Malik
(6/23/09)
As I come back from
feeling like complete crap for the last two weeks, I'm slowly
getting back to posting more regularly. Obviously, with this being
my first post in a few days, this is my intended first day of
getting back into the swing of things.
I don't have too much to
talk about for today. I mean there is not much new with games I'm
interested in (but I'll try to include thoughts on any good new Rock
Band DLC tomorrow...hopefully Nalopean, the new account for Npeaen,
has some good expert guitar videos on youtube) with it being summer
and no new FF4 chapters until the 6th of July. It's also turning
out, to me at least, to look like a slow start to the summer
blockbuster movie season. I think I'd rather burn some money than
sit around blowing it on seeing most of what's been coming out
lately. Between Transformers, Terminator 4, GI Joe, and the other
big name movies, summer 2009 has me less than excited. Last of all,
the TV seasons are all basically done...with a couple of good
exceptions.
As a person who still
has to escape into daydreams from time to time (to save my sanity),
I love Z Rock. It's an IFC show about a rock band trying to make it
big while being a kids band for their day job (for those who need
the quick explanation). The second season just started, and this
show has always hit me nicely in the right places to compliment my
(usually sad and pathetic) daydreams of flipping off the world.
I am also glad that True
Blood (on HBO) has started its second season so close to when Z Rock
started its second season. Of course, True Blood is more of a very
guilty pleasure than something I'd go about just proudly proclaiming
I'm addicted to in normal circumstances. I mean it's just around the
level of soap opera, but with more gore and nudity. Still, it's this
basic level of TV is just good fun. Plus, despite how some would
pass it off as simple trash, True Blood has some damned good writing
when it comes to witty dialogue (the episode from Sunday had me
hitting the rewind button a few times on my DVR just to hear a line
an extra time when it was just that damned good). It's not classic
literary wit, but some of the best for smart-ass style humor...at
least some of the best one could hope to find on TV and definitely
beyond what you'd expect on a soap opera about vampires, telepaths,
possible witches, and shape changing bar owners.
Malik |
Malik
(6/24/09)
I did check out the new
Rock Band DLC on expert guitar via youtube videos from Nalopean.
Most of the songs look quite lame and uninteresting. Topping this
group of lame songs is the Maroon 5 pack, which looks about as
uninteresting on guitar as possible. I think Tempter from Squeeze is
the only less enthralling guitar songs I can think of right now.
However, I didn't
try anything for myself. With getting over being sick, I have some
stuffed up feeling ears that make the thought of music seem like
torture. However, when I do get a chance to try the songs (hopefully
tonight if my hearing normalizes), I think the Bad Religion song is
the only one I'll get. It's just sad that 21st Century Digital Boy
is one of their songs I don't really get excited for. Still, it is
Bad Religion, so I'll get one of their worse songs almost anytime.
I'll also get at
least two of the Pearl Jam Ten re-issue songs that are now available
for download. I didn't know these were coming out this week, and the
charts for expert guitar with Pearl Jam is almost always a blast. I
may be burnt out on the band since I was way over exposed to them
growing up (I grew up around Seattle and loved my radio ever since I
was a kid...which was bad since Seattle is the land of eternal Pearl
Jam radio play), but these are fun charts even if the songs are way
too overplayed for me. The only one I'll probably skip is the live
version of Alive...which is the second song to be featured on disk
for RB2 and to get a live version that's downloadable. It's the
first that is available as a single in this redundant way, since Let
There Be Rock (AC/DC) was only included, live format, if you bought
the AC/DC Track Pack.
Anyway, best of
all for right now, I've kept my posting streak going to two days. I
think it's safe to now say I'm back.
Malik |
Malik
(6/25/09)
I did play some of the
new songs for Rock Band last night. It took an extra day of hoping
my ears would stop being stuffed (to no avail), but I did get around
to it.
First off, I found
20th Century (Digital Boy) to be good fun. It's not as fun as Sorrow
is on expert guitar, but few songs can have that great of a rhythm
to them. Still, for being one of the lower quality (in my mind) Bad
Religion songs, which still makes it an awesome song to me, it's
fun. The only problem is that it is quite easy with, more or less,
the same rhythm and feel as most other chord heavy songs. There's
chords, a set tempo, and an occasional triplet in there from time to
time.
As for the Pearl
Jam songs, they are pretty fun. I skipped Alive, since I already
have the song in another format so spending another $2 feels like a
waste. It would be good if I got the re-issue of Ten and got the
songs for free, but...well, my Pearl Jam feelings should be well
known by now.
Anyway, Brother is
standard Pearl Jam. It feels like most of their other songs, with a
bit of hammer-ons and a bit of chords, and a definite repeating
style. The other song, which I can't remember the name of, is a bit
different. Yes, it's chords and hammer-ons and all that...but the
solo is a mother f#@$er. I mean this is a solo designed to bring
tears to the eyes of people who are not full on expert players. It's
fast, full of shifting patters, and some damned quick changes in
feel without much warning. Unfortunately, it's just a little more of
a chore than I'd prefer, making it more challenging than fun. As a
comparison, look at a song like Rambling Man for what I'd call a fun
and challenging solo.
Anyway, I've just
been playing a lot of Rock Band, trying to retain some skills that
have stagnated lately. I mean when I get three stars on Siva from
the Smashing Pumpkins and manage to not get 100% on Today (I played
the Smashing Pumpkins challenge set to end my night last night), I
know my skills are a bit rusty.
Malik |
Malik
(6/26/09)
It's been a weird week
when it's all said and done. I mean weird as in bad in many ways.
While I was never what one would call much of a fan, between Farrah
Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Michael Jackson, the world has lost some
major influences. I mean there was the embodiment of sex to an
entire generation, a man who made being a side-kick into being a
really cool profession, and a man who has done something I don't see
happening again...being a artist who is culturally relevant to three
whole generations.
Mainly, MJ is the
one who I think has changed the world in more ways than one could
ever think of. He had the music that has reached so many people, but
it goes far deeper. The music video, which had a major impact in
music since the early 1980's was his medium. No one else could lay
claim to the music video format with any serious reason such as MJ's
for doing so. He made mini-movies of a medium that was originally
nothing more than a shot of a single artist or of a bunch of people
just playing and performing.
Before Thriller,
who would think of getting real Hollywood insiders involved in
making a video? Who would think of piling on celebrities in a way
which You Rock My World did with Billy Drago, Marlon Brando, and
Chris Tucker (and it goes beyond them in that video...)? Special
effects were pushed to new limits in his videos...new limits which
would then follow naturally into Hollywood movies. Even if you're
not a fan of his music (or just listen without necessarily seeking
out or avoiding his music), his influences probably still reached
through.
Rock-n-Roll was
influenced with the twist to the Mo' Town sound The Jackson Five
brought around. Music videos became a real medium to take notice of
with his ideas. Probably a good 90% of current R&B singers were
influenced in some way by his style. Hell, even if you still want to
dismiss this as not dealing with you, he influenced other styles of
media with The Simpsons getting in on the act back at the time when
Black And White came out, and he has been fodder for covers that go
well beyond his genres (Smooth Criminal comes to mind).
To change subjects
a little (from music to music),
the Rock Band DLC for next week just isn't doing it for me. At
least the Warped Tour stuff. Sadly this music all sounds like the
same pop-punk crap that seems to always be the embodiment of Warped
Tour. It's stuff that tends to remind me why I never got into the
Warped Tour scene (with the exception of when Less Than Jake
headlined back in the late 1990's).
On the other hand,
at least Foreigner is a good addition to RB. It's about time this
band came into the rhythm game world. I know that's a three pack
that will find it's way on my 360 next Tuesday.
Malik |
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