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Mac Demarco - Salad Days

Mac Demarco’s third LP under his solo venture features a more distinct sequel to 2. Demarco has stayed away at least in terms of music for the most part, from being the joker. There’s no more “Rock n Roll Nightclub” but more lyrical styling of the honest variety now marked with more confessional tones.  Previous work with  pop fuzz outfit Makeout Videotape now seem in the distant past in comparison to Salad Days, but those steps were necessary to achieve these results.

  Salad Days features a more somber reflection of Demarco. The songs here are much more confessional and he even remarked that he believe it was not going to be a commercial success and would shift his fan base because of “how much a downer it is”. His fears for the most part are never truly realized. Demarco’s habit of creating hazy pop songs about family life make a full return but there is a definite shift in tone and a change to the instrumental accompaniment. Demarco composed the entire album on his own within his Brooklyn apartment, but the lyrics were created while on tour and it shows with the murky lingering of smoky synthesizers and apprehensive vocals.

  The feeling of a hazy heat in a small room choking the singer with his signature viceroy cigarettes immediately strikes the listener. This return to the sounds of the jangly guitars and loose bass lines is not marked without several improvements in the terms of more layers and smoother singing. Album stand out "Passing Out Pieces" has Demarco doing his best Grizzly Bear impersonation. While the components are still basic for the most part in comparison to 2, Demarco's songwriting has shifted to be more closely focused on himself. Much like how 2 had sinister undertones; most of the album has defeatist’s tones over glowering guitars. Instead of looking at a neighborhood and what is going on, he focuses on his fears. He worries over the possible deportation of his girlfriend, how he treats the women around her, and his family relations; unlike 2 it seems it was not made purely for entertainment.

  The prankster Mac Demarco creates an interesting character similar to Tyler, the Creator. He is constantly shifting towards immaturity but music that reveals some wisdom within the mind that seems to get off on annoying others. Still while some people might not find Demarco hilarious, there is considerable depth within his music even with its simple parts that are crafted for easy entry. Again I hate to harp back between the differences between both albums, Salad Days marks Demarco being tired and drifting, the music at first seems unfocused but only as much as that he is not a perfectionist. On an instrumental level the music is only here it seems to compliment the lyrics that are the real stand out. The best merging of the ideas is "Let My Baby Stay" an acoustic song with frankly poor mastering, but the feeling and emotion is pure.

  Demarco says he created some of the album for the record label had fear over releasing an album without a strong single. The doubt of the record label seems a bit dumb, over an album that is easily accessible to most listeners. It’s an album that will drift through your headsets and stereos without truly lingering. Demarco leans more towards bands like Real Estate and Grizzly Bear than his classic rock jokes. This more mature Demarco puts out an album that surpasses its predecessor.

  Final Verdict: 9/10

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Thirty Flights of Loving and Gravity Bone

I like the way that Blendo Games’ Brendan Chung gets around to doing his short games. I like how brief both Thirty Flights of Loving and Gravity Bone are. The games take only really an hour put together to complete, but will leave a person with questions for a weekend. The experience overall will make you feel like the games could continue on, and expand the universe but it is a blessing they don’t and your imagination fills in these narrative cracks.

  When I first picked up Gravity Bone it happened in a fluke manner. After reading a piece on the Internet about Quadrilateral Cowboy, the next upcoming game, I began to look into why it was getting coverage over other games. Then from there I saw a screenshot of Gravity Bone and knew that I had to play it since the art direction looked fantastic. After browsing Steam and only finding Thirty Flights, I purchased it.

  Now on first play through I thought these games were going to last much longer. The game feels like it will go on for longer. There is no impending storyline; there is no real tension to make you think it will only be for a few brief moments. Heck, after the second mission in Gravity Bone, I thought that the game was going to go on for a couple more hours. Then completing the prequel, or sequel, depending on how you look at it, the game leaves more questions.

  What I love about the two games is the tremendous atmosphere and how a story is being told in a number of interactive snapshots. In Thirty Flights it feels like the game is happening with you being forced into a new situation every five seconds and being bombarded with new clues and ideas over what is actually happening. Gravity Bone feels like just as soon as you get comfortable, it’s over. It has often been compared to a game that feels like it should be 300 pages crammed into 60, and it is staggeringly true.

  The most important takeaway I got from it though was how much I was looking for meaning. While playing Thirty Flights, the entire time I was looking at how it connected to Gravity Bone and vice versa. I slowly replayed both games trying to understand what was happening and why the characterizations of Winston and Anita were so important. I wanted to connect to this universe but I still could not make heads or tails off of what I was seeing.

  I went into Thirty Flights thinking it was going to be a sequel of Gravity Bone. Heck, the game is advertised as a sequel to it. The problem is that it almost works better as a sequel, and believing that you are playing as the same character from the original. Brendan Chung has said Citizen Abel is not the name of the character of the first, so it could be a code name but you see a similar character at the wedding reception that ends up killing the protagonist in the first game.  Then there is the issue of what is actually happening as there are multiple stories going on in the sequel/prequel.

  The game gives a lot of information and asks the player to figure out what they want the story to be. To me, the games seem to have Thirty Flights setting up Gravity Bone, and are backed up by the menu placing it in that way. The events of Thirty Flights set up the death of Gravity Bone and the brown haired girl who kills you at the end of the game has spied on the group on the entire time. Even then, though there are holes, excess information, and again nothing really explicitly connects the games.

  Playing the two games is one of the most interesting experiences I have had for such a brief moment. It is reminiscent of Portal in that every detail is carefully crafted into the story and you are given time to look into it, and not be put off about the 6 hours of gameplay that you will play to finally figure it out. There is a beauty in brevity and I wished more games would follow suit. 

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Life Without Buildings - Any Other City

Life Without Buildings is the name of a band that came together under what seems to be a city. The metallic feeling of guitar and bass portions mirror a metropolitan spread creating the sensation that Any Other City actually feels like it is a city. It feels born within the city, melded by its patrons and that Thompkins lyrics are the different people’s thoughts, their interactions, paired with angular guitar parts and sporadic drumming.

The post-punk/math rock band debut album was reissued this year after coming out in 2001. At one point the CD was not printed anymore and became a rare find and now with its availability on Spotify there is no reason to not pick the album up or give it a listen. I discovered this album by my usual method of browsing blogs and going on Pitchfork, where they had given it a high score. At first, I did not check it out simply because I was too lazy but after discovering it again on VinylinAlphabetical, it became something I could not ignore, I had to listen to it.

What was to come on the album surprised me right from the jump the first cut grabs your attention and sets the tone. The lead guitar would compliment the bass power and the drums working on the outer rim of the tracks with erratic vocals seemingly coming from bizarre angles and perfectly encapsulating everything the song stands for. Meaningless lyrics stated with the importance of the most invaluable truth. They are given weight that creates the illusion that these are the greatest secrets known to man.

The first listen to the album is an engrossing experience. Sue Thompkins vocals are addictive complimented with the nature of the band playing intoxicating the listener. On “Juno,” where the band gets as close to creating something resembling a regular song, they create a hypnotic trance and than with quick cuts and shouted vocals pushing the band before going back to the quite opening.

Throughout the entirety of the album there is weight to every point. The bass feels like a speedy train keeping time and jumping every once in a while, and the drums while falling like rain in quieter parts hit like bullets on climaxes. For the vocals, aspect it sounds like the band where playing when Thompkins was originally singing but something happened to the tape and they had to piece together the lyrics. While at first it becomes disorienting to try and figure out the meaning of the songs, soon it becomes similar to Guided by Voices where you take what you want out of the songs. Thompkins has a previous history working with spoken word and the band was formed during art school in Glasgow.

While Thompkins might seem like the focus, it’s the leading guitarist Robert Johnson’s guitar portions that seem to put everything in context. Johnson bridges together the parts of the erratic vocals while the bass gives weight to each syllable. While the album was originally suppose to be just instrumentals until Johnson invited Thompkins to do vocals over the track, the tracks needed all components to come together. The album is certainly polarizing but even the people who dislike this sound and qualities of it, they would be hard pressed to not find something to appreciate here.

The best track has to be “New Town” despite coming out in 2001, it hasn’t been mimicked at least to me. It feels earnest and conveys the most emotion and power in a song I’ve heard in a while.  The album as a whole is building up to deliever this song, hell they could have just released the album as an EP and I would have given it just the same score, but the extra parts help elaborate on the thoughts. Life Without Buildings never gave a proper follow up to this album, and there was really no need for it. It is the album that they needed to make and it remains as something untouchable as there was never a proper sequel. 

Final Verdict – 9/10 

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Day 1 of E3 Thoughts and Reflections

This year at E3 despite my constant fanboyisms with Sony and the recent flirtations with Microsoft, my reactions were generally mixed. The two publishers other than the console creators had press conferences that seemed generic to say the least and really just felt the mold other than really one game to stick out in my mind, well barring Just Dance, which looks great if you are into that thing.

  For the most part both Electronic Arts and Ubisoft played it safe. They relied on their major names to bring you in but other than that nothing really strayed away from their formula of killing things, or in EA’s case also kicking them. Ubisoft showcasing Valiant Hearts looked fantastic and something off the beaten path but it was too in the middle of all the killing. This is not even mentioning that they ended their press conference with more games about guns and now there has been a recent uptake and not only games about killing but focusing heavily on co-op experiences.

  These experiences are double-edged sword for me, someone who keeps an odd schedule and does not really like to go online. Other than the school breaks I have, I never truly get the time to play online with my friends and also there is the issue, someone might have a weak connection. It felt like during the conferences along with the shooting and the terrible voice acting of a “real multiplayer” game it was more of the same from this console generation instead of trying to do something different.

  The high definition graphics capabilities of these new consoles are only there to show blood in a much higher resolution, but fail to convey any story. Even if the trailer tried to create some emotional drama the gameplay mechanics shown, had little to no signifcance. For instance, Ubisoft’s The Division looks fantastic visually, the flawless HUD design, art direction, and snow make me want to play it immediately, but with the game deciding that it needs co-op, a tablet app and probably a bunch of other features it seems like it is going to be more of the same from Ubisoft.

  The Division does not look like it will tell me a story I will remember but one I will only forget while I am in the midst of killing things. In much the same vein is Battlefield: Hardline a game all about killing things while being the police, which sounds far too realistic for its own good. It does not look like it will tell the story of a cop but rather looks more inclined to mirror Robocop with a high body count and lots of death.

  The problems with these games, which I know I am judging off of only a two minute trailer most of the time, is that they look like they are going to fail to provide context for these insane actions. It is not normal for people to kill other people, but these games make it seem like they are. One of my favorite games of last year was The Last of Us because it made every time you kill a person seem like there was weight to that action. It gave context on how maybe you should not feel bad for killing them but you felt it.

  The brightest spots of the conferences were the independent games where things had colors and shading and got you away from blowing everything up. The games looked like an actual experience that could not be found before. Not only that but if you really want to play as a minority character, only two real genres allow that as they always have, sports games and role-playing games. There’s more I could say about the whole white dudes murdering everything scene but most of it has already been said. Maybe next year there will be something that will include more, but for me that is really why Sony won the conference. They did not have something for everyone, not even close in terms of reaching out to marginalized groups, but at least they tried to show some variety.

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Frankie Cosmos - Zentrophy

Greta Kline’s guitar pop project Frankie Cosmos’ debut album Zentrophy differs slightly from her previous projects on Bandcamp. The personal lyrics with the brisk pace of the songs are similar here but mark a maturation of Kline as a song crafter and someone who has a fantastic ear for pop music.

Previous works by Kline under the Cosmos’ character was marked with little to no production, and a focus on storytelling. Songs come frantically and the albums slip away before you notice. “School” sets the standard with a simple drum pattern, fuzzy guitar chords, and humorous lyrics focusing on her note become the standard for the album.

It works to Kline’s strength that everything is quick, and brief. Details are fuzzy similar to the instruments, but the sentiments are clear. The album feels like a girl at the point ready to be an adult and being thrust into new responsibilities. Kline keeps the focus on the album on her surroundings; little attention is paid to the grand scale of the world but more its intimacy and relationship with herself. Kline crafts an album that is similar to reading someone’s diary quickly, it comes off as an honest portrayal of her and her home life and merely a snapshot with more stories to be told.

Coming off a frantic clip lends this album to multiple lessons. It is complimented by a fantastic vision for catchiness within chords and phrases. It grows at the back of your mind and recedes slowly after listening to it. Kline has created an album that sets up for previous pre-work and also for seconds, what is here is not a lot but the pieces gel well together.

Final Verdict - 8/10 

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Artist's Authenticity

Every once in a while an argument flares up on the Internet about an artist being “real.” Research is done on their history, unpopular secrets are shared and rumors have a field day. Since the dawn of time in certain genres of music, being framed as inauthentic can kill your career or grant you an army of haters. The problem with this labeling is the criteria can range and the double standard becomes apparent when under proper scrutiny.

Fans come up with the most ridiculous reasons to explain why some artists are inauthentic and while their favorite artists are “the real deal.” For example, many of popular rapper Childish Gambino’s fans will say that he is bringing rap back, and that he is not completely emotional like another popular rapper Drake. They will say that because Drake puts up false images he is completely inauthentic. For the most part these criticisms hold no weight and only serve to divide groups of music fans. Authenticity, than can only be described as a lack of emotion in rap when discussing Drake, despite that many famous rappers have been heralded for having deeply personal albums.  There is generally no real discussion about music only an argument over image.  

An artist’s image generally either grabs attention or deflects fans.  Last year, critically acclaimed black metal band Deafheaven was labeled as fake fans and were the subject of numerous posts on black metal forums because of the scene associated with them. Popular website Noisey published an article about how typically older metal fans labeled Deafheaven “hipster metal” and discrediting their music. This frames the main argument regarding authenticity. It is not important for the artist to be authentic to their own vision but to the audience which creates another multitude of problems.  

While most of the time being proven inauthentic will damage an artist recently, it has been proven the opposite. Rick Ross was shown to be a former parole officer and in no way associated with drugs but his career could not be stalled. Lana Del Rey was proven to shine once the documents revealing how much plastic surgery she had leaked.

The argument has a problem of only being used to discredit instead of illuminating an artist’s work. An artist’s biography frames how we interpret the work. Had not everyone come to a consensus that Kanye West was an egotist would Yeezus be as critically acclaimed as it was? Authenticity to a scene is important in to make claims or arguments within it valid, but for the most part it is only used to divide and conquer bands instead of evaluating them critically. 

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Arctic Monkeys - AM

Previous of records by the Arctic Monkeys have always felt rather boring to me. I was never really into their sound other than for a handful of singles and for the most part could hardly slog through an album worth of songs. I would define them at their best making spastic pop-punk hybrids with heavy importance on Alex Turner's lyrics much to their detriment. 

This became the central issue in Suck it and See, an album I could not even fake like, or at least grimace through. It was everything I had detested about the current bit of rock music. It was too bloated, the lyrics were not complimentary to the music, and it gained no true attention from me. 

If you've been on this blog before you will see that this album actually made my honorable mentions of the best albums of this year. I was floored the first time listening to the album. There shift in sound is distinct. This is an album where Alex Turner felt he needed to move away from their established sound and works for the best. 

The Monkeys no longer sound like a shambolic rock band, the change in their image from wearing sweat shirts and jeans to nearly all black everything shifted their music as well. The album feels like a late night, it ends brooding but begins with the intensity of the opening of the night. 

Again the lyrics are the first thing pulling you into most of the songs. Still rolling off of Alex Turner's baritone voice, but this time ringing the tunes. Turner's observations are much more personal and honest/ The tunes slide through instead of past works draining on the ears trying to keep up. There's an attention to detail about how everything links up.

The album reeks of its heavy influence which is not even in the same genre. Rather you can feel that Turner was listening to Drake's Take Care on repeat while creating this album. For the most part it takes what that album was at its finest, with Drake creating ambient rap ballads about his own personal demons, and leaves away all the forced "fronting" that happens in that album. 

The only issue of the album would be slugging through the middle portion begins to feel too heavy. The instrumentation begins to feel mechanical through a lot of listens. For the most part though it breathes through a somber sigh and question, well is it love or just a meaningless fling. 

This is an album about declaring that you need someone's love but realizing they don't feel the same. It about being lost in the scene you're in to the point you are apart of the scenery but needing a change. Which is not only great ideas for an album but speak about how much the band was simply becoming similar to Oasis where they just statues for modern British Rock. 

Final Verdict - 7/10 

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My Top Albums of 2013

Best Albums of 2013 (in my unprofessional opinion) 1. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

2. Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap

3. Kanye West - Yeezus

4. Deafheaven - Sunbather

5. Jai Paul - Jai Paul

6. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

7. Chvrches - The Mother We Share

8. Mutual Benefits - Love's Crushing Diamond

9. Darkside - Psychic 

10. Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic  Honorable Mentions  Arcade Fire - Reflektor  Arctic Monkeys - AM  She & Him - Volume 3  Death Grips - Government Plates

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Jai Paul - Jai Paul (Unofficial Release)

Last year "Jasmine" was released as a demo. While claimed to be "unfinished" it was one of the best songs released last year. It's infectious production crept into your mind and you understood just how big that Jai Paul wanted the song to be. You could picture the song transforming into something much larger than some popular underground R&B song. You wanted to get to know this Jasmine, Paul was describing and how elusive she seemed. 

Jai Paul's unreleased album follows in much the same vein of elusiveness. Yet again, it is unfinished and both the artist and the label claim that this is not the finished product and their is no release date in sight. Shockingly, despite it's nature of being a series of demos, it is one of the best albums of this year. The songs creep from out of your headphones and are evocative. You never fully know how a song will pan out and with multiple listens you can see why they are still demos for a good number of them. This is a Guided by Voices' R&B album. 

While the album does take major influence from acts such as Frank Ocean and How to Dress Well, Paul instead of trying to make something intimate is pushing for heavier beats. Production that is grounded while the vocals flee from your grip. Words are muddled but the feeling is there. 

After hearing the first two lead singles "Jasmine" and "BTSTU" a listener would not be too shocked if the entirety of the album was something personal. The two first singles mirror the now popular "bedroom" R&B. It is pleasure that the album does not follow suit but rather allow those singles to be the buildups and recovery to a very strong first half of an album. 

Only time will tell if Jai Paul will ever break from the shadows and release a final copy of the album. For the most part what is being showcased here is an album that should be listened to by everyone. This is PBR&B that you can dance to.

Final Verdict 8/10

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Skyward Sword Journal - Week 1

I can’t really play Skyward Sword like I use to be able to play other Zelda’s. I am unable to motivate myself to sit for hours on end and play in this virtual universe. I can no longer push myself to play Zelda, but rather I get frustrated and bored instead of happy and excited. The games that use to foster my childhood imagination are now rather boring and devoid of interest to me. I think its more the problem of the console and the game rather than franchise. 

Playing on the Wii, the game begins to not only bore me, but takes a physical toll on me. Instead of instinctively pressing a button on a controller that I know the game will register, now I have to waggle. I have to get up and move around and sometimes the Wii simply doesn’t register what I am doing.  More often than not, my gaming sessions are broken up by how many times I have to stand up and move closer to the screen from my bed. 

The experience of waggle does not make me feel more like Link but rather I become strangely apparent that I am not within the game. When the game fails to register my actions, all I can do is sigh with annoyance and continue to waggle my heart out.  I recognize more and more that I am frustrating myself and my breaks become longer and more frequent. I want to replay Wind Waker or Twilight Princess to see if it is just a me thing instead of the console, but am unable because I left those games home until winter break.

I have logged in around five hours in total but generally the controller is always what turns me off from continuing. Whenever I see a rope bridge, I hate having to use the motion controls to “balance” out Link. The game breaks up it’s pace too much in the beginning to really just lock into gear and allow me freedom to explore. This problem in controlling the game, has turned me off of other Wii games particularly, Metroid Prime 3 where I could not be bothered to finish the game. Even though it played well I just was annoyed that it overreacted a lot. 

I will reiterate that I am not deeply into the game though, so only time will tell if I will like this game. I will continually keep playing it, until it is done, and will attempt to write a weekly update of my opinion. 

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Chance the Rapper Live in Concert

I did not know what to expect from a Chance the Rapper show. Since he was unsigned, I did not know if there was going to be an opening act or if it was going to be just him. I had no idea about the production value and also the draw of his shows and how many people would be there. Most importantly I did not know how he would sound live compared to other various rappers I have seen over the years.

All these questions were answered quickly, the show was sold out, there was an opening act, and he blew every single other rapper out of the water with his concert.

His concert oddly began with Hannibal Burress doing a brief stand up bit. It actually set up the remainder of the show extremely well. It was light hearted and Hannibal knew that the crowd was not expecting it in the slightest. His jokes were solid but he could tell the crowd was not here for him, and added a bit more to how the night was going to a bit off the cuff. 

After a half hour of waiting Chance finally, took the stage with his backing band.  His band was on point throughout the entire show, most particularly his trumpeter who would go off on solos and add to the show. He would compliment songs so well it actually stinks going back.

The entire show was flawless. The show was reminiscent of late-60s acid rock shows with a projector behind him showing scenes ranging from pictures of space to full scenes of people just making out. The entire production of the show meshed perfectly. Nothing was left awkwardly out.

The music was on point, mostly focusing on Acid Rap, this is probably because it was the second show of the night for him. Each song was crafted and he even through in a cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You” which was a beautiful twist.

The highlight of the show, which was in NYC at SOB, was his “Everybody’s Something.” The crowd began to seep into one being and the energy was pumping. Chance never missed a word and had the whole crowd going and forcing him to come back for an encore.

This was probably one of the best shows I have ever been to, and recommend anyone to grab tickets.

Final Verdict – 9/10 

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What is a hipster?

Recently, if you wanted to get out of an argument with any person without giving them the dignity of a full response you would just have to call them a hipster. For some reason that is the end all be all response. There is no coming back from it. Regardless if the person is a hipster, whatever that maybe, or not they are not entitled to a reason for why they are wrong. They just have to accept it.

  It annoys the life out of a hipster or me whenever a debate begins about any medium of art, and someone is called pretentious. Due to not wanting to make a rash generalization, I will say this happens nine times out of ten. It is the most obnoxious thing, to hear someone just say because you are a hipster all points are null and void.

  The biggest problem about using the word hipster as an insult is that no one has a clear definition of it. At least with something like a “Frat Bro” there is the base requirement of them being in a Greek Fraternity. Hipsters do not share those same qualities. I have heard people accuse another of hipster in something so trivial as going through a different doorway then other people.

  Maybe if there were some base stereotypes calling someone a hipster would not be such an outright annoying argument. Even the stereotypes that are associated though, do not really make a hipster sound like a bad person but rather someone who watches what they consume. I have never met a hipster, but judging from the way people use the word it makes them seem like they are the worse kind of people in the world.

  Hipster has become interchangeable with a litany of insults. The only difference is now if you are talking about a movie you did not like, you become “hipster scum.” Heck, unsurprisingly I have been called a hipster whenever I did not like something regardless of its popularity. I still do not understand it, whenever I seem to have major gripes with something it does not matter because that word is get out of a jail free card.

  Even of the definitions I have read about a hipster “is” I still cannot fathom the hate for them. What is so wrong about trying to be different? Aren’t we bred at a young age to “think outside of the box,” be a “special snowflake?” So what if a bunch of young adults decided to continue their lives in that manner, as long as it is not hurting anyone in the process? So long as there is no crazy hipster brawls, which I don’t think there ever, will be, why can we not let them sit at the table for any debate?

  I hope I can at least get some response, where there is a clear reason why being a hipster is a bad thing. So far, it just seems like someone who doesn’t like the same things as you. 

Side Note - yes I know two big pieces in two days is really weird of me. 

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Grand Theft Auto V Review

I really, really loved Grand Theft Auto IV. That was the one time where the series clicked for me. Unlike others the original San Andreas suffered from having actually too much to do. Nothing felt like it was the focus coupled with some really awkward mechanics, I enjoyed it a lot but IV was amazing to me. It was a perfect mesh and had a fantastic story that even though it suffered at some points, did have me enjoy it through and through.

GTA V though does not grab me in the same way. Instead GTA V had me enjoy the actual gameplay a lot more. If you were to take them head to head, I would argue that on pure gameplay that V is much better than its predecessor. Then again, I prioritize story over a lot of things.  

The game's story is solid, but I felt no meaningful bond to any of the characters other than Franklin. Trevor was off the wheels too much and did not feel like a real character. He felt static the entire time, while Michael, feels pointless. He cares for a family that is terrible to him, and he frequently is yelling at them. The story did not do a good job of showing why he enjoyed them so much. 

Another Rockstar game, Red Dead Redemption, actually made me wish Rockstar had repeated the family story. In that game the motivation for Marston wanting his family back made sense. You did not know why he loved them so much but his conversation points about how he loved them and wanted to be good to them made everything make sense. In GTA V Michael's family is just so plainly terrible it hurts to watch. Everyone just comes off as looking terrible. 

This is a game though so let's look at the gameplay for a bit which is much better than any other GTA game. The driving here is fantastic; cars have a unique feeling and are much easier to control. The only issue is operating a plane/anything airborne. They take too long to travel the map and give you this feeling that you are not going anywhere. 

My favorite part of the game comes in the form of each of the protagonist's special abilities. I enjoyed that each character had something different about them and that they were actually useful. I used Franklin's the most, but Trevor and Michael's abilities were nice compliments.

These abilities were mostly used in the various heists that are performed throughout the game. The only issue with these amazing parts, is that there only five of them, and a couple of them have no monetary gains. It takes a while until you can buy most of the properties and play the stock market properly. The heists that you do get though, each have multiple ways to play them and keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time while performing them. 

The only major downfall of the game I would even mention, is that the story is not as engrossing as before, but even then it is a solid story. It is not particularly revolutionary, but makes most missions have a strong purpose and brings added enjoyment. 

The missions now are brought into different parts and often have multi-character parts. The best thing about them is that you can replay your favorite ones similar to The Ballad of Gay Tony. 

At the end of the day this is a fantastic game. Something everyone should play. The only regret is that the story is not as engrossing as previous games. The new added benefit of three unique characters does make for better gameplay, which is what we are here for. The only issue is that the satire at times comes off too strongly and hurts the story by making the caricatures non-relatable at times.  

Final Verdict - 9/10 

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The Strokes - Comedown Machine

An band finding their identity and then immediately trying to shift it creates problems. Unless done perfectly flawless, a lot of listeners are felt like it is a different band or they don't like the direction. After The Strokes third album, First Impressions of Earth, the last two albums have been trying to break away from their original sound.

Nowadays they sound like a new wave band. Sadly, Casablancas and company's strength lies in the 70s punk movement instead of the 80s. A lot of times on this new album the songs are barely memorable. Casablancas singing voice shows how small its range actually is, something you would not have noticed on something like Room on Fire. 

The band has been trying to get away from the shock success of their debut, but its creating growing pains. Unlike Angles this is an album firmly set in the New Wave. It just hurts that the best song on the album sounds like standard Strokes affair and even that is not that good of a song. 

The songwriting is as blurred as usual, but the lyrics do not carry the same feeling that The Strokes of old did. It's mostly Casablancas writing which is sad, since we have seen Albert's strengths, but this time the lyrics and singing can't lock into place. 

The Strokes fans are becoming something similar to sports fans with a team that use to win championships. Every album they claim "is going to make people care again." 

Final Verdict - 5/10

[lopescorner-blog]

Tame Impala - Lonerism

  I spend a lot of hours in my own head. It’s not that I don’t like people, rather one of my personal strengths is connecting with others, it’s just really cozy in my head. Drifting through the eternal space between my ideas and going from instinct to instinct and seeing how far the rabbit hole truly goes.

Tame Impala’s Lonerism is all about being in your own head and wondering why no one else is there. It’s about being on a different wavelength than everyone else, but also once connecting realizing there’s always something different. The group from Australia doesn’t dabble in psychedelic rock from the 1970s but dive in and grant us a refreshing new take on it a la Foxygen. They know the sound they are going for and are meticulous about cultivating it, this isn’t playing dress up in your parents closet.

Lonerism’s strength comes directly from lead singer Kevin Parker’s strength as a producer and songwriter. Parker’s attention to detail is jaw dropping. His creations are rich sounds and delicate lyrics that examine every aspect of being isolated. Everything is here because it needs to be here, not because they like long guitar solos.  

Parker displays a strong love for late 60s and early 70s rock music and understands its component, because of this what stands out most from the album, is the production. The richness of guitar parts along with the breath taking lack of them in the leading track “Be Above It” and ��Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control.”  You would be hard pressed to find an album that sounds absolutely majestic on any speaker system from 2012.

Everything in this album feels majestic. The listener feels like they are looking at the entirety of the universe and seeing how small we truly are. The harmonies coming through space as distant races, the guitars flying like stars through space, with the drums pushing you forward with striking power. Everything details how Parker was literally first honing down each individual pieces before stacking another one on top of it.

Probably the one part of the album though that will get the most recognition is the lyrical content. Parker’s singing may sound like John Lennon, but that merely distracts from how strong of a writer he is. Lonerism lyrics about isolation feel comforting. They speak about the divide people have from each other, and how some just always feel alone. Even the artwork suggests it, from the photograph literally being barred out. While Parker wonders, “why they won’t talk to me” you notice how everything is placed. How this isolation just seeps into everything and you realize just how separate you can be, but also how similar.

Final Verdict - 9/10

[lopescorner-blog]

Jonathan Rado - Law and Order

Jonathan Rado from Foxygen fame cuts an interesting figure. After the near break-up of his band, and also the meltdown at SXSW, you would expect the band to be falling apart. Interestingly enough, the band also put out one of the best LPs of the year, so going into this album you came to expect that classic 60s feel. 

Rado, here is without his lead singer Sam France, and sadly that ghost of man appears all over the record. The entire time listening to it, you  can see how Foxygen clearly work in two artists with the same ideas, but without France's powerful vocals you can see Rado's own weaknesses. 

The album does have a strong charm to it but most songs do not frequently stand out and the similarities with other songs is now an issue. The album feels like another Foxygen album but this time without France's charisma. Only a few songs actually get away from it, but "Hand in Mine" gets too close to the Foxygen sound but manages to stand out for its own quirks. 

Overall the album cuts an interesting figure. At times it ditches the Foxygen aesthetic and goes in new ventures of modern experimentation while others Rado seems content with staying the same. 

Final Verdict - 4/10

[lopescorner-blog]

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground's third album marks a significant difference from the previous outings from the band. For one, multi-instrumentalist John Cale had left the band after disputes with Lou Reed, which then led Reed to recruit Doug Yule to take over bass and organ playing.

Another significant change is witnessed in the very sound of the band. Gone are the experimental masterpieces and abrasive classics like "Sister Ray" and "I Heard Call My Name," which are now replaced with more confessional pieces and softer rock music. The crafting of this album, can be pointed at Reed's pop sensibilities which were always the point of creative derision between Cale and him. Now without Cale he is able to make his own folk pop album. 

The songwriting features Reed, doing his fantastic storytelling as usual, but now we arrive at more autobiographical points. He explores his adulterous relationship with Shelley Albin. He speaks of finally becoming free of this illusion as well, and he pines for something larger than himself.

The instrumentation also follows suit with the songwriting in that there is nothing here that is as powerful as "I'm Waiting for My Man," but now its taken a couple notches down. The closes The Velvet Underground get to going all out is in "Beginning to See the Light" and "What Goes On." This does to work, for the benefit of the album as it extremely different from the two albums preceding it and the one following afterward. 

The entire feel of the album makes it feel like this was recorded in someone's living room instead of a studio. No Velvet Underground album sounds as quiet and let's you see that Reed would rather be fumbling around with his acoustic guitar rather than trying to push musical abstractness forward. 

Final Verdict - 9/10