Seattle Whispers

Dinosaurs, Bionics, and Comics: Aaron Diaz Kickstarter

2013-03-25T16:31:00.005-07:00

On February 25, webcomic writer and illustrator Aaron Diaz finally unveiled his Kickstarter campaign to fund a hardcopy volume of his works. "The Tomorrow Girl" will be a volume compiling 5-years' worth of "Dresden Codak."

In a few short hours, the campaign hit the $30,000 goal, and hasn't stopped since. Now, the campaign is nearing $500,000 coming down to its last two days. There's a lot of awesome reward tiers, stretch goals, and now additional bundles items available (t-shirts, hoodies, prints, etc.). Go check it out!

[Image from the Kickstarter campaign]

For those not familiar with "Dresden Codak," it is a beautifully-rendered comic following genius heroine Kimiko "Kim" Ross, and talks about dark science, bionics, superheroes, time travelers, philosophy role-playing games, and so much more! One of the most popular aspects is the story arc of "Hob," which is in part about robots and timetravel (this will be included in the upcoming volume).

Diaz has compiled his works in a book before, but those were a limited run. This updated version will be widely available to the public (like on Topatoco and Amazon), with awesome do-dads and thing-a-majigs attached for the Kickstarter backers.

This campaign has me really itching, because I'm a broke college student and I've been hooked on DC since the start of "Hob" (February 2007), I would love to have a hardcopy of his works to oggle, and the stretch goals he has added on. (Dinosaurs for days!) At the moment I am content with the $15 reward tier (a ton of digital stuff), as well as a tacked-on Cyborg Pride t-shirt.

Here are some of my personal highlights, so far (reached tier, un-reached):

$130,000 - Digital copy of the Dresden Codak Primer with all orders $10+.
$200,000 - An exclusive digital comic about dragons for backers, $10+.
$380,000 - Dinosaur wallpaper for every backer, with 6 dinosaurs.
$500,000 - The Hob Companion, sketchbook, and satirical essays in all orders $10+.
$550,000 - Remake the Jurassic Park dinosaurs with paleontologically-correct details.
$700,000 - DC will update every week for a year.
$800,000 - A 10-episode Indistinguishable From Magic video, focusing on visual storytelling and the craft of comics.

I urge you all to go check out Dresden Codak and Diaz's Tumblr just to see what he is like, and then to back the project (and / or buy the book when it is out), if you're inclined to support this awesome artist.

Below I have included the Kickstarter campaign video for those curious and haven't gone to the campaign page yet.

New music, 'From The Wyld'

2013-03-25T13:44:00.003-07:00

Last Thursday, the literally weeks-old group, From the Wyld, dropped their debut release, "50,000 Thoughts EP." The minds behind Wyld include Shawn Cayce, and Daniel Ciurlizza (a familiar name, to some).

[Click to go to their Bandcamp page--

Image by Pen & Mouse Creative Studios*]

Super Human
Falling Down
Generation Y

The combo of a "weird ass rapper" and an "award winning film composer" may not jump out as a winning combo, but it is. Cayce and Ciurlizza have been friends for a long time, and their creative energy and musical talents coalesce very nicely.

Speaking of strange combos, this release features rapped lyrics in tandem with acoustic guitars, pianos and drums. The mix makes quite an impact, and each song is full of "fist pump and roadtrip" energy, even with starting lyrics of "I woke up feeling pretty low."

My favorite, and probably the most powerful, song is Falling Down. Both Cayce's breathless performance and Ciurlizza's singing are full of emotion, fresh and raw, weaving in and out of each other very naturally.

This short and catchy release is a great debut, and I've been told that the group is planning on releasing more things on their different internet properties (like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), so keep your eyes peeled!

Whisperings:
Length: 8:10
Price: $3
Enjoyability: Catchy and fresh
Type: Hiphop / acoustic
Medium: Digital download
Artwork: Pen & Mouse Creative Studios

*-The cover art has a gift to fans: a hidden image. Can you find it?

'Starting Gun' has great aim

2013-03-19T19:24:00.004-07:00

It's been almost two years since Seattle musician Griff J released his Miserable Heroes EP for free, and today he is finally releasing his full album, "After the Starting Gun." The new album can be found on iTunes, Amazon, and Bandcamp--with hardcopies available.

Also, to celebrate the album release (and two year anniversary of the EP), Griff J will be performing at Neumos in Seattle on April 12 with Art Vandelay and The MC Type ($5 advance tickets).

Better Late
To Each Their Own (ft. Grieves)
Not Today
Chase What You Want
Burning Out
You're Dreaming (ft. Murder Dice)
My Mind
Half Alive (ft. Lorenzo the First)
Devil Woman
Dial Tone (ft. The MC Type)
Life Alone
Home
Devil Woman Remix (ft. Kyle Lucas & Captain Midnight)

To fill the two-year void since "Heroes," Griff has been releasing singles (and occasional music videos) for the songs Devil Woman, My Mind, Home, and most recently, Not Today. A good way to keep fans coming back for new stuff, and allows for the great videos to get created.

"Starting Gun" is a great follow up to the "Heroes" EP. The concept story isn't as strong as in "Heroes," but the themes of growing up, making your own life (and mistakes), and dealing with responsibilities are still readily apparent.
My take is that on a shorter release, the concept and themes can be held in the spotlight for longer without them feeling overused.

This album packs a lot of variety within the 13 tracks, yet still keeps a great balance. Each song has its own flavor and feel, but there's enough in common that it doesn't feel like songs just thrown together. There's also a balance between songs that tell the story in a straightforward manner: To Each Their Own, Burning Out, and Life Alone; and others have a more repetitive and catchy (dare I say pop?) sound: Not Today, Chase What You Want, and Devil Woman.

Some of my jump-out favorites do include the already "released" songs like Not Today and My Mind, but there are other treasures like Chase What You Want and You're Dreaming that caught me upon the first listen. Really, there's a lot of things for avid listeners to gobble up. There's even a remix of Devil Woman, for those that have listened to the original since October 2011.

There's also a lot of texture and variety in sounds in this album. Here's a short list of things I've heard: accordion, piano, guitar, and what sounds like xylophones.

I digress...
I just really enjoy this album, and recommend going to buy it (on whatever platform you prefer). Although, if you're still unsure, you can listen to the album on Bandcamp, and "Miserable Heroes EP" is still free.

Whisperings:

Length: 41:04

Price: $10

Enjoyability: Yes! Lots of catchy, repeatable songs, and good story.

Type: Hip hop

Medium: Digital download and hardcopy

Artwork: Joseph Chomiak & Griffin Johnston

Truth Under Attack funding tour!

2013-03-13T10:36:00.001-07:00

Seattle-area band, Truth Under Attack, is jumping aboard the crowd-funding wagon and hoping to help pay for their upcoming tour. The campaign is on IndieGoGo, which is known for their flexible campaigns that allow the creators to still accept money, even if the campaign doesn't hit its goal (unlike Kickstarter, which is an all-or-nothing approach).

This band (who I've seen on a few occasions and love), is aiming to fund their next EP release and a tour via IndieGoGo. Their first EP from last year, "Forever And A Year," was paid for by the band, and this time around their hoping the fans would jump in to help out--and be wanting to see them perform.

Being very open, the band has even provided the breakdown for the cost of their $9,518 goal.

As of posting, their campaign has reached $281, and will end on Friday, May 3 (a full 51 days out). I am a little bewildered as to why the funding is low so far, but hopefully in the next month or so it catches on more.

I like that the band has broken their funding tiers in a way I haven't seen before: by the equivalent action of the contribution. If you kick in $4, that's a gallon of gas; $10, you feed a band member for a day; $50, feed the whole band for a day; $75 half-tank of gas, etc.

Of course, you also get rewards in return, like the new EP 2 weeks early (being ahead of the curve is everything in musical taste, right?), signed EP hardcopies and posters, a video chat bed-time story (with the band donning pajamas for the occasion), and even an awesome day with the band, waterslides, go karts, dinner, and a movie! (Oh, and free merch for new stuff for life).

TUA does realize not everyone that listens to them has money lying around, and so asks for people to spread their music and the IndieGoGo link to help the campaign. Every little bit helps (and their is a $1 donation tier).
Personally, my spending is a little stagnant due to this quarter of college, but I will definitely be putting aside some of my next paycheck for this.

It's been awesome seeing this band over the last 18 months, and I look forward to what they do next.

"Just trust in me, I'll make you sorry that you lost sight of what could be!"

The Banner Saga: Factions (Release and tips)

2013-02-19T21:39:00.001-08:00

I'm here to get people interested (and remind them) of Stoic Studio's upcoming launch of "The Banner Saga: Factions." This release will be free to the public via Steam on Monday, February 25 (this coming Monday), so mark your calendars.

You may have a few questions, so here are some answers and tips (since I've been playing the early-release).

[The city of Strand (with old tags, I believe), courtesy of Stoic Studio]

What is it?
"Factions" is a free release of the combat system to Stoic Studios full game of "Saga." "Factions" is contained within its own story, and allows players to combat other players, gain points, and build their own small armies (and get more excited for the full "Saga.")
Why is it being released?
I'd assume to award the Kickstarter backers for being patient, getting feedback on the combat system (other than the "Factions Beta" prior to this), giving something awesome to the world, and a little bit to raise awareness about the upcoming full game.
How is the gameplay?
In a phrase: beautiful and addictive.
"Factions" is like chess with Vikings as the pieces, and each character has different stats and abilities. The character animations were hand-drawn by an animation studio (rotoscoped from videos), and they look fantastic in-game.
The battlefields are gridded like a chess board and most of the game plays like chess, moving characters one at a time. When you first run "Factions," there is a tutorial that shows off a cutscene (with those awesome animations), and a mock battle to briefly show you gameplay and introduce you to the trading city, Strand.
Within Strand you can hire, promote, and customize your characters, chat and play against players, participate in tournaments, and even buy in-game items, like new character color schemes, with real money.
Wait, if people have been playing Beta and early-release, will I have trouble winning?
I don't believe so. True, many of us have been playing since Beta release late last year, but a lot has changed since then. The servers also match teams' value points, so you're playing against similarly-skilled players. There will be a large pool of new players, so you'll have plenty of competition that won't just grind you beneath their boots.
Any tips and tricks?
Why yes:

Don't be afraid of losing. You're bound to have terrible matches, but every kill you can make still helps your team.
Take time with your promotions. It's a good idea to read each type of promotion, and prioritize which characters you want to promote.
Watch enemy tactics to find a new technique / approach.
Hire new characters so you can explore the different promotions.
Chat with your opponent and other players to trade stories and advice.
Once you feel comfortable with making game decisions within the 1 minute window, bump up to "Expert Mode." It gives you 30 seconds to decide, which makes games faster, and gives you additional points for each match. (Change in the Great Hall menu, a "30" within a "C" at the bottom of your banner--See image below).
Use the battlefields to your advantage--such as the damage-dealing coals in the Great Hall, and the posts in one of the snowy battlefields.
Have fun(!) and enjoy the animations and other art involved.
Also, you may see me around in the queue and chat as AlexanderRKramer

[Image from Stoic Studio's Media Gallery]

[Here is also a video from Stoic Studio that may help explain things, too]

To stay in the know as far as Stoic Studio's releases (like the full version of "The Banner Saga," find them on Facebook, and join the forums, too!

'Journey' to the Grammys

2013-01-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

In less than a month (Feb. 10), the 55th Grammy Awards will be presented to an eager audience of composers, musicians, and countless fans watching via television and laptop. For the first time, an award may go to the composer of a video game under the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media category.

First-time Grammy nominee, Austin Wintory, is honored to be matched with other legends such as Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Howard Shore, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, and Ludovic Bource for their works of "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn," "Hugo," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and "The Artist" (respectively); and is still thoroughly shocked at the nomination.

Earlier last week he took time out of his schedule to talk a little bit about being a composer, and the work he did for "Journey," the critically-acclaimed video game its Grammy-nominated score.

[Courtesy of Austin Wintory]

[Photo courtesy of Austin Wintory, taken by Lisa Margolis]

Austin Wintory describes that during childhood he really liked scores to movies, and listened to little music beyond that. When he was about ten, he took piano lessons and his teacher turn him on to the composer Jerry Goldsmith. For college he started at New York University, and then transferred and obtained his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

How did you come into composing as a profession?
I went to school with that as the goal, so everything I was doing, both in New York and when I first moved to LA was geared to that end, was to try and achieve that. Initially I started like a lot of other people: I was doing student films and little-paid things: awful, low-production value things; for which I probably wrote awful, low-production value music.
I started meeting people, especially when I came to LA and went to USC, I scored a lot of student projects. A few of those translated into my first, professional films; and also the first grand master student project that I did was Jenova Chen's master's thesis called “flOw,” which of course became a PS3 game as well, and kind of jumpstarted my career in the game-side of things.

What have been some of the major influences in how you compose?
On how I compose? That's an interesting way to put that. Jerry Goldsmith, he's the composer that my piano teacher turned me on to when I was 10, and kind of inspired me to want to compose to begin with. To this day I would cite him as a major inspiration. Not so much musically – in that I don't think my writing sounds anything like his; and nor do I want it to – but it's more the philosophy with which he approached scoring films and with composing in general: which is one that is not overly reliant on craft to get the job done.
Jerry; I never met him, and I could very well be making my own analysis that is not what he would have said of himself, but it always seemed to me that he approached every time he put pen to paper, as if he had never done it before in his life. He needed to write some lyrical and beautiful piece of music, he didn't write it with the understanding of “Oh, I know ways to achieve that, I know that nice melody and the violins will have such-and-such effect,” he always seemed to approach it fresh, as if he had never before, and therefore approach it with a novelty and a real spark – a freshness – that he somehow he managed to do over, and over, and over again, for like a fifty-year career, in which he was intensely prolific the entire time.
That has been my single-biggest influence, is that I love that he was constantly working and pushing himself, but then at the same time he was also never took for granted that he knew what he was doing, that he was actually quite the master craftsman. That is something I hold very near and dear to my heart and very conscientiously model my own composing philosophy on.

How did you get started with the “flOw” project, and how did that culminate in what you're doing now?
Like I said, Jenova and I met in school and “flOw” started as his master's thesis. We did it and it became very popular online – it was just a free Flash title – and then when Sony was getting ready to retire the PlayStation 2 and launch the PS3, they were on the hunt for compelling titles and they came across “flOw” and they offered Jenova a job to make it a PS3-exclusive for the PlayStation network.
So, we all got hired to redo our game on a more grand scale, and it was kind of crazy. It was sort of like a fairytale. That sort of thing is why people herald the USC as such a great school because there's such great career paths so often for filmmakers and game designers that go there. Any composer who goes there and tries to work with their fellow students, I think that's part of their goal – it was definitely part of mine – to meet the next great filmmaker and next great game designer. And somehow by some crazy miracle I actually did that, and Jenova is pretty much an industry-leader, as is Kellee Santiago, and we just met in school by chance.
That's how “flOw” kicked off, and it was sort of seamless to just transition to working on the PS3 version, which was obviously bigger and elaborate, but was really just a continuation of how we had done it before.

Was the process for “Journey's” soundtrack much different than what you did before, or were you up to par at that point because of “flOw?”
In keeping with what I had said about Jerry Goldsmith, the goal was to never feel like I'm just in cruise-control. There were certain technologies and certain logistics that I learned in “flOw” that were extremely helpful on “Journey,” but the goal was try to do something that I had never really done before.
On top of that, I worked on just “flOw” for like six months, but I worked on “Journey” for three years, so they were pretty different processes just by virtue of that. “Journey” is also just a far more ambitious and elaborate game and sort of therefore game score than “flOw” was.
That actually might not be the right way to put it. They had different goals. A great score for “flOw” is really not the same thing as a great score for “Journey,”
and so working my hardest to make the music the best it will be, naturally different results in both cases.

[Courtesy of Austin Wintory]

How was the process for “Journey?” What was influencing what it was going to sound like? I've seen footage of the game and the soundtrack is amazingly matched. Was that in mind the whole time?
Oh yeah. For me, how the player is experiencing the music is essentially the entirety of how I come up with what I'm writing. The music is always written with very specific regard to how it will then be integrated into the gameplay.
So the process on doing that is of course, I have a PlayStation test kit, I would pretty rigorously playtest the game while I come up with initial drafts of the music and then I would tweak them, and tweak them, and tweak them – always playing them in context, as opposed to just listening back and saying “this sounds like a good composition” –because listening back is just listening to a linear musical experience, but that was never how the player was going to experience it. At the end of the day, I could work really hard and endlessly to try and make something really compelling as a piece of music, but first and foremost was “How was it in-game?”
And so, that's what ended up being the real bulk of those three years, was constantly tweaking and refining the actual user experience to make sure it was as good as possible.

Do you compose with mainly live-instruments, purely digital, or a mix of both?
I certainly use electronics a lot, and there are a lot of electronics in “Journey,” but when I say “electronics” I always do mean that “something which is an artificially-created sound, either analog or digital, usually digital,” as opposed to “a synthesized mock-up of what would otherwise normally be played by a live instrument.” There are occasional exceptions on the outskirts, but basically, if I'm going to write a cello solo I'm going to make sure that I can record a cello solo and I'm not going to use a sample or otherwise electronic-cello solo. But if I want some strange sound that is not a cello and is not anything anybody has ever heard before, that's great. “Journey” is very much the hybrid.
Almost everything I do is a hybrid; I almost never write purely electronic music, and I almost never write 100% acoustic music. The way I see it, there's six families of instruments: there's woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion, the human voice, and electronics, and I like writing for all six as often as possible.
For example, with “Journey,” if you hear an orchestra that's because we recorded an orchestra, and flutes because we recorded flutes, et cetera. There's never fake strings, or whatever.

Talking toward the Grammy side of things, do you remember where you were when you heard it [“Journey”] was a nominated piece?
What happened was I knew
they were going to be announcing that night, December 5, and I knew that “Journey” had been submitted, so I knew it was theoretically possible. But I also knew there was several hundred other submissions and that obviously no game had ever been nominated before. I wasn't exactly holding my breath but I was eagerly awaiting to see the results just so I could know one way or the other.
The website was not updating, and I was sitting there stalling forever – it's like when a little kid is trying to fall asleep before Christmas where no force on Earth makes time move faster – and so I decided “you know what, screw it, I'm going to go home” (I was at my studio).
The moment I got in my car, I got an email that said, “CONGRATULATIONS” from Christopher Tin; who is a very good friend of mine and is also actually a two-time Grammy winner, for an album that he did which featured a piece of music we was rerecording, but had originally composed it for a video game. He has the distinction of being the first person to have won a Grammy and been nominated for music that had its origins from a video game. That was kind of the first real milestone, that was two years ago, and the next step was nominating a game score.
It was beautifully appropriate that by total chance he happened to spot the nominations; and ironically it had been five seconds after I left my office and decided maybe it would be a good while before they actually update it [the site]. So I called him and said, “Is this real? For sure?” And he said, “I'm looking at the website, you're absolutely in there,” and then of course we both realized the appropriateness and kind of symbolic beauty of the fact that he was the one that broke the news: the sort of Grammy trailblazer that had come before me. We celebrated that. It was an awesome moment. He was already somebody that I already thought of as a good friend and really admire his work and was really thrilled when he won the Grammy; so I couldn't have thought of a better person to hear it from.

Yeah, that's a pretty cool coincidence. How does it feel to be among that small selection? I saw the list, and there's some pretty big names up there.
Honestly, I don't even...I don't know how to answer that. It's been over a month now and it's still so surreal that I'll catch myself in the moment thinking about it and then realizing “Holy crap, it happened, didn't it?” because it just seems like something I got used to people telling me about, but which somehow isn't actually true. Something like that. And then I have these moments: I was conducting in Video Games Live in Texas this past weekend [January 5] and they brought me out on stage saying, “Help me welcome onto the stage, Grammy nominee...” and I knew these words, like I have this knee-jerk reaction, this very gut-instinct way to think, “he's not talking about me.” I don't honestly have some flashy answer to “how does it feel?” that sounds like, “Oh, it's amazing! It's the highest high I've ever felt!” it's just kind of quiet silence of disbelief.

[Courtesy of Austin Wintory]

How are you aiming to spend the night of the awards ceremony?
You know I'll be there, and whatever happens, happens. Head down with my wife and and enjoy it. You know, the Grammy [ceremony] is sort of two different awards: there's the pre-telecast award ceremony in which my category will be revealed and which most categories are revealed because there's 81 categories, and they only televise about 20 of those. There's a ton of Grammys they give out before the actual televised part even starts, before anybody watches the Grammys I will already know if I won or not. So then the rest of the night we'll be sitting in our seats, watching all these artists perform, and pretty much just hanging out. It'll be very low-key by the time anyone tunes in, for us.

And you'd recommend going to the [Grammy] website or your Twitter?
Oh, yeah. Needless to say, if I win I will not keep it secret. I'm sure the Grammy website will – during the nominations they had a live blog that was announcing the nominees. I would still do the same, although I don't actually know, but certainly they'll be posted at some point. Probably the fastest would be my Twitter feed. Nothing will stop me from tweeting that.

Do you think video game scores are going to be more of a trend of entering the awards more often?
I think they're fairly worthy of it, I hope they are. I think they will eventually, for example, if next year there's another game score that's nominated then it'll be great but honestly, who knows? They've already been eligible for 10 years, and it didn't happen before now, which is astonishing to me because there's been a lot of great, fantastic scores in the last 10 years. I certainly hope so; wouldn't have any idea how to predict it.

It's kind of how the games are received and the score how it matches?
There's so many unknowns. I mean the majority of games that will be eligible for next the Grammys haven't even come out yet. Nobody even knows what they'll be. It could be that this week something comes out that's an absolute masterpiece. It certainly helps a score gain traction if the game itself is a hit, but I do think that designers and also game audio professionals are pretty savvy, and I see games that aren't necessarily very big sellers and very popular get singled out for their art direction and music pretty often. It's less hit-driven than films, I think, which is pretty hit-driven. Couldn't imagine, even films, within the soundtrack community you see unknown films with champion scores on a pretty regular basis.

What is on the horizon for you? I know you're working on “The Banner Saga,” is there anything that you can see, or is that all you can see so far?
I have a few other projects I'm signed onto as well, a couple of them are unannounced so I can't say what titles they are. I'm also finishing up the preparations for the release of “Monaco,” which is a pretty great Indie-game that is coming out very soon, and right now I'm actually scoring the remake of “Leisure Suit Larry,” which is quite fun; it's the stylistic opposite of everything in “Journey,” which is exactly why I was excited to score it was to do something totally new. I'm not sure what the release date is on that, but it will be some time in the first half of the year, for sure. I also have confirmations and new films as well I'm working on.

Sounds like a very exciting year coming up, starting in the next few weeks with the awards.
Yeah, I feel very lucky. I have a lot of projects and a lot of exciting things, and the “awards season” as it were has been extremely generous and just kind of baffling at every step. Both for “Journey's” music and for the game itself it's won a lot of “Game of the Year” awards. It's just one kind of big, blurry, crazy, but kind of humbling experience.

What words of advice do you have for people who want to become composers, or just creative, in general?
I have no advice for anyone pursuing a creative path. People do that because they have to. People are composers or artist or filmmakers or writers or photographers or cinematographers because they don't know how to not do those things, they feel not themselves when they aren't doing them. To me, if someone is asking if they should become a composer, then I would say, “Well, if you have to ask that, you know, maybe no.” I feel that very few aspiring composers would ever ask that question, so the actual question becomes “How do I go and actually get work and become a working professional?”
Specifically, in the world of games, there sort of is an existing infrastructure to get your feet on the ground. First off, everyone should be a member of the “Game Audio Network Guild” (AudioGang.org), which is a wonderful organization that provides information and creates a network that unifies all the composers, makes everyone very accessible to one another, at all levels of the industry. “Gang” hosts events and seminars, and so that's a really wonderful thing. Similarly, primarily for composers living in Los Angeles – or New York, but has value really anywhere – is the “Society of Composers and Lyricists” (TheSCL.com). These are just great resources of information.
In a more fundamental sense, I think the number one mistake that composers when they first get started make is they think that some catalyst will make people come to them. Some people think that, “If I can just get an agent, or a manager, then all this work will start coming to me;” and other people think, “If I just go to XYZ school and get this super expensive degree, work is just going to come to me;” or, “fill in the blank,” whatever they do, they are doing it because they think it will translate into being a working person. Those are totally incorrect theories.
The reason to go to school is to learn, not to just foster this delusion that some game development students are just going to discover you that way. You have to make yourself known to others, always. The only advice I can really give to people is, “Don't limit your creativity to the creative task you think you are doing.” In the case of a composer, don't limit your creativity to composing, you should be applying your creativity to every single aspect in your life; including, and probably foremost, finding work. A lot of people think, “I'm going to spend all this time really honing my creative chops, and pushing the boundaries of my imagination, but then when it comes to getting a job, I'm just going to fill out some bland resume résumé as if I was applying for a job at Walmart, and then just see what comes my way.”
No, no. Be innovative and creative in your job search itself, not just in the music that you want to write for that job, think outside the box. In this modern, internet-driven world, there's no limitation to ways to get yourself in front of people. I think people need to basically hone their creativity in every aspect of their lives. I think they'll find that that has a pretty powerful effect on everything that they're doing: in their relationships, in their music, and in their career path.

Don't forget to tune in to Austin's Twitter feed the night of the Grammys, Sunday, February 10.

Teaser: Jared Pelletier's "Omega"

2012-12-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

The new year is looking grim, but in an excellent way.

I was given a sneak-peek at a new project by director Jared Pelletier and his usual teammate, director of photography Erik Tallek. While their last public project, "Halo: Faith" unfortunately hit a brick wall, the upcoming "Omega" looks to be taking off without a hitch.

[The ships may hint at "WWII," but this title card yells "Sci-fi"]

The short teaser was perfectly edited and crafted to spark curiosity and wanting more. There's brief glimpses of troops in action, explosions, a possible spacecraft, and it doesn't look like we're exactly winning. All of this was perfectly overlaid with an instrumental soundtrack and audioclip of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech that really gives a sense of dread. It all mixes so beautifully, and I still get goosebumps watching it.

The special and visual effects blend well together in these very short cuts. There seems to be a very good balance of practical effects, with the post-production when necessary and to add an extra umph for a scene. Even if the ships and airplanes stand out as more post-production, they are still very visually striking and grabs my interest right away. It's very encouraging to see this level of effects being marketed and released on YouTube--a venue that hasn't always been viewed as "legitimate" by more of the general media.

I see suggestions of WWII craft, with a tiny hint of "Prawnware" as seen in Neill Blomkamp's "District 9." The story may be a nation-on-nation battle, but the sci-fi title card and more alien-looking spaceship (immediately below) hints at more intergalactic-war.

"Omega" is a series that will air on YouTube through Machinima Prime, probably early in the coming year (so go subscribe), and I can't wait to get the notifications for it in my feed. I'm going to keep an eye on this, so stay tuned in the coming weeks!

Romans, Stormtroopers, & Binarpilot--Oh my!

2012-12-22T01:48:00.001-08:00

Just came across a pretty awesome video of Norwegian musician Binärpilot (and Elektronaut) playing a show in Oslo, Norway--specifically at Månefisken. It's from back in September, but was just uploaded this week.
Those lucky people got to hear "Songs from Alan Turing" before a lot of the world, even some of his more devoted fans.

[Spoiler alert: Stormtroopers join in at 52 minutes]

Because I'm pretty nerdy, and a big fan, I wrote out the song playlist as I watched / listened to the whole set.

Pageantry - Songs for Alan Turing
ITAPPMONROBOT - Songs for Alan Turing
aXXo - Nordland
aXXo (Just Starship Proper Scene Remix by Elektronaut) - unreleased
Underground - Nordland
Tjære For Alltid - Nordland
Bend (Bounce Mix) - Unreleased (original off of You Can't Stop Da Funk)
Forte Da Funk - Nordland
Tokyomatrix 3000 - Robot Wars
Smile - Robot Wars
Geeks - Nordland
Robot Wars - You Can't Stop Da Funk
Fett's Vette - McChris (Binärpilot remix) - unreleased
Dance - unreleased
Røykmaskin - Nordland
Tetris Theme (Binärpilot remix) - Bonus track on Nordland
Project Wildfire - Robot Wars

P4A: Aftermath

2012-12-21T23:21:00.001-08:00

GOOD JOB, INTERNET!

This week, thousands of awesome people came together, to raise awareness and funds for charities online. Laughs were had, jokes were made, videos were watched, and tears were shed--all in the name of decreasing worldsuck, and coming together as a global community (mainly via the Internet, but a few of us saw each other IRL).

More than $483,000 were contributed straight to the Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck; and will be split between five charities in the coming week. The IndieGoGo campaign branch raised $397,200 of those funds, with a variety of perks as incentives. Crunching the numbers, the IndieGoGo portion raised 82% of the overall funds, with the average donation being just short of $26.

Some perks included a song about Hank Green's face ($5), a collection of unpublished works by John Green ($25), the Men of YouTube Calendar 2013 ($30), Wil Wheaton bottlecap necklaces ($50), and even Wil Wheaton's "signed and ruined and saved" trading card ($500, and gone within 10 minutes).

It was a completely fantastic event to be a part of, and I was in smiles pretty much the whole time. I didn't make a video, but I still watched, commented, and voted like crazy--all the while, I worked two full shifts at my library while it was all happening. My evenings consisted of watching the livestream, laughing, watching vids, donating here and there, and obsessively pressing F5. Oh, and I even had a dream...about watching the livestream...

I highly encourage people that are curious to go check out the P4A website, check out some of the charity videos, and even going as far as donating (time and / or money) to charities. Heck, maybe even joining in the fun next December 17-18 (Tuesday and Wednesday). I'm sure John and / or Hank will make an aftermath video--which I will link to here in the future~~--but for now I beat them to it.~~

Below is a playlist of my favorite 5 P4A videos (in no order). Here is a link to ALL the livestreams.

And a jumble of some of my favorite moments I witnessed.

Livestream fun!
Recurrence of John Green's sharpieface.
Lower thirds.
Hank Green wearing his wife's clothes. ($250k)
Wil Wheaton's ruined / saved trading card gone in 5 minutes.
Homemade Irish cream, biscottis, and...
#Vandaleyes
Wil Wheaton's googley-eyed face. ($293k)
Hannah Hart's mustache and goatee. ($300k)
Homestar Runner reminiscing. ($303k)
"P4A" trending on Google+, and then the feed died.
Wil teaching Hank how to tab and hotkey the Internets; and then Google+ praising ($306k)
"Look at Hank's face."
Lower thirds with Ethan Newberry
Michael Aranda's Reddit glasses ($394k)
"Octopodes"
Joe's legs
Hank's Ke$ha cover ($405k)
Massive livestream invite
Vegetarianism, writing with bees, and DFTBMSR ($418k)
Michael Aranda's Epic lower third ($420k)
Using the CATCHA system against itself for charity!
Bobby, the Comment Driver!
P4A livestream dreams.
John Green's partypoppers.
All the best wishes, DFTBAs, and spreading of positivity.

Project for Awesome link dump

2012-12-17T09:03:00.002-08:00

Today is the day! It is just after 9 a.m. Pacific Time (noon Eastern), and that means the YouTube-based (and Internet-centric) day of charity fundraising is officially started! Overall, the Project for Awesome has been rather sneaky this year, accumulating almost $100,000 before even officially starting.

Over the next two days, I'll be posting links and videos to my favorite P4A-related things, so follow along if you'd like.

Monday, Dec. 17

9:00 a.m.
The IndieGoGo P4A campaign page has some fun perks for donating, including a packet of author John Green's works on pdf ($20), and the Men of YouTube 2013 Calendar ($30).

9:08 a.m. - Video dump!
Below is an embedded playlist I'm creating of my personal favorite P4A 2012 charity videos.
Don't forget to go vote on your favorites!
The playlist includes:

John Green - Save the Children
Charlie McDonnell - The Alzheimer's Society
Middle Women Project
& more!

P4A Livestream! (That should be live throughout the event)

9:32 a.m. - $100,000+!
It has come to my attention that the main hub of P4A has reached over $100,000! The IndieGoGo campaign is currently at $79,148!

12:33 p.m. - IndieGoGo $100,000+!
Sometime in the last two hours (while I was at work), the IndieGoGo campaign crossed the $100,000 goal line! The P4A hub total is also now $196,956!!
Go Nerdfighters, go!
(Okay, a few quick vids, then back to manning the library desk.)

12:48 p.m. - AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
The total has broken $200k!! (No time for screencaps).
$200,035.00!

8:00 p.m.
Been caught up watching the livestream--forever link: http://dft.ba/p4alive
Keep forgetting to update.
IndieGoGo: $210,157
P4A total: $285,458

Project for Awesome Eve!

2012-12-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

[Click image for the P4A website]

It's the eve before Project for Awesome, and I am so excited! Instead of writing a review of last night's "Classic Christmas" in Seattle, I've been browsing P4A-related pages, preparing for tomorrow. (I am working on that review, just not as full-heartedly--it'll get posted soon!).

If you are confused at what is happening, my other post may help.

This year, the Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck is using a flexible IndieGoGo campaign to raise money for charities. The campaign's goal is $100,000 by Thursday, December 20. This campaign can still collect on the pledges, even if it doesn't hit the 100k mark by Thursday--which is seeming very unlikely, as tomorrow is the full-on fundraising and awareness day, and there is already $~~50,838~~ $55,548 pledged.

(It blows my mind that the campaign has raised more than $55,000 in the first day, and it's not even the main fundraising day).

You can go to the IndieGoGo campaign page to see some of the awesome reward tiers (for those that donate and want to have a gift in return). My two favorites at the moment are the John Green eBooks for $20, and the Men of YouTube Calendar 2013 for $30.

Be sure to keep an eye out for P4A-related videos and links all around the internets, most notably the P4A mainpage, the IndieGoGo campaign page, Twitter, the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel, and on this blog as well--where I'll be sharing videos and links that catch my eye tomorrow.

In my P4A Eve madness I went through and rewatched old Vlogbrother videos, post-P4A, to find the scope of this event over the years:

2007* - More than 300 charities were donated to.
2009* - "#p4a" out- "Avatar" on Twitter during the Project's 48 hours. More than 2,000 videos were uploaded, on which over 1,000,000 comments were made, and the combined time of favoriting, liking, and commenting the videos equaled more than 3 years' time.
2010* - More than 600,000 comments and 10,000,000 views on more than 3,000 charity videos--more than 40 hours of charity vids! $130,000 was raised in 48 hours, $100,000 of which was small donations.
2011* ** - More than $75,000 raised through the main project, with Alex Day giving proceeds from his "Forever Yours" single ($15,000) to the Project as well. In total, more than $100,000 raised. The Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck split their funds between five charities, each receiving $14,269.22:

KIND (Kids In Need of Desks)
Kiva.org
Harry Potter Alliance
Water.org
This Star Won't Go Out Foundation

Happy Decrease Worldsuck Day, and DFTBA!

Project For Awesome 2012 - Intro

2012-12-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

This December 17 will mark the start of the 6th Annual "Project for Awesome," a charity event based on YouTube. The goal of this event is to raise awareness and funds for charities all over the world. Videos about peoples' favorite charities are submitted on the 17th, and then an army of participants view, comment, and share the videos to spread awareness. Anyone can submit a video for any charity, and join in on the action--all of which brings more attention and awareness.

[You can click for larger image*]

"Project for Awesome," or "P4A" as it is commonly known, was founded in 2007 by John and Hank Green. Then, as now, the Greens enlist help from viewers of their YouTube channel, "Vlogbrothers"--these viewers are nicknamed "nerdfighers:" nerds who fight for awesome. As an extension of the nerdfighter community, P4A aims to "decrease world suck." Below is this year's P4A announcement video:

As part of the nerdfighter community, I have participated in P4A for the last three years, each time getting more and more involved. What started as just watching a few videos has grown to include sharing, commenting, promoting, and donating to charities. Last year, I stayed up until 4 a.m. watching livestreams by some of my favorite YouTube stars doing P4A. It's a great community effort for a good cause.

This year, I'm getting this page involved.
On Monday (the 17th), I will post and update a list of my favorite P4A videos, and any relevant links to livestreams or raffles I enjoy. I encourage people to comment with their favorite videos, and to spread them around as well!

In the meantime, here are several places for P4A news and info.
Main website
Tumblr
YouTube
Facebook

John also released a new video today explaining the funds-side of P4A and the Nerdfighteria community--the Foundation to Decrease World Suck.
It's relevant, so it's here as well.

Also, the other five announcement videos are below, just in case you were curious.

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

*P4A image used above was recreated by me (but not originally by me), because I couldn't find any high-res versions on the official website (yet). Trace from smaller version through Inkscape.

Songs for Alan Turing, Chapter 1

2012-10-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

A little over two years ago, the Norwegian musician, Binärpilot released the full-length album, Nordland. It was released digitally for free, and for the first time, a hardcopy was available to buy and hold and cherish. Since then, Binärpilot has released B-Sides, a compilation of songs that didn't make it to previous albums--all the while promising new material.

As of now, that new material is going live (as is the new intro to the website, as seen below).

Binärpilot has always made his music on the side--a hobby with results anyone can enjoy--but that sometimes means updates are a little slow in coming. As a reprieve to the fans (and a self-motivation tactic), he is slowly releasing this new album, "Songs for Alan Turing," one chapter at a time.

The new album is reportedly going to be released in three chapters, with three songs each. The final product will be all of the compiled songs, additional transition songs, and will be available as a free download, and as a (not-as-free) hardcopy release, similar to "Nordland."

Songs for Alan Turing: Chapter 1

Sanzhi District
ITAPPMONROBOT
Pageantry

It was previously hinted that this release was going to be a bit darker than past ones, and so far Binärpilot is delivering in that regard. The opening of Sanzhi District sounds very big and lonesome, like the notes are echoing in a large space, quickly jumping into an airy synth progression into the lyrics. Of course, there is the signature Binärpilot-voice singing them. The song flows back and forth between different "moods," but ultimately ties together really well.
(I think one of my favorite parts of this song, is this is what Sanzhi is usally known for. Very fitting for a robot making music).

ITAPPMONROBOT is based off of a somewhat sad story about technology, and the unseen effects of the corners we cut. In case you didn't follow the link and read the story, it's about a computer whose only job was to restart another computer.
The song itself opens with a familiar sound that seems to stem from "Nordland" (Hint: Tjære for Alltid), and then falls into an almost marching beat overlaid with ITAPPMONROBOT's monologue to the computer "he" resets. I was very happy when I noticed that around the 2- and 4-minute marks was the sound of a heart monitor--further implying the 2-minute cycle of the computer ITAPPMONROBOT is watching over.

Pageantry goes through quite the transition in just under three minutes. It opens with happy, bouncy beats, and some modulated lyrics, but just after the minute-mark the song turns a bit darker. The whole song is very easy to dance to, and bob your head as you walk. I feel like a music video could be made very easily using a mix of clips from the different pageant shows on TLC, but with a darker twist, of course.

This release may be a little short, but is still a solid release. I am perpetually conflicted as to which song is my favorite, as it is constantly changing each time I listen through them. It is a great gem that should hold fans over for a bit while Chapter 2 is in the works. There is something very Binärpilot-y in this release; from the "ghostly" sounds in ITAPPMONROBOT, to the modulated voices throughout, and even some beats and tempos that sound like older work. The addition of lyrics (and really good ones, at that), opens up a whole new level for Binärpilot to flourish on.

With this first step, Binärpilot is showing that "Songs for Alan Turing" as a whole will be a beautifully dark and well-rounded experience of his work; a collection of the old and the new, while still keeping every second sound incredibly new.
Now, to wait for the other two chapters to see how the rest of it ties together.

Whisperings:
Length: 11:15
Price: FREE
Enjoyability: Can't. Stop. Moving.
Type: Chiptunes. Synthy. Darker. Robo-music.
Medium: Electronic Download
Artwork: N / A (Sven Ruthner is expected to do album art for full release)

Faster Than Light, FTW

2012-09-15T09:59:00.002-07:00

On my first Kickstarter splurge earlier this year, I stumbled across this gem of a game, FTL: Faster Than Light. The team that created the game--Subset Games--comprised of Matthew Davis and Justin Ma, describes FTL as a "spaceship simulation, roguelike-like" game. (Characterized by permadeath of characters and random level layout). It is also noteworthy that Ben Prunty and Tom Jubert worked on the music / sound effects and writing, respectively.

As a very general overview, this is a deep-space exploration strategy game.

[Man, that fleet sure does look ominous...that's our fleet...right?...]

The premise of the game is you're in control of a craft, fleeing the Rebel fleet with leaked information on how to defeat them. As you flee from the oncoming fleet, you jump through sectors, hop-skipping through nebulae, weaving around asteroid fields, and flirting with solar flares. You can stumble across a wrecked ship, gain a crew member, fight pirates, trade for goods, get stranded without fuel, and even have your pilot carried off by space-cow-spiders. Yes, this is the modern, deepspace-equivalent of Oregon Trail.

The gameplay is very simple, and yet can be astoundingly complex at times. One hand hand you're essentially moving across a space-themed gameboard, jump by jump. As you take more jumps, you realize you're being "chased" by the oncoming Rebel fleet. They move slower than you, but if you're not careful on how you manage your jumps, you could get trapped very easily. Or worse yet, stranded and waiting for them to catch you.

Okay, now the other hand, battles (some of which you can see in the video above).
During battles you control your ship's crew, its energy, and weapons. With a flurry of commands, you can direct crew to repair breaches in the hull, power up the shields, fight off boarders, open airlocks to extinguish fires, aim lasers at your enemy's shieldroom, and yes, even redirect all power from your oxygen chamber to your engines, just so you can escape. Or fire one more missile...And yes, I have done both.

Also, the creators in their wisdom and fairness have graciously allowed players to pause whenever you want or need to, and you can still select and direct things in the pause. Such a relief! Even while paused, you stay connected with the game, even getting up to move around and do chores, you're thinking about this game!

Everything, from the simple but effective music, to the throw-back-nostalgia graphics, to the sometimes quirky event notices, just sucks you in. The first time I warped into a silent nebula, and found no one for three jumps, I was getting creeped out. Just little things like the event dialog mentioning your crew checking the windows for signs of life...Talk about atmosphere and mood! [Also, not to take away from Prunty's awesome soundtrack, but I also enjoy listening to Binärpilot while playing this game].

A lot of the actions you take in this game, aren't shown. A lot of the game events that happen are just dialog boxes, and if you pay attention to how the lasers and missiles fly across the screen during a battle, you realize it doesn't add up. I like to think of this as the ships are actively moving around each other (you wouldn't just sit in one place and take a few volleys of lasers) and so you as a player have to imagine a lot of the things--which I am all for.

Loosely connected to that: there is very little plot, as written by Subset Games, in FTL. But this game doesn't need it. Each player essentially writes their own story, which is created in tandem with the game's randomly generated sectors and events. You become attached to your crew, who can die by fires, in fights with boarders, or when you fail to remember to boot up the medlab after a really nasty fight in front of a solar flare...And when they die, you feel responsible.

[Or when the ship gets ripped apart...]

Also, you come up with stories for the scenarios you've been through. Like after you've just defeated a ship and extinguished all the fires and fixed all the breaches, you just wanna sit back and talk into your "Captain's Log" about the epic battle your crew just survived.

In fact, the hashtag FTLStories has been used on Twitter, there's a section for them on FTL's forum, and I even wrote about one of my playthroughs, beginning to end. Although, it's just as easy to write your own logs to a personal blog or to the forum, it would be kind of cool to see an in-game option to take note of what's going on and share it with people.

Edit (9/18/12): There is an awesome collection of other reviews, stories, videos, and survival guides compiled on this page (which was originally a fan-made FTL countdown). Enjoy!

Every time you play, you can handle it differently. You can be a courageous, pirate-fighting captain, or a sneaky, shoot-at-everyone opportunist--however you want to play through! Every time I play, I am constantly reminded of Firefly, Star Wars, and Star Trek, and just love the sense of nostalgia involved.

This indie game has done exceptionally well for itself, from the get-go. Even though the Kickstarter campaign asked for $10,000, the project garnished tons of support, and walked away with $200,542 in a little more than a month's time. I stumbled across this game at the tail end of the fundraising, but kicked in enough money to get hands on the beta version. And let me tell you, this game is addicting! During that first weekend, I had amassed something like 28 hours in two-days' time.

It was openly released on September 14, and is available for Mac, PC, and Linux. It can be bought on Steam for $10, and for this first week only (to Sept. 21), there is a 10% Launch Discount. If you don't feel like spending that money (which is essentially a sandwich and coffee, nowadays), you can peruse all the FTL gameplay footage on YouTube. For one, I feel the $10 is a great price, plus, I know I skipped a meal or two playing this game, so the finances balanced out, anyway.

Seriously, check out this indie project that aimed for the stars, whizzed by them, and keeps drifting, going where no man--oh, you get the point!

Faster Than Light: Captain's Log

2012-09-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

If you're really confused, this is the "narrated" version of a game of FTL I played. The review should be linked here.

[Similar class ship as mentioned below, different characters]

Starting Crew (all human):
Lombard (Pilot)
Bovee (Mechanic, Engines)
Baars (Mechanic, Shields)

Class type:
Kestrel

Gunned ourselves to the end of the zone with little incident, collecting scrap as we went. Near the end of zone, jumped around a bit, looking for new ventures, and then ran into Rebel forces at the exit beacon. Fought them off, after sustaining significant damages (8/30 hull), and ran to the Engi system.

There we were welcomed by a Mantis ship. Dashed headlong into it, lacking missiles. Barely escaped with (3/30 hull). Skipped through a few nodes, skirted an automated ship, and full healed. Topped off of fuel, missiles, the like at a trading post. Feeling good, we continuously aided civilian ships, from pirates and Rebel scouts. We even received full patch repairs in return, once. Trying to make the most of the place, we warped to a distress signal, and was caught in front of a flaring sun, in a battle. The opponent surrendered, but their succumbed to the flames, regardless. Our own ship was hit by several solar flares, narrowly making it out after flushing almost 90% of the oxygen to fight the fires. Pilot Lombard passed in the chaos. Bovee's history allowed him to pilot the ship well, and so he was promoted. Somberly, we jumped into a Civilian zone, with Rebels hot on our tails.

Upon finding a slaver ship, we attacked it, heartily, and they surrendered to our hammering justice. Rather than destroy the ship and lose all the lives on board, we took on another crew member, Declan, of the Rock species. He is an equal member of the crew, no longer a slave. His fire-resistance proved excellent for a mechanic, and he chose Shields engineer as his position.

After encountering a pirate vessel blockading a planet, we fought it. One of the pirates came on board, but the combination of the new blast doors and Declan kept them at bay until their ship was burned.

We came across a Federation ship being plundered, after defeating the pirates, we boarded the damaged Federation ship ourselves. Due to the previous battle, only one survivor was found in the wreckage, Junpeng, a Mantis. She signed up with us, and helped dismantle her old ship for parts. She had an affinity for Declan, and stayed with him in the Shield room. Running from the Rebels, we jumped into Mantis territory.

The Mantis territory proved deadly. Our first jump landed us in front of a solar flare, and pirates warped onto our ship from their burning husk. We would've saved them, regardless, but the hostilities were met with equal fervor. After the fires died down, we were attacked by a well-shielded Rebel ship.

We attempted to help fight a run-away, planetary defense system. Limped away with half our hull intact. From this we warped in front of another flaring star. The Mantis fighter boarded us with two Mantids, and proceeded to mess with our weapons. Unable to shoot them out of the burning sky, we had to hope our shields kept their missiles at bay while we extinguished the flare-sparked fires. Baars was killed by a missile as it ripped through the weapon's room. The ship ripped itself apart after another barrage of solar waves and Mantid missiles.

All crew lost.
Score 1221.

You can find similar stories with the Twitterhashtag FTLStories.

Getting lost in the 'Valley of Headless Men'

2012-08-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

I have to give credit to finding this band to my friend, Amanda. It was her idea to go to a coffeeshop at my college after a game of HvZ--the resulting discovery of a show by Ravenna Woods can be found here.
I'm tempted to say that it is the Best Discovery of 2012. Except it's still four months premature to say such a thing, and there are maybe two other bands I can say the same of.

[Slightly creepy album cover, but I guess they
could've gone the 'headless men' route]

Valley Of The Headless Men

Dark Fields
We Want IT All
Graves
Tides
World Of Color
West
Headless Men
One Fall

When I saw Ravenna Woods live, I made no hesitation to buy the album. It was a clean $10 at the merch table, and i have no qualms about it. Even by iTunes' standard of $1 per song, that's another $2 for a hardcopy print and for a local band--no "wasted money" in my book. Of course, there was a gamble involved, because sometimes bands that are fantastic live and have great energy, sometimes that energy and sound doesn't always translate well into a recording. (The inverse, a band sounding great on an album, and crap live, is also possible). In this case, Ravenna Woods is great in both positions.

In both the live event I witnessed, and in the album recording, Ravenna Woods' drawn-out vocals and acoustic sound is addicting and haunting. It is surprisingly easy to sing along with the lyrics and chants once you know them. I've caught myself singing them while walking for no reason, so do be wary if you don't like singing in public. From Dark Fields to One Fall, it is totally captivating; mixing claps, random yelps, hypnotic drumming, complicated strumming and plucking, and the occasional toy piano thrown in for good measure.

My favorite songs (for tonight) include Graves for its complicated and jumpy strumming; World Of Color for its haunting vocals and use of strings; and One Fall for the unnervingly calm and sad sounding end to the album. Of course, every time I go through, I have a different set of favorites, which I absolutely love. It doesn't get boring for me.

This album is incredibly easy to listen to as background music, which I've found out even more while trying to write this review. Previously I had discovered it was awesome for long, scenic drives; playing Minecraft for hours, and getting lost in the woods. While attempting to finish this review tonight, I got waylaid by the album's sound and just kept surfing the web.

On the band's Bandcamp for this album, you can go listen to a few of the tracks to see what you think of it.

Whisperings:
Length: (30:02)
Price: Download $10
Enjoyability: Oh yes!
Type: Soft, acoustic, adventurous
Medium: Digital and hardcopy
Artwork: N / A

'Epigram' is a brief treasure

2012-08-16T17:22:00.002-07:00

Two things: Kate Laster, poetic comic artist and far-flung friend, has done it again; and I have dropped the ball. Laster, the creator of the amazingly-mysterious characters Deadcat and Gonercat, keeps evolving her art and narrative styles in her newest release titled Epigram.

[It may be called Epigram, but Deadcat still makes an appearance]

Her previous comics were the first and second volumes of the Deadcat series. As noted in my review, Deadcat Vol. II evolved to be a collection of stories, with the Deadcat plot taking more of a backseat. In Epigram, Laster further extends this idea, and has made a full-on zine devoted to experimenting with art and narrative.

Early on, we read that this is devoted to her grandmother, who was a source of inspiration, courage, and passion growing up. Most telling is when Laster mentions she "was the person who put Calvin and Hobbes in my hands." The 45 pages following this quote is chock-full of the results of this seemingly, mundane action.

In the introduction, Laster describes the meaning of Epigram, and what this little collection means to her, and prepares the reader for the creative chaos when she mentions "I love exploring blank pages until they are full." Which she goes on to show us in full detail. Once again flourishing the art with full-color (and a thick, glossy cover), Laster plays with how a story is brought to the reader on the pages.

Included in this magical menagerie are the vignettes "Reynard and the Kraken," "Anya's Overnight," "The Man with a Hole in His Head," and an untitled peek at the whereabouts of Deadcat and Gonercat. Each of these stories certainly does its job of exploring how a story could be told: in brushstrokes, full pages, blank space, and very brief narratives.

Despite the brevity of it all, there is still magic in these little stories. Just as "Americano" and "Ned" hooked me in Vol. II, little hospitalized Anya and "Hole-in-His-Head Nil" have me itching for more. It is very easy to see each of these as a springboard into longer stories. (I'm beginning to feel as though Laster is seeding all of these loveable characters and gaining a following, to later reward all of her slowly-earned fans with a multitude of stories. One can only hope). I am very happy with the new zine direction that has been taken. If you're a fan of handcrafted items, a sense of mystery, and finding little gems of awesomeness, I suggest looking into Laster's works.

The style in Epigram definitely isn't for everyone, and many people might pick it up and miss the point--but, if you happen to pick it up and like it, I would bet good money it won't leave you for a long time (and you'd consequently wait anxiously for the newest release). Speaking of release, this current volume came out in May, and between college,moving back home and working, this review regrettably fell between the cracks.

As a reprieve, here are two fanarts of Deadcat and Gonercat, related to my summer jobs. Oh, and I have a good friend who will poke me (virtually, and literally in the ribs) when I slack off like this in the future.

[Library assistant]

[Newspaper reporter]

Sidius Nova: Kickstarter-Kickoff

2012-08-14T09:46:00.001-07:00

Imagine a god-like sentient being that feeds from whole, burning stars just to survive. Imagine the sheer awesomeness of such a creature and the near-limitless abilities it would possess over the universe. Now imagine how bored it must be, with all that power...

What if that creature happened to enjoy watching things burn, and what it would mean to space-faring civilizations that came across its path...

That is Sidius Nova.

[To the Kickstarter campaign]

Under the radar, game coder Stefan Schmitt and artist Ben Jelter have been working and co-designing this exciting new project: Sidius Nova, an iOS-based (mobile), deep-space strategy game.

Gameplay revolves around two types: resource collecting and battles with rival space-faring civilizations. Players use strategy to explore space, mine resources, create fleets, and protect their motherships during battle. Below is a teaser of what is to be expected.

[Sampling of the gameplay and music -- Courtesy of Sidius Nova]

After meeting-up in San Fransisco a few months ago, Jelter joined Scmitt--who had been building this game the months prior--and they've been getting this game ready for the public. Both have acted as designers for the game. Joining them are Matt Collins for music, and Eric Scwartz with sound effects.

[A look at the map-side of game play...]

[...and the battle-side of the game -- Courtesy of Sidius Nova]

This week, there is big news for Sidius Nova--as spoiled way earlier--as of last night the Kickstarter campaign is now active! The campaign's goal is $3,000 and is open until 9 p.m. on September 9 (ALL the nines!). At the time of publishing this article, the campaign has been open for about 17 hours, and raised $421 between 25 backers. (That's about 14% funded in almost that many hours).

There are a total of 9 reward tiers for backers wishing to donate between $5 and $3,000. (Well, one could donate more than $3,000 if they really wanted to). The rewards range from a copy of the game, exclusive wallpapers, a PDF artbook, the soundtrack, beta-testing, T-shirt, ability to create your own ship, and even be a human character in-game (as well as a few unmentioned rewards). Oh, and did I mention most higher reward tiers include most of the tiers below them?! Cost effective, indeed.

For now, Schmitt and Jelter are aiming to get the iOS version (iPhone and iPod Touch) completed and ready to send out with the help of the Kickstarter campaign. "I actually have an Android phone," said Jelter. "So I can assure you that Android is also a top priority."

If the crew gets more funding than the campaign's goal, they also plan to create "a persistent universe where people can battle each other for control," explained Jelter. "we could keep adding more and more content like additional ships, races, and modes. I think that this will be a game that people will want to play for a long time."

Of course, this is all dependent on the response of the backers.

From just the few teasers I've seen, from gameplay to music, I am really stoked for this game, and I don't even own an iPhone (but I am definitely going to bum an iPod Touch for a bit from someone I know). I hope this also appeals to a lot of people that have the actual platform it will be on.

Please don't take my word for it, go visit the Kickstarter campaign, the Sidius Nova website, as well as follow them on Twitter (@SidiusNova) and Facebook. And if you're so inclined, share it with all of your friends!

The Classic Crime - Phoenix

2012-08-09T15:52:00.001-07:00

"Phoenix" is the Seattle band The Classic Crime's fourth, full-length album. One of the best parts about it is that it was completely funded by fans. In fact, it reached the campaign's goal within a day! Ever since I helped fund the campaign back in March, I've been waiting anxiously for this album to release. As part of the hype and momentum, the band also released teaser videos, and a previously-unreleased EP.

[Click the image for the release's Bandcamp page]

Phoenix

One Man Army (Intro)
You and Me Both
Young Again
Beautiful Darkside
Heaven and Hell
The Precipice
Let Me Die
Glass Houses
Dead Rose
Painted Dreams
What I'd Give Up
City of Orphans
I Will Wait (Outro)

This album is full of slow progressions in the songs; a majority of them don't shoot out of the gate with energy, but lets that energy slowly escalate into a nice climax. One Man Army, Beautiful Darkside, and Glass Houses are all great examples of this progression.

It is also full of crowd-friendly lyrics, the kind you can learn on the fly and sing along with at a show, as well as sing them at the top of your lungs. I was at the album release party this past weekend, and roughly half of the crowd had heard the new songs, and yet the majority of crowd were able to pick up the lyrics during the song. (You can find my coverage of the album's release show here).

The songs also have a habit of creeping into your mind; surfacing on your tongue or peaking out under your breath. This past week I've caught myself humming, whistling, and silently singing many songs countless time at work...which may or may not have created a few more fans at the library I work at.

[The band's 7-minute teaser, with song titles included]

I find it really hard to choose one favorite song on this album. In the 7-minute teaser (above), my ears instantly perked when I heard the chanting in Glass Houses, but on a few times listening through the album, it isn't always top of my list. It's the rare moments between listening to the album that the less apparent, "underdog favorites" surface: City of Orphans, Dead Rose, Heaven and Hell, and Young Again.

As a whole, Phoenix is just like every other album by The Classic Crime: a variety of songs with their own styles and sounds--from all-out rock to soft ballads--packaged nicely in under an hour. But, Phoenix also rises above that in its own regard.

Phoenix feels like it has a wider scope than any previous album by The Classic Crime. The fans that intimately know the previous releases of Vagabonds and The Silver Cord will appreciate the evolution in the band's sound. Overall, The Classic Crime has been pressing forward in new directions with every album, while still retaining that "Classic" core.

It's been a solid six year's since The Classic Crime's debut of Albatross, and comparing that first release to this one is very telling. Phoenix still rocks, but it is a more subtle, refined, and mature kind of rocking energy. Albatross is filled with an almost reckless, youthful abandon, while Phoenix carries on a more reserved kind of party--you don't realize you've been dancing and rocking out to it until your muscles are aching and your lungs are protesting.

I am currently writing this review while blasting the album on a sound system that is older than myself, and it feels completely appropriate. Phoenix kind of feels like that one cool uncle that has kids, but still likes to turn crank the music loud and have a good time listening to it.

This album doesn't release for another week (August 14), but it is still available to the awesome fans that either a), funded the Kickstarter; b), supposedly pre-order the album before Friday, August 9 (tomorrow, yikes!); or c), attend the KickstarTour shows over the next week.

However you get to listen to the album, I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised by what it holds. Those that helped fund the Kickstarter should be very proud at what they've helped release on the world. Give yourself a pat on the back, and turn up the volume.

And those anxiously waiting for the album's release; it is worth it!

Whisperings:
Length: 52:17
Price: $10
Enjoyability: SO FRIGGIN' MUCH!
Type: Indie rock, smooth
Medium: Digital and hardcopy
Album Art Direction and Design by Brad Filip

A Classic album release

2012-08-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

Friday night was the album release show for The Classic Crime, and their new album, "Phoenix." Of course, the event took place in Seattle--Showbox @ the Market, to be precise. Joining the band were the bands Amanda Hardy, Reach for the Sky, Truth Under Attack, and Moneta.

Not only was this the album release party, it was the start of the band's Kickstar-Tour, to thank all the fans that helped make this album a reality through the crowd-funding website, Kickstarter (more on that here).

[Shamelessly ripped from The Classic Crime's event page--

it's like scanning a poster that was previously stapled to a phone pole, right?]

I got off work on Friday a bit early so we had time to pick up my friend in Edmonds on our way down, and in case of any traffic snarls. We had plenty of time. At 6:30 p.m. we were waiting in line on Pike Street, and the doors opened close to 7:15. So yeah, no problems there this time. Of course, there was lots of standing around once we got in, but at least we were in and didn't have to worry about space / tickets selling out.

Amanda Hardy was the first band to play. My camera didn't want to cooperate with their lighting, so they didn't end up being post-worthy. They brought a good vibe to the start of the show. The attitude and stage presence of the bass player and (midriff-baring, female) singer caught everyone's attention and drove up the energy in the room. I liked the heavier feel to the music, as well.

Right after them was another heavier metal band, Reach for the Sky. They will forever remind me of the band Repave the Skies. Despite the name similarities, they have their distinct sounds in the same genre. There were some pretty good pits going on, although the singer kept trying to get the crowd even more energized, to little avail in his book. (It was the second set, of five, so I'm on the crowd's side of the conserving energy idea).

[Lead singer, Chelsy Hancock with her awesome Mickey-handgun shirt]

[Guitarist Nathaniel Zaborac, looking tired and rocking it]

[A peek at Stephen Gleason (Guitar, left), Chelsy, and Keegan Chapman (Bass, right)]

For Truth Under Attack, I stepped off of the wall and got closer into the crowd, because I really like them and wanted to be among the crowd more (and I hadn't seen them since April). As usual, the singer (Chelsy) was very energetic, and it came out well in her singing. They also did a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)." When Chelsy mentioned they were going to play a cover song, I thought it was going to be "Call Me Maybe" because she had sung it briefly during the warm ups. Next time, I guess. (I was secretly happy at the idea, because I--like many people--am secretly addicted to that song).

[The "Stronger" cover, more vids in a link below]

[Jordan Thompson (Singer) on left, Benjamin Brockman (Bass), and Kevin Hanaford (Guitar)]

Moneta was another energetic and smile-inducing band. To be honest, it's always the band before the headliner that my body and mind start to conserve energy. This sometimes means I space out and don't remember too much, which I feel really bad for, because the last time I saw them I was severely distracted (and I like their music!). Anyway, I was able to keep my focus and smile along to their songs and stage presence. I found it hilarious seeing Chelsy of Truth Under Attack dive into the crowd, and seeing her reappear on top of the crowd, looking like she had so much fun.

[The Classic Crime's set, before playing, showing off the album cover]

[Bassist Alan Clark (left), and singer / guitarist Matt MacDonald, singing away]

[Robbie "Cheeze" Negrin, guitarist, looking a little blue]

Of course, I had a lot of fun through the night, but I was really looking forward to seeing The Classic Crime live again. The last time I saw them was December of 2011, when they were giving guitarist Justin DuQue a great send off. So, I've been needing my Classic fix.

[First intro song, more are in a link down below]

They did not disappoint! They played a fantastic mix of songs from all of their albums, and changed things up on some classic songs. The most notable was a very slow and blues-y intro to The Coldest Heart. Before I could get my camera out, they jumped back into the energetic, full-rock version of the song. The new songs are really crowd-friendly (once the lyrics are more widely known), and they were a big hit with Seattle's crowd.

Of course, there was a shoutout to the Kickstarter campaign, and the fact that they funded this entire album by fans. When asked to raise their hands to show they were a contributor, it looked to be about a quarter of the audience helped fund this album. It was a great feeling knowing I helped make this happen (and slightly more awesome for knowing the lyrics to all the new-new songs, since I got the download early). Also, they played "Glass Houses," which many were looking forward to the live version for the "chant." All I have to say is that it was awesome, but it has potential to be SO much better once the crowds really know the song like they do with older ones. As a great surprise, Justin DuQue jumped on stage to play "The Fight" as the final encore song.

The whole night, there was this really cool sense of closeness and as if I was hanging with a bunch of friends. I think it helped that I could recognize the members of Truth Under Attack and The Classic Crime as they walked by in the crowd.

Also, if you're reading this and live along the Kickstar-Tour route, I have two things for you.
1, to go to the show closest to you.
2, to learn the songs ahead of time.

Here is the link to all of the videos from that evening, in a playlist.

Mega Man 3's modern soundtrack

2012-07-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

I've always been told not to "judge a book [or album] by its cover," but damn, this one for the band The Megas' newest release is just beautiful! I stumbled upon it on Bandcamp (after buying another release), and just had to listen. As a very big plus, the contents held within match the level of awesome this image portrays.

[Sleek, updated, nostalgic, and nerdy--all in one!]

For those that don't recognize the modern rendering, the blue image above is Megaman, the usually younger-looking hero to the Mega Man franchise. This particular album, History Repeating: Blue is the first of a planned two-part concept album, chronicling the storyline in Capcom's 1990 NES game Mega Man 3.

History Repeating: Blue

History Repeating Pt. 1
History Repeating Pt. 2 (One Last Time)
Steel Forged in Fate
Can't Stop the Top
Don't Mess with Magnetman
You've Sparked a War
Walk Away from Light
Gamma Unchained
(I Want to be The One) To Watch You Die
Continue

[For those that don't know, I'll sum up the story of Mega Man 3 -- In order to create everlasting peace, Megaman must travel to eight worlds and challenge eight robot master. From each master he claims a unit, hoping to get all eight that will activate this ultimate, peace-keeping robot called Gamma. Of course, there's also a villain behind the scenes.]

The album opens with the back-to-back songs that set up the story of this album: the main character (Megaman), is called into action to fight against robot masters once again. Part One is low-key and softer for the majority of the song, and then it ramps up into very energetic and more rock-like atmosphere into Part Two.

The second part is a very grand opening into the story that adds in the doubts of Megaman as he goes forward to fight the robot bosses. This goes into the very short "Steel Forged in Fate," which recalls sounds from the original game, and serves as a "game start" kind of interlude before the rest of the album.
The narrative then switches to four different enemies of Megaman that are found in the original game. (I'm guessing the other four robot masters appear during the second part of History Repeating).

"Can't Stop the Top" reveals that Top Man just wants to dance, and he's going to make you dance too. "Don't Mess with Magnetman" sets up that this robot master had a brief love affair with Megaman's sister Roll, and was affected by her breaking it off. To make matters worse, he now has to fight Megaman.

The brass intro to "You've Sparked a War" really sets off the big, military-centered song, telling of the passion of Spark Man's army to fight Megaman. The song sets up a pivotal theme in this album: even though Megaman is supposed to be the "good guy" in all of this, everyone involved thinks that they are in the right, and are willing to fight for it.

"Walk Away From Light" is Snake Man's attempt to win Megaman over--claiming that Megaman's "father" Dr. Light is in the wrong. This song further plays on the idea that Megaman may be in the wrong, and the characters he is fighting are no different than those he is supposedly protecting.

"Gamma Unchained" really shows the depth to The Megas' music and lyrics. Megaman has fought countless enemies, and is looking back at his path with doubt. He asks Gamma to become the protector so he no longer has to do all of this. "I'll give you power if you take control," goes the lyric. Of course, once Megaman activates Gamma, he finds it has been corrupted by his enemy, Dr. Wily, and is now "out of control."

"(I Want to be The One) To Watch You Die" is told from Dr. Light's perspective to his nemesis Dr. Wily. Light has found out that his first "son," the robot Protoman, has been used by Dr. Wily in his schemes. This ballad is Light declaring he is sending Megaman to kill Wily in revenge.

"Continue" is a great ending to the album. The calm, acoustic sound is slightly saddening, outlining Megaman's inner turmoil as this destructive, yet seemingly-necessary character. The title and some lyrics are also a nice shout out to the fact it is based on a game, and sometimes Megaman's decisions aren't his own.

History Repeating: Blue interjects a lot of personality, story, and emotion into the story of Mega Man 3. It does it in a wonderful way where old-time fans of the Mega Man franchise and newcomers can enjoy the music and lyrics. Fans may be surprised and elated to hear the depth in personality written for the well-known characters, and newcomers will be introduced to these characters in a fresh way.

Before this, my familiarity with the Mega Man universe was limited to a few playings of Mega Man 8 a few other games. HR: Blue fave me a fantastic peek into the story of MM3, and just kept adding onto it with their own versions of the characters. It adds a whole new, creative level to a game that I didn't think had or needed another level. I can't see myself playing MM3 any other way, now.

The entire release can easily be presented as a musical on stage, and I would go see it live. It is catchy, makes you want to dance, and is addicting to sing along to. The only song I wouldn't listen to on repeat for an hour is 10 seconds long and gets annoying after about the fifth or seventh time.

After seeing this cover pop up on Bandcamp, I decided to check it out. After about the fifth listening-through, I tore myself away from the music page to track down the band's merch page, where I gave into my hardcopy-craving and bought it outright from them (and received an instant download).

For those wondering--the hardcopy is awesome! The cover looks fantastic with shiny, metallic wires on the front and the "ghost image" of Gamma behind Megaman. The booklet is also fashioned to look like an instruction manual for old games. Instructions on how to listen to the album resemble instructions for using a disc to play a game. There's also a big hint as to what History Repeating's second part will be: the booklet cover is a split image between a skull-version of Megaman and his red brother, Protoman.
So much awesome!

Whisperings:
Length: (37:55)
Price: ~$10
Enjoyability: So addictive!
Type: Rock, nerdy, awesome, dance-y
Medium: Digital and hardcopy
Artwork: The band's own Josh Breeding

'We All Look' to the future release

2012-07-27T18:38:00.001-07:00

A week from today, the lucky, near-Seattle fans of The Classic Crime will get the chance to attend the album release of the band's newest album, "Phoenix" ! That release officially comes out August 14.

In the meantime, Matt & the gang released the 7-song compilation known as "We All Look Elsewhere EP" onto their Bandcamp page. Those that helped out during their Kickstarter campaign received emails and codes to download their copies. The release is $5 for everyone else.

[Click image to get these long-lost songs!]

We All Look Elsewhere EP

Blisters & Coffee (Demo)
The Bitter Uprising (Demo)
Say The Word (Demo)
Link vs. DK (Instrumental Demo)
Weapon of Choice (Demo)
We All Look Elsewhere (Demo)
Who Needs Air (Demo)

(Firstly, I'll admit that this review is short, quick, and may feel hyper. Started writing it as soon as I downloaded the release, so bear with the energy)

As a preface, all of these songs have been available for a while now. These were recorded back in 2004--yes, the length of two Presidential terms--but this is the first time these songs have been officially-released all together. Instead of having to rip that thrice-handed-down, burned copy from your middle school friend, you can get this music from the band! I don't know about you, but I'd rather get songs from bands I love, rather than having free versions.

Anyone that is familiar with the band's debut "Albatross" will recognize most of this release. These are very raw, demo versions of the songs. Tempos are different, those background vocals you know are missing, some lyrics are changed, and different intros are used! It's like owning the pencil sketches of your favorite artist! This is a must for your collection if you love these guys. And hey, it's only $5!
(You can own what is possibly their oldest recorded music, and their newest, rather soon!)

If you haven't had enough of them (whether this is your first time finding these guys, or just want more), The Classic Crime has been releasing snips of "Phoenix" over the last few weeks! Below are the three videos they've released--and there's another one coming this Monday!
Stay tuned on their Twitter and / or Facebook profiles to stay in the loop.

You and Me Both

Beautiful Darkside

Heaven & Hell

Glass Houses

Whisperings:
Length: Shorter (24:04)
Price:$5
Enjoyability: Oh yes! Nostalgia!
Type: Demo, long-lost, rock
Medium: Digital download
Artwork: The band's own Robbie "Cheeze" Negrin

Haunting H. P. Lovecraft

2012-07-06T20:56:00.002-07:00

This past week, I vacated my home and ran away with my girlfriend to a house by a lake, and brought with me a copy of "The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurling Tales of Horror and the Macabre" to kill time. It was a great companion on this trip, and I am almost finished with it, but I couldn't shake this feeling I had while reading it. Like many of Lovecraft's protagonists, whatever was making me feel odd was staring me in the face, but I couldn't quite place it until later.

The source of my mixed feelings was that I was reading an unofficial copy!
I received this copy as a gift last Christmas, after expressing my newly discovered joy of Lovecraftian stories. My mom had ordered it from Amazon, and you can find the specific book here, but don't buy this one just yet! When I first held it, I noticed the font color was too dark on the cover, which made it hard to read the author's name and part of the title. The image also looked off, but couldn't place exactly why.

Like most people that have this book, I picked it up and started reading without dwelling on the cover or copyright page. As I read the stories within, I noticed more and more that there were a lot of errors. At first it was a misplaced period or comma, but then I started noticing letters missing and use of numbers in some words. The amount of errors led me to look at the book again in more detail and I found some very peculiar things.

[Notice the pixels in the eye verses the clarity of the text]

The cover image is very pixelated on closer inspection. I also noted that the font used is Arial, but the only reason I noticed is because I recently stumbled across this infographic, and the shape of the Arial-t stands out to me now. The pixelation, font color, and font itself, and the lack of an "Edited / Collected by..." line kind of yells out "unprofessional." The copyright page is also very sparse, with no date or real "legalese" available. Also, it mentions CreateSpace, which is a self-publishing website.

Inspecting Amazon, I found that there was an official book also titled "The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurling Tales of Horror and the Macabre." This version was published in 2002 by Del Ray, and contains more than the six stories my version has. I fully endorse this version of the book over my own, and I haven't even read it yet!

So, where did the CreateSpace "publisher" get the text?

At first I thought it was hand-typed from a more legitimate copy, but noticed something odd about the errors. In one story, they were consistent. I then looked at the typographical errors as a form of entrapment to catch people copying without permission (copyright trap, if you will). This has been done with maps for ages, and Geoff Manaugh at BLDGBLOG has talked about it in its various forms, from streets, to towns, to rooms in buildings.

Anyway, I looked specifically at the errors in the story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," because they were so consistent. The name "The Esoteric Order of Dagon" or "Order of Dagon" was typed as "Order 0' Dagon"--with a 0 in place of O--on several occasions. Googling this, I found that the website Sacred-Texts.com had the exact same errors. Sacred Texts' library of H. P. Lovecraft stories include those in Public Domain, so I guess the text was up for grabs anyway. (There has been a scuffle over more of Lovecraft's works being in the public domain as well).

Now we're left with the fact that someone is selling a book on Amazon with the exact same name as the official one, only this version is going through CreateSpace to "publish" it. True, the stories may be in the public domain, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth that whoever did this is doing it in a way to siphon money from the legitimate sources. The problem mostly lies with whoever is doing it. (It may be hard for Amazon / CreateSpace to regulate these things and keep out all illegitimate items, so I'm putting less blame on them as a whole).

Hell, I'd feel a lot better if they used a new title and put their own name as the "Editor / Collector" of this volume. But no, they had to scrape everything from other sources and slap it all together in a half-assed way, putting in as little work as possible for a few bucks. I can't help but feel like it's some sort of reversed-haunting: the living harassing the dead.

Guess it's time to team up with another awesome person--us actual Lovecraft fans--and churn out our own CreateSpace-published, Lovecraft collection. Oh, and we'll have our own, hi-res images.

Edit: July 7

*[Twitter conversation used with permission--even though the Library of Congress is cataloging every public tweet, I still ask people I converse with permission to show their Tweets on here].

"Generation" is not 'lost'

2012-07-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

Back in April, the Seattle-based band Hills of Elysium used their fans and the website Kickstarter to fund their newest album, "This Lost Generation." As of May 11, their project received their goal in funds, which meant they had to worry less about the expenses of this album.

Now that it is July, the band is ready to drop the album tomorrow (July 3) on their website and other retailers. You can also hear from them via Facebook and Twitter.

[You--like September Garland, above--get to peak...a little bit]

This Lost Generation

This Lost Generation
Chemical Welfare
Dead Birds Fall in Arkansas
On the Fringe
Hey Kids! (It's Cool Now)
Louder
Social Media Depressive
The Artists & The Architects
Stipend to Die
One Last Round
Girl with a Microphone

I first heard this band at a local show that I was really excited for, but wasn't blown away by--mainly because of the setup of the venue. One consolation is that from that night on, I knew I liked Hills of Elysium. At the tail-end of my Kickstarter-frenzy in the spring, I saw their call for funds for their Kickstarter campaign, I decided to help pitch in.

Due to my involvement with the Kickstarter, I was able to get my hands (and ears), on the album early. Hopefully this review gets your mouths watering to finally hear the music for yourselves.

The titular song (and album) tells the story of America and the youth of the world: raised in a time of great technological bounds, wars all over the globe, and an underlying tone of confusion, chaos, and catastrophe.

"Chemical Welfare" warns of the overuse of prescription drugs and medication on the populace; from hyperactive kids to military veterans. "Happiness is medicated slavery," reminds me of a more politicized Beatles lyric, but it makes sense in this song's context.

The rest of the album keeps harping on the ideas that the first song set up, but the message doesn't get worn out or irritating. The songs tell little stories about enough different facets of the world that the banner idea gets passed along, but is flown in unique ways. Among the album, I found myself heartily singing along with the lyrics of quite a few of the songs. Some of my favorites include "On the Fringe," "Hey Kids! (It's Cool Now)," and "Louder."

"On The Fringe" talks about someone hiding away from society away from the cities. This song has a softer tone, and every time I hear it I can't help but be reminded of Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." I won't say why, as it's kind of spoiler-y, but anyone that's read it will get the reference.

I found it laughable when the oft-repeated lyric "Hey kids, it's cool now..." sounded like "Hey kittens..." because it gave the song one more level of condescending and cuteness that fits the song well. There is also a powerful section that begins with "Yesterday's kids are today's authority and the kids of today will aspire to hold authority over the kids of tomorrow..."

The album ends well on the unplugged and acoustic-sounding "Girl with a Microphone." It seems to describe the band as just another voice trying to be heard in this chaotic world, and it wraps the album up with a clean, "take what you will from this," sort of message.

This sophomore release by Hills of Elysium shows off a strong-opinionated, mature, and well-versed band that set its sites on relevant topics and contemporary problems. Sure, it packs a political-punch, but it is less of a partisan album as just calling out the state of affairs in general. It doesn't dally with its message--it shoots straight to the idea and keeps going after it--it doesn't get lost.

The music is excellently written, and the heavier (screechier) vocals aren't overused, mainly as a pepper for the lyrics and sound of the songs. I won't jump to recommend this to everyone, but certainly people that already enjoy heavier rock will find this a solid release. I do recommend looking up the lyrics: it adds another layer to the album when you can read the lyrics and put the meanings together.

I also figured I should shout out how awesome the cover photo by Marika Garland is: not only is there a distressed*-and-frayed star spangled banner, eyeliner, boots, cleavage, leather and straps, but also some black Converse shoes. The only thing I would add would be a case of rum; but the composition would've felt off unless more things were thrown in.
Simpler is better.

Whisperings:
Length: (41:15)
Price: Free digital download, $10 hardcopy
Enjoyability: Keep it rockin'!
Type: Loud, rock, heavier
Medium: Digital and hardcopy
Artwork: Marika Garland

*Upside down flags denote distress and danger

'P8M' shines pretty 8-bits

2012-06-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

More than a year ago, Virginian musician Inverse Phase, announced he would be making a chiptunes remix ("demake") of an album by Nine Inch Nails. Using Kickstarter as the platform for funding, he was able to raise his goal of $3,000, and then some.

Earlier this month, the album, Pretty Eight Machine, was released (and quickly rose to #1 on Bandcamp). Not only is it a perfect name for an 8-bit remix of the Nine Inch Nails album, Pretty Hate Machine, the title also works because it was created with eight different systems.

[Click for link to the Bandcamp page]

Pretty Eight Machine

Head Like I/O
Atarible Lie
Downloadin' It
SYNCtified
Something You Didn't Ever Have
Kinda I Want 2A03
SID
That's What I Chipped
The Lonely Byte
Token Ringfinger

I heard about this album when a lot of other people heard about it: when Rob Sheridan, a near-constant collaborator of Trent Reznor (NIN), tweeted about it. Actually, I heard the news when that tweet was retweeted by Nobuwo, a video game music news-site. As of hearing about it on June 17 I went to the Bandcamp page, listened to a few songs, and bought the hardcopy version with little thought.
(Curse you, my weakness for hardcopies, and PayPal easy spending!).

Each of the songs not only has the strong association with its original counterpart, but also stands on and broadcasts its own sound and character. This is more than likely due to the fact the songs were created with different sound systems. When you go to the Bandcamp page for this album (link on the image), there is additional information on each song's page, about the creation of that particular song. It makes for a very interesting read, and feels sort of treasure-hunt-y going through all the pages. Anyone familiar with Pretty Hate Machine will also immediately see the cheeky titles from this release. They just add another level of enjoyment.

It's especially interesting to hear how Inverse Phase has rendered the variety of unique sounds from the NIN album. Everything from white noise, to the spoken lyrics, to yells, to complicated guitar parts. I really like the singing parts, and how they have been synthesized--they sound like you're hearing someone sing the lyrics on the other side of a wall...an 8-bit wall of awesome.

This is a very easy album to listen through as you would with the original, and when you choose to repeat one song over and over into digital oblivion. Also, it is apparently really easy to raise the volume more and more to hear every little detail. My favorite songs, the ones stuck on repeat the most--are Head Like I/O, Atarible Lie, and Something You Didn't Ever Have--are just so textured and amazing renderings!

Inverse Phase has crafted a brilliant, boundary-pushing remix of a band that often pushes the boundaries with its own music. His manipulation of all these machines really shows the handle he has on this genre, and can make even remixes sound like original pieces. A must-have for lovers of Nine Inch Nails and chiptunes alike, as shown with this helpful Venn diagram.

Whisperings:
Length: (48:38) album length
Price: Download ($6.50), Hardcopy ($14)
Enjoyability: Oh yes!
Type: 8-bit, loud, catchy
Medium: Digital and hardcopy
Artwork: Inverse Phase and Cleon "LJ"Chick