Nine Inch Nails
While Reznor's army of slouched and defeated fans wait for Firebrand Media/Gnarlywood LLC/SATAN HIMSELF to fulfil their fucking promise of a "first week of January" delivery for the "physical component" of the Not The Actual Events EP*, I forgot to mention last month that I'm seeing these mooks in July at the Panorama Festival. Let's try and avoid "The Hand That Feeds", shall we Trent? As appropriate as it may be, there are a bunch of other songs that would work just as well or better, namely "Letting You", "Survivalism", "Capital G", "Beginning of the End"...actually, most of Yero Zero has become frighteningly relevant.
Moving on.
Beck
NEW ALBUM COMING SOON! NO TITLE, TRACKLIST OR RELEASE DATE!
BUT! SOME SHIT HE DID IN 2011 FOR I AM NUMBER FOUR APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE!
LISTEN HERE!!!
Eels
Bobby Jr. died.
They Might Be Giants
Total silence.
Creeping numbness.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent** put out a Mixtape Delivery Service for Prince and I checked that out. While it's always nice to hear people talking about the Purple Banana, I could have done with a few deeper cuts, or, you know, something from the last twenty years.
As a result of playing Watch Dogs 2 and the horrors occurring in the world, I've been listening to a lot of electronica. Squarepusher and Plaid mostly. It's been a lovely (and distracting) blend of blippy sharp cold circuitry, warm mellifluous watery washes, and combinations of each to varying degrees, and it's been very helpful. I've curated a three and a half hour playlist spanning their combined discographies and I recommend you do the same.
Next, I'll be seeing Garbage (YAY!) and Blondie (meh) at the Beacon Theater (yuck) in August (yarg)***. I'll be sure to tell you about that...in six months. Get ready.
Also, Marilyn Manson forgot to put out his new album****. Probably better that way...
Finally, I'll be reviewing the primordial ooze from which Coil sprang AKA the 2017 reissue of Transparent. Look for a review of Soundblab in the coming days. Oh boy is this not for casual listeners...or maybe even people with functioning ears...
* IT'S JUST A FUCKING ENVELOPE FULL OF SOOT AND FUCKING LYRICS SHEETS YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. HOW DO YOU FUCK THAT UP?
** Whose new album, due out in a few months, might just be called "CVRTAIN".
*** Ball sweat. Ignore me.
**** I'm going to try and get away without ever saying the name of the album because it might be the silliest thing he's ever uttered...I think, I 'd have to go back through those last three steaming piles before The Pale Emperor to be sure, but I won't! And you cannot make me.
2.15.2017
Watch Dogs 2 + Resident Evil 7 = Resident Dogs 9
SPOILERS FOR WATCH DOGS 2 AND RESIDENT EVIL 7!!!
I didn't play a lot of video games over the past year and half. After Arkham Knight came out, that was kind of it for me. I was looking forward to stuff and I bought stuff, but for some reason, I looked at these games (Fallout 4, Uncharted 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider, The Witcher 3, etc.) and said, these are going to take way too long so I'll play them some other time. After I beat the shit out of AK (cough 240% completion cough), I had "nothing". So, I picked up some of these procedural indie games I'd kept hearing about; games like Spelunky, Rogue Legacy, Enter the Gungeon, and, lastly, The Binding of Isaac.
I didn't play a lot of video games over the past year and half. After Arkham Knight came out, that was kind of it for me. I was looking forward to stuff and I bought stuff, but for some reason, I looked at these games (Fallout 4, Uncharted 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider, The Witcher 3, etc.) and said, these are going to take way too long so I'll play them some other time. After I beat the shit out of AK (cough 240% completion cough), I had "nothing". So, I picked up some of these procedural indie games I'd kept hearing about; games like Spelunky, Rogue Legacy, Enter the Gungeon, and, lastly, The Binding of Isaac.
With those first three, I played a lot, but got to a point in each where I just wasn't good enough to proceed, but, with Isaac, I dug my heels in. Over the course of six or so months, I put...so much fucking time...into that game. I just recently stopped playing it (but will pick it back up as soon as Afterbirth plus comes out for PS4) and picked up Watch Dogs 2, which I finished in a few weeks.
Overall, it's kind of like all the reviews said: it was more fun than its predecessor, mainly because the protagonist wasn't talking like Nolan's Batman the whole time, and because of the Jumper and drone as hack tools. I got pretty sick of trying to hop from camera to camera in the first game, only to find out I'd fucked up somewhere along the way and had to restart. Anyway, I found myself not really giving a shit at some point and just rushed through to wrap everything up. The ending was a let down, but then again, I can't think of one open world game that doesn't have a non-climax.* I tried to play the game as stealthy as possible (I only purchased three weapons the whole time; the silenced pistol, silenced assault rifle, and the sniper rifle, but as all the enemies were telepathic, that seldom worked. Honestly, I don't have anything really negative or positive to say about it (maybe because I don't live in San Francisco?). There were some fun moments and some boring, grindy moments. One thing that stood out was the clothing. This is kind of weird, but since the game made such a concerted effort to give Marcus literally thousands of outfit combinations, I found it bizarre that, literally, not one other main character wore more than one outfit the whole game. Pretty odd choice...
All that said, I'd play a third one if were set in New York with the same amount of (apparent) detail that went into San Fran. I'm a sucker for that, hence why I purchased and played through True Crime: New York.
While I was wrapping up WD2, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard came out. Now, this was something I was actively looking forward to, even though I was pensive about the switch to first person.** I'd played all versions of the demo and even gotten the "good" ending.*** As much as people hated RE6, I enjoyed a lot of it and thought they did an incredibly brave thing by having a game with three intermingling campaigns, even if two of them were less "survival horror" and more "machine gun murder factory". But, anyway.
I sat down with RE7 and played through it over the course of three or four sessions, clocking in at about 20 hours on my first playthrough. I noted that there were trophies and rewards***** for beating it in under four hours, a feat which I thought was reserved for only the most Japanese of speedrunners******...until I watched a dude (a Canadian!!!!) beat the game in about 90 minutes. With the Canuck as my guide, I managed to sneak out in just over three and a half hours. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but: even though I've been a gamer since I was 6, I am not very good at video games.
I've really enjoyed this game. The smaller scale and return to a focus on dread and resource management feels like a fantastic return to the good old days of the fist three RE games. And all the little nods are just delightful...that fucking Crank...
Plus! So many questions...why the fuck is Chris Redfield working for Umbrella now? Who made Eveline and why? Who was Ethan on the phone with at the beginning of the game? Where the fuck did that little shit Lucas go? When did that little moment with Jack, Zoe, and Ethan fit into the story and why did Ethan not remember it until just then and how come it seemed to have no impact on Ethan, the Bakers, or the game itself?
As of the end of last week, I have platinumed the game, beating it on Madhouse, beating it in under four hours, beating without healing more than three times, and without opening the goddamn item box more than the three times the game forces one to. Four playthroughs and I have owned this game utterly. I don't do that often...
I'm curious about the next iteration of Resident Evil. I'm not sure I want to wait four and a half years for the next one, seeing as this one was a much smaller affair and can beat beaten in 90 minutes. And, when it does come out, are they going to stick with the sludgy dread of RE7 or are they going to try and make an FPS with zombies...which they already did...with lackluster results...?
Anyway, now that I've finished RE7 (and moved on to the second DLC) and I don't think I'll be able to convince my wife to play it, thinking of getting into either the new Tomb Raider or maybe Final Fantasy XV, which will be my very first FF game. Aside from chocobos, anything else I need to know?
While I was wrapping up WD2, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard came out. Now, this was something I was actively looking forward to, even though I was pensive about the switch to first person.** I'd played all versions of the demo and even gotten the "good" ending.*** As much as people hated RE6, I enjoyed a lot of it and thought they did an incredibly brave thing by having a game with three intermingling campaigns, even if two of them were less "survival horror" and more "machine gun murder factory". But, anyway.
I sat down with RE7 and played through it over the course of three or four sessions, clocking in at about 20 hours on my first playthrough. I noted that there were trophies and rewards***** for beating it in under four hours, a feat which I thought was reserved for only the most Japanese of speedrunners******...until I watched a dude (a Canadian!!!!) beat the game in about 90 minutes. With the Canuck as my guide, I managed to sneak out in just over three and a half hours. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but: even though I've been a gamer since I was 6, I am not very good at video games.
I've really enjoyed this game. The smaller scale and return to a focus on dread and resource management feels like a fantastic return to the good old days of the fist three RE games. And all the little nods are just delightful...that fucking Crank...
Plus! So many questions...why the fuck is Chris Redfield working for Umbrella now? Who made Eveline and why? Who was Ethan on the phone with at the beginning of the game? Where the fuck did that little shit Lucas go? When did that little moment with Jack, Zoe, and Ethan fit into the story and why did Ethan not remember it until just then and how come it seemed to have no impact on Ethan, the Bakers, or the game itself?
As of the end of last week, I have platinumed the game, beating it on Madhouse, beating it in under four hours, beating without healing more than three times, and without opening the goddamn item box more than the three times the game forces one to. Four playthroughs and I have owned this game utterly. I don't do that often...
I'm curious about the next iteration of Resident Evil. I'm not sure I want to wait four and a half years for the next one, seeing as this one was a much smaller affair and can beat beaten in 90 minutes. And, when it does come out, are they going to stick with the sludgy dread of RE7 or are they going to try and make an FPS with zombies...which they already did...with lackluster results...?
Anyway, now that I've finished RE7 (and moved on to the second DLC) and I don't think I'll be able to convince my wife to play it, thinking of getting into either the new Tomb Raider or maybe Final Fantasy XV, which will be my very first FF game. Aside from chocobos, anything else I need to know?
* Except for Red Dead Redemption, I believe that might be my favorite ending of any video game I've ever played.
** Not a big first person guy. And first person in a horror game feels a bit cheaty, like movies that pelt you with jump scares. Jump scares aren't clever, they're overused.
*** DIRTY COIN, MOTHERFUCKAAAAAAA!!!!****
**** TOTAL LETDOWN, MOTHERFUCKAAAAAAA!!!!
***** Oh Christ do I love those post-game unlocks...
****** KNIFE ONLY NO DEATH TOFU RUN, MOTHER FUCKAAAAAAA!!!!!!
** Not a big first person guy. And first person in a horror game feels a bit cheaty, like movies that pelt you with jump scares. Jump scares aren't clever, they're overused.
*** DIRTY COIN, MOTHERFUCKAAAAAAA!!!!****
**** TOTAL LETDOWN, MOTHERFUCKAAAAAAA!!!!
***** Oh Christ do I love those post-game unlocks...
****** KNIFE ONLY NO DEATH TOFU RUN, MOTHER FUCKAAAAAAA!!!!!!
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