10TH ANNIVERSARY Q & A VIDEO!
Since the next State Of The Bastard will be for my 10th Anniversary of Doing This, I'm making a Q&A video!
Have a question about my music? Cons? Any of the dozens of other things I've got myself into? Workout Regiment (don't lie)?
Taking questions until January 11th!
JAM OF THE WEEK: "The Day My Powers Arrived" by Kirby Krackle
Hey, look at me posting shit again!
This week's jam is from one of my Senpai's in the Nerd Music Scene, Kirby Krackle, a nerd rock project from Kyle Stevens.
The song is all about the intro and the build up, but this is one of the few songs where the VERSE is my favorite part, because the riff and the beat are so interesting, but give the vocals a lot of space to work with. Yet, the chorus can't be ignored, because the first time I heard it, my tears reflexively started jerking.
Dude's a huge X-Men fan, and the song "The Day My Powers Arrived", off his 2015 album "Mutate, Baby!", is written from the perspective of a mutant who discovered their powers and is introduced to the Charles Xavier School For Gifted Youngsters. Though someone HAS to have made a My Hero Acadmeia AMV of this somehow.
ALSO FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES IS BACK WITH DANGANRONPA 2!!!
So, this has been my first con show ALL YEAR. And I wanted to do something special for it, as well as add a little hype to my intro, so I'm not going "OK, we're here, let's do this!". I'm not spoiling it here, since I want it to be a surprise when you come out to shows, but I felt like it went over well. Some tech issues prevented me from doing some new tracks, but what can you do? Got a lot of new fans!
The 3000 Brigade show also went over big, as we did it as Completely Real Boy Band B12. It still astounds me how well that gimmick goes over, and yes, they WILL be back in November as part of the full show. I'd give you spoilers, but then the stage ninjas would get me. In the rock world we call the people who wear all black and give us stuff "roadies".
PATREON SONG NOW OUT
Yes! "Deep Space Tragedy" is a song I've played live for a while, and I get goosebumps singing it out loud. I do plan on putting it on my 10th Anniversary Album, which is why I've actually recorded a "good" version of it. Before it's only existed as a slap-dash demo for the comic's artist.
What I liked about writing this is cribbing a lot of the internal lingo from the book, because it's so dense, but you're able to pick it apart in context. Also, it's very consistent tonally. All the buildings are comprised of sharp and twisting geometry, and originally the artwork is all these shades of a very dark gray. It makes everything just feel shitty, but the people have been dealing with the shittiness for quite a while. But then Deep Space Tragedy comes along and it sucks less!
Also robots. Did I mention robots?
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES: INDIGO PROPHECY #3
In the words of Strong Bad, IT'S OVER!!!
Not as good as I remember, obviously. Some good moments in there, but it's clear that Heavy Rain was a MAJOR step up for them.
I don't know if I'm doing this series again, or streaming, then premiering the episodes on Fridays, but I at least owe you all Danganronpa 2.
"Super Rad!" is the first song people know from them, with this music video directed by, of all people, Bobcat Goldthwait. This was back from when they were a third wave ska band, and had like 8 or 9 members. Travis Barker was drumming for the band, before he made it big as part of Blink 182. His Aquabat name was Baron Von Tito.
Super Rad! is a goofy, energetic song that you can not sit down during. It's a mission statement, that, even though the band has changed genres 2 or 3 times, have always stuck to for the past 20 years.
My first album from them was "Charge!!" from 2005, and was part of their new wave/synth rock sound after trimming down their crew significantly down to 5. There's a lot of good songs there, my favorite being "Look At Me! I'm A Winner!" which is straight up power pop. The single "Fashion Zombies!" is OK, but "Look At Me!" is more upbeat and has that sick solo.
But for me, the sweet spot for The Aquabats! is their 1999 album, "The Aquabats vs. The Floating Eye Of Death!". That album was their last one with a horn section and represented a shift that would finalize in Charge!. Vs. The Floating Eye! is the closest they've come to straight up punk. It starts off with "Sequence Erase!", which the web series Mega 64! uses for it's theme song. Then it goes into "Giant Robot Birdhead" and "Anti Matter!" which is up there for the best three song run on an album.
I'll talk more about them in another JOTW, but man I love The Aquabats!
I can't think of many other songs that make me feel as comfortable and at ease as "Love T.K.O." does. There's nothing here that's complicated or over wrought (except for Teddy singing like he's 110% in love with the lyrics), and it doesn't need to be. All the little flourishes and bits that come in and out keep it from getting too dry in spots, even though all the verses are the same.
"Love T.K.O." is another song from the impossibly good Indigo Prophecy soundtrack, and plays during a scene where one of the playable detectives, Tyler Miles, is dancing with his girlfriend. Now, through my IP play-through I gave the character of Tyler a lot of shit, because he's a French person's idea of what an American black man is like.
I MEAN, FUCKING LOOK AT THIS APARTMENT.
Buuuut... this is also the perfect place to listen to a song like "Love TKO": lots of warm colors, fantastically retro, and chill as all hell.
Also, David Gasman, the voice of Tyler Miles, also does the voice of Lucas Kane, the main protagonist in Indigo Prophecy:
AND the black police chief.
FUCKING. YIKES.
"But Rhythm Bastard," you ask, "why are you talking about Indigo Prophecy again?"
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: INDIGO PROPHECY EPISODE 2
It's baaaack!
This episode I slept on because there was a lot I wanted to talk about, but the audio was muted. I didn't have a lot of time otherwise, but I managed to get this one out.
Thankfully there was at least one REALLY stupid sequence to get hyped over, and it's before the game takes a massive nosedive into "OH SHIT WE RAN OUT OF MONEY END IT NOW WITH KUNG FU" sequences.
Whew, this took a while! Inspired by the Magic The Gathering Set, Dominaria!
Yes, this did take a while, because I put so much into it. So, let me break it down:
1. Real Life
PAX East was in April, and right after I started a very physically demanding job, so I wasn't exactly eager to start working on music when I got home, expecially one with as many stumbling blocks as this one.
2. The Tune
I wanted something epic, yet poppy, like The Killers or Bastille. The difference with those guys is that they're full time musicians, or have a band, or work with producers.
I have none of those.
Also, I'm not familiar with the piano, but I managed to get some good licks in there!
3. The Lyrics
The main thrust of this new Dominaria Set is "Legendary Creatures Matter", so Legends was a theme to write around.
The song itself was partly inspired by David Bowie's death in 2016.
After his death, while I did become sad that he's gone, I had an epiphany, as arrogant as it sounds: "Now's My Chance". If not me, then someone else is out there creating awesome things that we just haven't discovered yet. If we keep looking back to the past, then we're just going to get stuck in this cycle of feeling bummed after our heroes die. That shit isn't consistent at all, so it's up to us to be our own heroes.
SCHEDULE CHANGE
OK, so 3000 Brigade Stuff is starting up again, and I can't always think of 3 things to put up on Sunday, especially during slow months. So I'll just put things up whenever! I'll try to do a Jam of the Week per week, because I can write a paragraph or two about a song,
Whatever, my site, my rules, so I'll try this for now.
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: INDIGO PROPHECY EPISODE 1
WOW there was a lot more busy work than I remember.
Highlights include:
-Me fighting with a yo-yo
-Me fighting with the controls
-Me fighting with the stealth mechanics
-Me fighting with Claustrophobia
-Stereotypes fighting each other
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Get Up" by Unwritten Law
DAVID CAGE GAMES ARE ART YOU GUYS!
OK, so after Quantic Dream's first game, Omnikron: The Nomad Soul, came Indigo Prophecy, known as Fahrenheit everywhere else. Omnikron was a game that tried to do so much, with a soundtrack from David Bowie.
On the other hand, Indigo Prophecy was a more limited experience, focusing more on narrative, It also included a licensed soundtrack featuring lots of 70s funk and R&B.... and the music of Theory of a Deadman. So, they tried to make this game more "hip" by including them, and setting the trailer to "Get Up" by Unwritten Law.
This made the damn game look like some Matrix shit, without the aforementioned busywork.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SONG? YOU ASK. I was 17 when I first heard it, so I was in the right place to think it was WAY PAST COOL.
Now? On a closer listen, it does a lot of things I like: the bass leading the riff in the intro, how guitars drop out during the verse, the spacious bridge leading to the chaos of the solo, the bass work in the final chorus, the guitar going from standard Deep Nu-Metal chug, to high aprpegios in the chorus. Lots going on, that I wouldn't have paid attention to if I didn't have to give these things a close listen.
This would have been perfect in another game I loved around the same time: SSX 3. Everything about "Get Up" feels like it's "jumping off" to the next part of the song. And it's nu metally. I was a teenager in the early 2000s, so sue me.
New job is REALLY kicking my ass. That, combined with me not being as into Magic as I used to be has made this new song difficult. I'll still finish it and I have plenty of other songs in the pocket.I have a very taxing job, both physically and mentally, so when I come home I find it difficult to work on music. There's this thing called "Spoon Theory" that KIND OF reflects how I've been feeling. For however much I've been slacking, sanity, stability and my day job have to come first.
One thing I proposed doing for next month's (June) Patreon is to do a smaller album of shorter songs that are designed to get me work, whether it's game music or whatever's popping on SongTradr. I have WAY more songs on my plate, as well as 10th Anniversary Album stuff to do, but doing smaller, more manageable projects will keep me more sane and on schedule.
3000 BRIGADE: MUSHROOM HIGH RULES!
The video of last November's 3000 Brigade Performance is now available!
YOU might think it's a funny show full of sexy jokes, sexy violence and sexy dancing with all of your favorite characters from all across video games and pop culture, buuuuut.... It is. It really is, screw my anxiety making me think I looked dumb.
Anyway, here's a trip to THE GUN SHOW (photo courtesy of Ben Badger):
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: DANGANRONPA EPISODE 11
WARNING: SPOILERS
WOW what a ride. I figured it would end the way it did, since Virtue's Last Reward and Zero Time Dilema ended in a similar way with "Oh yeah, the world ended and we're all keeping you here for reasons". Junko's monologues went on for way to long, and it got boring after a while, striding into downright annoying with all the voice changes. Still, despite the plot getting both ridiculously full of holes, yet still predictable, it still kept me going to the next week.
Hopefully DR2 improves on a lot of stuff while cutting a lot of the fat (HANGMAN'S GAMBIT!!! BULLET TIME BATTLE!!! WHY YOU SO USELESS?!?!?!?)
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Rock Star (Jason Nevins Remix)" by N.E.R.D.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the definitie version of this song. YEAH IT'S FROM SSX 3, I'M DOING THAT AGAIN.
The original version of "Rock Star" was more subtle and a really nice lick, but it was a little too repetitive, broken up by the drum stings that distract more than add variety. Jason Nevins turns everything WAY THE HELL UP, and adds way more variety with little additions in the productions, varying the guitar pattern a little and dropping everything out at juuuuust the right point so that when everything feels like it SLAMS back.
LET'S GET IT OUT OF THE WAY RIGHT NOW: JAM OF THE WEEK: "Hypersonic" by Jane's Addiction
This song has missed Jam Of The Week for this long? HOW? At first, "Hypersonic" sounds like an anomoly in Jane's Addiction's catalog, since it has a lot more "Dancey" elements to it, and heavily features synths, but it does fit in with the manic energy of "Stop!" and the spaciness of "Mountain Song". "Hypersonic" combines the two in a way that just works so well.
SSX 3 is really good with using it's soundtrack, unafraid to chop up a song and mess around with it. Most notably, the song will fade out to the drum and bass parts of the song, phasing ever so slightly, only to come back in full force when you land an impressive trick. The song will also go to the bridge or a quieter part of the song when you enter a tunnel, bursting back into the last chorus before the song ends. It all flows together in to create a dynamic experience with minimal "clunk".
Dino Hunter MD is an
internet series I did with some friends of mine from my Alma Mater,
Stony Brook University. It's about an anesthesiologist that fights
dinosaurs. It's really dumb, and I got my start there in acting and
music.
This Saturday, at 8 PM EST, I'm going to stream the
entire series, play some of the songs, and you all can join me on
Discord and riff on it through the magic of Twitch!
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: DANGANRONPA EPISODE 9
Sakura really is the best girl.
Also, Monokuma's "PUHUHU KILL EACH OTHER! PUHUHU!" schtick wearing more and more thin as the students gain more and more resolve is one of the high points of the game. Like he's all set to be this dictatorial badass and all the students are going like "Fuck off, nerd!"
I'm on the VERGE of figuring out what's going on here, and all of my theories have been flipped around or debunked.
I MISSED LAST WEEK BECAUSE I WAS PAX EAST
All of The Echo Chamber (from L to R: me, The Ozone, Arcanon, Mystakin and Weff).
Oh God, so much happened over that weekend, so I'll just copy some stuff over from my Twitter Thread on it:
-Smack Talk Showdown/FUNEmployed:
So, it used to be that EVERY party game was trying to rip off Cards Against Humanity, which ripped off Apples to Apples.
I am thoroughly sick of Cards Against Humanity. Too much of it relies on the card being funny, the jokes don't work on everybody, and you'll always have one asshole going "OH COME ON! THAT WAS SO FUNNY!" Apples to Apples abstracts thinngs a little bit, since you can't rely on throwing down MIDGETS SHITTING IN A BUCKET LOL.
Smack Talk Showdown and FUNEmployed require you to actually be funny, and use your wits. With Smack Talk Showdown, you cut a wrestling promo with a set up, and have to deal with "Smack" cards that you need to include. FUNEmployed makes you take 4 seemingly random cards and have to present a coherent presentation on why you should get the job.
-Beat 'Em Ups Are BAAAACK! AND ALL THREE OF THEM ARE DIFFERENT?
1. Raging Justice- What's Different?
A unique art style gives the appeance that all of the characters are rotoscoped clay models, like Mortal Kombat makes DKC. Also has objectives where you can arrest certain perps for bonus points.
2. Streets Ablaze- What's different?
Full 3D characters, environmental hazards and a neat little effect that shows off your "finishing moves"
3. The Take Over- What's Different?
Made in conjunction with Matt of Super Best Friends Play, this has full 3D environments, and GUNS. Most importantly though, it has Haggar Dropkicks. MAtt's a fan of the genre, so I know he and the team will do it justice.
-Sentinels Of Freedom:
I love the Sentinel Comics verse, and I'm really glad this game is coming out.
So far everything "fits" the tone and gameplay of the original Sentinels Of The Multiverse, and creating my own charachter only seems like an added bonus. Who knows? My they'll make me enjoy playing as Fanatic!
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: DANGANRONPA EPISODE 8
Now we're getting into the good shit. The Manly Stanley joins me on this episode, and we talk about Zero Escape, Ace Attorney and my Danganronpa Theories. Like I mentioned, I'm going to try another game after this one before going to the sequel.
Hopefully he can join me in future episodes!
JAM OF THE WEEK: Danganronpa Menu Music
Because it's baller and I've never featured it before.
PATREON SONG #5: THE DICKPUNCHER
"The Dickpuncher" is the gritty reboot to the "Dickpuncher" series, as made famous by Marc With A C and StarF. It's about a super hero who punches people (criminals?) in the dick.
I did a good thing by rebooting the series by making him a dark and brooding hero so he can better fit in with the nerdcore music cinematic universe of along with Free Bird, Token Female MC, Billy's Gigantic Robot and of course, Boba Fett.
LET'S PLAY THE ARCADE SPIRITS DEMO!
Despite how goofy I got with playing the demo, I am probably going get the full game to support a Rock Band friend and because I like the set up of it all.
Arcades will always hold a special place is this embittered punk heart of mine. When I lived in New York, there was an arcade in the shopping center I went to all the time, that despite it being a mom-and-pop establishment (no Ma though), was a pretty popular spot that still kept getting new machines. Walking in as a kid and seeing all these new and different machine was so exciting coming from a household where I still had my older brother's NES.
I'm too afraid to check if it's still there, but seeing Francine's Arcade Funplex did take me back.
Here in Florida is that they do have arcade machines in movie theatres and bowling alleys, and there are plenty of places that are "Arcade/Batting Cages/Go Kart" combos, but if you see a business that has "Arcade" on the storefront IT IS A FUCKING LIE.
If you go inside, there's just a shitton of computers that have a slot machine program running. It's like a pachinko parlor but for old boring people.
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: DANGANRONPA EPISODE 6
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: DANGANRONPA EPISODE 7
Because I'll be in Boston and I don't want the only impression of me to be an LP of Danganronpa where my mic wasn't on halfway through!
The intrigue gets deeper, the stakes get higher, the despair gets more depressing, and that annoying Otaku Asshole died! Part of why I started this series is because I wanted to have a series where I can chill and solve some light puzzles and basically play along with a police procedural.
Danganronpa is all that cranked up to 11 but with the added bullshit of Awkward Phoenix Wright Logic.
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Mean Machine" by Sugar Ray
I only remembered this song because I needed something badass to play during that scene in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon where you're on top of that blood dragon with a turret and mowing down everyone. Before they did stuff like "Fly" and "Every Morning", this is the kind of music Sugar Ray was doing, and... I kinda liked it.
"Mean Machine" comes off the album "Lemonade and Brownies", because of course, and their album after that was called "Floored", which is where their breakthrough single "Fly" comes from. "Floored" is a nu-metal album that they went "pop" with at the end. Since then, their music has been strictly pop/adult alternative, judging from "14:59" (that spawned "Every Morning" and "Someday") and their self-titled (that had "When It's Over").
Something similar also happened to another band from the same era: Green Day. After the success of "Good Riddance" from Green Day's "Nimrod", their next album "Warning" had a lot more acoustic guitar in their songs, though that only lasted one album and can be thought more of as an experiment.
It's not that I hate the songs Sugar Ray's been known for, it's that THIS is what they were known for. Like the went speeding down the highway at 90 MPH to go to a chill beach party.
Patrons will get the PAXAMANIA version of "Imminent Doom" free, along with this month's song. I should have the new song, a "re-imagining" of a series of songs across artists in nerdcore, out by next week.
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: DANGANRONPA EPISODE 5
You could hear me loudly going "UHHHHH" after everyone investigated the body closer and then FLIPPED THE FUCK OUT over what they found. When we found out more and it went from immature panicking to a little lesson on expression, gender roles and what true strength really is. I think it's meatier than Naoto in Persona 4, which is the same case as here, but with certain things inverted.
Good job, Danganronpa! You managed to not fuck it up and do something good!
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Cool For The Summer" by Demi Lovato
"Um, Spring isn't even here yet-"
SCREW YOU PERSON THAT DOESN'T EXIST!
I've been down in the dumps this past week, I needed a feel good song, and Demi Lovato's "Cool For The Summer" does the trick. When I have bills to pay and all this shit piling up, I just want 3 and a half minutes of Demi Lovato in Miami (?), spending a night where she dances her ass off, thirsts over some random guy (girl?) and wakes up wherever, pretending like there's no tomorrow, because tomorrow only offers reminders of how broke and shitty you are.
REGARDING OMNI EXPO
Sadly, due to a familial obligation on the 10th, I will be unable to perform at Omni Expo this year.
I was glad to see it change to a new location last year, and I've seen it grow since Year One, however, something came up. Hopefully I can play again next year!
UNSTABLE ON YOUTUBE!
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: DANGANRONPA EPISODE 4
OK, this is so much better paced than the first chapter, now that the premise has been introduced and things are opening up. Next week begins all the detective work!
If you think I'm lying about Danganronpa being Socialist:
After all, it's about a group of people cooperating in the face of a system that rewards exploiting your fellow man and getting away with it for profit. Only, in Danganronpa, the Justice System actually kinda works.
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Green Light" by Lorde
OK, if you told me that I'd be hype over a Lorde song, I'd say your were crazy. She made her name with the dour "Lorde: and "Team", and both while a little too slow paced for my liking, were still excellently performed and produced.
What I like Lorde for is that she includes all of these little details that add up to a really shitty overall picture.
"I've never seen a diamond in the flesh" or "I do my makeup in someone else's car" are "Like, Whatever Lady" statements on their own, but more of them together paint a picture. It's not "So stupid it sticks in my head and I have no choice to turn it over in my head" like Fall Out Boy or utterly specific with details like the chorus to "Closer" or "Before He Cheats", bu I think it works, especially when there's nothing else in the song to distract you, and you have to hang on every word.
I'm working on a track for PAXAMANIA IV, and as per tradition, I'm N64-ifying one of my old songs. Which song, you'll have to wait for it, but...
It's coming out free with March's Patreon song!
For everyone else, it'll be the same deal as with "Fire In The Hole" where you can get both versions of the song for a dollar.
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: DANGANRONPA EPISODE 3
NOW we're talking! I was kind of spoiled on this first mystery before hand, but I guess they made it easy enough so that you can KIND of guess who did it. I enjoy this more "active" way of handling the court cases in Phoenix Wright.
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Make Me Feel" by Janelle Monae
EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP WE HAVE ALL BEEN BLESSED WITH NEW MUSIC AND APPARENTLY PRINCE CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD.
She seems a lot rougher on these new tracks she put out the other day. Not production wise, because it sounds slicker than ever, but how much she's willing to reveal about herself and open up.
I'm still not sure if "Dirty Computer" is the supposed to be the next set in The Metropolis Saga, but I'm there either way.
New song on Patreon, made available to the public!
This is one of those songs I had the "emotional core" for pretty soon, but took me a while to get going, because I also started a new 9 to 5 job in January, so most of my energy was focused toward that.
Continuing on with Ixalan's theme of Celtic Punk, I went with something a little softer, because when you think about it, the way this set is set up is kind of bittersweet:
Spotlight Card 1: Jace regains his memories
Spotlight Card 2: Vraska asks Jace to remove his memories
Spotlight Card 3: The Immortal Sun is taken into Bolas's care
So there's a lot of bittersweet moments I can pull out of this one. I guess what took so long was how to structure it.
There's a lot I tried to do in this song, so hopefully it came out all right!
Yeah, so I started up this game! It's a pretty popular series, and as a fan of the Ace Attorney and Zero Escape series, it was recommended to me. I'm not VERY far, I just got up to when the game feels like it's going to "start" but I can only do these for a couple hours, and it's very dialogue heavy. Everything about this game feels like it could "do it" for me, but maybe this wasn't the best game to do this on.
Friday Night Mysteries and Rectangular Reckoning are little indulgences for me that I hope catch on, but I'm always working on them.
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Orc Cop" by The Rap Critic
Linsdey Ellis did a video essay on Bright's worldbuilding and the movie Bright:
And the Rap Critic, another YouTube review made this parody song in the style of a Will Smith Lead Single For A Movie Rap.
Slowly, but surely, I'm getting shit together here on this Patreon front. A little writer's block, but nothing too bad. I should have it out by the end of the week.
In the meantime, I'm putting up some of the Patreon songs on YouTube to cover all my bases.
Also, one HUGE bonus for Patrons: I'm starting to work on what songs I want to do/redo for my 10 Year Anniversary Album, and I'm going to let Patrons pick some of the songs that I put on there! There's some "Windmill Slams" on there, but I want to know some of the ones I should prioritize.
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES PRESENTS: 2064: READ ONLY MEMORIES EPISODE 4
When I do these things, I feel I'm not meant to be a Let's Player, and I realize that I'm really quiet during these streams. But it's OK, because this game has a lot going on, and me jabbering over it would take from the game. Whereas last episode there was a lot of death and mystery going on, this week has it all: personal drama, intrigue, and special guests Dan Ryckert and Xavier Woods.
For a game that's filled with hacker cyberpunk mystery, and aforementioned guest stars, there is a lot of discussion about things like identity and San Francisco tech culture. Some of it can get a little text dumpy, but it's really good world to wrap myself in while I'm playing.
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Genghis Khan" by Miike Snow
That little "Whoo hoo hoo" is now stuck in your head.
There's nothing wrong with that, because it's an insanely catchy song. My historian friend is going to nitpick this to shred, it's pretty straightforward: it's about a guy who's super possessive of his partner. It's calming, it's soft and knows when to kick in.
However, what lends the song its popularity the music video. Typical James Bond scenario, only we see the villain go back to his shitty relationship and is like "Dang, that spy I captured is hella cute, I want him instead." These days a music video needs to have a concept to ride on, and it's entertaining enough.
I haven't done a song like this in a while, and it's hard for me to get back into it.
I also attended a prerelease, and went 3-1!
My deck was primarily WB Vampires. splashing Red for 2 Bombards and Angrath. Vona, Butcher of Magan and Tetzimoc were my other good pulls. The major downside was that it lacked an impressive early game, so I fell behind quite a bit.
Tetzimoc works a bit like Doomsayer in Hearthstone, from a strategy standpoint: Really great when you want to discourage playing new creatures, not so much when you want active removal. Your opponent will smell your desperation. But I can see it working in as a Late Game board clear. Limited and Commander.
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES: 2064: EPISODE 3
UMMMM... THEY WERE DEAD WHEN I GOT- oh Snes games!
Yeah, so I'm REALLY enjoying doing this series. This game is well paced enough that I can make each stream feel like an episode of a series and that, for me, is way more comfortable then what I do with Rectangular Reckoning, which is "do a thing for an hour then quit".
Turing has also REALLY grown on me, and I've compared them to Clementine that we corrupt instead of them making us better. Odd coincidence, that Turing's VO is Mellisa Hutchinson who is Clementine in The Walking Dead and Anna in Deadly Premonition. Also she voices someone in Magic: The Gathering Battlegrounds. Uh... Sure?
Up next after 2064: Read Only Memories is DanganRonpa 1 and 2, another series I've been looking forward to.
JAM OF THE WEEK: "Vampire Money" by My Chemical Romance
I went 3-1 with my Vampire Deck at Prerelease.
No, but this album on the whole is definitely a shock to everyone coming off of Welcome To The Black Parade. Not only that, but it's a song about "Oh, you wanted US to be on the Twilight Soundtrack? HAHAHAHA NO!" Feels like a double heel turn with how much of a slam dunk that would have sounded like in 2006.
But, no The Black Parade is a genius album, and My Chemical Romance do as they please.
PREPPING FOR STATE OF THE BASTARD LATER THIS WEEK AND AGDQ IS ON SO THIS IS GOING TO BE SHORT
Metal Gear Block!
SNAAAAKE EAAATER!
Yeah, this year's been really good so far. The overall presentation has been top notch, and chat is subscriber only, and it has been a delight to see everyone complaining about "freeing the plebs" in chat.
So, MGS3 just went off, and now they're loading up Halo 5.
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES: 2064 READ ONLY MEMORIES EPISODE 2:
So, Week 2 of Friday Night Mysteries!
2064 is getting really good, and it's shaping up to be a lot less straight foreward than I though, given the breakdown Turing gives at the end of the video. JAM OF THE WEEK: "Starman" by David Bowie
My last Magic The Gathering song, "Find The Immortal Sun", was meant to be a song that is sung by an entire tavern filled with rowdy pirates.
I got maybe 2 people on that track.
Here? Like 7.
As it's made obvious, this track was very influenced by Devo, since it's got the whole "SCIENCE!" angle. A lot of their choruses have backup vocals, but they don't harmonize, they drone. This decision drives home the point that society is devolving (hence Devo) into mindlessness. While my thought process wasn't that complex, I am glad with the song, especially with everyone pretending to be attacked by squirrels.
Also, I want to give a very big THANK YOU to DJ Roborob for working out the bassline for me. This is a song with a lot going on, and he was able give me something great! RECTANGULAR RECKONING: DUNGEON RUN #1
This has been my favorite thing from the new Kobolds and Catacombs Expansion Pack for Hearthstone. It's the solid single player experience that's great to warm up or blow off steam before I hit the ladder. I wasn't too successful here, but the fun part is that it's like FTL: the runs are long enough that you need to think long term, but short enough that you always feel like you can go for another one.
FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES: 2064 EPISODE 1
This is something new I'm trying out, where I stream a mystery game every week and work my way through it. Another weekly series other than Rectangular Reckoning, trying to blow off steam and do More Content in between songs.
2064 has been interesting so far. It's got an interesting world, with a unique mystery, and as you see in the video, Turing goes from "roll my eyes at them because I've seen this precociuous kid act before" to, "awww, I really wanna help you!"
Speaking of Read Only Memories... JAM OF THE WEEK: "Main Theme (Neo-SF Streets Mix)" by 2Mello
In the raw video, you heard me say "this is such a banger" many, many times. It hits that right tone of "this COULD be from a 32-bit era game" and "wait, was it?" 2064 is actually a very relaxing, zen game so far. Nothing too complex or out of the ordinary just yet; an adventure game with a calm color pallete, and a soothing soundtrack.
