This post is totally connected to comics
So I plunked down ten hard earned dollars for the new Polyphonic Spree album, "Together We're Heavy". I had already narrowly missed seeing them live this summer; they had begun opening for David Bowie shortly after the show that I had attended, where I was treated to the smooth, similarly titled stylings of the Stereophonics. They were above average for an opening band at a 'big' show, in that they captured my attention and distracted me from purchasing overpriced drinks. The average opening act at this sort of show will only offer a pleasant
accompaniment to your journey to the portable pee pee hut, putting a spring in your step as you herd yourself along to pick up a $17 pretzel or an official pin.
Anyhow, the next time I heard of the Polyphonic Spree, it was through this game. Having already wasted a solid portion of my childhood clicking a mouse at pixels insetead of discovering life, I was entranced by this little three screen quest. It's absurdly easy, naturally, but it's a promotional thing. You're not supposed to get flustered or anything, or you run the risk of forever associating the band/program/potato crisp behind the game with difficulty and frustration. Just imagine if you encountered a promotional game in the old-school parser style, where you'd guide your little hero with the arrow keys over to a door and you'd have to type "Open door" and the game would respond "I DO NOT UNDERSTAND" and you'd continue with "Open the door" "Door, open" "Open the door, Paul" "The door: open" and "FUCKING HORSESHIT" before you realized that the game did not recognize capitalization. I know the only thing I'd be able to think of at that band's show: "Mother of god, it's those capitalization fuckers." Although 'The Capitalization Fuckers' is a pretty sweet name.
So I completed the game, and I was treated to a big sample of the band's music; they've got quite a talent for crafting tunes that instantly camp out in your head, even if the whole thing sort of sounds like the sort of music you'd hear played under a commercial for a local amusement park. I'm convinced that one of their future videos should just be footage of happy families riding carosels and dancing in circles within tepid wading pools, cotton candy in hands. It won't be a big departure considering that one of their current videos involves a shimmering fantasy forest populated by gleaming giraffes and other shining beasts. It's on the DVD that comes free with the album. Unfortunately, the DVD relies a wee bit too much on "Light & Day", a rapturously joyful pop number that sharply decreases in rapture after the third or so consecutive listen, which doesn't stop it from being featured on both the disc's videos, in one of the two live performances, and under the interview segment. By the time the band began striking up those opening melodies in front of a shouting Japanese crowd I was aching for some other band, Sigur Ros let's say, to drop from the sky and put a stop to the madness with martial arts, although Sigur Ros' fighting style would probably consist of abstract gestures that give the suggestion of fighting, much like how their lyrics aren't actually words. They'd still kick ass, and Japan would be wowed.
But it's a good album; it's really not all happytimewhee bombast all the way. Some of the orchestrations are quite gentle. I personally like the ten-minute opus of Section Nineteen (When The Fool Becomes A King) and the gradual fade of Section 20 (Together We're Heavy). It's dreamy stuff when taken in small enough doses.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that a full-length preview of the new "X-Force" by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld is here. Because after putting Milligan and Allred's "X-Statix" to bed, you knew they'd be heading back in time. Might as well go all the way and bring back Rob. Say, did you know that issue #2 of Liefeld's original "Youngblood" miniseries had a cover price of $2.50? I sure do, because I recently bought all four issues of that delightful opus, plus issue #0, plus the issue of "Brigade" the story's ending spilled into (sans Liefeld's art), for less than the $2.50 cover charge of one issue. I look forward to purchasing this new "X-Force" book sometime in 2016 for a similar value, but it was sure nice to post the first issue in advance.
accompaniment to your journey to the portable pee pee hut, putting a spring in your step as you herd yourself along to pick up a $17 pretzel or an official pin.
Anyhow, the next time I heard of the Polyphonic Spree, it was through this game. Having already wasted a solid portion of my childhood clicking a mouse at pixels insetead of discovering life, I was entranced by this little three screen quest. It's absurdly easy, naturally, but it's a promotional thing. You're not supposed to get flustered or anything, or you run the risk of forever associating the band/program/potato crisp behind the game with difficulty and frustration. Just imagine if you encountered a promotional game in the old-school parser style, where you'd guide your little hero with the arrow keys over to a door and you'd have to type "Open door" and the game would respond "I DO NOT UNDERSTAND" and you'd continue with "Open the door" "Door, open" "Open the door, Paul" "The door: open" and "FUCKING HORSESHIT" before you realized that the game did not recognize capitalization. I know the only thing I'd be able to think of at that band's show: "Mother of god, it's those capitalization fuckers." Although 'The Capitalization Fuckers' is a pretty sweet name.
So I completed the game, and I was treated to a big sample of the band's music; they've got quite a talent for crafting tunes that instantly camp out in your head, even if the whole thing sort of sounds like the sort of music you'd hear played under a commercial for a local amusement park. I'm convinced that one of their future videos should just be footage of happy families riding carosels and dancing in circles within tepid wading pools, cotton candy in hands. It won't be a big departure considering that one of their current videos involves a shimmering fantasy forest populated by gleaming giraffes and other shining beasts. It's on the DVD that comes free with the album. Unfortunately, the DVD relies a wee bit too much on "Light & Day", a rapturously joyful pop number that sharply decreases in rapture after the third or so consecutive listen, which doesn't stop it from being featured on both the disc's videos, in one of the two live performances, and under the interview segment. By the time the band began striking up those opening melodies in front of a shouting Japanese crowd I was aching for some other band, Sigur Ros let's say, to drop from the sky and put a stop to the madness with martial arts, although Sigur Ros' fighting style would probably consist of abstract gestures that give the suggestion of fighting, much like how their lyrics aren't actually words. They'd still kick ass, and Japan would be wowed.
But it's a good album; it's really not all happytimewhee bombast all the way. Some of the orchestrations are quite gentle. I personally like the ten-minute opus of Section Nineteen (When The Fool Becomes A King) and the gradual fade of Section 20 (Together We're Heavy). It's dreamy stuff when taken in small enough doses.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that a full-length preview of the new "X-Force" by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld is here. Because after putting Milligan and Allred's "X-Statix" to bed, you knew they'd be heading back in time. Might as well go all the way and bring back Rob. Say, did you know that issue #2 of Liefeld's original "Youngblood" miniseries had a cover price of $2.50? I sure do, because I recently bought all four issues of that delightful opus, plus issue #0, plus the issue of "Brigade" the story's ending spilled into (sans Liefeld's art), for less than the $2.50 cover charge of one issue. I look forward to purchasing this new "X-Force" book sometime in 2016 for a similar value, but it was sure nice to post the first issue in advance.
posted by Jog at 10:12 PM
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