Second part of a double Venus Hum bill, is a video vault clip. Having only bought their two albums so far, I had never heard “Fighting for Love” letalone see the genius video! Since when did Playmobile get this good?!
Video Vault – Venus Hum
Live Vault – Venus Hum
Venus Hum are a funky little band and this is acoustic set of “Surgery In The Sky” which is nice to hear with stripped back electronics.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Making of the Music
This is taken from the MGS2: Special Edition which came with a making of DVD where a segment was dedicated to music.
Sarah Slean: Solo Concert Stream
Living in the UK, I’ve not had the chance to see Sarah Slean live however a streamable live solo concert is one of the next best things. Listen to some beautiful piano and vocal renditions of some of Sarah’s best new songs by popping over here. Here starts a live DVD campaign!
Whispers of the Plains: Lauren Hoffman
Following on from our glowing review of Lauren Hoffman’s latest album “Interplanetary Traveller” we begged for a few minutes of her time and we got them! Eight questions as usual, welcome to the warm fluffy glow that is Lauren Hoffman on motherhood, writing and salad:
Firstly, congratulations on becoming a mum! What are your favourite things about becoming one?
Wow, I love almost everything about it. The change in lifestyle really suits me. I’m actually a really private person and I love routine. I also like a challenge, and to be busy with something that feels personally meaningful. watching a child grow and learn is one of the more awe-inspiring things I’ve ever witnessed.
But my favorite thing? When my daughter says ‘mom!’ and runs to hug and kiss me, it’s just the greatest thing in the whole world!
How directly did becoming a mother effect the album Interplanetary Traveller?
The songs had all been written and demoed when i became pregnant, but it doesn’t sound that way, right? The songs sound like they were inspired by motherhood and the love that it brings? Well maybe it was the reverse; that somehow the inner journey I went on to find the love in me that I wrote about on Interplanetary is what inspired motherhood… either way, the two seem inextricably related, and that’s why I’ve been talking publicly about becoming a mom in connection with this album.
This album is a lot more acoustic-pop/immediate than some of your other work. What took you in that direct for this album?
Oh probably just softening with age, wanting to make music that makes people feel good, something you could put on as background music for a dinner party, or on a road-trip with your kids… I wanted to share something more positive, but it had to be genuine. and by the way, I didn’t set out to make an ‘acoustic-pop’ record, but that turned out
to be the sound-scape that supported the energy and meaning of the songs the most.
What do you like most/least about recording an album? Do you enjoy that part of being a musical artist?
Recording an album is my second-favorite part of being ‘a musical artist’ (my first-favorite part is writing the songs). I love being sequestered in a studio, crafting something that never existed before. I love the friendships that come with working together, and the inside jokes. I love the process of finding the balance between ‘letting it happen’ and ‘making it happen’; when do you need to loosen up, when do you need to be meticulous? When is it time to say “it’s done” and stop recording before you mess it up? I love all of it… it’s actually the rest of it that i don’t care for: playing live, touring, promoting, etc.
Are their any particular favourites from Interplanetary Traveller that you have?
I think ‘Sweet Lazy Day’ is my favorite song. The album starts with this bittersweet declaration of a rootless person who loves her life, but finds something is missing and really yearns to belong somewhere. She then searches, tries out different flavors of love, and visits different ‘planets,’ looking for a home… finally the album ends with ‘Sweet Lazy Day’, where she finds herself belonging somewhere, at home at last. and that’s where I am and how I feel now.
Your music videos are always artistic and interesting to watch. Do you get involved with that process and do you enjoy making them?
I get involved in so much as that they have all been made by dear friends of mine who I trust and love to collaborate with. The video for the song ‘interplanetary traveler’ was all Shawn’s idea and definitely his project. I just showed up when I was told to! Shawn is one of my best friends and knows me well, so I was excited to see how he would reinterpret me and the song in a visual format. It turned out so sweet and light but with depth, and I love that.
If you had the chance to learn a new instrument which one would you pick?
The cello…but more realistically, I do aspire to to eventually get better at the piano, just enough to play a little chopin.
Any more cooking recipes coming out (I love beetroot – I’m so trying that out!)
Cooking and sourcing great food is an absolute passion of mine, so be careful what you ask for – with a tiny bit of encouragement, forlauren.com could become a foodie blog!
With thanks to Lauren for her time
Brendan Perry Tour Dates Announced
Brendan Perry’s “Ark” comes ever closer, and now the European leg of his tour is announced. See below for the dates (No UK aww)
Sun 14 March LISBON, PORTUGAL – SANTIAGO ALQUIMISTA
Mon 15 March BRAGA, PORTUGAL – THEATRO CIRCO
Tue 16 March SPAIN, MADRID – HEINEKEN MUSIC HALL
Wed 17 March SPAIN, BARCELONA -BIKINI
Fri 19 March FRANCE, PARIS – LE BUS PALLADIUM
Sat 20 March BELGIUM, BRUSSELS – BOTANIQUE
Sun 21 March GERMANY, COLOGNE – GLORIA
Mon 22 March GERMANY, BERLIN – PASSIONKIRCHE
Tue 23 March GERMANY, DRESDEN – ALTERSCHLACHTOF
Thu 25 March POLAND, WROCLAW – SONGS FESTIVAL CAPITOL THEATRE
Fri 26 March CROATIA, ZAGREB – MOCHVARA
Sun 28 Mar BULGARIA, SOFIA – PARTY CENTRE 4-KM
Mon 29 Mar ROMANIA, BUCHAREST – SALA PALATULUI
Tue 30 March HUNGARY, BUDAPEST – DIESEL CLUB
Wed 31 March CZECH REPUBLIC, PRAGUE – ARCHA THEATRE
Thu 1 April POLAND, KRAKOW – ROTUNDA
Sat 3 April LITHUANIA, VILNIUS – CONGRESS CONCERT HALL
Sun 4 April FINLAND, HELSINKI – NOSTURI
Tue 6 April RUSSIA, ST. PETERSBURG – GLAV CLUB
Wed 7 April RUSSIA, MOSCOW – GLAV CLUB
The European part of the tour will feature Brendan solo.
Peter Murphy will join in South America later. Dates and venues will follow.
Imogen Heap: iMegaphone Live Download Album Out!
Imogen Heap celebrates grabbing her first ever grammy for best engineered non classical album with Ellipse (Congrats and well deserved!) by releasing the live concert of iMegaphone, her debut album (still a favourite of mine) where she played solo versions of the album plus some of the b-sides of the era. It’s on iTunes and so this webmaster is finally biting the bullet and downloading iTunes after years of never doing so. Any new versions of Rake It In, Sweet Religion and Shine must be consumed!
Most Viewed: January 2010
Well first month of the new decade is behind us and it certainly was a busy one! Just about averaged a post a day (phew – new years resolution not broken immediately!) and site traffic rose after a quiet December back to normal figures again. However, top of the bill was a certain Lisa Gerrard with the news of The Black Opal’s release and the review of “Balibo” really setting the readers alight. Here’s the top 10 artist’s and top 5 games of the month.
01) Lisa Gerrard
02) Brendan Perry
03) Jesper Kyd
04) Musashi Hamauzu
05) Imogen Heap
06) Utada
07) Mike Reagan / Cris Velasco
08) Akira Yamaoka
09) Yasunori Mitsuda
10) Sarah Slean
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Games
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01) Battle Tanks (PS3)
02) Winter Sports 2010 (PS3)
03) Vancouver 2010 (PS3)
04) Hyperballoid (Ps3)
05) .detuned (PS3)
Panda Transport – “Monorail” Review
Monorail is the new 6 track EP from Panda Transport and I can confirm that it is rather fantastic. The duo fuse alternative pop electronica with random extras to create a fun.
Opening with the title track, is a groovy cloud-infused piece of dream-pop that you’d be quite happy riding to work via country lanes on your bicycle to, smiling and tipping your hat to all whom pass you. It’s just delightfully upbeat and fun. I could see it opening a Japanese Animation actually.
“Saint Revel” is the song currently gaining exposure via Grey’s Anatomy and is a little more laid back and chilled out with some fantastic vocal layering and sweet electric piano with a Sitar section! How can you lose? Panda Transport’s ability to carry off placing random instruments into a relatively standard track to make it stand completely out from the crowd is one of their key assets.
“Up The Disco” is a more a lighter-swinging track as its more subdued despite its percussive bangs and while its less immediately gratifying than the previous tracks the chorus riff will stick around in your head after a few listens.
“Freak Show” is cute. From the xylophone to warping electric noises to the mariba-esque percussion, it tippy-toes about with children’s movie overtones and then bursts into a lounge jazz piece like something from the Katamari games. I actually really like the way how the whole song shifts into a more slinky mood and it certainly stands out.
“Cicadas in Stereo” see’s Kathy step down from vocals and Ti step up for a French song full of cuteness that verges on Pikmin style music. Think Jazz gone to the circus with a gallon of icing on top. The closer is “Dark Horse” is as close to a downbeat ballad as you’re going to get. Quite minimal and vocal fronted, it works really well with solomn church bells and low hummings setting the mood and is a welcome change from the other very uptempo numbers.
Monorail is a great introduction to a duo that are prepared to take a chance by going for a different approach everytime and merging things together you wouldn’t nessacarily sit together and making it work. I expect to hear of more great things from Panda Transport in the years to come as the alt-electro-pop genre continues to gather strength and popularity.
Espers – “Espers” Review
Espers are a beautiful breath of fresh air for me. With their debut album (I’ve only just been introduced to them) they really give you a psychadelic folksy dreamstate that you can drift away in.
“Espers” opens with the dreamy guitar/flutes/vocal layering of “Flowery Noontide” which is simply a slice of heaven in a speaker. It’s very etheral and otherworldly and you feel like you’re gliding through the clouds. “Meadow” meanwhile is a more darker acoustic guitar driven track that has a heavy apocolyptic feel drenching the song from the undercurrent electric hums to the bending strings and the beautifully tuneful dual male/female vocals that are perfect in harmony. Gregg takes the lead in the more electric “Riding” which has Espers’ signiture acoustic melodies but they are eclipsed by rousing electric guitar solos that raise your spirit and really send you on a journey with it. Coupled with Zither strums, its another great track.
“Voices” has a real Eastern feel to it with lots of twisted chords and hypnotic vocals and it really comes across in a menacing manner for me instead of being relaxing, there’s just an unnerving with the track – great stuff! “Hearts & Daggers” continues but builds the tense flowing atmosphere with an eight minute epic including a fantastic bridge section that really rips rip neo-folk style! Sometimes epic songs outstay their welcome but not here at all. “Byss & Abyss” then gives us another tale of two halves. The first part of this song is a lost wandering soul and then gradually electric blips and buzzes enter the track to almost signify that the depths have been reached. It’s really quite interesting how the songs continue to evolve throughout the album and what would originally be classed as etheral (as this whole album is) gradually becomes more hypnotically dispairing. It’s so well done that you don’t notice.
“Daughter” is a like a siren calling you into the sea for your death swim. It’s so beautiful but against the slightly maddening backdrop of the rest of the album, it almost feel eerie! It must depend on the mood. “Travel Mountains” closes the album with a fantastic instrumentalesque track with lots of acoustic and electric guitars, etheral choral elements and all kinds of electrical hums and string elements flowing around in circles in a maddening shroud. Like a place that lost souls meet for group screaming therapy.
“Espers” is quite possibly one of the most beautiful eerie albums I have heard in the last decade. It has a fantastic flow to it, draws you into its secrets and then utterly encaptures you with every riff and downplayed doomsday beauty nuance it has to offer. Utterly mesmerising.
Live Vault – Emmy Rossum
Singing a piano vocal version of what was her debut single “Slow Me Down“, its Emmy Rossum. I really like this version. Still one of the most surprisingly beautiful albums of the last few years is Inside Out.
Lauren Hoffman – “Interplanetary Traveller” Review
Lauren Hoffman returns after her fantastic “Choreography” with her fourth studio album “Interplanetary Traveler” and this time it’s an album that comes from a mothers love.
Title track “Interplanetary Traveler” is the case in hand. Lauren weaves a beautiful acoustic country tinged ballad with lyrics of wonderment and adoration for her child. Avoiding sappy is something a lot of artists struggle to do but Hoffman’s opener is as honest as the day and I defy anyone not to love the music video that accompanies the track perfectly and the marching drum beat pushes the song forward.
“Surrender” continues to show off Lauren’s more acoustic rock side that we’ve not seen in full flow before. The track is light but catchy and has some mean riffs in it. I could see this easily being played in all kinds of coffee houses. Again the percussion stands out and the minimal approach to the guitars too for making it a really clear track to dig into, and the last thirty seconds are great.
“Pictures From America” is the first more introverted sounding track with its slinking guitar melodies and Lauren’s voice really shining with vulnerability and showing real maturity with soft restraint throughout which impacts more on the wandering soul feel of the track.
“Prove the Moon” has some wonderful lyrics and continues to impress with Lauren’s ability to write positivity with meaning and it all ties in nicely with the overal theme of flying off into new uncharted territory all round. The pace changes and guitar work throughout are really relaxing too.
“Let it Go” is the first song to really have an electric feel to it on the album and has a real mood change between moody echoed verses and more upbeat choruses which makes it stand out from the rest of the album so far as the brooding track.
“The River Takes Me” has a lovely flow to it and a rolling wave feel to it and is a personal favourite for me on the album as it is both intricate but with a passion and glide to it that would be great to cuddle up to or be a nice movie moment, and the vocal dualing in the final sections is beautiful.
“Celebrate” is another beautiful chugger with little twists that keep you on your toes which come from the stringed instruments that are scattered around the speakers. It’s realy quite cleverly done and really gives what could be just a great if standard track a really fresh edge and turns it into a fantastic track.
“Firefly” harks back to earlier albums from Lauren to me with her beautiful ballads she writes with downbeat chords and Lauren’s laid back but slightly meloncholy voice nestled deep in the midst of the music. “In This Life” in contrast is a foot tapper instead even if the lyrics aren’t all that foot tappingly happily, so it’s got a deceptive edge to it and it’s the most political I can remember Hoffman ever being.
The closing track “Sweet Lazy Day” rounds off the album with another acoustic piece of relaxed downbeat brilliance.
“Interplanetary Traveler” is another excellent album from the Hoff! This time around there’s a lot more love and joy in the album, but that doesn’t stop it from being a powerhouse of how to strip catchy songs down to their bare bones and really enjoy the moment. Highly recommended and first top album class of 2010.
Video Vault – Panda Transport
See, it pays to contact me with new artists that I may be interested in! Some wonderful lady contacted me and said, if you like so-and-so, you might like this little duo… oh yes I did! Welcome to Panda Transport, a French-American duo who are recently getting recognition due to one of their songs appearing on the drama of drama’s Grey’s Anatomy. A video for that is due to be made, but for now I wanted to share this video gem for the song “Painting By Numbers” and long live home made animals!!! Hopefully, if all goes to plan we’ll have an interview with them in the near future.
Game Review: RTL Winter Sports 2010 (PS3)
So yesterday we reviewed Vancouver 2010, today we’ll go for its stand off rival, RTL Winter Sports 2010. This series has had good success on the Wii, now its on the Xbox360 and PS3 – but is this years version a worth contender for best winter games game?
The Premise
Bypassing the olympics, this is all about building a career for your athletes to take part in bigger and bigger tournaments and win them.
The Gameplay
Here’s the duff note… there are only 8 events! Ski Jump is called Ski Flying, Bobsleigh is Bodbled, Snowcross is Snowboard Cross… it all stinks of no licences! However once in game, there’s very little difference between this game and Vancouver, however there is much more diversity in these 8 events than the 14 in Vancouver. Figure Skating is a Simon Says game, Shorttrack is a good racing game using slipstreams and a boost button which means its all about strategic timing. Infact this boost button “Adrenaline” makes an appearance in a lot of the games which thus makes this game feel a much more arcade version of winter sports. Bobsled has a boost? It does here! The best game is the biathlon as it involves all that is shorttrack, with precision shooting however even that’s over too quickly, and I own a PS2 game that’s dedicated to it (by the same makers actually) which does the sport much better justice. It’s all a bit light.
Multiplayer is fun, and the career mode with a points builder similar to Bejing/RPG elemented. There’s also a challenge mode with 44 cups to be won and that’s where the trophies are.
The Graphics
Graphics are fine, not spectacular but certainly above Wii standards. You’ve got to love the mascot dancing bunny too.
The Sound
Sound is encompassed by some really dodgy commentating that is a bit too serious for its own good and arcade menu music. However, at least this game has commentary, if not in game but as little pre and post event comments. Vancouver has none.
The RePlay Factor
Similar to Vancouver, this again is down to how many friends or online fun you can have. Sadly I’ve yet to find anyone online to play with, but two player in house works fine. Challenge mode sticks to its arcade roots (avoid the skulls!) but is all light hearted and light on content.
The Positives
~More diverse controls and events than Vancouver 2010
~Knows its arcade and plays to its strengths
The Negatives
~Seemingly no one plays it online
~Not any better or any worse than the official game which may see it fall into obscurity
~Again seriously lacking events
The Verdict
Well, if you have to choose between Vancouver and Winter Sports, its like choosing between being slapped or spanked. Both give a quick hit of substance which then leaves you with a dull ache either wishing you had never had it to begin with, or wishing you’d have another hit but they are both sorely lacking in their one trick pony brigade. I’m very disappointed in both games, but neither really trumps the other so if you need a winter fix, Vancouver currently has the edge as at least people play it online!
Game Review: Vancouver 2010 (PS3)
Ah… Olympic games to me always give me memories of soar fingers after hours of button mashing, but in general I’ve felt the Winter Games’ attempts of official Game-dum never quite hit the heights of Summer Olympics. Can Vancouver 2010 change that?
The Premise
Well its Winter Olympics time and that means lots of snow, ice, skiing and jumping, with maybe a sleigh and skate thrown in for good measure. All in the name of multiplayer fun of course… a a gold medal!
The Gameplay
The first thing that I saw was the event total…14. Not impressive. Then I saw what the events were! 6 of them were skiing/boarding games which are split into two distinct types. The faster ones which aiming for the gates is paramount without braking and the slower technical ones which is more about the carving of skis and turns. Sadly the controls are all the same. Next up is the ski-jump which also has similar controls, as does the Ski Cross event which is effectively a race. Then we have Ladies Aerials which puts a bit of a spin on things by twisting the analogue sticks instead of just needing L2 and R2 to steer. Then we have two speed skating events which unfortunately are almost identical except for length except for a stamina part in the 1500m. Then to finish off we have Luge, Skeleton and Bobsleigh which again share identical controls and although each event has different physics, its the same course for all three and so it just takes two or three gos to start getting things right. I wouldn’t have minded the repeats at all had there been some more events to get things really ice cool, but there’s just little here and what’s here is samey. At least online it runs perfectly fine and it is quite interesting to be in a downhill race while seeing everyone else skiing around you in coloured shadows, but again its limited to groups of 4.
The Graphics
Graphics are in general pretty good. The pre-amble stuff is always great and I enjoyed what it added to the tension, but there’s been some shortcuts, such as if you crash out and there’s no motion, you see all the crowd people are very, very fuzzy and very 2-D sprite! When things are going though, its smooth and clear.
The Sound
Sound is something Vancouver 2010 has got right. The soundtrack is great with that middle-of-the-road indie rock pumping out full of Red Bull. Sound effects are good too – however…there is no commentary at all, and it sounds a bit empty without it.
The Replay Factor
Here’s where the rot sets in. Olympic mode is awful, there’s no career element like Bejing. It’s just play and finish. You can take it online which is where I’ve had by far the most fun, and to be honest, when there’s four of you gunning down the slope – yes it is very fun, but it just lacks that something. Bejing had it. Winter Sports 2008 on the PS2 and Wii had it. Hell even Winter Games on my ZX Spectrum had it! It’s just very hollow. There is a challenge mode which is where most of the attention seems to have gone, in creating a few strange challenges like its some trickster arcade mode, and this is also where most of the trophies come from. It doesn’t fit in with the game well and feels disjointed, but the challenges do increase in difficulty (and the AI is quite good too). All the replay factor will be online and/or with friends infront of you.
The Positives
~PS3 glossy graphics
The Negatives
~Sheer lack of events and diversity in controls
~No commentary
~Has an empty personality
The Verdict
Oh how I wanted a decent Winter Olympics game… but its not going to come with Vancouver 2010. It’s just a shame as it seems to have started off well, and then fallen off somewhere into the cutting room floor. Also there is the cheaper Winter Sports 2010 that came out the same day. I’ll be reviewing that tomorrow so everyone can make direct comparisions. Ultimately Vancouver 2010 is not about what that game has, its all about what the game hasn’t.
Poll: Do You Buy Singles?
While a lot of people debate music album sales have struggled due to priacy and downloading, I’ve often wondered how the good old single fairs these days. I remember, back in the 1980’s (just – oops showing my age!) and 1990’s, singles would be looked forward to like mini-albums. You would have at least 1 b-side, sometimes the karaoke version – and the b-sides sometimes would explore new paths for the artist. Very few artists seem to do that anymore and it seems such a shame with singles now reduced to a singluar download or remixes that all sound the same. So Higher Plain Music asks the question…. do you still buy CD/download singles?
Dark Void Soundtrack Announced
Sumthing Else are busy again, today (in the UK) saw the release of Dark Void and now we have the soundtrack coming. Composed by Bear McCreary who is most known for his Battlestar Galactica soundtracks, the soundtrack will take Bear’s favourite pieces of the games score and piece them together again. In particular, we at HPM are most intruiged about the bonus track which will make an 8-bit rendition of the main theme. Dark Void’s OST is due out on 9th February.
Live Vault – Iona
Iona, led by the sweetest silky vocals of Joanne Hogg (Xenogears) are this weeks Live Vault with a beautiful performance of Chi-Rho. You can watch it here. I know that it is Christian music however I believe Iona are one of the few bands that actually transcend that genre and the music means more than just a religious context.
Halo Legends Soundtrack Announced
Michael Salvatori and Martin O’Donell are being given the remix treatement for new soundtrack from the anime Halo Legends. Reworked by Tetsuya Takahasi and Yasuharu Takanashi, they’ve taken the original game themes and reorchestrated them. Release day is February 9th via Sumthing Else.
Game Review: Zoocube (PS2 Version – Also on Gamecube)
Chaining animals into lines? Lodged together in 3d? Is that legal? Zoocube seems to think so…
The Premise
It’s that old 3 in a row puzzler again, but this time its 3D Animals! Woohoo! The story is quite random, but thats half the fun of story mode.
The Gameplay
As with all puzzle games there’s the hook. In the centre of the screen is a 6 sided block. Animals will come in from the top, left and right of your screen. It’s up to you to move your block about the capture the animals how you want. 3 in a row means a nice chain which gets rid of the animals. So far so simple – and it is – for a while. However, soon there are more than say 4 types of animals coming at you, which makes stacking and lining up the animals you need all the more important and then they soon come towards you quite quickly. Some games are over in a flash, others if you can get the rhythm, will go on for some time. There’s a few different single player modes but they all amount to the same thing, however the multiplayer modes really add extra fun as you can do co-op or battle modes for up to 4 players.
The Graphics
Graphics, for all the shout of 3D on the cover, aren’t fantastic but they certainly do the trick. Nice to see puzzle games using FMV’s too.
The Sound
Sound here is quite cute, the music actually quite un-annoying (for a puzzle game that’s good!) and plenty of dodgy animal squarks and honks.
The Replay Factor
Single player is challenging but the multiplayer mode is where its at. 4 player fun is great to challenge eachother with, although it does take getting used to as a concept. However once you’ve picked it up – you’ll be throwing animals at each other like nobodies business.
The Positives
~New spin on the connect 3 puzzler
~4 player modes
The Negatives
~Reveals everything quite quickly do runs the risk of becoming stale later on
The Verdict
Zoocube is an interesting, if not a top of the class puzzler. It’s concept is a nice spin on the connect three genre, although when each tube has only about 7 spaces, you quickly find the levels can be over too quickly if you’re not careful. However, as a 4 player alternative to your usual suspects, Zoocube is a cheap option that can fit the bill.
