Music Swap 2: Bear’s Music

Overall Rating: ★★½☆☆

What I love about music is its ability to make everyone react in a certain way. Sometimes, music evokes a visual image in my head. Other times, it reminds me of places I’ve been. Music can easily make me sad or happy or angry. The music I sent bear is the piano music that makes me feel as if I am listening to the most beautiful thing ever. I reviewed these songs based off of my gut reaction to musical content therin. Here’s the link to bear’s post.

“Down in the Park” by Gary Numan, from Telekon

Rating: ★★½☆☆

In this childish, somewhat monotonous song, I am struck by its chord progression that’s reminiscent of pop music. I should’ve been expecting this from the title and artist, but I flat out ignored who did it at first. Then, I noticed the out of tune piano that reminds me of the uprights at school in the intimate (if you know what goes on in those rooms after hours, you should know I use that word lightly) practice rooms. Surprisingly, I’ve heard a lot of songs like this played there. Then I thought the song would sound good in a movie while someone was walking around. Listening to it again, however, I noticed how similar it is to the solo piano music in The Sims. This made me smile.

Overall I thought “Down in the Park” was decent, but I prefer songs with a bit more going on.

“Winter” by Tori Amos, from Little Earthquakes

Rating: ★★★★☆

I enjoyed this song. The chord progression was inter­esting and the lyrics are nice. The two major issues I had with this song was that I think it’s way too fast and the arrangement detracts from the melody. Some parts remind me of Massive Attack’s “Unfinished Sympathy” that has a much better arrangement. I also felt Tori (or whoever arranged it) went a bit heavy on the reverb. Tori’s voice is also a bit nasal. I find that this is a big problem for Asian singers that Tori wasn’t able to overcome. If the arrangement was simpler, slower, and more passionate this song would truly get what it deserves.

By the way, if your’e wondering it made me think of it made me think of a music video!

“Piano Piece #13 (Carpenter’s Piece)” by Sonic Youth, from SYR4: Goodbye to the 20th Century

Rating: ½☆☆☆☆

This is faux avant-​garde bullshit that was really boring to listen to. Frankly, it’s just plain stupid and weak.When I want real avant-​garde music I’ll take Ferneyhough. At least there’s something to listen to instead of people banging on a poorly modified piano. Want proof? Listen to it yourself.

In conclusion, I think bear and I have different taste when it comes to music. I enjoyed listening to something new even if I positively hated it. I hope bear had as much fun as I did and I would love to do this again sometime.

music swap 2: hr’s music

Overall Rating: ★★½☆☆

HR wanted to do a music swap, and he decided to send me some of his favorite piano songs. I like classical music, but I haven’t indulged myself in it enough, so I knew I would enjoy it. However, I don’t have any musical training or anything, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to do this music justice as well as HR could.

HR’s post about my choices can be found here.

“Fugue from Le Tombeau de Couperin” composed by Maurice Ravel; performed by Louis Lortie

Rating: ★★★★★

This is gorgeous. I had to listen to it three times before I started writing. It’s so gentle. At several points in the beginning, it starts to drop and then suddenly lifts. It’s calm, but exciting. Near the middle, it gets very quiet, almost like it’s going to end, but then it comes back so you don’t get upset. Then it gets quiet at the end, and you know you have to accept it. It’s beautiful. I can’t think of anything negative to say about this, which is pretty rare for me. I picture a very beautiful man playing this song.

“Pour les Accords (Chord Study) from Etudes, Book 2″ composed by Claude Debussy; performed by Mitsuko Uchida

Rating: ★★½☆☆

I liked how this one started out, but after the first 30 seconds, I didn’t like it much. There was a descending chord that I kept hearing, and it started to bug me. When I didn’t hear that chord, I enjoyed the song. I don’t know why the chord bothered me so much. The middle and end of the song were better, but there were still hints of that chord, like the song knew it had gone too far at the beginning, but it still wanted to push my buttons. I don’t mean to say the song is bad; I can tell it’s well-​composed, but I just don’t have a taste for it.

“So Am I” composed by George Gershwin, from the musical Lady, Be Good

Rating: ★★★½☆

I liked this song, but I had trouble focusing on it. I think if I heard it in a lounge or on an elevator or something, it would stand out from the usual music, but after those other songs, it’s not very engaging. I’m trying to imagine the lyrics and the dance to go with this song, but I’m not getting very far. I imagine it’s a romantic song, but not too mushy and obnoxious.

I listen to classical music in the car, because if I listened to other stations I would hate most of the songs, and I don’t want to mess with the radio while I drive. Other than that, I don’t hear much besides the really well-​known stuff, like Bach and Mozart. I plan to download some Ravel now, though. I might also listen to other Debussy works, because I know HR loves him. :)

Belkin N wireless router #F5D8236-​4

Rating: ★★★★★

I got this router as a gift earlier and thought it would be a “cookie cutter” router until i hooked it up and ran a manual config­u­ration, and actually was capable of setting more than my SSID and my WPA key. i was rather shocked also at the built in firewalls efficiency. this is probably the most affordable wireless networking solution with a decent range, security, speed, and price.

for all of $80 dollars it can be yours. it comes with a disk for those that want to be guided through setup and has a in browser router config page. i would recommend this for those whom are looking for a cheap but powerful home networking solution.

Changes, baby

Of course we realize nobody reads the site, but we felt obligated to post this anyway.

If you’re wondering where all the old posts have gone, we’ve decided to turn Cremastermind into a review blog. Some of the old posts have been redone as reviews, but most are gone now.

So if you want to write any reviews, or suggest something for us to review, let us know.

Mercenaries 2

Rating: ★★½☆☆

yes this is a bit late from the release date.

the original merce­naries game for the xbox had poor graphics but a somewhat revolu­tionary concept to “sandbox” games its sequel however falls very far for any revolu­tion­i­sation in game play and seems to be more a much more clunky and seems to be a remake of the first one only with a new map. from what i have seen sales of it and resale values are very very low. at best i would say it is a rental.

Mexican Beachfront

Rating: ★★★★☆

That’s not some hilarious new euphemism for toilet seats or something, I’m going to actually describe the beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The sand’s a light greyish-​brown. There’s not much in the way of shells, although there are plenty of rocks. Not to say that the beach isn’t soft, because it is. There’s a nice little break where the ocean floor changes elevation and catches the rocks. That is, until the monster waves come in and throw rocks all up everywhere. (I attribute the large waves to the presence of humpback whales mating, by the way)

I did notice a couple strange objects washed up on the beach. They appeared to be two foot circum­ference chunks of red bricks, still held together by mortar. They were worn down into the shape of footballs, but the mortar still held the bricks together. Maybe they were chunks from Mexican Atlantis.
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ugly kids

Rating: ★½☆☆☆

I think most children are ugly. Especially babies. There’s not even a chance of them being cute until they’re maybe four or so.

But damn.

Dude on the right looks like an alien with cancer.

Wouldn’t you be upset if you had a kid who looked like that? Yeah, he’s probably a sweetheart, but he looks like a science experiment. He looks like he can control animals with his mind or shoot lightning from his head. I kind of hope he can do something like that, because he doesn’t seem to have much else going for him.

Anyway, if you had an ugly child, everyone would hate your child because he or she is so hideous, and they would hate you for having the ugly child. Your child would hate you for making him or her so damn ugly. Think about that next time you want to get pregnant.

You don’t want your ugly child shooting lightning from his head at you, do you?

Music Swap 1: Bear’s Music

Overall Rating: ★★★½☆

I rated these songs on how likely I am to listen to them regularly. I own lots of stuff that I never listen to, so I figured this is a good way to rank new music I’ve never heard before. bear’s post here.

“Nights Wave” by Mice Parade, from Bem-​Vinda Vontade

Rating: ★★★★☆

This is some good stuff. Has kind of an epic feel to it, like the music is telling a story on its own. In my head the video to this is cel-​shaded and features mice of olden tymes going on a crusade against their gods in the name of love.

The musical style reminded me of Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.

“Get the Girl, Kill the Baddies” by Pop Will Eat Itself, from The Looks or the Lifestyle?

Rating: ★★★★☆

This song made me want to go fashion some lethal crime-​fighting gadgets and clear the streets of underworld scum. High-​energy and pretty catchy, I liked the piano/​synthesizer deal going on. I’m surprised that no hollywood types have put this song in one of these popular hero movies, but then again that would be a little too obvious and leave linkin park with no job.

No one wants linkin park to go hungry. We don’t need another incident like the Nickelback disaster of ’01.

“Snakes” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard (ft. RZA, Masta Killa, Buddha Monk, and Killah Priest), from Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version

Rating: ★★★½☆

This song made me sad. Not because I didn’t like it, but because it reminded me of a trend in modern music that I hate. I like music that provokes emotion or obviously has had some thought put into it. Rap like this is outstanding cuz it has a tangible world in it, tells a (nonlinear) story. I used to love the hell out of listening to Busta Rhymes and Kool Keith for the same reason. Unfortunately, most of the popular music in any genre is mindless lyrical repitition and recycled catch­phrases. Crap like Soulja Boy.

I love the “bad bad leroy brown” bit in here, you don’t hear Jim Croce get sampled or quoted too often.

“Cloudy Sky” by The Cardigans, from Emmerdale

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

This reminded me of the other Cardigans songs that I’ve heard. Soft and sweet but melancholy, most of which comes from the singer’s beautiful voice. I respect bands that include big string instruments in their music. I think that if I had some long drives to go on, I’d throw some Cardigans on a cd or usb drive to take with me, but a low percentage.

“Pitfalls in Serving Warrants” by Melvins, from Honky

Rating: ★★★★☆

I need to listen to more Melvins, I think. To me this song was old Pink Floyd + Phish + Iron Butterfly. None of that’s a bad thing, it was very inter­esting to listen to. WOULD LISTEN AGAIN A+++++++

music swap 1: cablerelf’s music

Overall Rating: ★★★½☆

cablerelf and I sent each other some music and reviewed it. You can read his review of my selection here.

Here’s what I thought of the songs he sent me.

“Mojo” by Peeping Tom, from Peeping Tom

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The intro sounded like something I would listen to, but I wasn’t so fond of the vocals. I couldn’t help but think of Rob Zombie featuring Backstreet Boys. It worked in Faith No More, but I’m not sure about this one. Just when I was starting to get over the feeling that I was listening to a boy band, I heard a “oops, I did it again” at the end. I didn’t know if I should laugh or get mad. I liked the music, but it’s hard to ignore the vocals. I might listen to more from them, because I like Faith No More.

“Lose Your Soul” by Dead Man’s Bones, from Dead Man’s Bones

Rating: ★★★★☆

The main vocals have this old feel to them — they remind me of the Once Upon a Time in Mexico soundtrack (which I will listen to when I finish this). I imagine the singer has a big sexy beard. The driving percussion and the harmo­nizing children are nice. I listened to this song on repeat for a long time, because I was getting distracted from writing, and I didn’t get tired of it. I’ll look for more later.

“IZ-​US” by Aphex Twin, from Come to Daddy

Rating: ★★★★½

From David Firth’s animations and wherever else I might have heard Aphex Twin’s music, I was expecting something much rougher than this. This song doesn’t sound very industrial; it’s almost jazzy in a way. It sounds like some stuff I listen to. Nice synths and drums. I’m pretty sure this is very unchar­ac­teristic of Aphex Twin, but it has encouraged me to check out more of his work later.

“Thank You, You’re Welcome” by The Mullets, from Typical Stereo

Rating: ★★½☆☆

Not much to say about this one. I don’t really like pop punk or whatever this is, and this song didn’t change my mind any. Fortunately, it was kind of short.

“Captain Hampton and the Midget Pirates” by Aquabats, from The Fury of the Aquabats

Rating: ★½☆☆☆

I’m not into ska, and I don’t like this guy’s voice. The song seemed to be about some silly pirate adventure, which might entertain cablerelf, or children, but I wasn’t amused. I’ve enjoyed Backyardigans songs more than this. I couldn’t even let this one finish.

Sorry to end the review on such a bad note. I still like cablerelf, even if he listens to retarded pirate songs.

Miner Dig Deep

Rating: ★★★★☆

Miner dig deep, an Xbox 360 indie arcade game, is like nightmare lol I troll u lol mode of the flash game Motherload. The PC of the game is a short, possibly definitely Asian man, with an obvious cocaine addiction. To support his expensive cocaine habits the Asian decides to become an 1800’s gold farmer. Instead of spending his money (millions late game) on a home larger than a tent, he spends most of it on cocaine and fuel for his kerosene lamp which has magical x-​ray powers. Generally gameplay is as follows. Swing pick, dodge boulder, build 30 elevators, ride 30 elevators, fall off 30 elevators, find out that at around 1k meters you can’t build elevators, use all of your money to buy a new drill every one hundred meters after the 1k meter mark, dig a hole that is one meter too deep for your current hookshot, then rage about hitting a single piece of dirt 20 times with pick after your drill runs out of fuel. Finally after meeting all of these requirements and digging more holes than the japs on Iwo Jima, the player manages to finish the ho chi minh trail to china so that america can be overrun by commies. Out of 10 I would give the game an 8. This is because late game your equipment scales horribly and costs a lot. Also because of the travel time to get to the bottom of your hole. However it is very addicting and most certainly worth the 80 Microsoft points it costs. The bottom is at 1440 meters and you find hueg ass diamond SPOILER.