My housemate and good friend Hugepedlar (That is his real name) has been creating music specifically tailored to ears. He has made lots of great songs which I’ve had the pleasure of hearing when he’s performed them live.

Now the man has decided to bless the entire world with his array of chiptune music, and is now selling them through Bandcamp. Right now there’s only one track on the page (A mix of multiple tracks the man played at a recent gig), but it’s nearly half an hour long, and definitely worth the cheap $2.50 price tag. But don’t take my word for it, read this one sentence review from another listener:

I need to poo.

There you have it. I’m sure you’re convinced now. If not, you can click on the cool art above, and give the track a free listen to see if you like it (You will.).

Trent Reznor (Of Nine Inch Nails fame), Atticus Ross and Karen O covered Led Zepplin’s Immigrant Song? Really?

Fuck. Yes.

This is what a cover should sound like; it’s not so much copying the song as re-imagining it into something completely new. I love it, and it’s actually got me interested in seeing what The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is all about.

My favourite would have to be a fantastic title called Beat Hazard. The game plays a lot like the classic Asteroids game, but uses music chosen by the player to create the level. The player’s attack power is based on the volume of the music and collectable power ups. Additionally, depending on difficulty and the song, the level is filled with colours that react to things you destroy and the like. On harder difficulties this can lead to very distracting challenges.
The player has to last until the end of  the song, dodging and destroying asteroids, enemy ships, and boss ships.
As levels are finished, points are transferred to experience points, and there is a levelling system. As levels are unlocked the player receives more bonuses that make the game easier.

It’s an amazing fun indie game to invest a few minutes at a time into. I love boobies.

Well this one is another easy one to answer. My favourite soundtrack currently is the Super Meat Boy soundtrack. In fact, I like it so much I actually bought¹ the soundtrack from the website of the man who made it all.

I’m no music critic so I’m not going to try and explain the music, but I love it because it all fit the game perfectly, never gets old and some of the tracks can really get you geared up.

1. Yes, I buy music. Big shocker. Blah blah piracy.

Family. I has one. I don’t live with them, and to that end I miss them most of the time. My parents were responsible for shaping my tastes and the like, and to that end they must of done a good job, as I haven’t become a psychopathic murderer or a Boy George impersonator.
I owe them a lot, for putting up with me for over two decades, giving me a roof over my head and not sending me to Belair when my mum got scared.

One of the biggest things I have to thank them for, which is also one of the least important, is my music taste. My mum, dad and grandparents all have vastly different interests in music, and growing up with all of them, I was exposed to each. My father is obsessed (there is no better word to describe it) with Led Zeppelin and into bands like Cold Chisel.
My mummy is an avid fan of (shudder) ABBA and cool things like Bon Jovi. She’s more a radio person and has a rather interesting collection of music ranging from ABBA to Meat Loaf.
Being older, my grandparents have a different taste. They listen to fifties music, along with awesome things like Paul Simon, and David Bowie.
I feel if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have what I consider to be a diverse taste in music. I see friends who listen to specific types of music above all else, and there really is nothing wrong with that. However, on a day to day basis I find myself listening to different things. One day I’m listening to Billy Joel, the next I’ve got Mindless Self Indulgence coming out of my earphones.
Like I said, this is really inconsequential to anything, but if it weren’t for my family, I don’t think I’d appreciate listening to music so much.

This post is dedicated to my family and running off on tangents.

This is going to be disappointing; I never put my entire CD Collection on the new computer; just a few random cds and some video game soundtracks. As such, there is a high chance many of the songs will be from the same album and such. Here we go anyway, on the train and off my iPod Nano. In order of Song – Album – Artist.

1. Transition – Bit.Trip Beat Soundtrack – Gajin Games
2. Just The Way You Are – The Essential Billy Joel – Billy Joel
3. You’re Not A Good Person – The Orange Box (Soundtrack) – Valve
4. 13 Ghosts II – Ghosts I-IV – Nine Inch Nails
5. She’s Got A Way – The Essential Billy Joel – Billy Joel
6. Code Monkey – Thing-a-Week Three – Jonathan Coulton
7. Fancy Pants – Thing-a-Week Four – Jonathan Coulton
8. Jack The Riffer – Bad Choices Made Easy – The Left Rights
9. Spin, Spin, Spin – We Choose To Go To The Moon – Dumb Blonde, Dead
10. Ass In My Face Part 2 – Bad Choices Made Easy – The Left Rights

THERES A’ ASS IN MY FACE.

How do you classify what is mainstream? More importantly, how do you discern that from what is not mainstream?

Mainstream, as far as I’m aware, means things available to the public through common channels involving commercial bodies, such as games being sold through big publishers, and the like.

My problem is, how can you apply such a big generalized label to something, then judge it as such? It is easy for me to say “R n’ B music is not for me,” or, “Jesus this Death Metal music is ridiculous, I don’t even understand what the fuck they’re saying. Are they just growling?”. However, mainstream isn’t a genre. Mainstream music could be any genre and can involve any theme. With that in mind, how the hell could someone just ask about your views on mainstream music and expect a simple reply?

Here’s my view; this fucking subject is dumb. Mainstream music can be good, it can be bad. The same way as anything not mainstream (Indie?) can also be shit. Musical taste is subjective, and mainstream is a stupid label to judge something on.

Next question.

There’s not much to say about this, you just need to watch it. I’ve already reblogged it via Tumblr but wanted to put it on here too. It’s a cover of Cat Steven’s song Here Comes My Baby, performed by a group of YouTube artists who are going under the name of Sons of Admirals for this project. They all have their own solo “careers”, but have combined to see what they can create as a whole.

There’s something about the voices on this group that just sound so good to me. It’s probably why I love their other works as well. As any good fan would do, here’s a link to buy the song via iTunes: http://bit.ly/soababy

Listen to it¹.

1. What are you doing? Why are you reading this notation INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO THE SONG?

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about anything music related, and that’s because nothing has really made me want to. That’s changed, and I thank Team Fortress 2.

Why? Because of Team Fortress 2, I found Control Point. Because of Control Point, I found the Dead Workers Party. Because of the DWP…you get the point. Eventually it brought me to a forum post by a character called Ash Williams, about his band’s new EP “We Choose To Go To The Moon.” being available for streaming on their website. The album was available for download on a “pay what you want” scheme, and I downloaded the album for free, deciding if I liked it, I’d go back and pay for it then.

After a couple of weeks, it’s grown on me enormously. Not being the best writer when it comes to describing music you’ll have to bare with me. Ready? Ready.

There’s really only one word I can think of to describe a majority of the music, and that’s haunting. The band has dual vocalists, and the way they intertwine with each other, swapping back and forth and sharing lines sounds so amazing at times it makes me shudder. Music is meant to inspire a strong feeling in a person, and this works in doing that for me. In songs like Moons So Bright, the music is slow, and in a lot of ways sounds like I’ve heard it before. The vocals though, just hook me. I really wish I could go into this more, but I can’t, I need a thesaurus.

There are some songs I have trouble getting my head around of course, like ‘Spin, Spin, Spin’. The strange style the band switches to makes it difficult to get into those songs, but they by no means are terrible or unlistenable.

If you found all that terrible to read, here’s the jist; It’s a good album from a good band. Go and buy it. From their website. Or at least download it and give it a listen. Do it. You know you want to. Peeeeer pressure. Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer pressure.

I just went back and paid ten dollars for it. Which by Australian standards, is pretty cheap for music. If you’re interested in listening to new music and this post did absolutely nothing for you, try visiting http://dumbblondedead.com/, give the music a listen, and judge it for yourself.

I wish to proclaim myself forever CASUAL CHAMPION OF ZAK AND SARA BY BEN FOLDS. I just had to grapple with someone attempting to overthrow my high score, but I got back on top. So for now and the future, here’s the proof that I am the best at EVERYTHING forever.

THERE I AM! First column! I AM THE GREATEST.