or, the Gravedigger's Muddy Shovel (No Signal House 2005)
22. A Plan So Crazy It Just Might Work - Trio (Rebels in the New World) - Self-Titled (Self-Released 2004)
23. Year Future - The Hidden Hand - The Hidden Hand (GSL 2004)

MART 590e - Raw Danger!

So I'm taking this Media Arts class where one of our assignments is to play a video game every week and then write about it. Might as well use this blog since it already exists, so yeah.

This week: Raw Danger!, a PS2 budget title from Agetec.



I first heard about this game on the Something Awful forums, and what I'm writing here simply echoes much of what's already been said.

Raw Danger! is actually the sequel to 2003's Disaster Report, a game where players had to escape a city hit by an earthquake. This time around, however, it's all about escaping the safest and most advanced city in the world as it faces a flood disaster. In order to survive, players have to avoid water and keep their body temperature up while climbing, jumping, and crawling their way to safety, all while keeping an ear out for emergency broadcasts and crossing paths with other flood victims. Sound familiar? Oh, right.

First of all, Raw Danger! does more things right than it does wrong, and that's what makes it special™.

You can play as 6 different characters whose paths all cross, and where the decisions you make affect the lives of each character. Do you help your coworker or do you leave her to drown because she has an annoying voice? The choices can actually be much deeper than that, but they don't have to be. The sheer amount of options is impressive. The game can be the ultimate be-a-dick simulator or white-knight story, and while certain games never escape these two extremes, Raw Danger! allows for a lot of grey area simply due to the overlapping stories. One character may leave someone to die, but as you play the next character, she may find the co-worker from another perspective, and have to make a decision based on some other character's choices. It doesn't necessarily play out as if you have to continually outsmart yourself the entire game, but it does flirt with the concept a bit.

The most interesting aspect of the game? None of it involves combat. You explore the city, talk to people, drive vehicles, create makeshift survival tools from items you scavenge throughout the game, solve puzzles to reach safety, and (oh, no) collect fragments of your memory to rebuild your identity. Okay, so that's one strike against the game.

Mechanically, though, there isn't much to argue about. The biggest complaint is the lack of polish and production value. Oh, and the localization is kind of funny:




In the future, everyone in America is blonde. Call me a temporal conformist.

Anyway, Mass Effect can go to hell. Raw Danger! is the deepest game I've played this year. You want character interaction and choices with consequences? You want branching paths and multiple endings for EACH character in the game? Then hop to, and drop $10 on Raw Danger!

Also, I didn't really mean that about Mass Effect. I'm sorry, baby.

Special 90s Hardcore Fundraiser Show Playlist

A long playlist. I omitted the NYHC and East Bay stuff and focused on a lot of lesser known bands. I also ran out of time to play the rest of the Council Records and Bloodlink stuff. And apologies to Eurich for not playing them.

01. Antischism - Scream - Discography (Prank 1998)
02. Initial State - Feast - Abort the Soul (Prank 1998)
03. .fuckingcom - Earth Mover - Self-Titled (Prank 1998)
04. A//Political - Free Trade in Death - Planting the Seeds of Revolution (Crasshole 1997)
05. Iconoclast - Battlefields - Discography (Ebullition 2002)
06. Los Crudos - Illegal y Que (Live Studio Session) - Discografia (Lengua Armada 2001)
07. Insult to Injury - Traitor - The Things Kids Say (Three Day Hero 199x?)
08. Tonka - Butterknife - Stupid By the Grace of God (Assorted Porkchops 1991)
09. Unherd - Blue - Self-Titled (Assorted Porkchops 1993)
10. Assfactor 4 - Deliri-Loco - Self-Titled (Old Glory 1995)
11. Salvo Rain - Jonsong - Shanked 7" (Self-Released 1995)
12. Marion - Favorite Patient - Self-Titled (KFLR-USA 199x?)
13. Eagle Bravo - You Said It, Chairman - 1/2 (Gridsector 199x?)
14. Cornelius - Terraforming - Discography (Assorted Porkchops 2001)
15. Palatka - Another Sort of Blacklist - End of Irony (No Idea 1999)
16. End of the Century Party - Ask My Exorcist or My School Psychiatrist - Discography 1993-1999 (Coaxt 2004)
17. In/Humanity - Super Plan B - Your Future Lies Smoldering at the Feet of the Robots (Stereonucleosis/Coalition/Prank 1997)
18. Index for Potential Suicide - How To Build a Silencer for a Semiautomatic Weapon - Sex, Violence, Whatever (Alone 2005)
19. End of the Line - Guilt - Self-Titled (Ebullition 1993)
20. Antioch Arrow - Somba - In Love With the Jetts/Lady is a Cat (Gravity 1997)
21. Clikatat Ikatowi - Too Simple - Orchestrated and Conducted By (Gravity 1996)
22. Angel Hair - Space Ape - Pregnant with the Senior Class (Gravity 1997)
23. Heroin - Meaningless - Self-Titled CD (Gravity 1997)
24. Honeywell - Expectafeelis - Electric Kool-Aid (Monotone Supersounds 1994)
25. Mohinder - To Satisfy - Everything (GSL 2001)
26. The VSS - Lunar Weight - Nervous Circuits (GSL 1997)
27. Drive Like Jehu - Caress - Self-Titled (Cargo 1991)
28. Swing Kids - Forty Three Seconds - Discography (Three One G 1998)
29. Guyver-One - Nine Pints - Obsessed With... (Inchworm 1996)
30. Universal Order of Armageddon - Desperate Motion - Self-Titled (Gravity 1994)
31. Gauze - Essa Hoi Sassa - Kao O Aratte Denaoshite Koi (XXX 1997)
32. Uutuus - Maailman Politiikkaa - Systeemin Rattaissa EP (Genet 1993)
33. Unhinged - Won't Be My Shelter - Resisting the Murder of Self EP (Nabate 1993)
34. Nausea - Battened - The Punk Terrorist Anthology Vol. 1 (Alternative Tentacles 2001)
35. Doom - Days Go By - Fuck Peaceville (Profane Existence 1995)
36. Hiatus - No Answers To Lead Me - Old Fashioned Shit for Consumers (Ataque Sonoro 1995)
37. Spazz - Not Even Phased - Crush, Kill, Destroy (Slap-a-Ham 1999)
38. Capitalist Casualties - Worker - Self-Titled (Slap-a-Ham 1997)
39. Econochrist - Behave - Discography (Ebullition 1999)
40. Code 13 - Criminal Empire - Complete Discography 1994-2000 (Havoc 2000)
41. Destroy - The Revolution Will Not Be Analog - Necropolis (Sound Pollution 1994)
42. Man is the Bastard - Volatile Cocktail - Abundance of Guns (S.O.A. 1992)
43. Rorschach - Lightning Strikes Twice - Autopsy (Gern Blandsten 1995)
44. Deadguy - Apparatus - Fixation on a Coworker (Victory 1995)
45. Born Against - Mount the Pavement - Patriotic Battle Hymns (Kill Rock Stars 2003)
46. His Hero is Gone - Automation - Monument to Thieves (Prank 1998)
47. Infest - Terminal Nation - No Man's Slave (Deep Six 2002)
48. Phobia - Blood Sport - Means of Existence (Slap-a-Ham 1998)
49. Crossed Out - Crown of Thorns - 1990-1993 (Slap-a-Ham 2000)
50. Amber Inn - Leave With Dignity - All Roads Still Lead Home (Ebullition 1998)
51. Torches to Rome - Young Arsenal - (Ebullition 1997)
52. Portraits of Past - Implications of a Sinkhole Personality - Self-Titled (Ebullition 1995)
53. Reversal of Man - Pieces of Eight - Discography CD (Schematics 2005)
54. The Nation of Ulysses - You're My Miss Washington, D.C. - 13-Point Program to Destroy America (Dischord 1991)
55. Hoover - Distant - The Lurid Traversal of Route 7 (Dischord 1999)
56. Jawbox - Tracking - Novelty (Dischord 1992)
57. Circus Lupus - Pacifier - Super Genius (Dischord 1992)
58. Fugazi - Smallpox Champion - In on the Kill Taker (Dischord 1991)
59. Unwound - New Energy - The Future of What (Kill Rock Stars 1995)
60. Four Hundred Years - Thicker Than Water - Suture and Other Songs (Lovitt 1999)
61. Frodus - The Misaligned Men of Flomation - Conglomerate International (Tooth & Nail 1998)
62. Sleepy Time Trio - Dear Hands, - Memory Minus (Lovitt 1998)
63. The Monorchid - Distortion - Let Them Eat (Lovitt 1996)
64. Young Ginns - Score - Self-Titled (Honey Bear 1998)
65. (Young) Pioneers - We Don't Believe in Criminals - Free the (Young) Pioneers Now! (Lookout 1998)
66. Anasarca - East Bunk Hill - Discography 1994-1997 (Second Nature Recordings 2001)
67. Policy of Three - 1 Percent - An Anthology (Ebullition 2005)
68. Frail - Obscene Jigsaw Puzzle - Make Your Own Noise CD (Bloodlink 2000)
69. Current - Continued Rantings - Discography (Council 1998)

October 30, 2007 Playlist - O&E

01. Woods - Silence is Golden - How to Survive In/In the Woods (Release the Bats 2006)
02. Jack Rose - Kensington Blues - Kensington Blues (Tequila Sunrise 2005)
03. The Tower Recordings - Lunar Discotheque - Furniture Music for Evening Shuttles (Siltbreeze 1998)
04. Ignatz - Degradation of the Best - They are Quiet as Mice (Bennifer Editions 2006)
05. Blues Control - Frankie's Problem - Self-Titled (Holy Mountain 2007)
06. Noxagt - Histrionix - Self-Titled (Load 2006)
07. Times New Viking - Lion and Oil - Present the Paisley Reich (Siltbreeze 2007)
08. Death Sentence: PANDA! - New China Blazers - Live Recording
09. My Cat is an Alien - C1 - Landscapes of an Electric City/Hypnotic Spaces (Ecstatic Peace 2002)
10. Magik Markers - Body Rot - Boss (Ecstatic Peace 2007)
11. Pink & Brown - Black Pearl - Shame Fantasy II (Load 2003)
12. So So Many White White Tigers - We Shoot Arrows - Self-Titled (Weird Forest 2005)
13. Night Wounds - Allergic to Heat - Allergic to Heat (Corleone 2007)
14. Epic45 - The Stars In Spring - May Your Heart Be the Map (Make Mine Music 2007)
15. Sharks Keep Moving - Cashmere, Washington - Desert Strings and Drifters (Second Nature Recordings 1998)
16. Japancakes - Double Jointed - Giving Machines (Darla 2007)
17. Landing - Loft - Brocade (Strange Attractors 2005)
18. July Skies - Coastal Stations - Dreaming of Spires (Rocket Girl 2002)
19. Discolor - Sparkle Plenty - III (Mimaze/Lizard 2001)
20. Koushik - Battle Rhymes for Battle Times - Be With (Stones Throw 2005)
21. Haiku D'Etat - Coup de Theatre - Coup de Theatre (Decon 2004)
22. Dr. Octagon - Aliens - The Return of Dr. Octagon (OCD 2006)
23. Dabrye - Piano - Two/Three (Ghostly 2006)
24. Hieroglyphics - It's About Time - Over Time (Hieroglyphics Imperium 2007)
25. Yellow6 - I Loved You More Before I Knew You Loved Me - Painted Sky (Resonant 2007)
26. Arc Lab - Flood Case - One Five Zero (n5MD 2007)
27. The Octopus Project - Mmaj - Hello, Avalanche (Peek-A-Boo 2007)
28. Flying Lotus - Massage Situation - Reset (Warp 2007)
29. Health - Lost Time - Self-Titled (Lovepump United 2007)