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I will be in Vegas for the next few days, everybody. Try to carry on without me while I’m forced to do all those boring things that people are forced to in that terrible city, like drinking, gambling, killing people and burying them in the desert, you know, lame stuff like that.

Wish me luck!

release date: sometime in 2009

Songs About Zombies And Trust Issues is a CD-R album that was sold at Ben Barnett shows during this past year. Mr. Barnett was the brainchild of Kind of Like Spitting, one of my favorite bands. I’ve always been drawn to KOLS because Barnett sounds like he’s teetering on the edge of a breakdown during every song; it’s like the sound of his own voice is enough to push him over the edge. And for making music in a DIY-fashion most of the time (there was one “major” release on Barsuk in 2002), this fugly crazyman from Portland has always created diverse and expansive music, with only a couple crappy albums in a long line of releases. And he’s a motherfucker on the guitar, man.

The past two full-length KOLS releases were a bit disappointing, in that they felt too much like compilations of songs written and recorded all over the country to even be thought of as albums. Funny thing is
Songs About Zombies And Trust Issues sounds just like that, too, but much better. I think it has to do with the fact that these are much better songs. There’s a song with a Harry Potter reference (“Leave My Friends Alone”) and one of his better cover songs (Lennon’s “Jealous Guy”), although he’s made some great covers (you can get them for free here under “media”), and the fuzzy 4-track sound really fits with these songs.

Truth be told, this may be the best introductory album for someone looking to get into Kind of Like Spitting. You can find this album pretty easily on the web if you use this thing called Google. Apparently, Mr. Barnett is leading a new band, called Blunt Mechanic, who is releasing an album on Barsuk early next year. Considering how good Songs About Zombies And Trust Issues is, I can’t wait.

There’s a sale going on NOW where if you buy a $200 Xbox 360 Arcade, it comes with a $100 Amazon gift card. Considering the fact that you’re going to spend $100 on gifts this year from Amazon anyway, this is quite the deal if you don’t have an Xbox 360 yet (and you’re willing to piecemeal the rest of your Xbox 360 together later).

The sale is going on for the next two hours, so jump on it.

Is that an Eminem song I hear? Really? Way to tarnish the history of high-quality Call of Duty commercials and trailers with the most un-creative of music selections. This is one metal riff away from being that lame Section 8 commercial, or any other game that is trying to portray how hardcore it is by squeezing in some MTV music.

Remember that Gears of War ad with the song Mad World? It was slow, intense, and emotional. That’s how you make a commercial. Someone needs to consult me next time.

Imagine, if you will, that there are these magical people in Hollywood that can perform real magic. Now imagine that these magicians (I like to call them magickers) were able to take some beloved G.I. Joe figurines from the 1980s and transform them into real people (not being able to give them brains, mind you). Now (stay with me here), imagine that these life-sized figurines were given a budget of $175 million and told to make a live action film about themselves. And that’s how we came upon G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra.

I’m not joking here, folks. I tend to rag on “refresh” films like Transformers which seem to only be after money, but this here film is certifiably, filthily bad. This film is so bad that it took me three days to watch it, because I kept turning it off in disgust. But alas, I gave it a college try if only for the slight chance it would redeem itself. Didn’t happen. It’s not even true to the series, which I vaguely remember from my childhood. Although I do remember that Cobra Commander wasn’t played by Shigeru Miyamoto.

The only thing I can give G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra credit for are the following three revelations:

1. This film probably made 30-year old rednecks say “wow” every five minutes
2. This is the best film to feature a Wayan brother in ten years
3. This film has already made $300 million, so apparently I am a fucking idiot anyway

I realize that this game has been out for a while already, but the demo dropped today onto the Xbox Live Marketplace so I decided to give it a whirl. I didn’t play much of the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance, mostly because it reminded me too much of an underwhelming X-men: Legends game I played on the PSP waaaay back in 2004.

I like that they tried to expand the scope of the game a bit by including bright, outdoor levels. It makes the always-dungeony isometric view a little more palatable and wide. The graphics look prettier, and there seems to be more combat going on at once than before. Unfortunately, the same thing that mires down all games like this is exacerbated in MUA2’s new scheme – I had the damnedest time figuring out which character I was controlling and who was a good/bad guy.

The demo only lasted about 5-10 minutes (that’s including the fact that half the demo is cutscenes), which wasn’t a fair enough assessment of how repetitive the combat will be. I’m assuming it’ll be the same story as the previous game, which means that if you’re into this kind of game you’ll like it. Otherwise, if you were thinking that this was the iteration of the series you were going to jump into, you might want to wait for a better sequel.

Up is the latest Pixar film, and I saw the 2D version. If you have a soul you probably already like Pixar films, and have either seen this or plan on seeing it. If that’s you, you’ll like this film. There’s not much to not like, honestly. Pixar monopolized the family-centric computer animated film industry several movies ago, and now they’re just rubbing it in our faces; but I’m okay with that, since these films are still really good.

Up follows the life of one man, who does what we all yearn to do some days: attach a bunch of helium balloons to a house and fly to South America. The film builds several relationships and addresses issues that are a little darker than your typical Pixar fare (death, mainly) with delicate and unsurprising tact. And though it’s a good film, it’s not the best Pixar product (I still side with Ratatouille) but still better than any film made by the other studios. In summary, Ratatouille>Up>Dreamworks.

In playing L4D2 I was reminded exactly what it was that attracted everyone to playing the original: it was the not knowing. The first time playing through No Mercy in L4D you had no idea where to go or what was around the corner. At no point could you determine how far through the level you were or when you were about to reach the next set piece/horde attack point. You were just running and shooting. You wanted to get to the safe house, and when you did you ran in the door, turned around, saw a mob of zombies running full-tilt towards you and you slammed the door.

Then you said, “fuuuuuuck…”

And you’re going to do it again with Left 4 Dead 2. The original was immediately thrilling to play with friends but it had no real legs to speak of. Even I admit that Blood Harvest becomes a little stale after the 15th playthrough. It was suffered from the repetition of 4 chapters, 5 boss infected, 7 guns and that’s it.

L4D2 now has 5 chapters, at least 7 special infected, 23 weapons and only more to come with DLC.

The few things I didn’t like about the game that I picked up from the demo is the fact that you still cannot customize the controller. I know, it’s my go-to bitching point, but why Valve? I can do it all your other games. I need those precious milliseconds in the game. My thumbs will, for the rest of my life, think reload is “X” and not “B”. Also, I didn’t know that melee weapons take the place of sidearms. With that prospect I don’t see myself picking up a police baton over a second, unlimited-ammo pistol any time soon. Though, at more than one point I stared down a lone zombie as he sprinted towards me down a long alley only to switch to my machete a second before he got to me and loped his head off like a samurai.

Final verdict: The demo is out on XBLA, go get it.

I know it’s, like, your #1 priority in life to listen to this podcast. However, if you gander at the clock and it happens to be 9:30 PM on November the 4th– Then you need to get your ass to Gyenari in Culver City, Ca. for some Rock Banding.

This week is all about Quantum of Solace, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, Words with Friends, MKVs, Borderlands, and homework!

Musical Guest: American Analog Set

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