The Good Armada

Posted by Travis Norman on Monday, November 30th, 2009

By: Elise Cleereman

As part of Minneapolis-based sextet, The Good Armada (TGA), keyboardist and bassist Tim Kosel has a leading role in both the compositions of their songs and the production of their first album. Learning from the likes of M83, Radiohead, Mute Math, and Incubus (their singer has been compared to Brandon Boyd), the band see no conflict in marrying electronics and rock. Tim had a perfect way of putting it: “I would describe our band as synthesized rock and roll.  We are trying to experiment with synthesizers while keeping a structure that people are familiar with. There are edgy guitar riffs while the hooks are usually played by some effect on one of the many synths.” Given the horde of punk-rock/pop-rock cliché bands currently infesting the Twin Cities, TGA come as a lungful of fresh air.

Tim’s status as a production and engineering student at the Institute of Production and Recording not only helps with the recording process; the band are saving so much money by recording their first album at IPR that they’re able to invest far more in merchandise than circumstances would normally allow. “How is this album coming along?” I emailed. “It is nearly completed,” he replied. “We are to the stage of mastering and are sending it to Magneto mastering house. It took us a long time because, as we were recording, we were changing parts and writing parts for the song as it was being tracked. A lot of the stuff on the recorded versions was not initially a part of the song. Also, since we decided that we were going to do it ourselves we made a lot of mistakes and had to re-record a lot of parts that just did not turn out big enough on the recording.”

That they’ve been working on the album for about a year definitely testifies to the many re-recorded parts Kosel mentioned. I had him electronically run me through a typical day in TGA’s recording process: “I will prepare all the details the night before, so microphone choice, placement, instrument, amplifier (we use few different guitars and amplifiers). The following morning, I will arrive at the studio early to set up all the microphones and amplifiers and mess around with guitar tones. Whoever is tracking that day will show up and we will be ready to go. I usually have them do about 10-15 takes, half with one guitar/amp combo, half with another. This, I have found, makes the double tracks sound bigger. Also, I have the option of layering in more than just a double track if need be. We finish up and the player goes home and I will usually run through each take and jot down some notes for when I go back to edit.”

TGA have many things to look forward to in the future, starting with a December show in Aurora Illinois. I asked Kosel how he was feeling about TGA’s touring life. “I think that it will be a little shaky at first. We are all new to this whole thing and have never gone this far to play a show. While it is very exciting for all of us, we are kind of nervous as well because we are not going to have our base of fans out there with us. It will be a true test of all the personalities in the band as well, we are all good friends but never have we all been together for a whole weekend. I think that it will prove to be a good bonding experience for us all as well as giving us a taste of what it might be like to be out for more than a weekend.”

All of The Good Armada’s members are originally from the Twin Cities area. None have played much beyond the metro’s borders. If the December mini-tour goes well, I can foresee a developing fan base in the Midwest–their current goal. “Right now, I see us writing and developing our sound as a group. I feel that we are going to stay local for a long time while playing out-of-state shows maybe once a month without leaving the Midwest. I see us learning as we go. We are trying very hard to keep all the business inside the band and not bring in outside people beside our manager. I think that in the future we will be able to sustain our band without using our own money. I hope that more will come after that, but only time will tell.”

Wanting to work behind the scenes as a producer/engineer–a stretch from being in the spotlight as part of a band–came naturally to him. “I have always been interested also in how albums were made,” he writes. “I got into engineering because when I was in high school my band at the time went to record a 5 song EP. The production and engineering on it were very poor for the price we paid. I wanted to learn how to do it so that I could do a good job for aspiring musicians at a reasonable price. I never want to see someone charged that much money for something that crappy. I also enjoy trying new things and figuring out ways to get different sounds and tweak them to sound pleasing.”

Things are going great for TGA…and for Tim. “I feel that my future in the biz will be successful on a local scale,” he writes. “In playing around the Cities I am meeting a lot of artists and bands that are good and will be needing assistance in the future. I feel that I can make a lot of business contacts and if they like me they will spread the word to others that they meet playing out. This is how I am planning on getting my start. I will also be working in a small theater in North Minneapolis, to pay the bills. It is going to take a lot of hard work to get where I would like to be.”

Posted in Multimedia, Music | No Comments »

Games of the Year: Osmos

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Move, devour smaller creatures, get bigger and devour more. Become the biggest little glob. The lifestyle is one of nature’s most basic, and found all across the globe in jungles, forests, fast food joints, and shopping supercenters across this scale-busting nation. In Hemisphere Games’ Osmos, it’s the fundamental game design.

We’ve seen this type of play many times before, most recently and similarly in Jenova Chen’s excellent senior-thesis turned flash game turned PSN downloadable title, flOw.  But, as a testament to the beauty of creativity and know-how of each title’s creators, these two independently-developed titles share little in common beyond their foundational design.

Jonathan Blow, outspoken industry critic and developer of the intelligent and incomparable Braid, said this about Osmos in a September 7th, 2009 blog entry:

“Those who follow this blog know that I don’t recommend games very often. So you know that when I do, I really mean it.”

“Relatively speaking, a lot of independent game designers are trying to be experimental these days, and the problem I see with most of these games is that they don’t understand their own ideas — after playing, one feels that there was a lot of potential in the ideas that went unexplored, that the game never saw in the first place.”

“Osmos isn’t like that. It starts with an idea that several games have done before: you’re a cell and you eat guys that are smaller than you in order to get bigger. To this it adds the idea that makes the game stand out: This game is going to generally adhere to the nature and feel of physics in space; for example, momentum is conserved, so you need to eject your own mass in order to move. The game then explores the consequences of these ideas and ventures through a rich territory of additions that are all naturally suggested by the game’s premise.”

“It rings with that faint and distant sound of truth: because the game is based around laws of physics, it immerses you in these and you learn something about them. Perhaps not anything you didn’t already know in an abstract intellectual way, if you took physics classes in school; but here, you get a feel for them, so they become more real, more tangible. This game can change your perspective.”

Even before I saw Blow’s enthusiastic recommendation, which no doubt would’ve inspired me to buy and play the title, I noticed it buried in the “Indie” channel of premier gaming digital distro platform, Steam. I downloaded the demo, of course, along with demos for a dozen or so other titles, including the visually striking Vigil: Blood Bitterness and it’s mostly two-tone color scheme, the at-one-time controversial Eternity’s Child, and many others so terrible I wiped them from both my memory and my computer’s. Apologies to the unnamed, but please, seek feedback and be receptive towards it whenever possible.

Of the dozen or so titles I played, Osmos stuck out like a beautiful extended note in a sea of wrongly tuned instruments playing my favorite songs. Blow’s right in everything he said, developer Hemisphere games takes the “gimmick” of moving this circular mass incrementally with carefully planned clicks and fleshes the mechanics out considerably. In some levels, the player is free to roam a massive arena, exploring and feeding at will. Restraint is placed on movement in others, and the player is forced to eject their mass carefully, and as little as possible, into larger objects, enabling passage to smaller items more fit for consumption. The idea of “feeling” for the laws of physics, as Blow alluded, possibly comes into play most during scenarios where this thoughtless and emotionless player-controlled entity is placed in orbit around a much larger thoughtless and emotionless object. Here, the goal remains the same, as do the tools, but play centers more directly on the mechanics of movement during flow. Traveling backwards is still an option, but at a high cost of energy expulsion. For a real world comparison, try tubing down a river or creek.

Time itself may be sped up or slowed down in all of the aforementioned situations, but never paused. I don’t use the feature, but I can see why others might. Dragging movement down to a crawl allows more fine-tuning, and might help alleviate stress for those less capable of reacting to situations on-the-fly. Speeding up time may be most appropriately applied in situations where…well, any. An in-game tip recommends using the feature “while waiting for impasses to clear,” but the implementation’s up to players. Personally, I find the time mechanics unnecessary. The added complexity overshadows the beautiful simplicity of the one-click control method (if we’re controlling basic lifeforms, then isn’t a basic level of control fitting? ‘Sup Spore.). But the tradeoff may be necessary to allow a greater audience of less-skilled players access to and enjoy this phenomenal title. If Hemisphere responds to my email asking why the feature was included, I’ll update this post with the response.

For a title about consuming blue blobs with a bigger blue blog, Osmos feature an unexpectedly poignant narrative. There’s no plot or story, or even a goal beyond “Become the biggest.” The connection between visuals and soundtrack fuel the emotional weight. Not since I viewed Danny Boyle’s masterpiece of space exploration, Sunshine, has the calm and vastness of space been conveyed in a visual medium as effectively to me as Osmos. Cosmic and microscopic are one in the same with the right level of perception.

Sunshine’s visuals and the constant traveling of the protagonists aboard Icarus II set those feelings in motion, with the music providing capable emotional support. The situation here is reversed. The soundtrack from Loscil, Gas/High Skies, Julian Neto, Biosphere, and many more artists, frames the solace, security, fear, and futility of never comprehending the unknown science of a universe reluctant to unveil its secrets. The player’s goal is basic and understood, but the music implies it’s a small role in a much bigger, and more complex, whole. The setup’s similar to a Hitchcockian tease, but with the exploration of sound as the primary device. Students, take special notice.

Osmos is currently available for the low low price of $10 from Direct2drive, Steam, and developer’s official site. If you can, buy it skip the middlemen and buy it from Hemisphere. They deserve every last cent. For the soundtrack it looks like you’ll have to hit up the individual artists and their albums, Myspace pages, etc. to hear the compositions outside of the game. As far as I can tell, Hemisphere has yet to compile the songs into a complete purchasable soundtrack.

“…it’s surprisingly hard to make a game “relaxing,” while at the same time steering clear of “boring.” A lot of work went into tweaking the game, physics, sound/music ,and visuals such that these two seemingly conflicting goals are in balance.” ~ Andrew Nealen, Hemisphere Games team member speaking to Bitmob.

Tags: Independent Videogames, Osmos
Posted in Gaming, Multimedia | 3 Comments »

Student Profile: David Stevens

Posted by Travis Norman on Monday, November 23rd, 2009

In this installment of Student Profile we Meet David Stevens, currently enrolled in his 5th quarter of studies at The Institute of Production and Recording, and learn a bit about the benefits of keeping an open mind, networking with those around you, and doing what it takes to achieve the goals you set for yourself…

Hi my name is David Stevens.  I came from the country near a small town in Southern Minnesota.  I didn’t have much of a music background – my dad listened to country, my mom listened to oldies, and everyone at school listened to Top 40.  So when it comes to unique music I just didn’t have the knowledge.  When I came to IPR in Oct. of  2008,  I got music from everywhere, and my mind just blew up!  It has been a fun trip so far!  I did some stuff in music like a stint as a wedding dj, and making music in a program called Magix, but that was the most I had dived into working in music at all. When our teacher at IPR , Jay Flemming, asked during the first quarter who in the class knew what an XLR was, I had no clue.

I heard about IPR when I went to a job counselor looking for work when I lived in Northern WI.  She asked me what I liked to do; I listed off everything, and somehow we got on the subject of music.  She told me her son was looking at IPR, and it peaked my curiosity.  I didn’t know schools like this even existed!  So I did my research, checked out other places, but I didn’t want to live too far from home and I wanted to go somewhere that could give me the best education for my use in all aspects.  I took a tour of the school and a smile was stuck on my face the whole time.  I had never really been around even the mixing boards you see in Studio 6.  So the thought of being able to be around them all the time for two years made me so happy. My admissions rep, and everyone I met on my tour were so friendly and happy – I felt they absolutely loved being here.  Right then and there I knew I wanted to attend school here.

I was in choir and band when I was in high school.  I love to sing and I am working on learning guitar and piano more constructively.  I have always loved music and singing since I was just a little kid.  I knew I wanted to be in the music industry, but I was always told it wasn’t a reasonable area to push towards for a career…

There are so many people up here that have struck my sparks to keep striving.  I am always networking and trying to meet new people.  The more people I know the more people that know me.  I don’t want money, fame, and stardom.  If it happens, GREAT!  But if it doesn’t I am still doing what I love.  If I can make a living doing what I love, I will never work the rest of my life, because I look at it as more than work.  It’s my life.  I breath music.  Anyone that feels the same as I do I look up to.  Anyone that has a passion for music and is in it for the right reasons I feel appreciative towards.

So many teachers, students, and other music industry people from all over have influenced me.  If they have knowledge to give I want to listen.  I want to feed off of everything.  I didn’t know anything before I came here and in the year I have been here I have growing not only musically but mentally as well.  If you ever want to learn anything about music step into a conversation with a group of people here.  It is so fun being here, and the people are great.  Everyone is here for different reasons which makes everyone unique to talk to.

After school I want to work with promotions, engineering, and producing.  I am in the process of trying to work closer with Ideawerks and their promotional crew.  I have mad respect for the program.  Check it out at www.ideawerks.org and you will see just what I mean.  I am in the process of starting up my own company, and slowly but surely it is getting off the ground.  Being in school and just getting on my feet are obviously keeping it held back, but I know it will take time, time, and more time.  That’s why I want to start now.  I want to be somewhere doing something when I am out of school.  All I want to do is strive and make something of my self.  I want to know my life is happy.  And I feel the most happy doing exactly this.  People say I will wear down in the craziness of the business, but I don’t let it get to me.  You get out what you put in, that’s what everyone says.  Well, right now I am putting my whole heart and soul into this – I will get something out of this no matter what.  I am happier then I have ever been in my life right now.

I have been working with bands, but not charging yet.  Though I have traded services.  A couple bands I have worked with have set up a website for me, and also helped me build my logo.  Even if you don’t get money, don’t forget to look at other options of how someone can help you.  Things that could have cost you hundreds of dollars to do on your own, you can use the help of those you help yourself.  If I was to give any support of information to any students looking to get out there, work, and start getting recognized, it would be to network with everyone you can.

In closing, maintaining a focus on networking and doing what it takes are the two most important things that I can say.  You can be in class all you want, and do the projects but that only gets you so far.  A degree is a piece of paper.  Prove to them that you really know what you are talking about by just doing it.  And to learn, there are a few steps you need to follow.  Get in the studio with other people.  Even if it is to just watch them.  Shut up, and watch.  If you have a question, write it down and ask them later when they are not super busy.  Talk to everyone and anyone you can.  And listen.  Be open minded to anything.  Don’t have a one track mind.  It doesn’t get very many people too far…

Tags: David Stevens, IDEAWERKS, IPR Student
Posted in Newswire, Student Profile | 3 Comments »

Despite Dreadful Filmmaking, The Twilight Saga: New Moon Breaks Records. Weep for the Future.

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Monday, November 23rd, 2009

By the time you read this, New Moon, the latest film based on Stephenie Myer’s dreadfully morose Twilight saga, will have officially scratched and clawed its way to the third highest spot in the all-time weekend box-office debuts (early Sunday night estimates put New Moon’s take at $140 million, which places it right at the heels of Spider-Man 3’s $151.1 million and Dark Knight’s $158.4 million). On its way to almost breaking the three-day record, two others were decimated. The film’s opening at midnight earned an estimated $26.3 million, surpassing former reigning king Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’s $22.2 million, and Friday totals hit $72.7 million, once again besting the Dark Knight, which raked in $67 million over one year ago.

Non-summer releases aren’t supposed to make this much money, right? Late last year, Warner Bros. Pictures, fearful of not wringing every possible box office dollar from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, delayed the basically-finished film until summer of the following year. Regarding the decision, Warner Bros. President and Chief Operating Officer Alan Horn said “Our reasons for shifting ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment.” Their “for the summer for the family” reasoning makes sense…until decades worth of box office data are also considered. With the exception of Titanic, the highest grossing films domestically all received late-spring to mid-summer releases. Okay. Sure. If you want to maximize domestic revenue, you release in that time frame. But the Harry Potter films don’t hold any kind of a presence in the all-time domestic top ten records. The film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s books make far more money worldwide, and, as of writing, even hold three of the top ten worldwide box office records (Sorcerer’s Stone at fifth with $974 million, Order of the Pheonix at seven with $938 million, and Half-Blood Prince at eight with $929.9 million). Also, four out of the ten highest-grossing films worldwide debuted during the fall, two of which are number one and two (Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King). Warner Bros. didn’t switch the release from fall to summer to make sure all families find the time to see the latest Potter entry, the company made the move to create another Dark Knight. Warner Bros. failed, but laughing at them here is like laughing at Bill Gates in the 90s for not quite having enough money to buy the moon.

Twilight’s record-breaking presence at the box office isn’t a fall fluke. And its seating amongst the highly-publicized commercially elite isn’t due to some forgotten demographic suddenly appearing out of the woodwork. Tween females, the consumer group most closely associated with the series, helped drive films like High School Musical (1, 2, and 3), Hannah Montana, and even Transformers 2 to massive financial success. Twenty and thirty-something women like Twighlight, so do moms, and, to my constant surprise, guys of all ages (in legions they gather on message boards. Some even have beards!). At a Saturday afternoon showing in Minneapolis’s Block E theater, all of the aforementioned made some kind of an appearance.

Before we arrived, I joked with my girlfriend that I should hang my head low, sulk, and drag my feet as if attending this movie will rid me of some unrecoverable manhood. I wasn’t attempting to hide some pre-existing shame with light commentary on the presumed behavior of males attending, I was making fun of them. And, in a way, I pitied them. I possessed enough creativity and positive energy to turn an unfortunate situation into one much more fruitful. Seeing this film meant I could comment on it afterwards! These poor saps had nothing. I fear if given the opportunity to instead get their nose hairs plucked out by a drunken Irish barber with bad breath they would’ve immediately switched.

We arrived early to the showing. With 30 minutes to spare until 10-20 minutes of trailers already available online flooded our senses, I relished observing attendees make their way to the shockingly comfortable burgundy-colored theater seats. We sat in the center of the front row of elevated seating (our favorite spot). To our left, two women in their early 30s, one in her 40s, and a guy who looked like Washout from Hot Shots, but decked out head to toe in pseudo-trendy dirty denim, shared popcorn and noisily discussed things too uninteresting for me to care. A quiet couple our age, mid-20s, sat behind us. They didn’t say much, but I wanted to say something to them after my seat received two kicks to its backside. Before my dwelling on the knocks reached dangerous levels, three Indian men in their late 20s walked in front and made their way to the seats to my right. They were alone, and looked strangely indifferent to the worldwide media event. I wanted to strike up a conversation and find their reason/s for attending, but they looked serious. Not once during the pre-trailer time did they speak to each other. I know. I was creepily watching.

At one point, a teenager walked in with two other girls. His head hung low, he shuffled his feet a bit, and awkwardly kept his hands in his jean pockets. He didn’t want to be there. I, of course, immediately pointed him out to my girlfriend and we shared a delightful laugh.

As time dragged on, the seats started to fill with moms and daughters, various groups of women of all ages, but nothing that would qualify as “elderly,” and more than a couple of middle-aged men flying solo. I couldn’t tell if any “Twi-hards” were in attendance other than one twenty-something girl in a gaudy strapless number, and even her legitimacy is in question with the theater’s proximity to bars, clubs, and other social uh…hangouts. In retrospect, I should’ve aimed some derogatory remark at Edward Cullen to pinpoint the card-carrying members. But it’s probably better I didn’t. The movie sucked, and dealing with an awkward situation would’ve made the experience exponentially less desirable.

New Moon’s bad. Transformers 2 bad, in fact. Like the original Twilight, the connection between Bella and Edward is never established – leading me to believe their “love” is best categorized as intense pubescent infatuation. It’s surprising, considering their “love” is the film’s foundation and driving factor. When separated, Bella falls apart and proves she’s even more boring and uninteresting without her pasty white friend. For reasons unknown, wolf dude Jacob, a.k.a. Beefcake McManliness finds this attractive and incessantly beams his pearly whites in her direction at every possible occasion. Months pass by, and Miss mopey uses Beefcake to rebuild some motorcycles, Beefcake gets mad when he finds out the truth, and, as you can probably guess if you’ve seen the trailers, hilarity ensues, unintentionally, of course. “Yows,” whistles, and swoons filled the theater as often as laughter during Beefcake’s appearances. Part of it’s due to actor Taylor Lautner’s poor delivery, and the rest is from bad direction. When Bella’s head starts to bleed after knocking it against the rock, the director takes the camera low and shows an overeager Taylor removing his shirt like a Chippendale showman. In another scene, Taylor bounces from Bella’s house, a nearby tree, and back to the house again, lifts himself up and into her window. Immediately, the camera zooms in on Taylor’s face and he nonchalantly says “hey” while cocking his head up. I expected the following scene to feature any number of beer bongs and cans smashing into heads, but alas. Maybe in the eventual sideproject “Beefcake Beats College” or “Wolfboy Gone Wild.” For fear of dangly parts, I’ll hope for the former.

I often hear from male and female Twi-hard friends of the series’ miscategorization as intended literature and film for young teenage women. With both films now behind me, I feel the categorization’s perfect, at least for one medium. Bella’s a flawed, uninteresting character with almost no redeeming qualities. She’s a self-made outcast, a poor friend, even a Debbie Downer at times, and without any motivation to pick up a hobby (at one point she starts scrapbooking, but does so reluctantly to please her mother). She’s easy to relate to because she represents how we regard ourselves at our lowest and most depressed. Edward’s the fairy tale shining beacon that says it’s “ok” to be who you are, and will love you no matter what…only Edward loves Bella because she smells good and her mind can’t be read. But these details don’t matter to the stereotypical teen audience. They see “star-crossed lovers,” vampires with heavy access to white makeup and custom contacts, Beefcake’s abs, and, most importantly, themselves dramatically caught in the midst of all the nonsense. The poor acting, dialog, and general film execution, coupled with the film’s already record-breaking success, give me great cause for concern of Hollywood’s future and the role it plays in the minds of moviegoers everywhere. In spirit, this is fall’s Transformers 2.

Tags: Review, The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Posted in General Media, Multimedia | No Comments »

Games of the Year: A Review of Left 4 Dead 2

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Friday, November 20th, 2009

We  didn’t ask for this, but developer, publisher, and multi-faceted industry pioneer Valve software delivered Left 4 Dead 2 barely one year after the first anyway. And company chose to do so despite the passionate and sometimes ludicrous objections from fanatics clinging to an all but bygone way of industry distribution (Valve typically spends years perfecting each iteration of a property while maintaining consumer interest in those at market with free updates and downloadable content).

Months ago, the loudest protesters received an invitation to play the title they so strongly opposed at Valve’s own headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. Shortly after, the community-driven petitions received fewer signatures and boycott groups disbanded. Valve won, but did gamers as well?

After months of waiting, and Valve playing coy drug pusher with a brilliantly concise and addictive demo, the game’s out now on both the Xbox 360 and PC. The explanation behind the death of the defying few’s doubts  is obvious now. Valve destroyed them with better game design.

The first Left 4 Dead now plays like a developer trial run. The linearity of its levels rarely encouraged exploration and/or alternative pathing – telling survivors to always find the optimal straight line in their A to B journeys and stick with it. Nothing good could ever warrant deviation. 2’s levels remain linear by design, but traveling in these expansive environments feels more organic and diverse. Repeatedly during each campaign, players must take note of their current health and inventory and decide whether or not distancing themselves from the vaguely beaten path is worth an unidentified reward that may or may not exist. Sometimes it is, and the group can move forward with greater confidence and efficiency, and sometimes people die. This risk/reward system’s present in nearly every videogame ever created (I’m aware of many exceptions, thanks), but implementation here is strikingly vital to player perceived enjoyment.

In a single-player game of Left 4 Dead 2, a risk/reward thought procedure includes few factors involving the group’s efficiency. Computer-controlled allies don’t carry throwable items like the Boomer bile, pipe bomb, and molotov cocktail, but they will find and use a chainsaw or a grenade launcher regardless of your own personal preference and capability. These teammates are stupid, too – sometimes falling from a vital location or ignoring others incapacitated by the zombie pack. Out of necessity, players must think only of themselves when playing alone. “All that matters is if I can reach the end,” they likely think.

Add a few more flesh-and-blood teammates to the mix and more factors get thrown into the risk/reward situational blender. Emotion, the bittersweet spice, inevitably slips its way in as well. Groups filled with equally capable players are rare, and at one point or another, everyone eventually debates whether or not it’s a good idea to use a healing item on the fool with a constantly dropping health bar. “Perhaps it would be a better idea to save the invaluable first aid kit and use it on someone else, someone with more kills and a greater sense of what it takes to survive,” we wonder. “Or maybe we should check in that dark corner behind the motel. I once saw a health pack there during a different playthrough.”

Undoubtedly the best campaign.

Situations like these present themselves at the end of every bleak corridor and inside each brightly outdoor environment in Left 4 Dead 2. From the small, “this zombie will hit me in maybe three seconds, but one might hit me from behind in two…what should I do?,” to the big, “I’m at the end of the level and all of my friends are lying on the ground getting attacked by everything. Do I save them or leave?” Valve’s successes in inserting these moments dictate the game’s unexpected achievements in playability. Don’t be fooled, the zombie apocalypse is just pretty packaging.

As I stated earlier, the title’s levels are brilliantly crafted environments that allow the intended gameplay design to work exceedingly well. The craftsmen themselves deserve substantial credit, but will probably receive very little from those outside their field. It’s okay, guys and gals, few realize the visual splendor of films like Brokeback Mountain and 25th Hour are due to cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto’s involvement.

Making the level designers look even better (or is it the other way around?), is the Director, an in-game artificial intelligence capable of shaping level pacing on-the-fly. Here’s a great description from Wikipedia:

“Instead of fixed spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies and items in varying positions and quantities based upon each player’s current situation, status, skill and location, creating a new experience for each playthrough.[6] The Director also creates mood and tension with emotional cues, such as visual effects, dynamic music, and character communication.”

As far as I know on the subject of artificial intelligence (not a whole lot), the Director’s cutting-edge technology, or design, in videogames.

Click the video above to learn more about the Director.

In this sequel, the Director received massive upgrades to its toolsets in the form of three new special zombies: the Charger, Spitter, and Jockey, additional monster spawn points per level, and tweaks to its fundamental design – ensuring more than ever that no two games are alike. The Director’s involvement and competence really can’t be overstated.

To help players battle the unseen puppeteer and its relentless undead horde, Valve significantly expanded the weapon and item arsenal. In the first title, firearms almost dictated players fill particular roles or classes defined by the positive and negative characteristics of a weapon. Shotgunners handled close-quarters combat, snipers dealt with anything far away, and those with automatic rifles and submachine guns handled everything in-between. Proper group configuration wasn’t key to reaching each campaign’s end, but it certainly didn’t hurt.

In 2, choosing a weapon is a gratifying personal preference. Instead of expanding the effectiveness with a new tiering of items, Valve decided to fill in the gaps with a silenced submachine gun, an assault rifle with a three round burst firing mode, melee weapons, etc. Experimentation’s encouraged here, and fun, too. I once dropped my beloved Katana to pick up the obviously inferior electric guitar. Hearing and seeing zombie heads explode with the simultaneous sound of off-key notes from my guitar may seem inconsequential, but it was beautiful at the time. I think Tallahassee of Zombieland would agree.

But no matter who you are, or what you prefer, eventually everyone asks “Should I drop this katana for the chainsaw or maybe a magnum pistol?”  In a game where, in just one hour, players are bombarded by hundreds of zombies waiting to face dismemberment, this is a welcome dilemma.

Quite possibly the meatiest-sounding chainsaw in a videogame.

Now Valve faces one. It’s been two years and we have two Left 4 Dead titles to play.  The last was a strong game of the year contender, and so is this one. In regards to sales, the second will probably move more units than the multi-million selling first. Will the company drop another on us next year, making it three titles in three years? How will we feel about that kind of a move?

Title release annuity bears deadly association. Madden and Guitar Hero continually teach consumers minor gameplay improvements, roster updates, and new songs equate to a premium retail price. That’s bad. But Valve’s efforts here in further elaborating upon a basic idea with many tonal notes, while addressing prior issues, demonstrate a positive possible counterweight to the fundamental idea and purpose of publishing annual titles. This isn’t just one of the best titles this year, it’s a necessary revolution.

Tags: Left 4 Dead 2, videogames
Posted in Gaming, Multimedia | 1 Comment »

Digg users express (justifiable?) concern over site’s front page ads.

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Popular social news site Digg.com targeted its tech-savvy, mostly left-wing, sensationalism-devouring audience and repeatedly bombarded them with a Dragon Age: Origins-riddled front page. Almost no corner of the site remained untouched by the Bioware-developed and Eletronic Arts-published videogame. A  site width-equivalent banner brightened the Digg sky, another rested in the upper-right quadrant (below relevant site articles featuring the title), and, sitting incognito among the up-and-coming new items on the left-center,  a sponsored item lie in wait, ready to pounce on an unsuspecting reader not privvy to new age marketing techniques. The ad looked like any other news story, and users could even promote it with a Digg, but the thin black line encasing the item, complete with squint-or-you’ll-miss-it “sponsored by…” text, indicated presence was not earned through the site’s typical user-submitted and user-endorsed foundations.

Users felt betrayed by their site; their internet communal home to which they contributed content and maintained through Digging the articles of others. “I helped build this and now a part of it is mine!” they might’ve thought, despite never paying a dime to upkeep the site and pay for an eventual expansion. The opportunity to comment and become an identifiable Digg “star” for submitting popular articles only ensured a pervasive deep-seated sense of ownership.

This “for us and exclusively by us” mentality held by the privileged and informed internet power user clique doesn’t pay Digg’s multi-million dollar bills. According to a December 18, 2008 report from BusinessWeek, the 2004 internet start-up from founder Kevin Rose lost $4 million on $6.4 million of revenue in the first three quarters of 2008. The business model needed to change, and Chief Executive Officer Jay Adelson knew it. On December 2 of the same year, a few weeks prior to the BusinessWeek article, Adelson announced the site was no longer for sale, and that it would shift its focus to “building an independent business that reaches profitability as quickly as possible.” As we all know, one way to boost revenue is by selling more adspace, and that’s what Digg’s doing.

But at what cost? Chas Edwards, Chief Revenue Officer at Digg updated his blog with a post called “EA’s Dragon Age: Content and Ads Working Well Together” and wrote: ” EA is promoting Dragon Age on Digg with Digg Ads units on the homepage. At the same time, reviews of Dragon Age (this one from Joystiq) are also making their way to Digg’s homepage organically, based on votes by Digg readers.” Below the aforementioned text he added this picture (below).

Finally, Chas commented ” I love it when this happens. You know you’re serving relevant ads to an audience when that audience votes up the brand or product on its own,” and disclosed his employment with Digg.

Chas may be right in his observance of the ad relevancy, but he’s missing a bigger issue. The community responded to Dragon Age’s ad presence with a fix for Firefox that removes “the irritating ad” and restores “background colour and comment width to normal.” The instructions themselves received thousands of diggs (2,444 as of writing), and even made it to the front page as one of the top articles for the day. The community spoke without really saying anything. But of course, they did that as well.

In the comments section of the article, user “oedenfield” wrote ” if a company wants to kill their product/service, they should be allowed to.” Of a similar opinion, “twiztidsinz” added “There’s a difference between having ads (which is fine) and having ads that annoy your user base, alter your page layout and cause disinterest in the product. I come to Digg for Digg… not for gigantic ads.” Appealing to the Simpsons fan in all of us, “clone206” quoted the show’s “Comic Book Guy” with “As a loyal fan, I feel they owe me.” Whether he or she decided to use this quote in an effort to support or oppose the article remains uncertain.

The anti-ad pitchfork mob wasn’t without opposition, though. “shaughn13” wrote “either get a job at digg and help them find a better way or stop complaining.” “socivitus” went a little deeper into the financials of the situation: “Digg doesn’t make profit. Digg cost $11 million to run last year and made $6 million. They run off investments and have 71 employees to pay. Do you think Digg’s investors are going to sit back and support it and not see a return? Digg either profits off the site itself and stays private, goes IPO, or sells completely.” He continued, ” I never wanted to believe the Digg community was this dumb, but I’ve been proven wrong.”

Finding some semblance of a middle road in the argument, “Uselesstrivia” acknowledged the community’s feelings for the ads and their role in Digg’s survival:

“If this is necessary to keep digg running, I’ll accept it grudgingly, but it’s still ***** and ugly and annoying, especially the shrinking of the comment section.

You should really give logged in users the ability to turn off the site integration ads, though. I’m sure it’s a small minority of your viewership, so it shouldn’t cost you that much, and it might entice other users to log in, which I’m sure is better for you in the long run…more people with accounts, more people able to click the digg button and submit stories, etc…

I understand why this kind of thing is necessary. Ad revenue is shrinking along with the effectiveness of simple banner ads. Click rates are dropping and money is drying up. If pursuing a new revenue source is a necessary evil, then I understand, but keep in mind most of the users seem to really hate it.”

And the powers that be at Digg probably are keeping all of this in mind. Not because they feel for the users (although I’m guessing at least the face of the company, Kevin Rose, does), but because it makes financial sense. A company that relies so heavily on its community can’t ignore any form of protest, especially when the act of protesting involves the disabling or circumventing of revenue-generating advertisements.

My guess is Digg management is taking all of this negativity and protest with a few barrels of salt. Prior to the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, publisher Activision angered potential consumers after announcing what wouldn’t be included in the upcoming title. Thousands of signatures across multiple petitions later, the game generated $310 million in day one sales, and $550 million in five days. As Chas Edwards from Digg pointed out, site visitors are also gamers. Sure, there’s nothing to purchase here, and Digg and Modern Warfare 2 are two entirely different entities, but the possible post-negative commenting aftermath could prove to be one in the same…that is unless more Digg users learn about and implement the aforementioned “fix.” In that case, the company would do well to remember the words of one commenter named “tnoy:”

“If digg dies, I’ll just go to a different site.”

Tags: Digg, Dragon Age, social media
Posted in General Media, Multimedia | 1 Comment »

Audio Injection

Posted by Travis Norman on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Tags: aaron bliss, Acid Circus, Audio Injection, BLACK saturdays, Broken Rules, Centrific, David Flores, Droid Recordings, Drumcell, First Ave night club, First Ave VIP room, House Music, Interface, Los Angeles Techno, minimal techno, Minneapolis, techno
Posted in Multimedia, Music | 2 Comments »

Brian Setzer’s newest album, “Songs for Lonely Avenue”

Posted by Travis Norman on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Brian Setzer’s newest album, Songs for Lonely Avenue, much of which was recorded in Minneapolis and engineered by Institute of Production and Recording faculty members Scott LeGere and Eric Olsen, recently debuted at #4 on Billboard’s Jazz Chart.  Having been a fan of Mr. Setzer’s dramatic style since the days of my youth in which “Stray Cat Strut” could be heard blaring from a small boombox on my shoulder in some childhood approximation of ghetto blasting, I was eager to explore his latest.

An album cover design contest was held to find artwork for the release…

From the high energy opener “Trouble Train” and the chugging swagger of “Dead Man Incorporated” I knew this disc would offer a rollicking excursion into sounds and attitudes from a time before the word ‘cool’ had lost its relative meaning.  The energetic arrangements set the mood for tales of passion and rebellion, the kinds of stories able to transport the listener to a world of hip cats and dangerous dames.  Slower numbers like the title track simmer with a classy and classic swing.  Even the instrumental tracks seemed to somehow be urging me to drop everything, hit the road for Vegas, and be ready for whatever mystery and adventure might come my way.  Brief moments of humor interject as well, such as the brief Oriental riff inserted as Setzer contemplates getting to China in order to “dig a hole to Carolina” or the few references to modern life (lattes with soy milk and GPS devices to guide us) that remind us this charm is no mere relic, but rather a melding of some “old fashioned” sensibilities and sentiments with a current day outlook and timeless romantic struggles.  By the end of the disc I was well convinced that the potentially strange bedfellows of rockabilly, surf, jazz, blues and rock n’ roll can find plenty of common ground in the deft musicianship on display throughout Songs For Lonely Avenue.  Of course, by then I was also pretty sure I should attempt to grow a pompadour and start carrying a switchblade wherever I go…

The three-time Grammy winner and former Stray Cat talks about his new CD ‘Songs From Lonely Avenue’

The overall tonality of the music is bright and crisp – horns, cymbals, and other high frequency material shimmer with clarity and a type of “openness” that allow the material to really jump out of your speakers while still sounding quite natural.  And by bright I certainly don’t mean the harsh and sterile digital version of the term, in fact, not once during my initial listening session did my mind drift to thoughts of digital recording technology – an essential aspect for keeping the spirit and mood of this particular brand of ‘cool’ in tact.  I was also particularly fond of the mix separation evident from tasteful panning of horn parts on tunes such as “Kiss Me Deadly” and “Passion Of The Night”.  As for the vocals, Setzer’s crooning and storytelling come through in an intimate fashion,  sounding alternately conversational – the life of the party you actually want to converse with, or urgent as he warns against the wiles and lures of seductive and spicy characters.  Clean guitar tones and riffs are allowed to take up prominent space throughout the album, all the way to the closing instrumental “Elena”, a  dynamic arrangement offering a farewell which is at once driving and contemplative, a chance to reflect on just where this lonely avenue might be headed…

Tags: Brian Setzer, Eric Olsen, Jazz, Rock and Roll, Rockabilly, Scott Legere, Surf music
Posted in Multimedia, Music | No Comments »

Forza 3’s Community Defies Online Gamer Stereotypes

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Friday, November 13th, 2009

I typically don’t spend any measurable time inhabiting online game communities and conversing with the residents , especially those with console houses. They’re often a mean sort, drunk off the anonymity afforded by the internet. Pitchforks, or rather, controllers in hand, they rally against anyone who doesn’t meet a predetermined set of standards. Their dialect  – slangs and slurs that would get any pre-teen a mouth full of soap should he utter but one. Well, you’d think so anyway. Join a multiplayer game of Halo or Call of Duty and you’ll inevitably hear a plethora of vulgarities from some uncouth young boy who has yet to experience puberty. Other, more civilized folk, live here too, but their pleasantries are muted against the blowhorn-wielding neighbors.

The infamous “gayboy” video.

But make no mistake, this type of behavior’s not limited to online shooters or even videogame consoles. It’s all over – favoring almost no genre. These people are ready to pounce as you build bases in real-time strategy titles and stab you in the back as you hone your skills with a fire-ball tossing hero in fighting games. They’re even ready to sink their teeth into your neck when you are at your most vulnerable – reclining back in your favorite chair, feet on an old familiar ottoman, and playing a simple, relaxing game of Uno. Sometimes, when I’m feeling energetic and sassy, I make it my mission to give these people a hard time. I rebel against the rebels, and grief the griefers. It’s a great time, and one I’ll be digging into much deeper in an upcoming post.

People are people almost wherever you go. Some qualities are universal across all cultures, but this one, this is mostly American. In one of the final episodes of videogame website 1UP’s now-defunct “1UP Yours” podcast, host Garnett Lee and guest Mark McDonald, a former editor for 1UP and former director of Gamevideos.com, discuss the behavior of Japanese gamers in online gaming environments. Mark, a Tokyo resident since leaving 1UP two years ago, explains to Garnett that online gamers in Japan are patient and polite people, when they actually speak. It’s customary to politely greet someone when they join your game, and it’s customary to politely say “goodbye” when they leave. Even more different from American gamers, if a teammate’s comparatively not doing well, the rest don’t get on his or her case, shout names, and belittle the gamer. Instead, the Japanese offer tips and encouragement.

Supporting Mark’s claim are many pieces of information coming from the top Street Fighter players from the U.S, such as Justin Wong and Gootecks. When they travel abroad, they notice the Japanese competition’s unified – helping each other overcome flaws to achieve greater individual, and group, mastery. But, for the most part, Street Fighter players in the United States remain divided and selfish – unwilling to divulge information for fear of aiding the competition and potentially triggering their own demise. With this in mind, there’s no wondering why Japan remains dominant in the fighting game scene to this day.

I know less about the European online scene, but according to a recent news item from CVG, Valve Software’s Chet Faliszek said British gamers are “notorious non-talkers on both 360 and PC.” He added, “Americans are just chattering away, working together as a team,” before offering some advice: “If you want to work together as a team you’ve got to talk!”

Last night, I experienced a fluke. At least, I think it was a fluke. While finishing lap two of a multiplayer race in Microsoft’s new driving simulator, Forza Motorsport 3,  I noticed my fellow enthusiasts communicating without the use of hate speech. The realization was jarring, and I became so preoccupied with observing their interactions I periodically swerved off the road, applied my breaks too hard, or didn’t apply the brakes hard enough and nudged a wall or two…or three. These other drivers were trading real life and in-game tuning tips, discussing real life careers, and even critiquing each other’s form! How strange! When the opportunity surfaced, one would politely inform another that he was going to try and pass on the left or right on the next turn.

In Project Gotham Racing 3, another racing title released four years earlier as an Xbox 360 launch title, most players intentionally nudged the side of another racer’s back bumper to cause a spinout. I know this because I was often the victim. When the opposition couldn’t reach me, they’d frequently call me names and leave me bad feedback on my Xbox LIVE Gamercard. Apparently I “disrupted” the game with unsporting tactics, used “excessive foul language,” and essentially made playing with me a poor experience for all. People didn’t like me because I exhibited a higher level of mastery. Shortly before I moved on to another title, I noticed the Project Gotham Community sent my approval rating to a personal low of 60% negative. To this day, my feedback sits at 65% negative.

Back to my Forza 3 multiplayer night. I enjoyed playing with these people, despite the childishness of their chosen Gamertags (which I will not repeat here).  They held a genuine enthusiasm for the title and its community. And most surprisingly of all, this is the first time they had all met.

After a few hours of racing, tuning, and chatting, we each departed our ways. I wanted to play the free-to-play title League of Legends with a former editor, someone else had to go to bed so he could get up early for work, and another had to tend to his newborn. We didn’t exchange friend requests, but we hoped to see each other online in the future.

Flabbergasted by the interaction, I visited the Forza 3 forums, and immediately realized this positive experience with a group of mature individuals was no fluke. This is the Forza 3 community – a web of real-life and wishful gearheads of all ages who come together via this game and celebrate car culture. There’s little flaming on the forum, and even less trolling. People can be a little obsessive, and a little eccentric, but they mean well, unlike the kid yelling in your ear on Call of Duty to “eff off you gay homo terrorist.”

Looking towards the future and what pieces of entertainment I plan on utilizing to waste my life away, I grow increasingly excited for another night like this one. I love cars, but I know little about them and the science behind racing. But I want to learn, and, hopefully, they still want to teach.

You can go into a random 360 game on US servers and it’s crazy talk. It’s fun. I think a lot of people knock that community but again and again I’m surprised by how fun that is. I’ve played expert campaigns where by the end of it we’re best buddies. ~ Valve’s Chet Faliszek, speaking to CVG.

Tags: Forza Motorsport 3, videogames
Posted in Gaming, Multimedia | 2 Comments »

JackCast002 Ben Klock Live at BLACK

Posted by Travis Norman on Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Back in April The Particle People were visited by Ben Klock. While on a short visit to the US (NYC and Minneapolis only) with a special night at BLACK we were able to find out why he was on the tip of everyone’s tongue. He was modest, nice and simply blew the dance floor away with an amazing mix of new and classic techno and house. This set was a perfect example of the raw gritty underground sound of US (mostly Midwest) and German dance music coming from Berlin at the moment, most noticeably a little club you may have heard of recently called Berghain.

While in Minneapolis Ben not only was able to see what the Midwest was about, Ben even took home a little piece of Minneapolis by signing our very own DVS1 for KlockWorks005. While here he interviewed for Tanya Norman from IPR and recently with us at Jack The Box for a followup. What Follows is the followup interview and below is the original interview from Tanya and Ben Klock from April.

To top it all off we were also able to get hold of a recording of that night for JackCast002 Ben Klock Live@BLACK…

2009-04-05_Ben_Klock.mp3

0:00 / 0:00

Download

You recently visited  Minneapolis, What were your impressions of the American Techno scene before coming and what are your impressions now? Specifically  Minneapolis …
Well I have to say before I had the impression that it’s a very small scene there and this was approved. But in the end it’s more about quality than quantity. And there were some people who were really into it – especially in Minneapolis. And it was great fun playing there, because people seemed to really appreciate.

Your latest release on Klockworks (klockworks 005) is from one of our own locals and is very exciting for us.  Is klockworks005 the first release from artists other than you?
Yes it’s the first release from someone else. So it’s something special for me too. I was really impressed by Zak (DVS1). He is minimalistic in it’s original sense. And very energetic. I loved his short but intense performance he did at that party in Minneapolis. And I’m glad I didn’t go straight home after my set and had the chance to meet this guy. I will bring him over to play at Berghain in February.

Do you plan on bringing more artists into the Klockworks roster?
Always depends on the music. If I find something that really fits into the concept that I have in mind for Klockworks then maybe there will be other artists. In fact I’m just planning something with a new artist but it’s to early to tell more.

Do you plan on visiting the  US  in 2010?
I’m not sure about that yet. We’ll see.

You are known for playing a very wide range of records. I remember hearing a number of classics in your set from your visit.  What is your favorite dance floor track, the one you almost never leave home without?
Yes I like mixing old and new stuff. But it always changes. I can’t tell you the one favorite classic. There are too many great records. But if you ask me which one never left the bag since I bought it in 1995 it’s Tyree on Dance Mania: Nuthin Wrong.

Are you currently working on any new music projects that we should keep an eye out for?
I’ve only been doing remixes since my album came out in February this year. Brand new in the stores is a remix for Function on Sandwell District.
And then there will be a record on Deeply Rooted House, distributed by PlanetE with two older tracks of mine coming out before the end of this year.

One of the things we love to talk about on this Blog is gear. Some people are gear enthusiasts and some are minimalists.  What is your current preferred DJ and music production set up?
I’m sorry to disappoint you if you expect a large analog production park. For my productions I’m using Logic Pro on a Mac and lot’s of digital plug Ins. That’s all I need at the moment. For me it’s more about music than loving machines. My DJ set up is two turntables and two Pioneer CDJs 1000 and a Soundbite loop player.

Thank you Ben!  Interview by Aaron Bliss for Jack the Box.

Below is the interview by Tanya Norman the night Ben Klock Played in Minneapolis.

Particle People Bring Ben Klock To First Ave VIP Room by Tanya Norman

On April 4, 2009 local promoters Particle People welcomed Ben Klock to the First Ave VIP Room. Coming to the USA all the way from Berghain Club in Berlin, this respected producer and deejay was here to promote his new album One and EP Before One out now on BeatPort and where vinyl is sold. Ben was kind enough to grant Tanya Norman an interview opportunity, allowing a glimpse inside his world of Berlin techno and sharing insight into why sometimes less is more…

TN: Who inspires you?  Mentors in music?

BK: I don’t know where to begin.  I’ve been making music all my life.  I listened to all kinds of music.  In the 80’s I loved Prince.  In the beginning of the 90’s I was beginning to look for new sounds.  There are some heroes: old US guys, Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, Robert Hood.  Basically, that’s where it comes from.

TN: What kind of technology and tools do you use?  Describe your studio.

BK:  It’s not that interesting. [laughs] I changed to complete digital. I really like total recall recording.  When I worked on my album I worked on different tracks at the same time.  I don’t want to have to reconnect cables…..with digital you can really do a lot of things.  I use Logic, a little Ableton… usually a Logic user.  And some plug-ins.

TN: Your current record label, Ostgut Ton, how long have you been with them?

BK: Since I’ve been a resident DJ at Berghain, about 3 years. Ostgut Ton is the label of Berghain. The venue they had before the Berghain was called Ostgut, that is why the label is called Ostgut Ton.

TN: You’ve been deejaying for over 10 years now?

BK: For a little over 10 years.  The international bookings started about 4 years ago, coinciding with the beginning of my residency at Berghain.

TN: Did you play any instruments as a child?

BK: When I was a kid I played piano. Before I became a DJ I also played in a band and did some songwriting, playing guitar and singing…

TN:  Did you find those experiences helpful with your current productions?

BK: Yes and no.  Sometimes it is not helpful when you are too educated in music and you want to make a good techno track…you don’t want it cluttered with too many solo parts, well, iIdon’t want it… [laughs]

Be sure to see Tanya’s post for video and pictures from the night as well as visit Particle People on RA for more pictures here…

http://www.residentadvisor.net/photo-gallery.aspx?set=6248

and on http://www.myspace.com/particlepeoplempls

Originally Published on: Jack The Box – The Midwest At Night

Tags: aaron bliss, Ben Klock, Berghain, Berlin, Black, DVS1, first ave, jesse jakob, Klock Works, Minneapolis, Particle, particle people mpls, Tanya Norman, techno
Posted in Multimedia, Music, Uncategorized | No Comments »

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