I don't think I could be anymore happy with this year after 2010's absolute failure to produce more than a few albums I really enjoyed. A number of great releases in a diverse range of genres, and a ton of good releases that would've received more attention from me if this year wasn't as busy as it turned out to be. The list is incredibly electronic heavy, which reflects just where my tastes have veered this year. I think general "indie" releases disappointed, though, with only a few standout albums. All right, let's do this:
General Great EPs (not ranked in any order):
Silkie - City Limits Volume 1.6 - 1.8
Pixelord - Puzzles EP
Pixelord - Iron and Cream
Lunice - One Hunned
DJ Spinn - Man I Do It
King Krule - King Krule
Entirely electronic dominated besides the King Krule release which recently came out. Pixelord/Lunice doing the hip hop beats bassy thing that's been getting pretty popular (Lunice in particular is insane), Man I Do It is the best juke release I've listened to this year and it's a shame it wasn't a full album, and I don't even know why I like King Krule so much, but I do, even if the EP is stupidly short. Silkie's City Limits Volume 1.6 - 1.8 sounds a fair bit like City Limits Volume 2 and almost works as an intro for the album (even though Vol. 1.6 - 1.8 were released a few months before Vol. 2).
General Great LPs (not ranked in any order):
Baths - Pop Music and False B-Sides
Geotic - Mend
The Weeknd - House of Balloons
Julian Lynch - Terra
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Lil B - I'm Gay
Zomby - Dedication
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Real Estate - Days
The general indie stuff, mostly. Panda Bear, Bon Iver, The Weeknd, Geotic, or Julian Lynch could probably arguably be in the top albums spots, as they're all excellent.
Top LPs (not ranked in any order):
Silkie - City Limits Volume 2
Araabmuzik - Electronic Dream
Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
Rustie - Glass Swords
Entirely electronic dominated. City Limits is unreal at times, Araabmuzik is a damn wizard, Replica is the most haunting thing I've heard this entire year, and I don't really have anything to say about Glass Swords.
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And that's it for the year. I'm hoping 2012 can top 2011, but it'll be tough. I don't have a list of releases for next year, but all that matters is when the next Animal Collective will be out.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Dead Island Mini-Review
I wrote this up for no real reason, so here.
pros: graphics, excellent load times, interesting combat with the analog control scheme, sense of being overwhelmed by groups of zombies, lack of music but great environmental sounds, unique modification system for weapons, enemies sustain bodily damage from blows/lacerations which is really cool, only had a couple minor glitches, fairly lengthy game if you do the side quests probably more or less 10 hours if you just do the main quest, lots of random crap to collect if you're willing to explore everything, three fairly large distinct areas to explore, i've read reviews complaining about how weapons (not including guns) break too quickly and constantly require you to replace them or repair them but that isn't really the case as you get quite a few skill points that can be used to increase weapon durability and repairing weapons isn't too expensive so long as the weapon isn't past 50% broken and this is a super run-on sentence
cons: majority of the sidequests are dull, main quests are also dull, combat can be repetitive and isn't really improved or changed up much from the beginning to the end, lack of enemy variety, skill points and talent trees are boring and don't really reward you with new abilities or anything particularly cool, clunky controls, FOV needs to be farther out (possible to modify this on the PC version, but not consoles), clearly designed and balanced for co-op especially in Act II, meh writing and animation, awful gunplay, some creepy parts but overall not heavy on zombie apocalypse atmosphere, loot could be much better, Act II is awful in just about every way, lacking in quick travel options, lack of cars readily available after Act I, have not tried any character besides the guy that specializes in blunt weapons but i would imagine combat isn't very different between the four characters you can play as, really boring art direction and nothing really stands out, there's like a half hour or so escort mission that's required to do and absolutely sucks
Verdict:
Flawed, but enjoyable, probably much more so in co-op. An improved sequel would be nice at some point, as the framework is basically there for a great game.
I'll probably do a top 3 or maybe 5 for games I've played this year. Not going to post that until probably sometime early next year, though, as there are still games from this year that I want to play that I haven't gotten around to.On the other hand, my year end music list is coming very soon.
pros: graphics, excellent load times, interesting combat with the analog control scheme, sense of being overwhelmed by groups of zombies, lack of music but great environmental sounds, unique modification system for weapons, enemies sustain bodily damage from blows/lacerations which is really cool, only had a couple minor glitches, fairly lengthy game if you do the side quests probably more or less 10 hours if you just do the main quest, lots of random crap to collect if you're willing to explore everything, three fairly large distinct areas to explore, i've read reviews complaining about how weapons (not including guns) break too quickly and constantly require you to replace them or repair them but that isn't really the case as you get quite a few skill points that can be used to increase weapon durability and repairing weapons isn't too expensive so long as the weapon isn't past 50% broken and this is a super run-on sentence
cons: majority of the sidequests are dull, main quests are also dull, combat can be repetitive and isn't really improved or changed up much from the beginning to the end, lack of enemy variety, skill points and talent trees are boring and don't really reward you with new abilities or anything particularly cool, clunky controls, FOV needs to be farther out (possible to modify this on the PC version, but not consoles), clearly designed and balanced for co-op especially in Act II, meh writing and animation, awful gunplay, some creepy parts but overall not heavy on zombie apocalypse atmosphere, loot could be much better, Act II is awful in just about every way, lacking in quick travel options, lack of cars readily available after Act I, have not tried any character besides the guy that specializes in blunt weapons but i would imagine combat isn't very different between the four characters you can play as, really boring art direction and nothing really stands out, there's like a half hour or so escort mission that's required to do and absolutely sucks
Verdict:
Flawed, but enjoyable, probably much more so in co-op. An improved sequel would be nice at some point, as the framework is basically there for a great game.
I'll probably do a top 3 or maybe 5 for games I've played this year. Not going to post that until probably sometime early next year, though, as there are still games from this year that I want to play that I haven't gotten around to.On the other hand, my year end music list is coming very soon.
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