Mini Iwai 2018 Justifies A Full Status Quo Sunday

MINI IWAI RECAP
WHEW, that was a wild one!

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".

Get your tickets now!

Holy shit, they have a wedding package? I will offer my services to play one traditional song and one cheesy wedding song of your choosing

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.

Deep Space Tragedy is a comic about a teenage rock n' roll band in outer space, and are unwillingly part of something greater.

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.

JAM OF THE WEEK: "Super Rad" by The Aquabats!

How has this NEVER been a Jam Of The Week?

ANYWAYS, The Aquabats have a Kickstarter out now, to produce more albums and more episodes of "The Aquabats! Super Show!".

"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!

Also I share a birthday with MC Bat Commander.

JAM OF THE WEEK 07/22/2018 ALSO FRIDAY NIGHT MYSTERIES IS BACK!!!

JAM OF THE WEEK: "Love TKO" by Teddy Pendergrass

This is a baby making jam. Hands down.

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.

What Is Sunday REALLY?

"LEGENDS" NOW ON SOUNDCLOUD!


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.

Status Quo Sunday Recaps ALL The Podcasts!

 First and foremost, as promised, here's a new song "Fahrenhype"



Beat used: "Let It Crawl" by Society's Bag

Since Two Best Friends Play and Supergreatfriend both finished up their LPs of “Indigo Prophecy” at around the same time, I made this.

I got Indigo Prophecy the first week or so it came out. Like most people, I was pumped for the first few hours of game play, and it was really great because it was setting up this cool mystery, and then it absolutely went to shit. I'm kind of curious what the buildup would have been had they had proper time to finish up that project.

The initial premise, that you take on the role and the police, made for an interesting mechanic, but it's completely abandoned two scenes in to make room for the 100 other types of subplots they wanted to get in.

The characters are very broadly drawn, with their roles boiled down to things such as "The Hero", "The Love Interest", "The Black Guy", etc. and while appreciate the little details that are put into their lives (Lucas plays guitar and practices martial arts, Tyler has a girlfriend and plays video games, Carla's best friend), the characters themselves aren't very interesting. I don't have fond memories of anyone from that game like I did with Deadly Premonition and The Walking Dead.

Granted, I finished it, but only because there were so many dangling hooks, I had to be dragged along for the ride, and I was already halfway through before it became "Play Simon to advance".

At the end of the day, while I may find his games problematic, I appreciate what his doing, and am more than glad that a person like him can make the games that he does. Again, The Walking Dead came along and kicked the crap out of everything he did, but as far as making people think a little differently about games with a AAA budget, then it's OK... for now.


MY FIRST INTERVIEW!!!

My segment starts right around the 2 hour mark. We talk about screwy video games, rock n' roll radio cliches, TWO FOR TUESDAY, and movies. I'd love to be back on there again sometime!

MY SECOND APPEARANCE ON HEEL TURN

The RAW Episode after a Pay Per View is always an odd one. Hell in a Cell didn't resolve a lot, and Daniel Bryan got screwed out of the title again. It's getting old at this point, and none of the non-comedy plotlines interest me now that John Cena's back.

DRIVE BACK HOME GETS ME WORKIN' MY DRAFT MUSCLES AGAIN

And I failed... again...

FUTURE STUFF!!!

The good news is that I got a three song deep queue of stuff on the backburner, so I'm never not running out of material.

The bad news is that eventually I'm going to be moving some of the Dino Hunter MD songs off of Soundcloud, since they're on Bandcamp, and I'm running out of space on SoundCloud.