01. Escape From Piz Gloria - John Barry & His Orchestra - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
02. The Moon and the Prince - Akitaka Touyama, Kenji Ninuma - Katamari Damacy OST
03. Side Effects - Parliament - Chocolate City
04. Baka Koe no Nirvana - Urami Genkin - Yasushi Ishii - Hellsing OST 1: Raid
05. The Old Piano Roll Blues - Al Jolson
06. Options Beat - Coil - Gitarooman
07. Black is Black - Sounds Orchestral - Sounds From the Lounge: Pop Covers, Lounge Style
08. Seishun Kyosoukyoku - Sambomaster
09. Rock it On - Hideki Naganuma - Jet Set Radio OST
****Congratulations to Richie who recognised last week's music as the main theme form the original Tomb Raider.****
10. ??????????? - ????????? (competition music)
11. On the Sunny Side of the Street - Louis Armstrong
12. Blue Danube Rock - The Jonah Jones Quartet - Cocktail Capers (part of the Ultra-Lounge series)
13. Space Students (Across the Basin Mix) - Toshiya Arai - Space Channel 5 Part 2: Non Stop Mega Mix
14. Stayin' Alive - Ferrante & Teicher - You Light Up My Life
15. Sex Pistols Medley - Black Arabs - The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
16. Love Is - Seguida - The NuYorican Funk Experience
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3.1 / 99 )That Guys have been kind enough to post a link to this site on their blog, and are keeping up the hunt for gimps in video games. It's a worthwhile hobby.
If you're looking for dinosaurs in video games, you're at the wrong blog. You want to go here.
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3.1 / 101 )Voldo (Soul Blade / Edge, Soul Calibur)
Voldo is an excellent gimp - his story in the Soul Edge / Calibur series follows his devotion to protecting his long-dead master's treasure. His moveset in the games is suitably freaky, his victory quote simply a gagged hiss. He's also quite popular with the cosplayers and the machinimists...
****
Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear Solid)
Admittedly, Psycho Mantis' costume disguises a hideous disfigurement, but instead of opting for plastic surgery, Psycho Mantis went the gimp route. Cosplay? Yes and yes.
****
Iwazaru (Killer 7)
Killer 7 is an awesome game. Visually and aurally stunning, with cool characters and a plot so dense that you need a hefty FAQ to explain it - who could ask for anything more? Well, how about a gimp? Iwazaru pops up through the course of the game, giving his master helpful hints on puzzles and enemies. What a helpful guy. On a side note, Iwazaru is the name of the monkey that "speaks no evil", though his costume probably deprives him of his other senses, too. Sadly, no cosplay...
[ 1 comment ] ( 22 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 139 )My friend Sam and his friend Kat are launching an English-language magazine called the 5% in Berlin. The first edition has gone to press, but the magazine is always going to be looking for submissions either written or drawn. Check out what they're about through their Myspace page.
Hope the launch party goes well!
Kaiser Tia
Things I learned while doing this post: doing a Google image search for 'five percent' yields some pretty boring results.
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 121 )
I've started to distribute some sampler CDs both locally and through friends in other parts of the country / world. If you've got one of these CDs, here's the tracklist for you, in order of song / artist / album. Follow the links for more info on the artists. Most importantly, enjoy the music!
01. Menu Screen Shuffle - June 'Chiki' Chikuma - Super Bomberman (SNES)
02. Last Samba - Asuka Sakai, Yu Miyake - Katamari Damacy (PS2)
03. MacArthur Park - Hugo Montenegro - Moog Power
04. Mexican Flyer (Original) - Ken Woodman & His Picadilly Brass - Space Channel 5 (DC / PS2)
05. Happy Beat - Mandrill - We Are One
06. You Are My Sunshine - Andy Williams
07. Dyambo - Hugh Masekela & The Union of South Africa
08. Psycho (Parts I & II) - The Fabulous Mark III - Texas Funk
09. The Third Man Theme - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Going Places
10. Theme From 2001 - The Ray McVay Orchestra - The Ray McVay Orchestra
11. Danish Bacon - Orgel Kvintetten - Exile on Hammond Street
12. The Dummy Song - Louis Armstrong
13. Tsumitsukuri Na Nikui Yatsu - Yasushi Ishii - Hellsing OST 2: Ruins
14. Theme From Zorba the Greek - Peter Nero - Peter Nero Plays a Salute to Herb Alpert
15. Ya-Ya - Ed Lincoln - Ed Lincoln
And the not-so-secret secret track...
Super Mario Bros. - Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 2.9 / 146 )
It's official. Go here for the beautiful website. It's in Japanese, but easily navigated. Check out the King's new clothes! Dandy as ever.
Now all I have to do is buy a 360...
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 127 )For once Subcity's Listen Again didn't do too badly - just a little bit got snipped off Senor Coconut, but you can still hear the best part of his Oxygene (Part II) cover in all its glory...
(01. Oxygene (Part II) - Senor Coconut - Fiesta Songs)
02. Updown Town - Sim City 3000
03. The Riddler's Retreat - Sun Ra & The Blues Project - Batman and Robin
04. Ride On - Parliament - Chocolate City
05. Crowd Pleaser! - June 'Chiki' Chikuma - Saturn Bomberman OST
06. She Loves You - Cyril Stapleton - Sounds From the Lounge: Pop Covers, Lounge Style
07. Jumpin' Jack Flash - Ananda Shankar - Ananda Shankar
08. Sensou Suru Nara Yumi, Yari Ken Da Tatakae! - Yasuhi Ishii - Hellsing OST 1: Raid
****Last week's competition music was from the Punish the Wicked Merchant mission of Tenchu: Stealth Asassins. Another rollover, so it's 5 prizes up for grabs if you can identify this week's music.****
09. ??????????? - ????????? (competition music)
10. Twenty-Five Miles - Mongo Santamaria - Mongo Santamaria's Greatest Hits
11. I Got Rhythm - Fats Waller
12. Lillie Mae - Bobby Womack - Fly Me to the Moon
13. When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You) - Louis Prima
14. Everybody Get Ready - The Ray McVay Orchestra - The Ray McVay Roadshow
15. Jaws - Lalo Schifrin - Black Widow
16. Sasasan Katamari - Yu Miyake, Yuusama - Katamari Damacy OST
17. It's a Most Unusual Day - Andy Williams
18. The Dealer - Jamie Coe & The Gigolos - The Roots Rustlers of Funk
19. Vision On - The Palais All Stars - This is the Return of Cult Fiction
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3.1 / 145 )Diversion Projects: the world's number one Ray McVay resource! Here's the latest additions to my Ray McVay collection. They're not nearly as good as the albums I used for the special, but it's worth logging them for the sake of completion, and to provide info for other collectors.
There may be 50 tracks on this album, but only about 5 of them are worth listening to. There's a decent cover of Vehicle, and the upbeat take on Bad Moon Rising is quite funny when you hear "Hope you are quite prepared to die" sung in a Mecca dancehall style. The rest of the album consists of too many medlies and tacky party music to be considered worthy, especially when the best tracks are repeated on Top Pop Party (below).
Interesting album cover, though - what on Earth is the guy on the right wearing?
Let's Singalong and Dance to 50 Great Party Hits (1969 - 1974)
Tracklist
Since there are 50 tracks on this album, I won't write a long tracklist, just a quick summary of each side.
Side A: Party Dancers (Simon Says, Knees Up Mother Brown, E Viva Espana) - Pretty terrible stuff (the tracks say it all).
Side B: Party Pops & Rockers (Vehicle, Bad Moon Rising, Spirit in the Sky) - Decent covers of more poppy tracks.
Side C: Party Sing Songs (Oh! Susannah, Camp Town Races, La Bamba) - Did people really listen to this stuff at parties in the 70s?
Side D: Party a Go-Go (Yellow River, Greensleeves, Mexican Samba) - Well, it's got the decent cover of Greensleeves on it, but it's generally pretty bland.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, that's an unflattering picture. How bad were the photos they didn't use? Anyway, musically, it's the usual hit-and-miss covers of popular hits, with the version of Na-Na-Hey-Hey being particularly noteworthy. Since this album is similar to 50 Great Party Hits, if you had to choose between one or the other, I'd go for this album.
Top Pop Party A Pop Singalong (1970)
Tracklist
01. Good Morning Freedom
02. Yellow River
03. Love Grows Where my Rosemary Goes
04. Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town
05. Melting Pot
06. Hitchin' a Ride
07. Goodbye Sam Hello Samantha
08. Na-Na-Hey-Hey
09. All Kinds of Everything
10. In the Summeertime
11. Don't You Know
12. Gimme Dat Ding
13. Bad Moon Rising
14. Cottonfields
15. Early in the Morning
16. United We Stand
17. Everything is Beautiful
18. Down the Dustpipe
19. Young Gifted and Black
20. Spirit in the Sky
21. All Right Now
22. It's All in the Game
23. Up Around the Bend
24. Vehicle
Just to be nice, here's a picture of the inside of the album, and proof that the lady on the front doesn't always look that bad...(I have no idea whose signature that is)
And to finish, here's a picture of Ray on the back of the album (no moustache!).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't let the glitterball on the cover fool you. This is smooth big band all the way, the kind of music that people dance to in movies set during World War 2. It's not bad, but disappointingly it's not funky, either.
Dance Dance Dance the Modern Way (1971)
Tracklist
01. Those Were the Days
02. A Wonderful Day Like Today
03. Poeme
04. The Last Waltz
05. Deep Purple
06. Tara's Theme
07. Fascination
08. Greensleeves
09. My Own
10. I Wanna Be Around
11. Noche De Estrellas
12. Tango for Two
Another rare picture of Ray without his moustache from the back of the album.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Like Dance Dance Dance the Modern Way, this is an album of pleasantly forgettable big band music. At least the cover doesn't lie this time. Isn't £2.21 an odd price?
The World of Old Time & Sequence Dancing (1974)
Tracklist
01. Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree
02. Memory Lane
03. Welcome Home
04. Lili Marlene
05. A Man Without Love
06. Tango Now or Never
07. Dance of the Hours
08. Poem
09. The William Two Step
10. When the Saints Go Marching In
11. Yellow River
12. On Mother Kelly's Doorstep
13. The Skye Boat Song
14. Serenade
15. The Ugly Duckling
Another picture of Ray on the back of the album...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you're looking for bland, ballroom dancing background music, then this is the album for you! If you're looking for something on a par with the 'Theme From 2001' cover from the Roadshow album, avoid at all costs (as if the covers of Grandad and Lily the Pink wasn't warning enough).
Old Tyme with Ray McVay (1971)
Tracklist
01. Try to Remember
02. Grandad
03. Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
04. Lily the Pink
05. Yellow Submarine
06. All I Have to do is Dream
07. Almost There
08. Steptoe & Son (Old Ned)
09. Music to Watch Girls By
10. If I Were a Rich Man
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 205 )Doctor Kawashima - Doctor Kawashima's Brain Training
If you play Brain Training solidly for about a month, you'll hear everything Doctor Kawashima has to say, and since this is a game that you're meant to play every day, Kawashima's limited conversation soon gets irritating. Yes, I do know I can delete profiles I've accidentally created. Yes, I am aware that I can unlock new tests because I've unlocked them all. Just let me take my darn Brain Age Test...Noooo! Stop explaining Stroop Test to me..taptaptaptaptap...
****
Alister and Zip - Tomb Raider Legend
Granted, Alister's Excalibur rant in the King Arthur theme park was well-scripted and smartly funny, but nothing spoils the atmosphere of exploring untouched temples more than the constant commentry on Lara's every move like she's guest-hosting Space Channel 5. Thank the gods of games design that these bozos aren't around for Tomb Raider: Anniversary.
****
Otis - Dead Rising
You're cornered in a mall full of zombies, you have to grit your teeth and fight through the swarm to reach the save point. You start to swing your chainsaw...and your walkie talkie goes off. Otis wants to talk to you! If you answer (which means you can't attack, when Otis calls, you have to stop everything you're doing regardless of how many zombies are lunging at your face) he'll doubtless have something useful to say about the shop you've just visited, or a mission you already know about. If you hang up, he'll call back and berate you for choosing FUN zombie-slaying over DULL conversations.
Hated by many a Dead Rising player, for a game that demands many, many replays, the lack of an off button for this guy really makes your heart sink.
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 108 )
As promised, here's the video of the Eminence Orchestra, and their performance of "The Opened Way".
For those who have played the game, here's a funky little site full of oddities and exploration:
Shadow of the Colossus Sightseeing
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 121 )
Categories
