tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67981203097336669982024-03-19T08:06:46.912-05:00Taciturn BlogLet's discuss video games (and music)!No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-48848756342072917552012-02-27T23:19:00.006-05:002012-02-27T23:41:07.554-05:00Syndicate Mini-Review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uc4uRj6RBJ-7VbTXZbfvblAYSS4p_U7dMdriR3HvF6UphIUZxnDQCqNxEAFRAJknMEO19yAECZ4RYs0DwhhXW6nL9VaD9QyHPiE8CgzScKEzzAOAtfLVGTlEc-7lkV26gtLbcSpTO5Qr/s1600/screenshot06_sep13_full.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uc4uRj6RBJ-7VbTXZbfvblAYSS4p_U7dMdriR3HvF6UphIUZxnDQCqNxEAFRAJknMEO19yAECZ4RYs0DwhhXW6nL9VaD9QyHPiE8CgzScKEzzAOAtfLVGTlEc-7lkV26gtLbcSpTO5Qr/s400/screenshot06_sep13_full.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714038599946431586" /></a><br /><br /><br />Things I like about it:<br />- The the cyberpunk setting. The game gives you tons of information (in the form of data, files, and propaganda) concerning the various syndicates, their agents, weapons, bio-upgrades, just tons of crap to read if you choose to do so. I have been because I like the setting of various syndicates rising to global dominance, overpowering even governments and forming corporate armies to wage war against one another.<br />- Nice art direction and music. Graphics overall look pretty great, the lighting is impressive and the framerate holds steadily at 30 FPS.<br />- The guns are fun to use and they all sound great. There were only a couple guns I genuinely didn't like.<br />- The breach abilities/dart overlay system are neat.<br />- In the single player campaign, you only have access to a small talent tree. In the co-op campaign, there's a large talent tree, rank ups, and weapons and abilities can be upgraded. Upgrading everything in the co-op campaign would take a while.<br />- Ability to select any level to play once you've cleared it. Shows your stats for the level and shows the info files/propaganda you've collected or that you're missing.<br />- A number of the guns have secondary firing modes, and they work great.<br />- The co-op campaign and single player campaigns are separate and completely different.<br />- The co-op levels are pretty well designed and a lot of fun with a competent group.<br />- Went through the single player twice (once on normal, once on hard). My hard run felt way easier; I didn't even notice much of an increase in difficulty outside of enemies hitting like trucks. I did the co-op campaign once on normal (the last level I did was basically just duoed with me and another guy), and I'm in the process oftrying to go through it solo on normal.<br />- On co-op, at least on the harder difficulties, situational awareness is really important, and you need to be ready to react at a given's notice. Be it for healing, activating an ability, breaching an enemy, etc. It's tense, but it feels great when it comes together.<br /><br />Things I don't like:<br />- Single player campaign is absolutely too linear. You've got these great looking levels, but are shuffled along a one-way path the entire time. It sucks.<br />- Too much of a reliance on cinematic crap and not letting you be in control. Just kills the pacing.<br />- Single player campaign is fairly short. It took me around 10ish hours my first time, but I was going super slow, taking the time to explore the levels (not that there's much to explore) and read the stuff I mentioned above. About 5-7 hours when I went through it on hard.<br />- Enemies feel like bullet sponges at times. Bosses especially are. They take way too long to kill.<br />- The game should've had some sort of improved cover mechanic, probably. I was behind cover a fair bit (you can get ripped to shreds easily), and the way cover works in this game is wonky. And for some reason it's hard to tell at times when you're crouching or not. Might be a result of the awful FOV.<br />- Co-op isn't tuned to detect how many players are playing, and throws the same amount of enemies at you regardless of whether you're playing alone or with 4 people. <br />- Bosses/minibosses are terrible. Too many of the same general ones are repeated, too.<br />- Story was predictable, and the very last part of it felt really shoe-horned in. I doubt there's going to be a sequel, but there definitely could be one.<br />- You hear about all these different syndicates and locations, and you don't even get to visit many of them in the single player campaign. It's kind of a shame.<br />- Of course there's a sewer/underground level, and it lasts about 2 levels too long. <br />- A lot of the bloom lighting is used for stylistic effect, but it really is just annoying and blinding to look at most of the time.<br />- Checkpoints are too frequent. Very rarely do you ever feel like you lose any progress. I mean I like frequent checkpoints, and there have been two recent games that lacked them that pissed me off a number of times (Deus Ex and Rage), but these are really frequent. It's rare you'll lose more than 1-2 minutes of progress.<br />- Way, way too much "PRESS X REALLY FAST TO OPEN DOOR/VENT". Almost every door/vent you run across, you have to mash X to open. It's absolutely ridiculous.<br />- Lack of new game+ that carries over your talent tree in the single player campaign.<br />- I wish there were more abilities available to you in the single player campaign. The three you're given near the start (Suicide, Persuade and Backfire) are the same ones you use until the end.<br />- Only two guns can be used at any time + grenades, but the secondary fire modes offsets that a bit.<br />- Can't skip cutscenes.<br />- The health upgrade options available in the talent tree are near a requirement in both single player and co-op.<br />- The co-op campaign has 9ish levels that are unique to it. That pisses me off. Those levels should've been in the single player campaign, as well.<br />- Merit (a character) had some funny moments.<br /><br />Verdict:<br />Despite all of those complaints, I still found it really fun, and that's what's most important to me. I want to give it a 7/10, but the flaws hold it back too much for that, so 6/10.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-42657719197133849992011-12-18T23:59:00.003-05:002011-12-19T00:02:38.604-05:00Year End Best of Music 2011 ListI 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:<br /><br /><b>General Great EPs (not ranked in any order):</b><br />Silkie - City Limits Volume 1.6 - 1.8<br />Pixelord - Puzzles EP<br />Pixelord - Iron and Cream<br />Lunice - One Hunned<br />DJ Spinn - Man I Do It<br />King Krule - King Krule<br /><br />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). <br /><br /><b>General Great LPs (not ranked in any order):</b><br />Baths - Pop Music and False B-Sides<br />Geotic - Mend<br />The Weeknd - House of Balloons<br />Julian Lynch - Terra<br />Bon Iver - Bon Iver<br />Lil B - I'm Gay<br />Zomby - Dedication<br />Panda Bear - Tomboy<br />Real Estate - Days<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><b>Top LPs (not ranked in any order):</b><br />Silkie - City Limits Volume 2<br />Araabmuzik - Electronic Dream<br />Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica<br />Rustie - Glass Swords<br /><br />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. <br /><br />---<br /><br />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.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-31165521827063845342011-12-15T06:30:00.004-05:002011-12-15T06:42:40.924-05:00Dead Island Mini-ReviewI wrote this up for no real reason, so here. <br /><br />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<br /><br />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<br /><br />Verdict:<br />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.<br /><br />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.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-75529941170162565252011-02-10T02:39:00.006-05:002011-02-11T16:14:29.742-05:00Year End Best of Music 2010 ListI'm surprised I stuck through with even posting a list, and finishing it just a week later.<br /><br />I don't feel up to making a top 5 for EPs. Laurel Halo's King Felix EP wins, though. It wins it all. Gatekeeper had a nice EP release with Giza near the end of the year, too, but I doubt I'd put it in my top 5. Looking forward to LPs from both of them.<br /><br />Tristan Perich - 1-bit Orchestra<br />Salem - King Knight<br />Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit<br /><br />I can't decide if I'd even want to include these in a top 10 list, so just consider them honorable mentions with no description. None of them were in my earlier posts, anyway. And yes, 1-bit Orchestra is true to its name. I wrote a bunch of shit about Salem (and a few other albums) when I was still in the mindset of doing a proper year-end list like last year's, but forget it. King Knight's cool, though, and the genre-blending on the album is staggering. Agalloch's Marrow of the Spirit kind of came out of nowhere. I've only listened to it once, but it's pretty good, and they still have the folk metal thing going on. I'd say it's on par with their older stuff.<br /><br />Top 7:<br /><br />7. Former Ghosts - New Love<br />6. Yellow Swans - Going Places<br />5. Twin Shadow - Forget<br />4. Avey Tare - Down There<br />3. Beach House - Teen Dream<br />2. Jeans Wilder - Nice Trash<br />1. Dinosaur Feathers - Fantasy Memorial<br /><br />Dinosaur Feathers wins because it was a huge surprise in an otherwise terrible year. Plus I played the hell out of it, and it got me through the early part of the year. Jeans Wilder's Nice Trash came out a week into December, and it's a damn shame it wasn't just held back for a January release, but whatever. I'd rather include it in the 2011 list if I could, and it'd be an early front-runner for album of the year. The album's tremendous, though, and really has a sound that's unlike anything I've heard. I guess something like ghost dream-pop would be a sufficient enough description? It's nuts. Teen Dream still holds up a year later, although it really isn't much of a deviation from Devotion. <br /><br />Avey Tare's Down There took a few listens to really set in, but it's a very strong album. There isn't a single bad track on it, but the first half really outshines the second. Twin Shadow was another great surprise, and was what I was listening to for the majority of the late summer into early fall. Yellow Swans I've talked about already, and Former Ghosts were in my top 10 last year, too.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-22025785906508423282011-02-03T06:39:00.004-05:002011-02-03T06:52:21.601-05:00Year End 2010 List is Coming, I thinkI've bitched about 2010 a lot, but I guess I'm still going to do a top 5 or 10 for albums. Mainly for myself (see: my 2008 year end list), as I'm not going to be writing much, if anything, nor posting links to songs/albums. Plus a semi-surprise album was released at the very, very end of 2010, and I wouldn't feel right without giving it credit. I'll need a week or so to re-listen to everything, but I have a pretty general idea as to what my top 5 will be, at least.<br /><br />2011's off to a decent start with Cloud Nothings and Geotic. I think Toro y Moi's next album will be good, and that'll be out soon. No real surprises yet, but you never really know when those will hit in a year. I doubt there'll be another Dinosaur Feathers by the end of February like there was last year.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-76322398980699162152010-11-18T08:02:00.003-05:002010-11-18T08:24:32.168-05:00Pre-2010 End of Year List: Song of the Year 2010I've never been a huge supporter of things like "favorite song of all time/X year" questions/lists, but this is an exception. The main reason being: the guy (as far as I know), just records random shit and posts accompanying videos to his YouTube account. Outer Limit Recordings (the recording moniker) did put out something this year, but I wasn't impressed with it. The guy in question, Sam Mehran, best known for his stint with Test.Icicles, but I wasn't aware of him until I came across his track "Julie". "Julie" came to my attention at the perfect time -- right around Halloween, and its whimsical, b-horror-esque lyrics and visuals depicted why I love the time so much. The playful, somewhat candid taping is what makes it so charming. Sam Mehran in a basement, playing some deranged romantic, holding a bouquet together with a knife, simultaneously glorifying and stabbing a foam mannequin face. Him and some other guy parading around, smoking, in what looks to be some sort of yard, garden, or park in an exaggerated manner, with the mannequin accompanying them as they have tea. It's a surreal, quirky video that's completely fit for the track.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3Ia1mI1wuPM?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3Ia1mI1wuPM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-72335633819776767702010-09-29T21:36:00.003-05:002010-09-29T21:41:20.867-05:00Small Black - New Chain<img src="http://www.abload.de/img/folder2ft4g.jpg"><br /><br />Shiiittyyy 2010.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-83935219545282139142010-09-08T04:48:00.008-05:002010-09-08T05:05:00.682-05:00Norrin Radd - Anomaly<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzI4hcKpaBaf__2dVoZ9N4kyDAwKsrzdpgIaaJ3vFwGx5vOvJjiyktzbceAtZseBkOm14hPs-l9v8qRKhxBGcvS9on2MeJ7v9awmgnqlOl8TIgx6vIpM27y8AQ4cC-mUNccdZGLjoUjPI/s1600/324111.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 348px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzI4hcKpaBaf__2dVoZ9N4kyDAwKsrzdpgIaaJ3vFwGx5vOvJjiyktzbceAtZseBkOm14hPs-l9v8qRKhxBGcvS9on2MeJ7v9awmgnqlOl8TIgx6vIpM27y8AQ4cC-mUNccdZGLjoUjPI/s400/324111.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514481329445352578" /></a><br />Just came across this and thought it was pretty neat. The guy made what's basically a chip death metal album entirely using the NES's sound limitations. He even went as far as to convert the vocals to the NES's sound channel that could do the really crude voice heard in some NES games (about 1:50 into this video is an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSpx3ejNtrE). I'm not really big on it, but I thought I'd post about it for sheer novelty/archival. Most of the tracks actually sound similar to Konami's old NES stuff -- back when they were actually a good developer.<br /><br />MySpace:<br />http://www.myspace.com/norrinraddnesmetal<br /><br />Full album available for free here:<br />http://www.iimusic.net/catalog/2010/04/norrin-radd-anomaly<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-52855371059773962142010-09-06T01:23:00.007-05:002010-09-16T04:55:39.876-05:00Mid-Year 2010 Best of MusicThis year has been pretty great for interesting EPs, but severly lacking thus far with LPs. There's good stuff out there that I'm sure you'd probably like that I don't, such as Fang Island's "s/t" or Titus Andronicus' "The Monitor". A lot of disappointments, though, or maybe I'm just getting even more tough to please. A couple of note: Yeasayer - Odd Blood, Past Lives - Tapestry of Webs, Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II, Miniature Tigers - Fortress and Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts. Admittedly, I haven't really been as active with searching out new music this year as I was last, so that might be a factor. A couple seemingly awesome albums I wanted I didn't buy, either, but I might do that before 2010 is over. The EPs/LPs included in my late 2009 list won't be re-included with this mid-2010 list, but will show up in the final year end 2010 list.<br /><br /><i><b>Mid-2010's Interesting, Notable, Decent or Good EPs</b></i><br /><br /><b>Active Child - Curtis Lane</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ytBhggacmag&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ytBhggacmag&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Active Child makes dreamy, neoclassical-type dance music with filtered, and heavily layered vocals. The results are great on some tracks ("I'm in Your Church at Night", "She Was a Vision"), but the tracks that lean closer to pure dance are seriously lacking.<br /><br /><b>The Dear Hunter - Branches</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KklzEDiZBpY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KklzEDiZBpY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Casey Crescenzo is a very talented song writer, but he has the tendency to go supremely overboard with his works. He works best within limitations (see: "Act I: The Lake South, The River North" and the original The Dear Hunter demos), so it comes as no surprise that "The Branches" is a very focused and consistent effort.<br /><br /><b>Dom - Sun Bronzed Greek Gods</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sjXiZ8D8PG4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sjXiZ8D8PG4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Dom's a weird group. Their music's as enigmatic as the group itself -- I don't even know if the lead singer is a dude, but I'm guessing it isn't. No song on this EP sounds alike, but it all melds into a congruent whole. Most tracks have blurred guitar, muted drums and vocals, almost ephemeral electronics, and lots of reverb throw on top. It's an incredibly catchy and strong EP, but it lacks an impact for me that makes me <i>want</i> to listen to it. I'll turn it on when I can't think of something else to listen to, and it works, but it isn't what I really desire.<br /><br /><b>Noisewaves - Noisewaves</b><br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="100" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=2856280402/size=grande/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><param name="allowNetworking" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><embed src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=2856280402/size=grande/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="always" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" height="100" width="300"></embed><noembed>&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://noisewaves.bandcamp.com/album/self-titled-e-p"&amp;amp;gt;If I'm A Baker, You're A Homewrecker by Noisewaves&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;</noembed></object><br /><br />Finally, another decent artist combining shoegaze-ish music with chiptunes. Not nearly as great as The Depreciation Guild, but certainly a good EP on its own.<br /><br /><b>Mathemagic - Mathemagic</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JChjgEEcyXY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JChjgEEcyXY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Chilly and wavey. There really isn't much to be said about this, other than being undoubtedly more tropical sounding than some other artists.<br /><br /><b>Cynic - Re-Traced</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OOpSaAyWPlE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OOpSaAyWPlE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />The tech death metal band Cynic remix four tracks from their 2008 album "Traced in Air". The result is unlikely, and comes off as closer to mellow industrial or neofolk than their tech death/jazz fusion style they're known for.<br /><br /><b>unouomedude - Marsh</b><br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="100" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=1362517385/size=grande/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><param name="allowNetworking" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><embed src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=1362517385/size=grande/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="always" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" height="100" width="300"></embed><noembed>&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://unouomedude.bandcamp.com/album/marsh"&amp;amp;gt;Dream Home by unouomedude&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;</noembed></object><br /><br />unouomedude (you know you owe me, dude), one of the newer chillwave kids on the block, brings strong vocals to the reverbed and heavily layered electronics the micro-genre's known for. The strong vocals are of interest, because it's what has set this release apart for me from many other artists following this exact formula. Uno's (usually echoed) voice cuts a clear line between the hazy electronics, instead of being relegated to a small element in the wash. What's nice about this approach is that the lyrics actually become distinguishable, but Uno doesn't really bring anything great lyrically. They seem almost facetious, in fact, or not meant to be taken with any degree of sincerity. "Are you gone, or are you there? I still have our teddy bear, it's your turn to take it back now." Decent lyrics, for me, don't add a whole lot to the value I place in music, so it's certainly not a demerit, in any case.<br /><br /><b>Smile - Muted Swan</b><br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="100" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=3505157844/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><param name="allowNetworking" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><embed src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=3505157844/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="always" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" height="100" width="400"></embed><noembed>&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://geometric.bandcamp.com/album/muted-swan-ep"&amp;amp;gt;Time by Smile&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;</noembed></object><br /><br />Super pretty, minimal ambient music that uses mainly distorted electronics to craft simple, somewhat repetitive melodies. Each track is short, and fades nicely into the next, although I'm left wanting more. It has a kind of whimsical, almost antiquated sound to it. Each track is named after a single word, though there's a clear relationship between each track title. The track titles are as follows: "Time", "Bed", "Candle", "Eyes", "Hour", "Thought", "Time", "Sleep", "Me", "I". The obvious connection here is that they could represent one's night before they manage to sleep. That is, checking the time -> heading to bed -> blowing out candle -> shutting eyes -> an hour passes -> unable to sleep, so thinking -> lose track of time (hypnagogia) -> sleep -> "me" (likely dreams, perhaps a depersonalization) -> "I", becoming aware again (waking up). It's just a thought, and there are a couple hints in the music to support it. The tracks get more playful between "Thought" and "Sleep", and have a more organic and fleshed out sound to them. "Me" brings back the melancholic organ from earlier tracks, but adds in some percussion, and "I" kind of brings everything together. What's the message here? Well, given the album's named "Muted Swan", it might have something to do with the phrase "swan song". Hell, maybe it has something to do with dying; fuck if I know, but I'd like to ask the artist about it, to be honest.<br /><br /><b>Sunglasses - Sunglasses</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jKQgYJB2NsU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jKQgYJB2NsU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />I don't really know what I'd call this. Lazy, half spoken/half sung vocals with slight harmonies, light rhythm, and buzzing bass with some crazy layered electro at points. It's dismally short (with only 3 real tracks and two interludes), but the songs on here are great.<br /><br /><b>Yellow Ostrich - Fade Cave</b><br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="300" height="100" ><param name="movie" value="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=3694879811/size=grande/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=3694879811/size=grande/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" width="300" height="100" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality=high allowScriptAccess=always allowNetworking=always wmode=transparent bgcolor=#FFFFFF ></embed><noembed><a href="http://yellowostrich.bandcamp.com/album/fade-cave-ep">Fade Cave EP by Yellow Ostrich</a></noembed></object><br /><br />Take Fleet Foxes-esque vocal harmonies, and spread them throughout an entire album, only without much instrumentation. The group's vocally dominant compositions are great, but they can become repetitive after a while, and the tracks are generally long, so this happens. They play it mostly safe, with lots of hums and a cappella arrangements, without really branching out into anything else, which is a shame. What I mean by this, if you compare it to someone like Panda Bear or Alvin Band, it does not hold up well, because they both tend to have really varied vocal performances. Fade Cave desperately needs some sort of instrumentation presence, because the light rhythm just isn't enough. A nice album, for sure, but lacking.<br /><br /><b>Chris Rehm - Salivary Stones</b><br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="100" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=842299390/size=grande/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><param name="allowNetworking" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><embed src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=842299390/size=grande/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="always" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" height="100" width="300"></embed><noembed>&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://chrisrehm.bandcamp.com/album/salivary-stones"&amp;amp;gt;Salivary Stones by Chris Rehm&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;</noembed></object><br /><br />Described as "drone pop", by Chris Rehm, Salivatory Stones merges chopped, garbled, and fuzzed instrumentals with vocals buried deep beneath the surface. While I can't help but question whether "drone" and "pop" can ever really be used within the same context, Salivatory Stones certainly makes a case for it. There are clear melodies that form under what might seemingly be just noise at first. It's a strong EP, but not an easy listen.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Fluker+Love/Soaked+%5BEP%5D"><b>Fluker Love - Soaked</b></a><br /><br />(Note: no embed)<br /><br />Fluker Love continues his heavily distorted, electro shoegaze with this EP. Another set of great tracks, always dropping and peaking at points with no real consistency, only to be lightly guided by some even more distorted vocals and rhythm. The Loveless comparison in last year's Best of 2009 list really still holds true, and might be even more apt with this release. Fluker Love's hazy, transient nature definitely resembles that of the untouchable Loveless. Something so many other shoegaze bands fail to really capitalize on.<br /><br /><b>Robin Guthrie - Sunflower Stories</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QR1jaEHLd1w&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QR1jaEHLd1w&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Another Robin Guthrie EP, another batch of excellent tracks. I never really do get tired of his work. This one seems less about ambience than it does highlighting the full? band sound. Although "Slightly Out of Focus" (as the name suggests), is full-on ambience, with general noise and some lightly plucked guitar. Of course, Guthrie's heavenly guitar takes the center stage here -- almost recalling classic Durutti Column at points -- and I couldn't be happier.<br /><br /><b>Young Man - Boy</b><br /><br /><object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F1925366%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-zyU4x&secret_url=false"> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F1925366%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-zyU4x&secret_url=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="81" width="100%"></embed> </object><br /><br />This was panned by Pitchfork (I guess they needed someone to pan after the majority of the beach/fuzz stuff they've given high scores to this year), but I think it's a pretty good EP. I mean, when one of the lines from the review is "...in other words, singer-songerwriter circa 2010, the type that has no problem forgoing codified Proper Influences like (David) Bowie and (Brian) Eno or Elliot (Smith) and (Nick) Drake in favor of Panda (Bear) and Bradford (Cox of Deerhunter/Atlas Sound)", it's hard to take seriously. Boy brings dreamy, droney acoustic guitar ballads with reverbed vocals and some light electronics. It certainly <i>could</i> pass off as some older Panda Bear (circa Young Prayer), but it's not a concern. I will agree with Pitchfork in them calling this "basically a demo tape", as nothing here really sounds too fleshed out. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this was quickly rushed out after he was picked up by the label Frenchkiss. Demos aren't necessarily bad, though, and this woozy EP shouldn't be overlooked.<br /><br /><b>Brothertiger - Vision Tunnels</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UeQp8F-evCEw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UeQp8F-evCE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Vision Tunnels is one of the strongest EPs I've heard this year. Brothertiger's music is layered, but syrupy. Most tracks have a woozy, soundscape atmosphere to them; floating by with echoed vocals and strong synth leads. It's a disservice to Brothertiger to compare him to other chillwave artists, because it sounds nothing like most of the bandwagoning the micro-genre has seen.<br /><br /><b>Laurel Halo - King Felix</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RS0kp3Hv-f4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RS0kp3Hv-f4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />My current top EP this year, and quite possibly one of the tops overall when all's said and done. Laurel Halo commands glitchy electronics, an etherealwave sheen, pop sensibility, and fronted by an incredibly talented female vocalist. I have no idea if her real name is actually Laurel Halo, but it really doesn't matter. Her angelic voice is neatly layered to create some striking harmonies ("Coriolis"'s chorus, in particular), while also heavily echoed to create an even more striking effect. You just can't ignore her vocals, as they do overshadow the very pretty arrangements that are going on here. The closest comparison I can think of is the later works of dream pop group Cranes. I'm desperately waiting for her to release something else, because King Felix alone is not enough.<br /><br /><i><b>Mid-2010's Interesting, Notable, Decent or Good LPs</b></i><br /><br /><b>Caddywhompus - Remainder</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uN8E2KYP5WM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uN8E2KYP5WM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Really, really noisy noise (power-)pop. It sounds like someone's operating some power tools throughout the entire thing with all the buzzing, and somewhat harsh noise that you're assaulted with. Features aforementioned Chris Rehm and another dude. This album was fairly catchy for a couple weeks, but the noise started to grate on me. I haven't gone back to in a while now, but I'd imagine it's still a relatively fun listen. Chris Rehm's EP above is a much stronger album, though.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/actionaction"><b>Action Action - The Ones Who Get it are the Ones Who Need Not to Know</b></a><br /><br />(Note: no embed)<br /><br />You'd think after four and a half years, leaving your label, and then self-releasing an album with no advance notice, there would've been <i>some</i> growth as a band. "The Ones Who Get it...", however, is merely a retread of their debut, and takes some steps back from their sophmore release, "An Army of Shapes Between Wars". I'm surprised they're even still around, given there has been little to no mention of them for years until this album was stealth released back in April. They truly remained as a phantom of the old "scene" days for years, while most others have either disbanded or released a perpetual flood of crap since now and then. "The Ones Who Get It..." isn't a bad album, but it's nothing particularly captivating, either.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/theinay"><b>The Inay - Old Sea</b></a><br /><br />(Note: no embed)<br /><br />This is a strange album, almost like some sort of distorted message that was deliberately tampered with. First, this is lo-fi, and the only sounds you'll be hearing on this is a lazily plucked guitar, light drumming, and general ambience. Ephemeral vocals, some echoes, and random electronics rise at points, but are quickly subdued. Second, it sounds as if the artist deliberately encoded this at a shitty bitrate. It's something like V8 MP3, not to mention the download for Old Sea is called the "tape version" on the artist's website. Normally, I wouldn't give it the time of day with that shitty of an encode, but to have a variable bitrate that low, I can only think that it was a conscious decision by the artist (unlike idiots that release their stuff at 128 or lower CBR). I don't particularly think this is a great or exciting album, but it's interesting because of its enigmatic qualities and lo-fi production.<br /><br /><b>Jatun - Blanket of Ash</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3NOrmuVBlL8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3NOrmuVBlL8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Jatun returns with his follow-up to 2007's s/t. More spacey, electro shoegaze, which is good, because it's much more polished than their 2007 release. He's got the formula down, but not doing anything particularly noteworthy with it. If I'm going to listen to Jatun or M83, it's really no contest: M83. Although, to be fair, Jatun is more post-rock and ambient than M83.<br /><br /><b>Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yoyTJQk4Les&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yoyTJQk4Les&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Beach Fossils' jangly surf and sunny pop comes off much better than Wild Nothing's attempts this year (see below). They've got a great sense of melody, and the antiquated sound of the vocals really gels with their music. The moodier tracks on here are generally the strongest, but some nice vocal harmonies would've really complimented the tracks.<br /><br /><b>Emeralds - Does it Look Like I'm Here?</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Og1qs2OAuPE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Og1qs2OAuPE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Well, does it? Really think this is a shitty name for an album. It'd be an absolute mistake to disregard the pretty and hypnotic ambience found on Does it Look Like I'm Here? based solely on the name. Emeralds were rightfully on my honorable mentions list last year, and certainly deserve their place here. They've totally nailed their sound on this album, and craft striking tracks in (generally) 4 minutes, unlike the 10 minute long tracks on What Happened. This actually sounds much closer to Mark McGuire's (one of the band members) solo albums than previous Emeralds work. Definitely an awesome album if you're just looking for something soothing, and not very demanding to listen to. It does get a bit heavy at points. The spralling, 12 minute epic "Genetic" mixes psychedelic-esque guitar solos buried under a wash of drones, and is easily the standout track.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/dowhilemusic"><b>Do While - Do While</b></a><br /><br />(Note: no embed)<br /><br />Super droney and loud ambient with some light vocals. Has an almost shoegaze-quality to it at times, with some shimmery electronics. Reminds me a bit of Lovesliescrushing, which is a huge compliment, but not exactly an entirely accurate one.<br /><br /><b>The Depreciation Guild - Spirit Youth</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lTqq4ypLxo8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lTqq4ypLxo8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />After three years, The Depreciation Guild return with a followup to their great debut. Spirit Youth has plenty of strong tracks, and builds a bit on In Her Gentle Jaws, but end up detracting some key points, as well. The chiptunes incorporated into their unique brand of shoegaze have been significantly subdued on Spirit Youth, but their are some tighter tracks on here as a result. It's a bit of a disappointment, but they're clearly skilled at crafting shoegaze without crutching on the peculiar use of chiptunes. I was hoping they'd steer more towards chiptunes with this release, somehow creating a real "chipgaze"-type album, but that's not the case. While I doubt The Depreciation Guild are going to explore it, I think there's a ton more that can be extracted from chiptunes outside of the generic, dime-a-dozen dance-fitted chip artists out there.<br /><br /><a href="http://twinshadow.net/"><b>Twin Shadow - Forget</b></a><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/snAPMaOuH1M&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/snAPMaOuH1M&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Twin Shadow's George Lewis Jr. makes smooth as fuck music, recalling a range of genres that peaked in the 80s, without really sounding tired. One nice thing is how diverse and fleshed out everything is. It's not chillwave, but it certainly is drawing from similar sources as the latter. Thinking a bit more about this, and it almost reminds me of the better parts of Hail Social. Forget is definitely one of the top albums released this year, so far, and a really, really pleasant surprise. Dude has his album up now for only $1, so it's worth the entry price alone just to check out (which you can, in its entirety, at the link above).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/chambercafeorchestra"><b>Chamber Cafe Orchestra - And the Eternal Waltz</b></a><br /><br />(Note: no embed)<br /><br />Not sure if their name is a homage to the legendary chamber/minimalist folk group Penguin Cafe Orchestra, but whatever. They make very pretty music, usually fronted by acoustic guitar and and assorted types of rhythm, shakers, etc. It's all very organic, and to be honest, I don't know if there are any horns or electronics featured here. It's a short album that last less than 25 minutes, but it makes good use of its short length.<br /><br /><b>Alcest - Ecailles de Lune</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6dwrrLb-uJQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6dwrrLb-uJQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />The post-metal/shoegaze project continues with the followup to 2007's Souvenirs d'un autre monde, which I wasn't a fan of. It definitely still pulls a lot from black metal, but brings more airy atmospherics to it. Even metal's trademark shrieks sound tasteful here, and accompany the more abrasive parts of this album rather nicely. The sung vocals on Ecailles de Lune are floaty and transient, too, but add much to the sound. The album is mostly instrumental, though, with lots of emphasis on twisting, turning compositions that run through a gamut of sounds. Some parts are so undeniably gentle, that you could cut them out, piece them together, and swear they're from some unknown dream pop act. Alcest have released a very nice surprise, and something even non-metal enthusiasts should be able to appreciate.<br /><br /><b>Wild Nothing - Gemini</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wNdqU3fP5TI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wNdqU3fP5TI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />While I prematurely claimed this had potential to be one of my top albums of 2010, that surely isn't going to be the case. I should probably not judge an artist's ability until they release something more than just a few tracks or an EP, because crafting a truly great and captivating full length is no easy task. Gemini isn't bad, by any means, but it's a let down in more ways than one. Sticking closer to indie pop than the dream pop he was originally crafting (and coming closer to labelmate Beach Fossils' sound, as a result). A year can make a big difference, I guess. Still, there are some really dreamy tracks on here that were in-line with my expectations for this release, such as "Drifter", "Pessimist", and "Chinatown".<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/wavves"><b>Wavves - King of the Beach</b></a><br /><br />(Note: no embed)<br /><br />Bringing some of the fuzz from their s/t, though considerably less, Wavves manage to make a fun, and quite apt summer album that was no doubt intentional and ripe for the season. This is pretty much skate/surf punk with blurry, distorted guitars and snappy vocals. Of course, it doesn't always stick with that, as it veers off into some droney and sunshine pop bits (see: "When Will You Come", "Baseball Cards", and "Mickey Mouse"). Really a great album, and I can only fault it because it has a couple clunky tracks and a poor outro ("Idiot", "Green Eyes", and "Baby Say Goodbye"). The lyrics are pretty personal, and no doubt come after Nathan Williams' (lead Wavves dude) quick blow up into indie stardom and all the subsequent drama that followed (pretty much just look up any of the news stories about Wavves on Pitchfork, if you're interested). After absolutely hating Wavvves, I'm surprised by just how much I did end up liking King of the Beach, and the lasting power it's had on me after continual listens.<br /><br /><b>Yellow Swans - Going Places</b><br /><br /><object height="25" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z-BYNx_JZf8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/z-BYNx_JZf8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />The final release by the drone/noise group, and the only one I bothered to check out. Oops. The two piece disbanded back in 2008, but Going Places wasn't officially released until 2010. Going Places' strength lies in its ability to create vast drones that are rewarding to listen to due to their swirling, morphing nature that allows for them to peak. It's actually quite accessible, and not something you would typically find in a release that covers such a broad range of sounds as the "drone" and "noise" labels tend to cover. Of course, my knowledge of the two genres is less than ankle deep, so feel free to disregard my thoughts. "Opt Out" is my track pick, with its boiling alchemy labyrinth of drones. Even though I was way late to the party, it's sad to see these guys go, because Going Places is something special.<br /><br />---<br /><br />That about wraps it up. This list isn't really set with any particular ordering in mind as to where I think these albums stand, unless otherwise noted (see: Laurel Halo). The vast majority of these albums won't be reappearing in the year-end list (think something like 95%), and the reason for that is that this'll serve as the mid-year honorary mentions list. Whatever comes out <i>after</i> this, that I feel isn't top 10 material, will be in the year-end honorary mentions list. I set an arbitrary cut-off point for albums to be eligible for this mid-year list (sometime in mid-August), so some other albums that have since been released that could've been included, won't be appearing until the year-end list. Comparing 2010 with 2009 is pretty sad, as 2009 had three 10/10 albums for me, and a bunch of 8-9 albums. This year's been mostly 5s, with some 6s, 7s and some 8 to 9 outliers.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-5831143323841639142010-08-30T01:30:00.003-05:002010-08-30T01:38:27.207-05:00Alvin Band 2010<img src="http://i33.tinypic.com/2i76z61.png" align="middle" /><br /><br /><img src="http://i33.tinypic.com/1zd845s.jpg" align="middle" /><br /><br />With <a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14484-fortress/">Pitchfork</a> picking up on Miniature Tigers' sophomore LP "Fortress", is it safe to say Alvin Band might get some more blog buzz? Probably not, but I'm still hopeful. Fuck, I'm blogging about it now, and I'm still pissed off about the lack of exposure Rick Schaier's marvelous Mantis Preying received. Putting out one of the most unique, succinct, and undoubtedly best albums of the year, in a year that had a phenomenal lineup of music from newcomers and veterans alike, is clearly no easy task. Mantis Preying's whimsical take on vocal heavy arrangements, and grinding it through a Beach Boys, Medulla and rock opera-esque mixture is commendable, but not its main selling point. It wouldn't stand under its own weight (and especially its influences'), if it wasn't for Rick Schaier's grasp on harmonies and engaging pop songs. Something Animal Collective have so adeptly demonstrated in the past, and likely a group that Rick Schaier owes a bit to, as well.<br /><br />I can only imagine what it took to produce Mantis Preying, as it's clearly not reproduceable live with just Rick Schaier, and who knows how it'd sound with other people taking over the harmonies/rhythm. How did Bjork go about touring on Medulla? Although, she could probably manage to tour with a range of very talented vocalists to support her, something Rick Schaier wouldn't be able to do.<br /><br />Which brings me to this: has the lack of a live presence (currently) killed Alvin Band's potential to expand his audience? Let's look at Miniature Tigers, as they've managed to gain a fair bit of coverage and are near constantly touring. Miniature Tigers were fortunate enough to piggyback off of fun. and some other established acts in the past year or so, too. Obviously, as Rick Schaier plays drums for Miniature Tigers, he's not going to be able to tour on his own under Alvin Band. What can Rick Schaier bring to a live performance that is on par with Mantis Preying, which his limited recognition has mostly been focused on? No one mentions the EP he also released with Mantis Preying (Lady Portrait), as it wasn't really notable in any respect. Lady Portrait could be done live, and probably not with a large backing band or talented vocalists (outside of Rick Schaier). Alvin Band's site does note that Miniature Tigers play some Alvin Band tracks, but even if those are from Mantis Preying, they won't sound identical to their recorded forms.<br /><br />Rick Schaier's only chance to be recognized really comes from an assortment of blogs and the bigger music sites. How can this be done by the time his follow-up to Mantis Preying starts to make the rounds, which should be very soon? This likely will fall on his label (Intelligent Noise), to promote his creative brand of pop everywhere possible. <i>Especially</i> if the next album is as special as Mantis Preying turned out to be. It's not hard these days to go viral.<br /><br />Mantis Preying is one of the few hidden gems I came across in 2009 that I think could have and should have enjoyed more success. Someone dropped the ball somewhere, but it's not lost forever. Intelligent Noise just need to find a replacement, or Rick Schaier needs to do a better job of promoting Alvin Band through Miniature Tigers. It didn't hurt to have Alvin Band mentioned on the official Miniature Tigers MySpace (hell, I'm pretty sure that's how I found him to begin with), but there really needs to be more. I don't know what the live shows for Miniature Tigers are like, but someone needs to be mentioning Alvin Band and playing some tracks at every show. Also, making sure to have some copies of Mantis Preying available so interested people can pick it up at shows. This could all already be happening at shows, but if it isn't, someone should definitely get on it.<br /><br />Dinosaur Feathers, one of the best surprises from this year, have managed to really foster an audience after a ton of touring and then having some blogs and larger sites writing about them. Totally deserved, and something Rick Schaier is certainly capable of replicating.<br /><br />Does any of this mean anything that wasn't already happening? I don't know, I'm neither Rick Schaier nor his label. Maybe Rick Schaier's already more than content with Mantis Preying's performance and the limited attention it's received.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-38043971592351767812010-08-24T04:09:00.000-05:002010-08-24T04:10:02.570-05:00Nostalgia, almostI came across <a href ="http://taciturnblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/vk2k2.html">one of my earlier posts</a> and I kind of thought it was funny how I never posted anything on <a href="http://audiosyncraticblog.blogspot.com/">Audiosyncratic</a>, but have seemingly picked up the reins. Mid-2010 list is still coming along, although I've been very lazy. I'm not sure how my year end list will look, because I've put more effort into the mid-2010 list than I expected to. Whatever. Shitty 2010 for music keeps on trucking; September needs to hurry up.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-27019627153114000712010-06-24T05:22:00.007-05:002010-06-24T05:31:44.555-05:00Surprise mid-2010 Best of Music List AnnouncementIt's not here yet, but it's coming. I've decided to take it upon myself to do it. However, it's not going to be anywhere near as comprehensive as my 2009 list, and won't be covering the 2010 releases in my 2009 list. Don't expect much of anything outside of a sentence or two long description with a MySpace link. The amount of stuff on the list will be much shorter than my 2009 list, too.<br /><br />The question now is whether I want to buy more albums to listen to and critique before I get started on this, or if I want to wait till the year end list...<br /><br />On a completely unrelated note, I've fully been drawn back into video games. It's been two years since I've played anything seriously (outside of MMORPGs). The break has been worthwhile and really allowed me to enjoy games again without feeling obligated to play or finish them. The question is how long will this last for, or if it's a temporary thing spurred by some improvements I've made to my gaming setups/the recent (great) E3. I don't know. Games are the one medium I seem to really have issues with playing continuously. Well, besides books. Those will come soon enough, though. I'm nearly out of VNs (visual novels) to read.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-53642528236229239862010-03-05T01:57:00.005-05:002010-03-05T02:05:18.466-05:00Year End Best of Music - 2009 Part 2This is mainly going to be a post simply for record keeping of the year. I'm not going to get fancy and add anything outside of brief descriptions to the artist/album names. This will likely be updated (with additional parts) as I come across (if I do) other albums I missed from 2009.<br /><br />----<br /><br /><b>Reverie Sound Revue - Reverie Sound Revue</b><br /><br />Languid, twinkly indie pop with a female vocalist. Songs tend to blend together, but are good, nevertheless.<br /><br /><b>Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange</b><br /><br />The cassette EP released last year during the summer reflects the season. Hazy tropicalia pervades this release. The album is weaker than Lotus Plaza's or Atlas Sound's respective releases last year.<br /><br /><b>My Milky Way Arms - Lightsaber Circuit Breaker</b><br /><br />Dense synthpop or indie pop, it's so dense it's hard to really make the distinction. The difference with this release and other "dense" albums last year (see: Deastro) is that My Milky Way Arms is carried by strong melody and great vocal performances on the majority of the tracks. Arguably a contender for top 10 of 2009, but it's obviously too late for that, plus I haven't had too much time with it.<br /><br /><b>YAWN - YAWN</b><br /><br />A great debut EP from these experimental pop newcomers with fantastic vocal harmonies. Puts many full length releases to shame from last year.<br /><br /><b>The Republic of Wolves - His Old Branches</b><br /><br />The band that managed to make a better Brand New album than Brand New. Daisy was my disappointment of the year last year, but this debut EP more than makes up for it. The Republic of Wolves do their best to follow up Brand New's "The Devil and God...", and really manage to pull it off. While "The Devil and God..." is certainly the better of the two albums, His Old Branches is undoubtedly a worthy pseudo-successor.<br /><br /><b>Cloud Nothings - Turning On</b><br /><br />Lo-fi indie rock. I've only listened to it once, but there wasn't anything particularly offensive about the release.<br /><br /><b>Weed Diamond - Sweater Kids</b><br /><br />I didn't even end up listening to this because I never received a digital download. I e-mailed the guys (Mirror Universe Tapes) that put out the tape about it, and they said they'd send me a download, but I never received one after that. I'd just look like a dick if I e-mailed them now, so it's too late. Anyway, I have faith that this was a nice release. One day I will actually listen to the tape, I guess, to verify that.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-60159176423438641352010-02-19T01:27:00.012-05:002010-02-21T05:53:40.749-05:00Year End Best of Music - 2009Who were the two most important artists this year? One's obvious, but the other didn't even release anything this year. Here's a hint: both their names start with "A"...<br /><br />...<br /><br />It's Animal Collective and Ariel Pink! Animal Collective should be obvious, but why Ariel Pink? Because he pretty much single-handedly seems to have influenced all these bedroom pop, lo-fi, and tropical movements that sprouted in the past year. Completely unrelated, but this year seems to have seen a sort of dream pop resurgence, too, with artists like Daniel Land and the Modern Painters, SPC ECO, Horse Shoes, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, The Arctic Flow, etc. I could actually probably do a top 10 or 15 dream pop releases of the year, which is great. (I'm not going to, though.) In addition to this, dubstep's been around for years, but for me, it started to creep into what I've listened to, as well. The wobble-wobble effect of the music is really amazing, and has to be heard to be believed. My crappy headphones really don't do it justice.<br /><br />For a year that started off with its best release, it was bound to be good. It also marked the conclusion of the 00s, which has managed to be seen off in 2009 with a lot of great music.<br /><br />This list isn't meant to be objective in the least. It's purely subjective, just skimming through my favorite releases of the year with a brief description attached. Also, it's probably the only list that doesn't have Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, The xx, or Phoenix on it. Hopefully it'll highlight some albums you may have missed. If there's anything in particular you want, I'll upload it. The list will cover (in this order): EP honorable mentions, top 5 EPs, LP honorable mentions, and top 10 LPs... and maybe a surprise at the end.<br /><br /><b>Note:</b> Artists/albums without Lala players next to the album cover will have a corresponding link that you can access by clicking the artist/album name. It usually directs you to the artist's MySpace page.<br /><br /><b><i>Honorable Mentions (EPs):</i></b><br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/2rmoyvm.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/keepaway"><b>Keepaway - Baby Style</b></a><br /><br />Another up and coming band that's about as shameless as they could possibly be with their Animal Collective influence. The lead vocalist is definitely doing his best to imitate Avey Tare's spastic vocals. Still, this is a great album, without a weak track. Ranging from subdued electronic tracks, loopy tropicalia and sunny surf. This is an artist with a 2009 release I didn't find out about until 2010.<br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/a0cs4m.gif" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/supermultifaros"><b>Multifaros - The Factory</b></a><br /><br />This was a dismal year for chiptunes. Of what I even downloaded, I can't say I'm particularly impressed. Nothing can even begin to compare with last year's "Ecospheric Escape" from Skip or the two EPs L'homme Manete released. The Factory is catchy and jittery, similar to EvilWezil's 2008 s/t release. The problem I have with the album is that some of the tracks are too long and loops parts without progressing for too long as a result.<br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/1235r9i.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=4828140276146505100&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=4828140276146505100&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/4828140276146505100" title="Call & Response EP - Memory Cassette" target="_blank">Call & Response EP - Memory Ca...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Memory Cassette - Call & Response/Rewind While Sleepy</b><br /><br />These are two separate EPs that were released this year, but fuck it, I'm combining them. Memory Cassette is Dayve Hawk of this year's phenomenal Memory Tapes. Memory Cassette is different from his Memory Tapes release this year, as it shares more in common with the lo-fi, loopy synthpop Neon Indian or Toro Y Moi make. I'm guessing that the vocals on here are Dayve, but they're so processed that they sound like a girl singing (which he's been repeatedly mistaken as due to his high vocals). Anyway, most of Memory Cassette's tracks have a much slower tempo than other "chillwave" releases this year. They also aren't anything spectacular compositionally, but they do sound great. I'd pick "Last One Awake" as the best track from Call & Response, which just repeats a simple, dissonant, reverbed synth over a standard beat. Track pick for Rewind While Sleepy goes to "Ghost in the Boombox", which is a surprisingly accurate title. Gloomy, haunting (though jovial) synths, play over a dance beat, reverbed guitar, airy vocals and a distorted flute. Neither of these EPs can even begin to compare to Memory Tapes' - Seek Magic this year, but they're certainly strong and decent releases in their own right.<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/30nk6bo.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=3891391553226106782&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=3891391553226106782&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/3891391553226106782" title="Florine - Julianna Barwick" target="_blank">Florine - Julianna Barwick</a></div><br /><br /><b>Julianna Barwick - Florine</b><br /><br />This is one of the most unique releases I've heard this year, definitely. It's an angelic, enchanting album that was created entirely with layered, choir-like vocals. Julianna Barwick's vocals are haunting and melancholic. Each track drones forward, constantly warping and layering more vocal tracks on top of the others. Tracks morph into divine, droning harmonies that can't be described properly with words. It's not an easy album to listen to, but it's well worth investing some time in it.<br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/65xy7s.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/dinosaurfeathers"><b>Dinosaur Feathers - Early Morning Risers</b></a><br /><br />Considering I haven't written this in order at all (this is actually one of the last releases to be added), I can't imagine just how many times I've described something as tropical influenced or sounding. Well, here's yet another entry into the aforementioned list/description. Dinosaur Feathers is a new group with an album due out this year (2010). They released this EP for free in August of 2009, though I didn't hear it until 2010. Tribal rhythms, filtered vocals, choppy melodies, some electronics, light guitar work, etc. make up the majority of this release.<br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/kdwls4.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/hotjamzofjavelin"><b>Javelin - Javelin</b></a><br /><br />Another 2009 release that I first heard in 2010. This one's more loopy track music with lo-fi/gritty synths, basically the same as the other "chillwave" releases this year. No vocals, but the melodies stand great on their own. It's an upbeat, nice EP that shows potential for the artist in the future. With an LP due out in April or May of this year, Javelin should be worth looking out for.<br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/34e5bfq.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/snowingtheband"><b>Snowing - Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit</b></a><br /><br />A real emo (not screamo, post-hardcore, "modern emo", whatever stuff) release that's really great. Snowing are set to release a full length in 2010, and I couldn't be more excited. Mathy guitar work, strained vocals and garage rock sound quality permeates this EP.<br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/35aobwm.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=720857415879098579&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=720857415879098579&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/720857415879098579" title="Grain of Salt EP - The Morning Benders" target="_blank">Grain of Salt EP - The Morning...</a></div><br /><br /><b>The Morning Benders - Grain of Salt</b><br /><br />This is about as typical indie rock as it gets, but it's enjoyable. You'll immediately associate the first track with "Is This It" era The Strokes, as the hooks and general sound are pretty damn similar. It moves forward after that with softer, more acoustic-driven tracks, then a piano ballad. A quality release, though lacking in some respect.<br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/jb1gu9.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/vegavisions"><b>VEGA - Well Known Pleasures</b></a><br /><br />The man behind Neon Indian (Alan Palomo's) side project is the house/dance inpired VEGA. While Neon Indian seeks to solicit a nostalgic response from its listeners, VEGA is definitely wrapped up in contemporary electronic music. VEGA acts as a nice counterpart to Neon Indian, because it shows that Alan Palomo is capable of crafting great tracks outside of the tiny sphere Neon Indian populates. Palomo also provides vocals for the dance beats of VEGA, but the majority of the album is driven by electronics.<br /><br /><b><i>Top 5 EPs:</i></b><br /><br /><i>#5</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/k2oilg.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=2810527642498152197&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=2810527642498152197&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/2810527642498152197" title="the bell jar ep - broaddaylight" target="_blank">the bell jar ep - broaddayligh...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Broaddaylight - The Bell Jar</b><br /><br />This shimmering 5 track EP comes from the new dream pop group Broaddaylight. Robin Guthrie actually mastered this, and it shows. It carries a similar aura to it that his work in Cocteau Twins and Violet Indiana does. The vocals are so similar to the legendary Cocteau Twins' vocalist Elizabeth Fraser's that it's almost scary. The majority of the tracks are guitar driven, but with lots of electronic backdrops and general ambience. It's pretty dense for dream pop, but it still works (though modern dream pop seems to be going in to more "dense" sonic territory, anyway). The track "Close" is particularly nice, with its distorted piano, snappy drumming and echoed vocals.<br /><br /><i>#4</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/1zfsh8k.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=1657606138303743007&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=1657606138303743007&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/1657606138303743007" title="Higher Than the Stars - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart" target="_blank">Higher Than the Stars - The Pa...</a></div><br /><br /><b>The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Higher Than the Stars</b><br /><br />An absolutely gorgeous EP by one of 2009's darling groups. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart merge indie pop with shoegaze in a truly wonderful manner. Falling somewhere between The Field Mice and Slowdive, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart took those two dynamics and processed it for the modern era. The standout title track swoops with spacey electronics and overlays that with simple drumming and reverbed guitar. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into their full length, but this is a fantastic EP, and a nice consolation.<br /><br /><i>#3</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/35lhoyd.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=2306124486335752288&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=2306124486335752288&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/2306124486335752288" title="Be So True Ep - Millionyoung" target="_blank">Be So True Ep - Millionyoung</a></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/millionyoungmusic"><b>MillionYoung - Sunndreamm</b></a><br /><br />Note: Lala player is playing the album "Be So True", not "Sunndreamm".<br /><br />Loops. Loops everywhere is how I would describe this release. MillionYoung is an upcoming artist by the name of Mike Diaz that bridges dreamy vocals with tons of looped percussion and other electronics. It fits somewhere between the tropical/beach craze and "chillwave". It's an interesting release, and he's certainly an artist that'll be worth watching in 2010.<br /><br /><i>#2</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/o9isfn.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=360569445184702882&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=360569445184702882&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/360569445184702882" title="Fall Be Kind EP - Animal Collective" target="_blank">Fall Be Kind EP - Animal Colle...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind</b><br /><br />Animal Collective opened the year with the incredible Merriweather Post Pavilion, but finished it with a great, but underwhelming EP. Fall Be Kind opens with "Graze" which sounds like some intergalatic trip backed by synths, violin, piano, and who knows what else that could seemingly have you aurally grazing past celestial bodies, but segues into toybox-sounding flutes and light drumming. While it seems to be the fan favorite, "What Would I want? Sky" doesn't really do much of anything for me, but still manages to be a decent track. "What Would I want? Sky"'s directionless opening switches over to the manipulated Grateful Dead sample with Avey Tare singing over it, supported by Panda Bear's backing vocals, claps, and some other assorted chimes and loops. Fall Be Kind's strength lies in its last two tracks, though. Both powerful tracks, with Avey Tare fronting the delirious "On a Highway", a track about touring, and the other being "I Think I Can" which places Panda Bear's heady vocals at the forefront. The EP's entertaining for me, but it certainly hasn't had much lasting value. I've only listened to it a few times since its release.<br /><br /><i>#1</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/oqhovm.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=360569445176464613&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=360569445176464613&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/360569445176464613" title="Small Black EP - Small Black" target="_blank">Small Black EP - Small Black</a></div><br /><br /><b>Small Black - Small Black</b><br /><br />EP of the year, and no doubt going to be one of the best artists of 2010 goes to Small Black. Small Black is a one-man project that has a full backing band when playing live, though I don't know his name. His music is basically lo-fi synth/distorted guitar/drum machine-centric shoegaze. It's really, really, good, though, and doesn't have the heavy/abrasive quality most (garbage) shoegaze tends to. I forget how exactly I found him, but I'm glad that I did. Very, very much so recommended, but I can understand if you don't like the music.<br /><br /><b><i>Honorable Mentions (LPs):</i></b><br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/sl421d.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=360569446043746829&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=360569446043746829&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/360569446043746829" title="Causers Of This - Toro Y Moi" target="_blank">Causers Of This - Toro Y Moi</a></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/toroymoi"><b>Toro Y Moi - My Touch</b></a><br /><br />Note: Lala player is playing the album "Causers of This", not "My Touch".<br /><br />Toro Y Moi is the one man project of Chaz Bundick. While it's not the strongest "chillwave" release of the year, it is certainly another great album. Murky synths, drum machines, dance-pop structure and falsetto vocals, the album feels intentionally discordant and does the effect nicely. An enjoyable release and listen, but the album, to me, goes in and out without really solidfying its stay. Still, we'll be hearing plenty more of this type of sound in the coming year. There's also an amazing, almost dubstep-sounding remix of Beach House's song "Master of None" on the album, so that adds some points. You could probably consider this as one of the "honorable mentions" I enjoyed more than the rest.<br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/m7t2rq.gif" /><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BOJPb3piplg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BOJPb3piplg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><b>Alex Mauer - Vegavox 2</b><br /><br />I'm not entirely sure, but I think Alex Mauer typically tries to create a soundtrack for NES games that don't exist with his releases. It works, but not every track really manages to convey any particular feeling that would usually be associated with NES scores. There's nothing here that's daring, just some nicely composed tracks that at least understand what made NES scores so great, even if it fails to execute upon it. Standout tracks are "Snipes", with its jittery waves and "AEPOZXLU", starting slow, but building to a macabre, dissonant type sound.<br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/20v1csg.jpg" /><br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="100" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=894232490/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><param name="allowNetworking" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><embed src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/album=894232490/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="always" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" height="100" width="400"></embed><noembed>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://iqtu.bandcamp.com/album/rollie-poley-years"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;srs ending by iqtu&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</noembed></object><br /><br /><b>Iqtu - Rollie Poley Years</b><br /><br />Chiptunes/ambient album. Some really great tracks on here, but overall it's lacking. It has a nice, dreamy ambience to it, though, with clear jazz and lounge inspired melodies. The opening track "SRS Ending", is probably the strongest, beginning with a subdued haze and escalating to a surge of noise. The album is fleeting, with most tracks only averaging 1:30 in length. With just 9 tracks, it's easy to blow through and not really absorb what you've just listened to.<br /><br /><img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/1671t29.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaArtistEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="artistName=Japandroids&showAlbumNames=true&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberartist.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaArtistEmbed" name="lalaArtistEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="artistName=Japandroids&showAlbumNames=true&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberartist.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/artist/Japandroids" title="Japandroids" target="_blank">Japandroids</a></div><br /><br /><b>Japandroids - Post-Nothing</b><br /><br />This was one of the releases I avoided for vain reasons. I ended up checking it out once I realized that their first release came out in 2009, despite thinking I had heard them beforehand. To my surprise, it was an enjoyable album. Japandroids are a two piece group -- with just a guitarist and drummer. They manage to convey more than that with their music, though. I, for some reason, feel like they remind me of Taking Back Sunday (circa "Tell All Your Friends"), but I don't think that's particularly accurate. I don't really know, so I'll let you be the judge. Great garage rock/punk, though.<br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/t56amp.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=504684635190084052&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=504684635190084052&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/504684635190084052" title="Manners - Passion Pit" target="_blank">Manners - Passion Pit</a></div><br /><br /><b>Passion Pit - Manners</b><br /><br />Manners is a great electropop album that deserves the recognition it's received. It's not particularly noteworthy for innovation, but it's a fun album that manages to express itself in an endearing manner. I really don't have much else to say considering you've already been introduced to them.<br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/sww9rr.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=1657606139988672604&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=1657606139988672604&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/1657606139988672604" title="Beast Rest Forth Mouth - Bear In Heaven" target="_blank">Beast Rest Forth Mouth - Bear ...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Bear in Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth</b><br /><br />I don't really know what I would consider this. It's progressive, but doesn't really have the assertiveness/guitar wankery most progressive music tends to. It's very synth/drum heavy, and the vocals are near indistinguishable. The songs tend to melt into a heavy, amorphous sound that seems somewhat echoey. It's almost like proggy shoegaze, actually. The major problem with this album is that no songs really strike a chord with me, but they all sound pretty good. It's worth at least checking out (well, I think everything in this list is), but don't be surprised if you're not captivated by it.<br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/16gwsi0.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=720857415391985126&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=720857415391985126&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/720857415391985126" title="Logos - Atlas Sound" target="_blank">Logos - Atlas Sound</a></div><br /><br /><b>Atlas Sound - Logos</b><br /><br />The latest release from Deerhunter's frontman Bradford Cox delivers a haunting psych/pop/shoegaze album similar to Grouper, but with much more variety. The members from Deerhunter seem to release better solo efforts than joint ones, for some reason. Deerhunter is also very good, though. Most of the tracks are acoustic-driven interspersed with shimmering synths. Echo and reverb blurs just about every track on this release, but it still maintains an undeniable consistency between tracks. Panda Bear guests on the sunshine-pop inspired "Walkabout", which is easily the standout track. Highly recommended, and was initially in my top 10 until I made some adjustments after additional listens.<br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/qy762h.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaArtistEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="artistName=Datsik&showAlbumNames=true&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberartist.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaArtistEmbed" name="lalaArtistEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="artistName=Datsik&showAlbumNames=true&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberartist.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/artist/Datsik" title="Datsik" target="_blank">Datsik</a></div><br /><br /><b>Datsik - Various Releases</b><br /><br />This was the year dubstep really seemed to have taken off. I had never seen it mentioned as much previously, nor really knew it existed. I don't like a lot of it, but some of the artists are doing really great stuff. Datsik is one of them, who released somewhere around 12-15 tracks this year. There's a huge range of dubstep styles, but Datsik's is leaning towards the harder end of it, with the distorted/"wobbly" bass sound prominent in all his tracks. There's really not much to be said, but the "wobble" in Datsik's tracks are quite hypnotic. I recommend listening to his track "Gecko" to at least get a feel for the sound.<br /><br /><img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/33csso7.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=1657606137881037074&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=1657606137881037074&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/1657606137881037074" title="Phoenix Asteroid - Ecovillage" target="_blank">Phoenix Asteroid - Ecovillage</a></div><br /><br /><b>Ecovillage - Phoenix Asteroid</b><br /><br />The two man etherealwave group's debut LP. I'd say this is another unique release this year with a sound all to its own, fitting somewhere between etherealwave, dream pop, and new age. It's dense, and can be tough to follow, really. Forget even trying to discern the layered vocals, which are buried under the array of reverbed electronics and who knows what else. It's definitely not a release for everyone, but it has some interesting elements to it. There's some African influence in these tracks, and it can have a new age-type vibe to it. Track pick for me is "Dawn was Brand New", which starts with ambient waves crashing on a beach, then joined by dreamy steelpan and some other ambience. It actually reminds me of one track from the SNES game EarthBound, somewhat. ("The Maze of Dreams", to be precise, and you can probably infer what it might sound like based on the title alone.) The album only falters on the 16 minute track "Phoenix Asteroid". It's a slow, meandering ambient track that never really finds a decent footing.<br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/2rzsaia.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=2306124485460129684&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=2306124485460129684&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/2306124485460129684" title="Spirit Spine - Spirit Spine" target="_blank">Spirit Spine - Spirit Spine</a></div><br /><br /><b>Spirit Spine - Spirit Spine</b><br /><br />Spirit Spine is Joseph Denny, a solo artist making hazy, loopy music. The Animal Collective influence is undeniable, but he manages to create an intriguing record without sounding trite. Most tracks skirt a fine line between sunshine pop, psych pop and synthpop. Deep, echoed vocals act as a background instrument to propel the song, usually letting the array of sounds (mostly synth and who knows what else) to take the forefront. It's an interesting album, but probably not for everyone. It's nowhere near as appealing as some of the other albums this year, but it certainly shows promise and talent. As another note, I didn't find out about this guy until 2010, even though this album has been out since the beginning of 2009.<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/f50niu.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=360569445168255540&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=360569445168255540&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/360569445168255540" title="Vapours - Islands" target="_blank">Vapours - Islands</a></div><br /><br /><b>Islands - Vapours</b><br /><br />Islands' third release manages to be the one to hook me in. I think Vapours is about as generic as you can get when it comes to indie (pop) music. It tries to encompass a variety of styles and doesn't really do much with any of them. It's mostly guitar and electronic driven, with lots of bloopy-bleepy, wishy-washy type sounds. It is pop, though, and there are some great, catchy tracks on here. "No You Don't", in particular, has an aquatic-type sound to it that's ostensibly about a girl unaware of the dangers associated with doing drugs. "On Foreigner" is a beautifully arranged song with dreamy, shimmering synths, deep bass and vocal harmonies. In a way, this album's more of a let down for me than anything else. The great tracks on here are great, but the mediocre to decent ones are just that. When I first heard the album, I thought it would be in my top 10 easily, but I quickly realized I wasn't that into it.<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/11jqm4n.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=2306124486335663676&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=2306124486335663676&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/2306124486335663676" title="Columbus'd The Whim - Holiday Shores" target="_blank">Columbus'd The Whim - Holiday ...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Holiday Shores - Columbus'd the Whim</b><br /><br />More tropicalia and obvious sunshine-pop influenced music. Holiday Shores are (to my knowledge) a new band that have only one release to their name. Most of the tracks seem to be heavily layered with various melodious, jangling guitars. It sounds great, but you can get lost in the haze fairly easily. Throw in droning organs and it certainly fits the beach/tropical sound well, if a little dense. Columbus'd the Whim isn't a perfect release, but it shows huge promise and still stands above many of the other bands sprouting up these days trying to tackle modern beach music. There's definitely a lot to be enjoyed in this album. Another release that was initially in my top 10, but later removed.<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/29kxob8.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/deastro"><b>Deastro - Moondagger</b></a><br /><br />Deastro is the synthpop/progressive cornucopia project led by Randolph Chabot. Yes, it's weird and filled with sweeping moments. The production on this album is absolutely jaw-dropping. It has a huge sound to it that really should be listened to to fully grasp. The majority of the songs follow synth/electro leads with a full backing band following, along with aggressive male vocals. The album suffers from the same problem that Bear in Heaven's "Beast Rest Forth Mouth" did, though. While all tracks are nice to listen to, not a single one stands out as impressive, and thus really doesn't have much lasting value to me as an album. The reason for this is that both albums are so heavily processed and produced with a huge range of sounds assaulting you at once. Dense music can be great, but it needs to be put on a very tidy trajectory to be successful. I'm pretty sure part of the lead vocal melodies were ripped from other songs, too. "Daniel Johnston was Stabbed in the..."'s bridge sounds like it was influenced heavily by Panda Bear's track "Bros", and "Day of Wonder"'s chorus also sounds very familiar, but of course I can't figure out where it's from now. Deastro's first release, "Keepers" is a considerably stronger and more focused effort.<br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/2q24s20.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/flukerlove"><b>Fluker Love - Fluker Love</b></a><br /><br />Fluker Love is a one man electro project headed by Andrew Goldspink and based in London. His MySpace page's quote is "Like if Loveless was made for £1.50", which seems highly appropriate. This is an electro-shoegaze album that merges distorted electronic washes with even more distorted vocals. It's echoey and repetitious, but it has the same feel as the legendary Loveless does in that regard. The closest comparison I'd say to this record is Small Black's s/t EP this year, which has the same kind of distorted synths and drum machine kicks, but sans the guitars. Even if this guy doesn't release another album, I'd still be satisfied with just this, because it's a pretty unique and great album as it is. Side note: another artist/album I didn't find out about until 2010.<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/2am7hl.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=937030197945311600&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=937030197945311600&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/937030197945311600" title="Mountain Debris - A Grave With No Name" target="_blank">Mountain Debris - A Grave With...</a></div><br /><br /><b>A Grave With No Name - Mountain Debris</b><br /><br />Here's another 2009 release I didn't listen to until post-2009. This one falls probably closest to shitgaze, which is basically just slurry garage rock with shoegaze overtones. I don't think it's particularly the best of the genre, but it's one of the few I actually like, so it's noteworthy for that. I don't really have much to say about them, so it'd probably be better just to listen yourself.<br /><br /><img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/21azfy0.jpg" /><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YsoR4NUqYII&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YsoR4NUqYII&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><b>jj - no 2</b><br /><br />Here's one of the only albums with a female vocalist that's going to be making this list. What/who is jj? A Swedish male and female duo that emerged in 2009 making electro, dreamy tropicalia with indie pop sensibility. It's weird, but it works. The music has a seemingly organic quality to it that, despite (assumedly) being nearly entirely driven by electronics, is rather unique. They also sampled Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" on "Ecstacy" which is, IMO, the weakest track.<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/2rdc0hy.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/thearcticflow"><b>The Arctic Flow - All the Way Until December</b></a><br /><br />A very late 2009 release by one of the best new dream pop artists of the year. The Arctic Flow is Brian Hancheck, a one man artist based out of Myrtle Beach, SC. He had four free releases this year. Two EPs and an LP on Holiday Records and an EP on Reverbnation -- all available for free. His music can best be described as a mix between indie pop and dream pop, with ethereal, melodic guitar over what sounds like drum machines, all guided by light vocals. Until December isn't a particularly notable release for innovation or anything, but it's a nice album that shows undeniable promise.<br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/34f1s1z.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=1657606138189464383&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=1657606138189464383&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/1657606138189464383" title="Rifts - Oneohtrix Point Never" target="_blank">Rifts - Oneohtrix Point Never</a></div><br /><br /><b>Oneohtrix Point Never - Russian Mind</b><br /><br />Note: The Lala player is playing the 2010 released compilation album that does feature Russian Mind. Russian Mind starts at the song "Months" and ends at "Immanence".<br /><br />Here's the ambient drone album of the year. Oneohtrix Point Never is a one man artist that released two full lengths this year on two different labels. The first one, Zones Without People, is good, but doesn't stand up to the latter release, Russian Mind. Russian Mind has a spacey vibe to it, similar to old Steve Roach releases. It's an engrossing album, but it's not something you'd really listen to to be entertained by. The sounds are supposed to wash over you in their hazy bliss. Worth at least checking out once, but not something I'd go out of my way to listen to if I wasn't a fan of it. Track pick goes to "Russian Mind" with its layered, hypnotic synths. Side note: another album I didn't listen to until 2010. I actually wasn't aware he released another album this year until I heard about this on Pitchfork.<br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/2h4ds8g.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/horseshoesmusic"><b>Horse Shoes - The Imperial School</b></a><br /><br />More glittery, uptempo dream pop, and another free release by the excellent Holiday Records. Horse Shoes is a two piece group based out of Brooklyn. The vocals are standard male indie pop fare (high pitched, mellow and monotone). Most tracks are carried by various subdued electronics, guitar and light drumming. It's a very mellow album and they have a lackadaisical quality to their music. Not a bad album, but somewhat plain.<br /><br /><img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/vrq5na.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=1657606137930468725&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=1657606137930468725&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/1657606137930468725" title="What Happened - Emeralds" target="_blank">What Happened - Emeralds</a></div><br /><br /><b>Emeralds - What Happened</b><br /><br />This is a tough album to really pin down. It's something like psychadelic drone post-rock. I don't really get the description either, but those are the three genres I'd really attribute Emeralds to. Most of their music is slow, droning affairs that hover around or over 10 minutes per track. The album's short, at only 5 tracks, but there's a good 50 minutes of music on here. The tracks all start slow, with minimal guitar and some random ambient electronics, but build into pulsing surges of noise.<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/w8xjdj.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=720857415391985096&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=720857415391985096&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/720857415391985096" title="Marlone - To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie" target="_blank">Marlone - To Kill a Petty Bour...</a></div><br /><br /><b>To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie - Marlone</b><br /><br />To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie's second album, and much less noisier than their first. To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie is a male-female duo that make drone music coupled with haunting vocals. Their music is extremely captivating at times, but at other times can just sound completely dull. This album seems to be more about creating pretty drone atmospheres over the abrasive, swirling whirlwinds of drone tracks on their first album. I'd say I prefer The Patron (their first album) more, but this one has its merits, too. Anyway, this is also another album I knew about in 2009, but didn't listen to until 2010.<br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/mkiumr.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=5620773809945240494&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=5620773809945240494&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/5620773809945240494" title="GET COLOR - Health" target="_blank">GET COLOR - Health</a></div><br /><br /><b>Health - Get Color</b><br /><br />Health's second album is a significant improvement over their first, which I wasn't a fan of. Health are part of the LA noise rock scene, but are easily the best of the groups to emerge from it. Their music can be described as dense noise rock with dreamy vocals, emphasizing crunchy synths, deep drums and melodic guitar work over just being abrasive. Health is probably the only noise rock I can really tolerate. Their music just has a really nice quality to it that you can't find in the other groups that are just chugging with scratchy guitars and spam hitting cymbals. The only real problem I have with this album is that part of it feels directionless, but it really grew on me from the first time I had listened to it.<br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/se0x91.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=504684633539445854&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=504684633539445854&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/504684633539445854" title="No more stories Are told today I'm sorry They washed away No more stories The world is grey I'm tired Let's wash away - Mew" target="_blank">No more stories Are told today...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Mew - No More Stories...</b><br /><br />Mew's first release in four years. Following up the tremendous And the Glass Handed Kites would be no easy task, and while No More Stories is a great album in its own right, it can't compare to their previous work. Mew fit under a range of genres, including progressive rock, indie rock, art rock, shoegaze, etc., but No More Stories... is definitely the most progressive of their releases. Gone are the light, melodic guitar tracks that were common on And the Glass Handed Kites and Frengers. While it shares a fair bit with And the Glass Handed Kites, the songs aren't as structured and fluid as And the Glass Handed Kites was. Still, I feel like I'm comparing this too much to albums I don't think you've ever heard before. No More Stories... is very much a progressive album with a rock opera type feel, opening with what sounds like a song playing in reverse, then segueing into a choppy, dissonant guitar-driven track with piano. "Beach" is the track pick for me, which is a gorgeous, shimmering song led by reverbed guitars and synth. For being four years in the making, I can't help but view it as a disappointment, but it has its moments.<br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/2s9ewyw.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/invernessbrasil"><b>Inverness - Forest Fortress</b></a><br /><br />I had already mentioned this group to you before and I know you didn't like it, so I'm only briefly going to go over it. Inverness' washed out tropical tracks are among some of the nicest sounding this year. The problem with this release is that nothing is truly notable off of it.<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/29pp2rk.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=4900197869729096240&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=4900197869729096240&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/4900197869729096240" title="Real Estate - Real Estate" target="_blank">Real Estate - Real Estate</a></div><br /><br /><b>Real Estate - Real Estate</b><br /><br />While this was given the full Pitchfork hype treatment, I still don't think it's that remarkable of an album. There are some nice tracks on here, but the overall feel of it just seems as if it's missing something. Real Estate are a group from NJ that play even more tropical/beach-themed hazy tracks. There is no real gimmick here, plucky, reverbed guitars and light drumming propel every song here with relaxed vocals. Worth listening to, and I'm not disappointed when I decide to randomly put it on, but it's not as impressive as what some of Real Estate's other contemporaries are doing.<br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/1zh1pjc.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://chromaticflights.bandcamp.com/album/sunset-bell"><b>Chromatic Flights - Sunset Bell</b></a><br /><br />I actually had this downloaded (and I believe listened to) earlier in 2009, but this is a post-2009 release I didn't <i>really</i> listen to until 2010. Chromatic Flights is the solo project of Kyle Wyss from Blind Man's Colour. Blind Man's Colour's release this year is entertaining, but simple laziness has prevented me from adding it to this list. So, check that out while you're at it. Chromatic Flights' music consists mainly of blurry electronics and filtered vocals. Most tracks are slow and droning, but they have techno/dance/house/hip-hop sensibility, so it's not a bother to listen to. The aural textures on here aren't anything to write home about, but each track is interesting. Track pick goes to the languid "Home is More", which features echoed vocals, dissonant percussion, and some reverbed guitar. Sunset Bell is a free release available on Chromatic Flights' Band Camp page.<br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/fnzbea.jpg" /><br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yQC-AErsifs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yQC-AErsifs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="560"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fl7iaIoqnmg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fl7iaIoqnmg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="560"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VVy9wQYV5-8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VVy9wQYV5-8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="560"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HOImRaoppdY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HOImRaoppdY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="560"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nV4HYLEbcLs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nV4HYLEbcLs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="25" width="560"></embed></object><br /><br /><a class="linkification-ext" href="http://vndb.org/v24" title="Linkification: http://vndb.org/v24">http://vndb.org/v24</a><br /><br /><a href="http://vndb.org/v24"><b>Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru - Episode 5 - End of the Golden Witch (When the Seagulls Cry)</b></a><br /><br />The only visual novel release from this year that managed to have an English translation. Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Chiru (episode 5) is the first of what will tentatively be the four part conclusion to the Umineko no Naku Koro ni visual novel. Umineko no Naku Koro ni had four parts/chapters/episodes (they're officially referred to as episodes) prior to Chiru's release with English translations. Each episode takes about 8 to 12 hours to read through, so there's a lot of music to be heard/used.<br /><br />Umineko no Naku Koro ni has -- without a doubt -- one of the strongest scores I've ever heard from a video game/anime/visual novel. Umineko no Naku Koro ni has (I believe) 15 or 16 very talented Japanese indie game/visual novel composers working on it, with "dai" and "zts" being the two major contributors. This would be #1 for the year if it included the entirety of the visual novel's tracks (with over 130 across the 5 episodes -- episode 5 having around 25 of those). It manages to evoke a range of moods that is near unrivaled.<br /><br />While the entirety of Umineko's score covers a broad range of sounds from violin concertos, general ambience, discordant dance, trance epics (which the aforementioned "zts" is mostly responsible for), piano tracks, sweeping orchestral tracks, ambient, drum and bass, jazz, etc., Chiru is more limited. It's customary for every episode to have at least one new trance epic, but Chiru ditches the cryptic/spooky tracks that Umineko had in its first four chapters. The reason for this is because Umineko is a murder mystery visual novel, and the first four episodes of it were dedicated to the murder mystery aspect of the novel. Chiru, though, is the answer portion of the novel, which solves, or at least gives hints as to how to solve the many mysteries in it. Chiru's tracks have a different quality to them than the previous four episodes. Many of Chiru's tracks feel urgent and have a pulse-like aspect to them. Chiru's sound is more polarizing than the rest of the score. Some tracks sound as if you've been completely defeated, while others sound gloriously uplifting. It's tough to describe it, really, but it fits within the context of the songs and the novel. Many of the tracks also use a fair bit of organ, which wasn't nearly as present in the previous four episodes. You can probably consider this as the illegitimate #3 or #4 on my top 10 list.<br /><br />If you have any interest at all in hearing (or playing) this, let me know, because I really think it's worth it. I've included some samples from Chiru for you, though, and a link that gives a brief description of the novel. I'd suggest checking out all the YouTube samples, as they cover a range of different styles. While the characters look like what you'd typically find in anime, the novel itself is nothing of the sort. It's a novel first and foremost with the mystery being the main focus/draw. The character designs can be unappealing, given they look like they were done in MS Paint, but they're very expressive and quite endearing. You can probably tell that I'm pretty obsessive about this, but I'd really like it if you gave it a shot, as I don't think you would be disappointed if you like the mystery genre (the novel even has Mac support!).<br /><br /><a class="linkification-ext" href="http://vndb.org/v24" title="Linkification: http://vndb.org/v24">http://vndb.org/v24</a><br /><br /><b><i>Top 10 LPs:</i></b><br /><br /><i>#10</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/15pil94.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=2306124485460164063&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=2306124485460164063&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/2306124485460164063" title="Myam James 2 - Kettel" target="_blank">Myam James 2 - Kettel</a></div><br /><br /><b>Kettel - Myam James Part 2</b><br /><br />The IDM genius Reimer Eising released his follow up to 2008's Myam James Part 1 and delivers in spades. This is, for me, his best and most refined release. Kettel's songs all share similar attributes, and make them easily recognizable. It's also one of the reasons why it's difficult for me to get into other IDM artists, because none of them really can top him when it comes to composition, variety and style. The 18 track epic ranges from jittery dance, piano ballads with ambient noise, slippery jazz, echoey ambience, delicate percussion, etc. Overall, though, the album has a gentle quality to it that will either bore or captivate you. These tracks might not be immediately accessible (they weren't for me), but if they dig in, you'll be surprised just how enchanting it can be.<br /><br /><i>#9</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/bip647.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=720857415403974414&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=720857415403974414&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/720857415403974414" title="New Universe - Desolation Wilderness" target="_blank">New Universe - Desolation Wild...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Desolation Wilderness - New Universe</b><br /><br />60s pop with a dream pop coating. It sounds as good as that description makes it. Desolation Wilderness started off as a one-man project that was electro-based. The guy made something akin to glitchy ambient that I think was rather unique. Desolation Wilderness now is a full band, though, that have transformed into a hazy, sunshine-pop infused beast -- ditching the electronics/synths/whatever entirely. They stand above the rest when it comes to this sound, with great melodies and wispy vocals. Very much recommended, and the fact that they've been damn near ignored since they/he started is a shame.<br /><br /><i>#8</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/aad2yv.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=720857415391985036&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=720857415391985036&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/720857415391985036" title="The Floodlight Collective - Lotus Plaza" target="_blank">The Floodlight Collective - Lo...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective</b><br /><br />Here's the second (and better) solo project by one of the members of Deerhunter. Lotus Plaza is Lockett Pundt, who plays guitar in Deerhunter. It's no surprise that this is stylistically similar to Atlas Sound. Lotus Plaza is mainly sunny dream pop with some electronics interspersed in the tracks. The instantly familiar 60 sunshine pop sound makes itself quite evident (especially the simple, washed out drumming and reverbed guitar). Each track sounds like a sunshine pop song glazed over with gobs of echo and light vocals. It has an intangible form to it, but you can hear the pop hooks with ease under the coated mess of songs. Very recommended.<br /><br /><i>#7</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/vxyixw.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=1657606138225502570&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=1657606138225502570&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/1657606138225502570" title="Carousel - Robin Guthrie" target="_blank">Carousel - Robin Guthrie</a></div><br /><br /><b>Robin Guthrie - Carousel</b><br /><br />Arguably the father of dream pop releases his first real solo album in three years. Guthrie still plays extremely beautiful, melodic dream pop, and his guitar still has the same trademark pitch any Cocteau Twins fan will instantly recognize. However, his music now is more dipped in atmosphere and general ambience. Most songs are extremely layered with around half a dozen or more different guitars going simultaneously. These tracks can be noisy at points, and almost have post-rock type compositional qualities to them. It's probably the most pleasant, ethereal album I've heard this year, but it can be boring to listen to if you're not looking for this type of sound. Still, given he's one of my favorite guitarists, I think there is some awesome work to be heard in this release.<br /><br /><i>#6</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/21kii69.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=1657606138115936768&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=1657606138115936768&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/1657606138115936768" title="Tarot Sport - Fuck Buttons" target="_blank">Tarot Sport - Fuck Buttons</a></div><br /><br /><b>Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport</b><br /><br />Fuck Buttons' follow-up to 2008's phenomenal Street Horrrsing shows them exploring similar teritory, but with an obviously more upbeat tempo. Drones and plenty of random white noise still litters the album, but it's clear they wanted to stray away from Street Horrrsing. Crafting some strange mix of dance, drone, ambient and noise, Tarot Sport is a sonic feast to listen to. There is literally no downtime during this album, and not a single track falters in comparison to the rest. It's an experience to listen to the entire album, and will require a number of listens to fully digest the sheer scope of Tarot Sport. The only thing I would say about this is that I don't like it nearly as much as Street Horrrsing. It's an improvement in some areas, but a step back in others. The removal of the distorted, carnal screams that were featured on parts of Street Horrrsing causes for Tarot Sport to sound less aggressive. However, Street Horrrsing went overboard with splotches of ambient noise on some tracks, which isn't present on Tarot Sport. Tarot Sport is longer than Street Horrrsing, but it feels more concise and polished. Overall, Tarot Sport's evolution from Street Horrrsing is welcomed, and what Fuck Buttons intend to do after this will no doubt also be enjoyable.<br /><br /><i>#5</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/301fuj9.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/formerghostssleep"><b>Former Ghosts - Fleurs</b></a><br /><br />Former Ghosts is Xiu Xiu's lead guy Jamie Stewart, the chick from Zola Jesus (Nika Roza), and This Song is a Mess but So Am I's Freddy Ruppert. Ruppert fronts the group, and I believe writes the lyrics, too. Former Ghosts play very fuzzy, morose synth-pop/post-punk. The moody tracks fit perfectly with the intensely personal lyrics and impassioned vocals. The track "Mother", for instance, is about the passing of Ruppert's mother five years ago, and details what has changed since she's been gone. "And really, mom, I'm doing just fine. I've put a lot of those old demons behind me. And I've got something in my heart called hope, yet nowhere feels like home." It's a very solid release, that covers a range of styles ("Dreams" is a glitchy, IDM-esque track, while "Choices" has a wonderful etherealwave quality to it) but can be draining to listen to, despite being synthpop at its core.<br /><br /><i>#4</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/dg2fz6.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=937030197945311405&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=937030197945311405&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/937030197945311405" title="Psychic Chasms - Neon Indian" target="_blank">Psychic Chasms - Neon Indian</a></div><br /><br /><b>Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms</b><br /><br />Psychic Chasms opens with a 25 second lo-fi ambient track with looped voice samples and retro game sound effects. It sets the stage for what to expect on the rest of the album. Neon Indian is Alan Palomo, a one man act that uses old synths, drum machines, tape loops, and other oddities to create mellow, misty, lo-fi synthpop. The filtered vocals float in over the wash of electronics, and almost sound like another instrument. Psychic Chasms is a homage to weird 80s music, and it certainly sounds like a product of the era, though in a different light. The silly synths and effects are used convincingly to create something that doesn't sound past its prime. It's a short album, but every track sounds right. This is one of the strongest releases of 2009, I feel, and it didn't catch on right away with me. There's something in Neon Indian's music that you can't find in the other "chillwave" releases this year.<br /><br /><i>#3</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/25iloxk.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=360569445335695596&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=360569445335695596&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/360569445335695596" title="Mantis Preying - Alvin Band" target="_blank">Mantis Preying - Alvin Band</a></div><br /><br /><b>Alvin Band - Mantis Preying</b><br /><br />One of the more out-of-left-field releases that really captured me this year. It's a whimsical pop album that was created entirely by one guy (Miniature Tigers' Rick Alvin Schaier) and his mouth/body slaps. Everything is either digitally manipulated noises he's made with his mouth, layered vocals, and/or a cappella. The range of sounds on this album is simply astounding given how little he worked with. A real achievement, in my opinion, and easily one of the best albums of the year. It's comparable to Bjork's "Medulla", but it has nowhere near the same amount of catchy vocal melodies that Mantis Preying does. I'd say it's closest to probably early/mid-Beach Boys works, such as "Pet Sounds" and "Today!". The lyrics, or what I can at least catch of them, are fairly nonsensical, but it adds to the capricious nature of the album. "Siamese cat clone, living peacefully alone in his summer town home." "Alpha and Omega only out on Sega." I do think the lyrics carry some darker, more abstract elements to them at points, though. Lines like "Wishing you could somehow be here again. Past the point of no return -- for either way you choose you can not win. So, do you end your days with me or send him to his grave?" "Life's so dark and gloomy, I haven't left my room. Heaven's just a palm tree away." Highly recommended, and really deserving of more recognition than it's received. Seriously, he has 650 listeners on Last.fm. Like, what the fuck, this is great music. The more I listen to this, the more impressed I am with each listen.<br /><br /><i>#2</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/2qrzms8.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=2306124486335685778&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=2306124486335685778&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/2306124486335685778" title="Seek Magic - Memory Tapes" target="_blank">Seek Magic - Memory Tapes</a></div><br /><br /><b>Memory Tapes - Seek Magic</b><br /><br />When I said at the beginning of 2009 that nothing would top Merriweather Post Pavilion, I was pretty sure about that. Then, Seek Magic came along. This is one of the absolute best albums I've ever heard. It's a stunning combination of dream/dance pop, and does it so effortlessly, it makes me wonder why no one has explored the sound before. The power exhibited on some of the tracks is startling, and really sets a stark and dynamic contrast between the exuberance of dance music and dream pop's drowsiness-enducing haze. It'll lull you into complacency, then hit with a cascade of drums and other electronics at its climax. Memory Tapes is actually local, just a one man bedroom act by a guy named Dayve Hawk in south Jersey. He's been around before in another band called Hail Social, which saw moderate success, and releasing stuff under his other solo monikers "Weird Tapes" and "Memory Cassette". Memory Tapes is a combination of the two sounds, with Memory Cassette leaning towards the recent "chillwave" sound, and Weird Tapes being just straight up dance. Hail Social's "Modern Love & Death" almost sounds like a blueprint for Seek Magic, but it's nowhere near as polished (Dayve Hawk acting as the lead singer for the group). The sad thing is, I have a feeling that Seek Magic will be a one-off release with this type of sound. Similar to Love Spirals Downwards' dream pop/atmospheric drum and bass release "Flux" and Slowdive's "Pygmalion", which I'd consider as probably the only post-shoegaze album. Very, very much so recommended, and it's perfect at only 8 tracks, around 40-45 minutes in length. Any longer and it might've been marred down by some less-than-stellar tracks (the last track is actually probably the worst). It peaks at the song "Graphics", which is carried by an incredibly distorted guitar, assorted synths, drums, claps, shakers, and other things I can't recognize in the mass of sounds. At the very least, give this album a try.<br /><br /><i>#1</i><br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/2mqrrd1.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=360569445184702612&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=360569445184702612&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/360569445184702612" title="Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective" target="_blank">Merriweather Post Pavilion - A...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion</b><br /><br />Does anything honestly even need to be said? This album will be considered one of the (if not the absolute) most pivotal releases of the 00s in coming years.<br /><br /><b>BONUS: 2010 Preview</b><br /><br /><b><i>Notable EPs Released Thus Far:</i></b><br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/2ujmexc.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=2306124486335752288&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=2306124486335752288&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/2306124486335752288" title="Be So True Ep - Millionyoung" target="_blank">Be So True Ep - Millionyoung</a></div><br /><br /><b>MillionYoung - Be So True</b><br /><br />This guy is an absolute beast. He's put out two EPs worth of consistently great, catchy tracks. I wish he would release a full length soon, because the promise he's displayed thus far is undeniable. Same deal as his other EP, though a bit less organic. Lots of loopy music again with muffled vocals. The songs on this EP are more dance/IDM-inspired than the ones on Sunndreamm. I can hear bits of Memory Tapes in it, to be honest (though nowhere near as developed as his tracks).<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/rlf3hs.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/supermultifaros"><b>Multifaros - Dreams</b></a><br /><br />Multifaros returns with his follow-up to The Factory. Completely eschewing the chiptunes sound, instead going for mostly tacky synthpop with some guitar and vocals. It's a fun, upbeat release with a few very great tracks and a few decent ones. Track pick goes to the languid "My Pillow", which is a fantastic, slow track with light rhythm, one synth lead, and buzzy bass.<br /><br /><img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/16h3xqb.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=2666412454729616524&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=2666412454729616524&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/2666412454729616524" title="Roy Montgomery / Grouper Split - Various Artists" target="_blank">Roy Montgomery / Grouper Split...</a></div><br /><br /><b>Grouper/Roy Montgomery - Split</b><br /><br />Consider this as only Grouper, because I haven't even listened to Roy Montgomery's 18 minute track yet, heh. Grouper returns with a very short addition to her haunting, acoustic-gaze (or whatever you want to call it) catalogue. The album opens with a good two minutes of white noise before Liz Harris' delicate vocals float to the surface of the track, eventually to drown out the prior noise. The tracks following this use a single, distorted/echoed keyboard with some minimal vocal work by Liz Harris. This is a great release, and hopefully reflective of what sound she's pursuing for her next full length.<br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/fvuv6c.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/wearememoryhouse"><b>Memoryhouse - The Years EP</b></a><br /><br />Another new dream pop group to sprout up this year. They released The Years EP for free and are slated to release a full length this year. The album's incredibly short, clocking in at just over 10 minutes and four tracks. Every song on here is great, though. This is typical dream pop -- droning guitars, female vocals (but very clear and distinguishable), some random ambient blips and drum machines. Track pick goes to the hypnotic "The Waves", which sounds not far off from Memory Tapes. I'm very eager to hear what they put out on their full length.<br /><br /><b><i>Notable LPs Released Thus Far:</i></b><br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/11trls6.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=1225260573704025302&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=1225260573704025302&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/1225260573704025302" title="Black Noise - Pantha Du Prince" target="_blank">Black Noise - Pantha Du Prince</a></div><br /><br /><b>Pantha du Prince - Black Noise</b><br /><br />I can't really get into the majority of dance music because most of it is just so long with no real payoff. I'd imagine it'd be fine to listen to within its context (UK clubs), but bedroom listening just doesn't do it for me. Pantha du Prince comes from one of the most unlikely areas of dance music and really manages to captivate me, though. Minimal techno is not an easy field to get into, but Pantha du Prince's twinkling synths, hypnotic IDM-esque beats, and slow build ups are done with such finese, I really can't help but be impressed. Black Noise is a considerable improvement from his first album, This Bliss. Panda Bear guests on the fantastic track "Stick to My Side", which is the only track off the album to feature vocals.<br /><br /><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/wje5w5.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=360569445171207666&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=360569445171207666&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/360569445171207666" title="Sea Lion - The Ruby Suns" target="_blank">Sea Lion - The Ruby Suns</a></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/therubysuns"><b>The Ruby Suns - Fight Softly</b></a><br /><br />Note: Lala player is playing the album "Sea Lion", not "Fight Softly".<br /><br />Probably the most cohesive post-MPP imitation release thus far. This is the Ruby suns' follow-up to their 2008 release Sea Lion. Sea Lion had a very tropical-inspired vibe to it, but Fight Softly is mostly cut up, droning or choppy samples, filtered vocals and lots of interesting percussion usage. It's a nice release, but the MPP influence is quite evident. It's also dense, and has trouble really finding proper footing in the haze of electronics, vocals and percussion. I'm not really sure where this'll end up (if at all) on my 2010 list, because it's going to take a while to properly digest. It also doesn't help that it has nowhere near the immediate appeal that Merriweather Post Pavilion did.<br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/33xh8xi.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=1225260573703499863&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=1225260573703499863&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/1225260573703499863" title="Contra - Vampire Weekend" target="_blank">Contra - Vampire Weekend</a></div><br /><br /><b>Vampire Weekend - Contra</b><br /><br />I never expected myself to like Vampire Weekend, given their s/t was mostly trash save a few tracks. They've definitely matured, though, while retaining the general qualities that were found on their s/t. Take the delightful opener "Horchata", which is pushed along by mostly tribal-ish rhythm (marimba) and soft bass. It's unlike anything on their debut, but it certainly is Vampire Weekend. The afrobeat sound is still exceedingly present here, but it's not exclusively used for fancy guitar-work. There are plenty of electronics on this release, and you'll likely be making obvious comparisons to Paul Simon on nearly every track. Still, this isn't a flawless release. While just about every track is enjoyable, there's plenty that fall in the "well, this is okay, but not something I'm huge on" range. There's a positive to that, though, as most of the songs clock in around 3 minutes or less, so you're not stuck trudging through the weaker tracks for too long. Definitely recommended, but not something I'm expecting to see in my year end list for 2010.<br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/6zbnle.jpg" /><br /><br /><b>jj - jj no 3</b><br /><br />Note: I couldn't find anywhere that would let me stream any songs off this. They also don't have a MySpace page, to my knowledge.<br /><br />Not even half a year later and jj have already released a follow up to their debut. No 3 has a somnolent atmosphere to it that isn't really found on no 2. It opens with a melancholic piano ballad, but quickly segues into the familiar tropical soundscapes they're known for crafting. I'd say "Let Go" is the strongest track, which has some weird new age/dream pop thing going on. This is a very pretty album, and superior to no 2, IMO.<br /><br /><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/29dhag9.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/ghostsocietyofficialsite"><b>Ghost Society - The Back of His Hands, Then the Palms</b></a><br /><br />Out of nowhere comes yet another dream pop act with their first release. Ghost Society is a (I think) three piece with dual male and female vocalists. They formed in late 2008, and this album was originally slated for a 2009 release but was delayed. This is pretty music, somewhat similar to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (more noisy, less ethereal). Not really comparable to Beach House's "Teen Dream", but it's a nice album.<br /><br /><img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/15e8fhs.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=360569446043746829&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=360569446043746829&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/360569446043746829" title="Causers Of This - Toro Y Moi" target="_blank">Causers Of This - Toro Y Moi</a></div><br /><br /><b>Toro Y Moi - Causers of This</b><br /><br />While "My Touch" wasn't really an LP, I still consider it one. This is Toro Y Moi's "real" debut, but it's not as good as My Touch. The problem with Causers of This is that it lost the dance sensibility that My Touch had, while just trying to construct general ambient bliss with some lounge/dance/funk/hip-hop bits. This is also much heavier sounding than My Touch, with what I can't even imagine how many layers of electronics are buried under the noise. It still manages to sound crisp, though, and it's likely thanks to Chaz Bundick's calm, lucid vocals. There's some cool work to be heard here, but it's not as pop conscious as My Touch was.<br /><br /><img src="http://i50.tinypic.com/idztc9.jpg" /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" id="lalaAlbumEmbed" height="254" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="albumId=360569445171208456&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103"><embed id="lalaAlbumEmbed" name="lalaAlbumEmbed" src="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/PlaylistWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="albumId=360569445171208456&host=www.lala.com&partnerId=memberalbum.57147%4091103" height="254" width="300"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 9px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.lala.com/album/360569445171208456" title="Teen Dream - Beach House" target="_blank">Teen Dream - Beach House</a></div><br /><br /><b>Beach House - Teen Dream</b><br /><br />This leaked very, very early -- sometime around November. When I first listened to it, I wasn't sure what to think. It's definitely Beach House, but they've moved away slightly from the unique dream pop they were initially producing. Teen Dream almost sounds like a re-worked Devotion, with less emphasis on atmosphere. It's undoubtedly a superior album to Devotion, though, but it still doesn't hold a candle to their original s/t. Of course, Teen Dream sounds like a full band had worked on it, whereas their s/t was basically just guitar, organ and a drum machine. I had a feeling that they had wanted to move away from their original sound, and in an interview with Pitchfork recently, Beach House had said they were tired of always being viewed in a certain manner. Regardless, Teen Dream is the first really great release of the year, and likely to be in my top 10 of 2010. Very highly recommended, as I know you weren't a fan of them originally.<br /><br /><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/2qx6teb.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/dinosaurfeathers"><b>Dinosaur Feathers - Fantasy Memorial</b></a><br /><br />Here it is, the second great release of the year. This is being added extremely late to the list (at the time of writing, this is the last addition of the 50ish albums already on here, plus all the cover art html stuff has already been completed). I've only listened to this once so far, but everything about it has already impressed me, so I'd imagine it's going to have some staying power. The most immediate thing that captured me was the vocal harmonies on here. The vocals really drive this release. Looking at Dinosaur Feathers' Last.fm page reveals that the two vocalists (that go by "Greg" and "Derek") sang a capella together in college, which explains the great, dynamic vocals. This has very obvious African influence, and definitely sounds a fair bit like Animal Collective's "Sung Tongs". Very recommended.<br /><br /><b>BONUS: Notable Upcoming 2010 Releases</b><br /><br />The year's just started, but still, I wouldn't say there's anything immediately great out there besides Beach House's "Teen Dream" and Dinosaur Feathers' "Fantasy Memorial". Just like last year, I expect there to be a number of unexpectedly great releases this year. Plenty of releases from great artists have already been announced, though, so I'll highlight some of the ones I'm most interested in in roughly chronological order.<br /><br /><i>April 13th</i> - MGMT "Congratulations"<br /><i>May</i> - Wild Nothing "Gemini"<br /><i>Early 2010</i> - Viernes "Debut LP"<br /><i>Early 2010</i> - Beach Fossils "Debut LP"<br /><i>Early 2010</i> - Memoryhouse "Looms of Youth"<br /><i>September</i> - Panda Bear "Tomboy"<br /><i>2010</i> - Ghastly City Sleep "Moondrifts"<br /><i>2010</i> - Of Montreal "False Priest<br /><i>2010</i> - Saves the Day "Daybreak"<br /><i>2010</i> - I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business "New LP"<br /><i>2010</i> - Small Black "Debut LP"<br /><i>2010</i> - Active Child "Debut LP"<br /><i>2010?</i> - Radiohead "New LP"<br /><br />Obvious heavy hitter of the year is Panda Bear. Most of Tomboy is already floating around on live tracks, but I'm holding out for now. Saves the Day's "Daybreak" is two years late (its original release was planned for 2008), so I'm expecting something great. Deep down, I know we're never going to get another "In Reverie", though. Of Montreal's "Skeletal Lamping" received tons of mixed reception, so I'm hoping they can bounce back with "False Priest". Small Black's debut LP I'd already say is a top 10 candidate for this year, and I've yet to hear anything off it (unless they put some of the EP tracks on there). Wild Nothing should be a great release, regardless, given he put out some of the best music of 2009 ("Drifter", "Pessimist" and his cover of Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting") without actually releasing an EP or LP (just a paltry 7"). I'm hoping Alvin Band or Memory Tapes release another album this year, but I'm not holding my breath. Radiohead posted a blog update saying they were going to record in January, but we'll see, I guess. There's more on my to-be-released list I keep, but these are the ones I'm most looking forward to. I'd say everything's worth checking out if you're not familiar with any of them.<br /><br />So, that's it. I've worked on this for over three months (almost) every night. It took a lot longer than I initially expected, and I likely won't be doing a really involved one like this next year. Still, it was fun to write about the music I enjoyed this year, and gave me more insight into all these albums in the end. Although, I'm a little upset at just how much of this was on Pitchfork's year end list. I'll probably try to get my 2010 year end list out before theirs next year. I hope you enjoyed it!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-5417820854723860842009-05-27T00:53:00.004-05:002009-05-27T00:59:33.847-05:00Three Words Review: Resident Evil 5<center><img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/2z5ua6u.jpg"/></center><br /><center>This isn't Resident Evil.</center><div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-70639763336715085902009-01-04T17:24:00.006-05:002009-01-04T17:38:54.564-05:002008 Album PicksI was going to do this earlier, but my intent was to narrow down the albums into a "definitive" top 10 for me. I'm not going to do that, though. So, here's a list of albums I really enjoyed this year.<br /><br />L'homme Manete - Fest-Noz Commodore (Chiptunes)<br />L'homme Manete - Gaming Sessions (Chiptunes)<br />Skip - Ecospheric Escape (Chiptunes)<br />EvilWezil - s/t (Chiptunes)<br />Baumer - Were it Not for You (Indie)<br />Beach House - Devotion (Dreampop)<br />Crystal Castles - s/t (Electronic/Chiptunes)<br />Detektivbyran - Wermland (Instrumental)<br />Dr. Manhattan - s/t (Post-hardcore)<br />The Foxglove Hunt - Stop Heartbeat (Synthpop)<br />Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing (Electronic)<br />Hauschka - Ferndorf (Instrumental/Modern classical)<br />Hayden - In Field & Town (Folk)<br />Iqtu - Embarrassing Triangle (Chiptunes)<br />Kettel - Myam James Part 1 (IDM)<br />Lights Out Asia - Eyes Like Brontide (Post-rock)<br />Mamiffer - Hirror Enniffer (Piano/Noise)<br />of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (Indiepop)<br />wang-zhi - MindArtist Soundtrack (Chiptunes)<br /><br />That's about it. I'll be surprised if Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion can be topped for 2009 -- even though it just begun -- but I'm ready for the new year of music to pick up.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-37285629631947783742008-02-11T15:41:00.000-05:002008-02-11T15:49:24.020-05:00B-Side News: Ubisoft Montreal Discusses PS3 Development with Far Cry 2Wow, it's been months since I've last posted. I have a few things planned to post on here, but I just haven't taken the time to do it. Anyway, for now, the first B-Side News piece in even longer. Once again, I maintain that I'm usually not at fault when this happens. This is, of course, another instance where an entry truncation would be useful.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/71875-FCRY2_PC_screenshot_barrel_ex.jpg"></center><br /><br /><i>Impressed by the raw power the PS3 possesses, but worried about the difficulty in tapping that power.</i><br /><br />Prolific developer, Ubisoft Montreal, whom have already released a few games on PlayStation 3, say that they’re a bit “worried” by the difficulty associated with the PS3’s complex architecture. Ubisoft Montreal’s Tech Director, Dominic Guay candidly reveals, "We were somewhat worried by some of the reported high complexity of developing for the PS3, but the raw processing power is impressive".<br /><br />In the past, the PS3 hardware’s “wrath” has gotten the better of developers, which has caused for numerous delays from multi-platform games, and the PS3 version, usually, being the worse looking of the two. With time, though, this has improved, and games like Devil May Cry 4 and Burnout Paradise have showcased that Xbox 360 and PS3 multiplatform games can look and play nearly identical. <br /><br />“We made sure we had a group of programmers that were not scared by complexity and had a large console programming experience to work on the initial PS3 R&D of Dunia (Far Cry 2's graphics engine). At that point, we didn't know what to expect.”<br /><br />Tech Director Guay does feel that the PlayStation 3 plays up to some of Ubisoft Montreal’s technical prowess. He also mentions that, “We were positively surprised by how efficient the SPUs (the Cell processing units) were to do such things as run our vegetation simulation, our animations or our physics systems.”<br /><br />“So while it did require quite a bit of R&D to understand how to use the system correctly, once we started having results we saw that it was a very capable console and that FC2 could run on it,” explained Guay.<br /><br />One of the advantages that Blu-ray provides by having so much storage space available to developers, is the possibility to stream games in real-time. Guay’s intrigued by this possibility and feels it’ll prove useful for the PS3 version. "The hard drive and Blu-ray are making our life easy considering FC2 is an open world continuously streamed around the player. That streaming bandwidth and disk space is very appreciated. So, in terms of AI, game structure, physics, dynamic time of day, open world gameplay, dynamic weather system, destructible vegetation, all of those things where we had really pushed the envelope technically, they run well on PS3."<br /><br />Of course, the PS3 version won’t be as impressive, visually, as the PC version that’s planned, but it’ll still hold its own, respectively. "However, the notable area where we had to make some tradeoffs is in some assets resolution which had to be brought down from the higher end PC configurations due to memory size difference. However, the good new is that since PS3 players are not outputting over the top resolutions like high end PC users, this is not a big deal. It's somewhat proportional to our video resolution output."<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-714895601616488632007-11-11T14:17:00.000-05:002007-11-11T15:10:02.823-05:00Gaming Beyond the Horizon, Gaming Past Due<center><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/BOXARTS2.jpg"></center><br /><b>Games coming out in the next two weeks I will be purchasing</b>: <br />- Super Mario Galaxy <br />- Assassin's Creed<br />- Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles<br />- Mass Effect<br />- Link's Crossbow Training<br /><br /><b>Games I've already bought and/or plan to that have come out this year</b>: <br />- Eternal Sonata<br />- Beautiful Katamari<br />- Chibi-Robo!: Park Patrol<br />- Heroes of Mana<br />- Kurikin Nano Island<br />- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations<br />- Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland<br />- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All<br /><br /><b>To-be-released</b>: 5<br /><b>Already released</b>: 8<br /><b>Total</b>: 13<br /><br />Not really a bad ratio. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Super Mario Galaxy, Link's Crossbow Training and Assassin's Creed will all be relatively short affairs. Mass Effect, on the other hand, likely will not be. I need to decide how much time I'll devote to it, since it's going to be absolutely huge.<br /><br />Eternal Sonata I own, but given it's rather... how can I put this, terrible combat, boring characters and storyline, well... Blue Dragon destroys this game in terms of everything, yet Eternal Sonata was reviewed better! I don't understand the press, sometimes. Beautiful Katamari will undoubtedly be short given the length of the first two titles. Chibi-Robo!'s DS outting, I'd imagine, will be quick. Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland is a non-linear RPG, so I have no idea what to expect. I haven't even played the two Phoenix Wright's that came out this year, and they aren't the shortest games around, either. Heroes of Mana is an RTS/RPG, which is said to be around 20-30 hours. And, Kurikin Nano Island, is a Japanese RTS/RPG with a rather odd premise -- you fight with and command microscope germs and stuff, it's neat. No idea if I'll even get around to it this year, but I doubt it.<br /><br />Interesting note, there isn't a single DS game I plan to buy that's not out yet (for this year), yet they account for the majority of my "already released" list.<br /><br /><b>The order in which I plan to play the games yet to be released</b>: <br />1. Super Mario Galaxy<br />2. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles<br />3. Link's Crossbow Training (maybe interspersed with Assassin's Creed)<br />4. Assassin's Creed<br />5. Mass Effect<br /><br />In retrospect, it was probably good that Super Smash Bros. Brawl was delayed. It gives me time to go through the sheer amount of games I didn't complete and have yet to complete this year.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-65089841262603282462007-11-11T13:49:00.000-05:002007-11-11T14:05:33.998-05:00Three Words Review: Portal<center><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/ob_3.jpg"></center><br /><br /><center>Inventive, brief, cake.</center><div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-37811996617841922352007-10-31T23:28:00.000-05:002007-11-01T01:43:27.020-05:00What is Hype? Baby, Don't Hurt MeAnything that's surrounded with hype is leading a damned if you do, damned if you don't type ordeal. What I mean is, there's always going to be negativity when there's a surplus of positive encompassing something. What you're left with is a product that's either devoid of positive attention, or an embodiment of fulfillment.<br /><br />What I'm rather ambiguously referring to is the impending release of Super Mario Galaxy; a product that was relatively low-key (in regards to the so-called "hardcore gamers" that make up the majority of game messageboards) until about a week or two ago. It's now, rather suddenly, struck a chord with gamers' hearts and is being hyped into the stratosphere. Of course, as I already mentioned, there will be fallout once the game's out. There are always jaded people that will go in with a particular mindset (game will suck) and will come out with that same mindset.<br /><br />The last time I've particularly witnessed a game receiving this kind of attention (at least, this year) was with BioShock. BioShock turned out to be a rather good game, but the gaming press christened it as some pious deliverance from God. As much as I don't want to generalize, but, I will, it was a streamlined System Shock 2. Now, don't get me wrong, it was easily one of the best titles that I've played this year, and likely will be in my top 5 or 10 for this year. However, given what it was hyped to be, and given what the end result was, it was disappointing.<br /><br />BioShock's hype came as a manifestation of a demo released on Xbox Live about a week prior to its retail release. This demo took player's through the first "area/stage," so to speak, and that first area is phenomenal. You're left with a modicum of options initially to attack enemies with, but it's still a very satisfying experience. That, coupled with the broken street date (chosen date of release assigned by the game's publisher) by Toys R Us, instigated a frenzy of decidedly impatient, anxious, and ravenous gamers.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/o2oo2222.jpg"></center><br /><br />Cue Super Mario Galaxy. Why has this game been hyped suddenly? What was the catalyst that caused for this game to be the spotlight of attention? Coincidentally, a demo. It isn't exactly unfolding in the way BioShock had, but Super Mario Galaxy's attention of late can likely be accredited to the GameStop demo for it. The full retail game was shipped to GameStop's nation-wide last week, three weeks before the game's US release. It's no surprise that it's managed to leak onto the internet, too, so that's another factor in this amalgam of hype. It also had its Japanese release just yesterday, and import copies are arriving to some of the gaming press to fiddle with before they receive their review copy. Review copies have, apparently, already been dispatched and should be received in a day or two, if not already. I digress, though, it's this combined with the absolute heaps of positive press the title is receiving. A UK game magazine, GamesTM, reviewed it and called it "the best 3D platformer ever." That is quite the accomplishment, given that Super Mario 64 is largely regarded as the holder of that title. Positive press is also the second parallel between Super Mario Galaxy and BioShock. People are itching to get this title in their hands, and there's still another two long weeks left.<br /><br />Well, that was a rather lengthy exposition. I realized something last year when Super Mario Galaxy was first shown at E3 2006. It's something that was, surprisingly, blind to me, and I'm not exactly sure why. I think that Super Mario is probably my favorite series, and I can recall my most fond gaming experiences ever with it. Super Mario 64 was a title unlike any other, and the awe and enchanting effects that game held over me will likely never be reproduced. The pivotal transition from 2D to 3D was one unlike any other. Super Mario 64 is a title that, at the time, I didn't appreciate for more than just, "HOLY SHIT, THIS GAME IS 3D AND I HAVE FULL CONTROL OVER MARIO. THIS IS SO MUCH FUN." Looking back, the game's level design, creativity, ingenuity, and just sheer wonder was beyond anything at the time, and hasn't been touched since. Comparing it to the rather lackluster (but, still fun) Super Mario Sunshine, it becomes all the more obvious that Super Mario 64 was something special. The only real reason I can think of why Super Mario 64 turned out the way it did, was because Shigeru Miyamoto directed the title; the last game he was in the directorial role of. <br /><br />After the NES, Miyamoto was assigned to mainly supervision duties as a producer of Nintendo EAD (then, R&D3 and R&D4, I believe). He didn't really delve into directing much. Following Super Mario 64, he returned to his producer role, and was overseeing the entirety of all production (even with second and third party licensed projects), for some time. This continued into the GCN era. The internal restructuring of EAD was done as a means to relieve Miyamoto of his duties so he could only maintain watch over EAD. Meaning that he'd be able to go much more hands-on with projects that were being done internally. Ultimately, one of the many magnificent decisions Iwata's made since he became president. Right around the time of the restructuring, was when pre-production of Super Mario Galaxy began. You can pretty much likely guess where I'm going now. Miyamoto was able to play a producer role (which, was fine), but was involved with all aspects of development in the same way a director is. He's stated that his role on Super Mario Galaxy is more of a directorial role than even when he was a director previously on games. Is Super Mario Galaxy's incredible design a direct result of Miyamoto's involvement? I don't know, and, frankly, I'd like to be wrong, because I dislike the thought that Nintendo relies on this one man entirely for their software. Of course, when you're dealing with unquestionably the most successful designer in the business (both critically and commercially), wouldn't you want him to have a say over everything and anything?<br /><br />Super Mario Galaxy's magic is actually being done by a relatively new team. EAD Tokyo, which was formed in 2003, has only released one game so far -- the sleeper hit Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. The studio is comprised of the core members of the Super Mario Sunshine team. Notable of which being Yoshiaki Koizumi, the director of Sunshine, and Takao Shimizu, the assistant director. Shimizu's most notable directorial role comes from Star Fox 64. Koizumi was assistant director to Miyamoto on Super Mario 64, as well as sub-director on Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Both are seasoned Nintendo employees, and have been with the company since the NES days. The sad thing is, the only other name that's really associated with Super Mario (besides composer Koji Kondo) is Takashi Tezuka, and he's not involved with Super Mario Galaxy. Tezuka is just below Miyamoto in terms of power, as he's the general producer of EAD. Tezuka is, in my opinion, the best director Nintendo has, and it's a shame to see him being relegated to production duties. (That's kind of an odd way of describing it, as he really was promoted, but, whatever.) But, I digress. Tezuka is an important link to Super Mario Galaxy, as he was the main director of Super Mario Bros. 3. Why is this important? Many people are heralding Super Mario Galaxy as not the true successor to Super Mario 64; no, it transcends that, but Super Mario Bros. 3, arguably the fan favorite in the series. Tezuka was moderately involved with New Super Mario Bros., but that can't really hold a candle to Super Mario Bros. 3. <br /><br />The team is young, has a lot of passion, and are looking to create fun and engaging products. Some of the new staff that was picked up for EAD Tokyo included animators, musicians and some graphic designers. It's likely this will be their landmark title, though.<br /><br />I've kind of gotten a bit bored typing all of this up, so I'll continue this sometime later. Enjoy another picture of Super Mario Galaxy.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/003jkaa.jpg"></center><div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-87358792324371526332007-10-30T00:16:00.000-05:002007-10-30T00:28:25.406-05:00Three Words Review: Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)<center><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/wall_0_1280.jpg"/></center><br /><br /><center>Clever, stylish, difficult.</center><div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-77540585626468311582007-10-17T23:16:00.000-05:002007-10-18T15:32:57.702-05:00Exhaustive Research: Why Being Obsessive-Compulsive is No GoodThis will be, yet again, another entry in which I wish I had a means of doing an entry cut. Again, if anyone can inform me on this process using Blogger, by all means, don't hesitate to comment.<br /><br />Anyway, this isn't pertinent to my <a href="http://taciturnblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-surgery.html">other post</a> (meaning, I don't have anything special to show at all).<br /><br />Before I begin, let me give you the synopsis. I'm looking to play through and finish a vast majority of Nintendo first or second-party developed titles. It's quite a grandiose task, but I think I can manage... over the course of a few years. I've realized that there are a slew of Nintendo published titles that I've never even touched, but have always wanted to. So, I set forth on this mission about two weeks ago, beginning with the excellent Mother (EarthBound Zero) on the NES. The title's a fairly typical RPG in terms of battle mechanics and other general RPG archetypes, but the story and characters are definitely atypical. I'm done with that, and going through EarthBound (Mother 2) currently, but I'm not enjoying it as much. Firstly, the music isn't quite as evocative, and, secondly, the characters and NPCs don't seem as quirky, for want of a better term/description.<br /><br />So, what exactly am I looking at in terms of titles? How many, which series', Japanese-only releases, etc.? There are a staggering 82 titles that I would like to play -- and, I omitted a fair bit. However, many of the titles/series listed I have no intentions to play for a long time, if at all. There's no chance I'll ever get around to playing all of these, but I'd like to tackle a good chunk of them.<br /><br />Of course, there will be inhibitions in my mission. The most prevalent of which being that a damn good amount of these games never even saw an English release. What's more, is that most of them haven't had completed fan translations. Tomato Adventure, for example, looks to be one of the most interesting RPGs on the Game Boy Advance, yet, it wasn't brought to America, and there is no fan translation. There are FAQs available, and I intend to fully use them (especially for NES games, as most of those are directionless), but it's not going to be the same. <br /><br />Before I proceed to the full list, let me just explain the formatting I used.<br /><br />Each system is listed, with the title of specific games below it. Next to the title of the game is the development team/studio behind it. Some titles have the asterisk (*) next to them. This is used to denote titles that have questionable translations (if at all), or titles that I may or may not play at all (likely, won't).<br /><br />Onto the list:<br /><br /><b>NES</b> - <br /><br />Famicom Wars (Intelligent Systems)<br />StarTropics (Already played it, will replay to refresh my memory) (Nintendo R&D3)<br />Zoda’s Revenge: StarTropics II (Nintendo R&D3)<br />Air Fortress (HAL Labs)*<br />Joy Mecha Fight (HAL Labs)*<br /><br /><b>Sega Genesis</b> -<br /><br />Pulseman (Game Freak)<br /><br /><b>SNES</b> -<br /><br />F-Zero (Nintendo EAD)<br />Super Metroid (Team Deer Force [Defunct])<br />EarthBound [Mother 2] (HAL Labs, APE, Inc.)<br />Marvelous: Another Treasure Island (Nintendo EAD)<br />Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shoujo (Nintendo EAD)<br />Sutte Hakkun (Nintendo EAD)<br /><br /><b>N64</b> -<br /><br />Custom Robo (Noise)*<br />Custom Robo V2 (Noise)*<br />Legend of Zelda: Major’s Mask (Nintendo EAD)<br />GoldenEye 007 (Rareware)*<br />Perfect Dark (Rareware)*<br />Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Earth (Treasure)<br />F-Zero X (Nintendo EAD)<br /><br /><b>GameCube</b> -<br /><br />Pikmin (Nintendo EAD)<br />Doshin the Giant (Nintendo EAD/Param)*<br />Star Fox Adventures (Rareware)*<br />GiFTPIA (skip ltd.)*<br />Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Nintendo EAD)<br />F-Zero GX (Amusement Vision)<br />Custom Robo Battle Revolution (Noise)<br />Pikmin 2 (Nintendo EAD)<br />WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ (Nintendo SP&D1, Intelligent Systems)<br />Battalion Wars (Kuju)*<br />Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (Intelligent Systems)<br /><br /><b>Game Boy</b> -<br /><br />Game Boy Wars (Intelligent Systems)<br />Metroid II: Return of Samus (Nintendo SP&D1)<br />Wave Race (Nintendo EAD)*<br />Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Nintendo R&D1)*<br />Mole Mania (Nintendo EAD?)*<br />Wario Land II (Nintendo R&D1)*<br />Card Hero (Nintendo SP&D1)*<br />Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble (Nintendo R&D2)<br />Wario Land 3 (Nintendo R&D1)*<br />Game Boy Wars TURBO (Hudson Soft)*<br />Game Boy Wars 2 (Hudson Soft)*<br /><br /><b>Game Boy Advance</b> - <br /><br />Advance Wars (Intelligent Systems)<br />F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (NDCUBE)<br />Custom Robo GX (Noise)*<br />Golden Sun (Camelot)*<br />Wario Land 4 (Nintendo R&D1)*<br />Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (Intelligent Systems)<br />Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Camelot)*<br />Tomato Adventure (AlphaDream)<br />Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (AlphaDream)<br />Mother 1+2 (HAL Labs, APE, Inc.)*<br />Sennen Kazoku (Nintendo R&D1)*<br />Rhythm Tengoku (Nintendo SP&D1)<br />Sword of Mana (Brownie Brown)*<br />F-Zero Climax (Suzak)<br />F-Zero GP Legend (Suzak)<br />Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Flagship)<br />WarioWare: Twisted! (Nintendo SP&D1, Intelligent Systems)<br />Drill Dozer (Game Freak)<br />Mother 3 (HAL Labs, Brownie Brown, APE, Inc.)<br />Magical Vacation (Brownie Brown)*<br />Sakura Momoko no Ukiuki Carnival (Nintendo EAD)*<br /><br /><b>Nintendo DS</b> -<br /><br />Daigasso! Band Brothers (Nintendo EAD?)<br />WarioWare: Touched! (Nintendo SP&D1, Intelligent Systems)<br />Kirby: Canvas Curse (HAL Labs)<br />Advance Wars: Dual Strike (Intelligent Systems)<br />Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (AlphaDream)<br />Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland (Vanpool, Nintendo SP&D3)<br />Magical Starsign (Brownie Brown)<br />Custom Robo Arena (Noise)*<br />Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol (skip ltd.)<br />Heroes of Mana (Brownie Brown)*<br />Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (Intelligent Systems)<br /><br />Let me provide a breakdown on the development studios/teams I have listed:<br /><br /><b>Intelligent Systems</b> - Nintendo first-party, broke away from Nintendo Research & Development 1 (Gunpei Yokoi's division) to form a studio in Tokyo.<br /><br /><b>Nintendo Research & Development</b> (Nintendo R&D) - Internal Nintendo first-party, merged into Nintendo EAD with the internal restructuring in 2005 under Satoru Iwata (current president of Nintendo Co. Ltd [NCL]).<br /><br /><b>Nintendo Software Planning and Development</b> (Nintendo SP&D) - Internal division of Nintendo, some of the remnants of Nintendo R&D can be found here. Team 3 oversees all outsourced projects.<br /><br /><b>HAL Laboratory, Inc.</b>(HAL Labs) - Nintendo second-party, responsible for Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series.<br /><br /><b>APE, Inc.</b> - Joint company between HAL Labs and Nintendo. Still exists as Creatures, INC., headed by veteran Nintendo composer Hirokazu Tanaka. Handles some Pokemon merchandising.<br /><br /><b>Game Freak</b> - Nintendo second-party, responsible for main Pokemon series on handhelds.<br /><br /><b>Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development</b> (Nintendo EAD) - Internal Nintendo first-party, most prominent division in Nintendo. Responsible for Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, and many more. Headed by Shigeru Miyamoto.<br /><br /><b>Team Deer Force</b> - Now defunct, was a "dream team" composed of Nintendo R&D1 and Intelligent Systems members. Headed by Yoshio Sakamoto (today, manager of Nintendo SP&D1) and Gunpei Yokoi (deceased). Most notable title being Super Metroid.<br /><br /><b>Brownie Brown</b> - External Nintendo first-party, has done some work for Square Enix with the Mana series. Created the original IP Magical Vacation and Magical Starsign. Did some work on Mother 3.<br /><br /><b>Noise</b> - Nintendo second-party, responsible for the Custom Robo series.<br /><br /><b>Rareware</b> - Former Nintendo second-party, now a wholly owned Microsoft Game Studios first party. Most notable titles include Donkey Kong Country, GoldeneEye 007, Perfect Dark and Banjo Kazooie.<br /><br /><b>Treasure</b> - Third party, developed a few Nintendo 64 exclusive titles that Nintendo published.<br /><br /><b>Param</b> - Defunct Nintendo second-party.<br /><br /><b>skip ltd.</b> - Nintendo second-party, responsible for Chibi-Robo! series. Arguably, their most significant title, GiFTPIA, never made it to the states.<br /><br /><b>Amusement Vision</b> - Internal Sega development team, third party, responsible for the critically lauded F-Zero GX.<br /><br /><b>Kuju</b> - A particular development team in Kuju that's been responsible for the Battalion Wars series.<br /><br /><b>Hudson Soft.</b> - Longtime third party, have developed a few titles for Nintendo.<br /><br /><b>NDCUBE</b> - Nintendo second-party, responsible for two crappy GameCube games and one F-Zero GBA title.<br /><br /><b>Camelot</b> - Former Nintendo second-party, now aligned with Capcom. Mainly an RPG house, have an affinity with golf titles, though. Former Sega second-party, as well, before Nintendo snatched them up.<br /><br /><b>AlphaDream</b> - Nintendo second-party, best known for their work with the Mario & Luigi series.<br /><br /><b>Suzak</b> - Third party, has been licensed some Nintendo properties before.<br /><br /><b>Flagship</b> - Former semi-Nintendo second-party. Was a joint funded studio by Capcom, Sega and Nintendo. Best known for their work with the Legend of Zelda handheld series. Was dissolved by Capcom in June 2007.<br /><br /><b>Vanpool</b> - Third party, has been licensed the Tingle IP (intellectual property).<br /><br />That's everything, I believe.<br /><br /><i>Things I observed about these studios/divisions</i>:<br /><br />- Nintendo has an affinity for buying out start-up studios.<br /><br />- Nintendo has an even bigger affinity for former Squaresoft (now, Square Enix) veterans. Case in point: skip ltd., Brownie Brown, AlphaDream and Monolith Soft. It's a stretch, but Nintendo has a fair majority of the key people that worked on Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Also, notably, the Xenogears team.<br /><br />- Nintendo has had, basically, the same teams working on the same series' for decades.<br /><br /><i>Things I observed from the titles I need to play</i>: <br /><br />- Each successive generation, my backlog increased. <br /><br />- I was the most experimental with the software I'd play during the NES days. Likely, due to renting a large number of games.<br /><br />- I like quirky games, and was more attracted to them as a kid than I am now. Still, a big proponent of quirky titles, though.<br /><br />- A single Sega Genesis title made the list, lol.<br /><br />- Never really touched the F-Zero series, I own F-Zero GX, and think it's awesome. I've hardly played it, though.<br /><br />- Many, many, many Japanese-only releases. Some stuff I probably didn't even realize existed until the advent of the Internet.<br /><br />- I started playing the Advance Wars series with the first title, but it didn't stick with me. Now, I have, like, 3 or so titles to go through.<br /><br />- I omitted a ton of Kirby titles. I think the series has, quite frankly, gone downhill since the SNES. Kirby's Canvas Curse looks neat, though.<br /><br />- Not too many third party developed stuff.<br /><br />- I haven't played a single Brownie Brown or AlphaDream game.<br /><br />- I dropped out of the WarioWare series after the first, now I have 3 to play. WarioWare: Smooth Moves on Wii was great (but, dismally short). <br /><br />- I've hardly touched any of Intelligent Systems' series'. I'm looking forward to diving into their games.<br /><br />- The largest quantity of titles I missed out on comes from the Game Boy Advance; a platform I largely ignored, sans a few select titles.<br /><br />- The reason for the above is because I was too busy playing MMORPGs instead of actual games.<br /><br />- The Mother (EarthBound) series prompted this decision. Top priority, at the moment, is to complete those before moving forward.<br /><br />- My goal is (to the best of my ability) play these games chronologically (from when they were released). <br /><br />- I need to learn Japanese if I ever want to play some of these games properly.<br /><br />- I know way too much about Nintendo first and second party studios/divisions.<br /><br />The real reason why I intend to do all of this, is to play through a particular series. Fire Emblem has always intrigued me, but, when it finally made it to the States, I had no interest in it. Well, I do, now. I want to go through each Fire Emblem title if possible. Half of these didn't even make it to America, and don't have full translations available. The first SNES Fire Emblem was also a remake of the two NES Fire Emblem's, too. The upcoming Fire Emblem DS is a remake/port of the first Fire Emblem.<br /><br />The full list, below:<br /><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/fireemblem.jpg" align="right"><br /><b>NES</b> -<br /><br />Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi (Intelligent Systems)*<br /><br />Fire Emblem Gaiden (Intelligent Systems)*<br /><br /><b>SNES</b> -<br /><br />Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo (Intelligent Systems)*<br /><br />Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu (Intelligent Systems)*<br /><br />Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 (Intelligent Systems)<br /><br /><b>Game Boy Advance</b> - <br /><br />Fire Emblem: Fuin no Tsurugi (Intelligent Systems)*<br /><br />Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken [Fire Emblem GBA in US] (Intelligent Systems)<br /><br />Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (Intelligent Systems)<br /><br /><b>GameCube</b> -<br /><br />Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Intelligent Systems)<br /><br /><b>Wii</b> -<br /><br />Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Intelligent Systems)<br /><br /><b>Nintendo DS</b> -<br /><br />Fire Emblem DS (tentative title) (Intelligent Systems)<br /><br /><i>Observations on Fire Emblem</i>:<br /><br />- Kickass character designs.<br /><br />And, that's it. I hope someone actually reads through this entire thing. And, dammit, I need an entry cut like nobody's business.<br /><br />I'll likely continue this post in a series posting updates over time. Of course, I don't play games at a very quick pace (unless they're new titles). With the plethora of games coming out this Holiday, too, I probably won't get around to most of this for a while.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-52718500402234112232007-10-14T00:46:00.000-05:002007-10-14T01:18:56.968-05:00Blog SurgeryI made a few minor cosmetic changes to Taciturn. It looks better, IMO. There was too much white before; it was beginning to bother me. <br /><br />Anyway, I'm working on something for this blog, I just don't know when I'll post it. It's something I want to write about, but don't have much to really say about, if that makes sense. I'll be doing something I previously hadn't before, though.<br /><br />Oh, and if anyone (all 1 people that still read this when their RSS feed updates) can explain how to make an entry cut (you know, the "Continue Reading..." link) so the entire entry isn't exposed on the front page, I'd appreciate it. <a href ="http://taciturnblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/disappointment-lesson-in-failure.html">This post</a> is way too big. Plus, the entry I'm working on will be doing something I've never done before (not that I've done much to begin with), and it will require some sort of entry truncation.<br /><br />Let me know if this is any worse or better (regarding the changes). I'll probably fiddle with it a bit before I decide on anything definitive. That is, without doing any actual HTML coding.<br /><br />See you soon.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-31036300001793235662007-09-10T21:49:00.000-05:002007-10-14T00:39:40.984-05:00Amplification<center><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/music_note_sixteen_jpg.jpg"></center><br /><center><s>I hate it.</s></center><br /><br />SECRET TESTING AREA FOR UPCOMING POST:<br /><br /><embed src="" width="240" height="40" autostart="false" loop="FALSE"></embed><div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798120309733666998.post-46430149477068796762007-07-17T20:18:00.000-05:002007-07-17T21:40:14.587-05:00Disappointment: A Lesson in Failure<div style="text-align:center;"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/edit.jpg"></div><br />If you were to aggregate my feelings towards this year's E3, the above picture would accurately portray them. I'll break-down the conferences:<br /><br /><b>Microsoft</b><br /><ul><li>Scene-It? - Buzz! ripoff.</li><br /><li>Limited Edition Halo 3-themed Xbox 360 - It's visual disaster. If you happen to lay eyes on this abomination, I advise that you seek medical attention immediately.</li><br /><li>Viva Pinata: Party Animals - Don't they get it? Microsoft's fanbase doesn't want games aimed for Nintendo's.</li><br /><li>Disney on Xbox Live Marketplace - Yay!?</li><br /><li>Jeff Bell - Does Microsoft have an assembly line actively manufacturing these <s>PR robots</s> guys? Just wondering.</li></ul><br />This is how the conference went once Jeff Bell stepped on the stage:<br /><br><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/Jef_bell.jpg" border="1"></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><i>"Xbox 360 is great."</i></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/Jef_bell.jpg" border="1"></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><i>"Diverse portfolio!"</i></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/Jef_bell.jpg" border="1"></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><i>"Halo 3 sells a lot."</i></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/Jef_bell.jpg" border="1"></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><i>"Microsoft is great, too!"</i></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/taciturnblog/Jef_bell.jpg" border="1"></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><i>"Naruto is nice, and stuff."</i></div><br />Thanks, Jeff. <br /><br /><b>Nintendo</b><br /><ul><li>YouTube videos - You guys wasted over 15 minutes on this garbage. Why?</li><br /><li>Wii Fit - Neat peripheral. They spent way too much time showcasing it, though. (Yes, I realize it was meant to appeal to the mainstream press, and Nintendo's ingenuity was on full display, because it worked. But, I was bored.)</li><br /><li>"Heavy Clothing" - Oh, Reggie...</li></ul><br /><b>Sony</b><br /><ul><li>PSP Redux - What? What? What? It's the same thing, only lighter. What?</li><br /><li>Chewbacca - I cringed, I cried, I laughed; my ambivalence knows no bounds.</li><br /><li>Jack Tretton - "I'm a little nervous being up here with so much free room, I'm a podium kind of guy." Hey, honesty is a plus. He had a decent performance at E3.</li><br /><li>Killzone 2 - "And, remember, this is all real-time footage." Frankly, I wasn't impressed. Lair is still technically miles ahead of Killzone 2; I don't understand the fascination with this title.</li></ul><br />Basically, it can't be compared to the E3's of years past. Nothing major came from the event, but, it was interesting none the less. It seemed like all console manufacturers were content with just showing off their 2007 titles. Not much was shown from any of the three in terms of 2008 releases.<br /><br />E3 may or may not be around next year; but, I think it was more of a success than people initially thought that it would be. The reason why I say it's a disappointment, is because it was what I had predicted E3 would be (i.e., nothing Earth-shatteringly awesome shown or announced), and I turned out to be correct.<br /><br />Anyway, Leipzig and PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) are next month. So, maybe something good will come from those two. If not, I can hold out hope for TGS (Tokyo Game Show) at the end of September.<br /><br />We shall see.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Taciturn Blog</div>No Namehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14716235285728464279noreply@blogger.com0