Friday, May 31, 2013

So.. the new Xbox...

Not much to say here.. you've probably seen it all already. I'm not a fan.

I bought an Xbox360 a while after it was launched, and I really only enjoyed, truly enjoyed, two games. Forza 3, which tided me over until Gran Turismo 5 came along, and Fable II. And then I realized that I hadn't turned the thing on in about two years and I sold it. And, I don't really miss it much.

So far, Microsoft isn't doing anything to make me want to jump in line to get their new system (which, interestingly, has the same name as my phone.. the "One").

I've seen a lot of talk about it online, of course, and some fans that swear this new voice-control will be the true next generation of home entertainment. I'll only say this on the subject: It's not going to work half as well as you think it will, much less than you hope it will. MS has a history of making things look very good on stage to get you to buy something (like the original Kinect), but then when you actually get the thing home, it can't really do any of the things that they said it could. And those things that it does do, takes screaming at the top of your lungs and e-nun-ci-at-ing far more clearly than a normal human ever does in conversation.

And let's not even talk about privacy concerns.

As for the used game argument.. really, it doesn't bother me much, because I don't buy used games on principle. But I do think it's pretty ridiculous that gamers are going to have to enter registration codes (i.e. "CD Keys") on console games. That used to be one of the big advantages of console games over PC games. Apparently not any more.

Yes, I'll be watching both of the big press conferences in a week and a half at E3. One for excitement, the other for amusement. I'll let you decide which is which.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The Daftest of Punks are Back

So, Random Access Memories, the new album from Daft Punk has hit the shelves, and here's my take. I won't be long. First off, the album overall is fantastic. Secondly (and negatively for some), this is NOT your daddy's Daft Punk.

So let's start with #1: The fantastic album. There's thirteen songs on here, eight of which I have lumped in my "best of" DP collection (which is only nineteen tracks, so RAM has more songs in there than any of their previous albums).

Notice I said "songs" and not "tracks". This is a much more mature effort than their previous albums, with a real attempt to push into full-blown mainstream song releases and not just techno/funk/dance music that highlighted their first album. It's also much "softer" sounding, without the thumping bass that we've heard before (it's still there, but much subdued). The closest thing in style from their previous albums is the track "Verdis Quo" from their second album Discovery, but imagine that woven with a full song's worth of lyrics, rather than just a repeating segment or sample.

The overall sound is something I would describe as a mix of 80s soft rock (think Toto or Asia, maybe Kansas) and jazz, with some mild electronica here and there.

So, in tone, this album is a severe departure from their previous work. But, surprisingly, it still feels like Daft Punk. You can instantly tell that this is put together by the same minds that rocked the house in 2007's Alive live album. The instant I heard "Get Lucky", I knew this was Daft Punk, despite it being so different in tone and sound.

Oddly enough, I find myself at odds with the majority of the user reviews I've read, which state that their favorite tracks are "Lose Yourself to Dance", and "Touch". These are the tracks I actually liked the least, and my favorites include the first two tracks, "Give Life Back to Music" and "The Game of Love" (actually "sang" by Daft Punk's own Thomas Bangalter instead of one of the guest artists), "Instant Crush" (which has a truly addictive chorus), the first single "Get Lucky", "Motherboard" (strongly reminiscent of their work on Tron: Legacy), "Doin' it Right", and "Contact", which is the most "old-school" track on the album.

So what's in store for Daft Punk after this? Word is that Random Access Memories was supposed to be a hell of a lot bigger. According to the Wikipedia article, they recorded enough material for four CDs. Which means there's another three hours or so of material that we haven't heard yet. Maybe they'll release it bit by bit over the next few years, maybe it'll end up in their live shows, who knows. Maybe some of that sounds different than what we finally got on the album. Maybe some of it's more "old school". Can't wait to find out.

So yeah.. it's different. But you know what?

I like it.