Monthly Archives: December 2009

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Lisa Gerrard – “Balibo OST” Review

Lisa Gerrard’s recent soundtracks have seen a real return back to her roots and that starts with the astounding “Balibo Soundtrack”. There is a CD version, but the one available for download from Lisa’s own site is the one I purchased as it appears to contain extended versions and bonus tracks.

Opening with “Childhood Reflections”, what I like about this piece is that it creates a certain space in time. Everything from the echoed vocals, the mummering dulcimer and soft strings feel slowed down to a crawl. It really envelopes you in before “A Heart That Never Rests” takes over with its more melodic approach. Pianos, acoustic guitars and string arrangements lead the way in a swirling ambience that gives you an overarching sense of achievement and journeyship. By the time the percussion joins in and the guitar lead takes over the piece takes an epic scale feel and really stands out for it.

“The Hidden Country” is a dark brooding track with a great use of finger flicking on guitar strings and some fantastic percussive work before at half way it switches mood completely, like its been revealed in all its beauty, into an ever decreasing circle of instrumentation. A quite abstract piece but one that’s very interesting to listen to and gain something from each listen. “The Interrogation” is an echoed ambient piece that showcases Lisa’s vocal ability to make so much from so little.

“The Invasion” is a very dramatic and emotional song. Lisa’s vocals swell and build and then float like the wind against a string backdrop. There’s a real distance to her voice in this soundtrack that gives her extra depth and substance, as if she’s really watching from above. It’s quite incredible the emotion that can be evoked from this track as it meanders its way through all kinds of chords, notes ans scales without sitting still.

“Leaving for East Timor” is a fantastic track full of percussive embellishments and relaxed electric and acoustic guitars. The result is a bittersweet journey track. Not quite easy listening as it has an unsettling shadow cast over it, it straddles relaxed mood music and epic drama in an ususal manner and it makes this song really interesting to listen to and you get different things out of it depending on your mood. “Mission School” is a short glass interlude that is designed to throw you off kilter and does so successfully.

“A Passage For Truth” is a slowly revolving piece that slowly unsettles and creeps around the back of your ears. The intial guitars are quite sweet but the more instruments that sweep in, the more discordant it becomes. The key to the greatness of this track is its complex intricate layering that makes the overall flow sound simple but theres so much going on underneath. Great track.

“Restless Intuition” is a short almost cowboy-western track which is strangely not as out of place as it sounds and reminds me of the “A Thousand Roads” soundtrack while “Solitude” is a vocal led ambient piece to lead you into the 9 minute epic “A Time Unveiled”. This track begins with beautifully tuned percussion and heatfelt string solos before the big drums come in and lead a mass march of percussion and swirling vocals that come to the big climactic finale of strings. It’s done in such a way the track is always moving and even though the end result doesn’t stay for too long, its rewarding and you feel like you’ve gone places without leaving your seat.

“Waters Run Deep” is the closing bonus track which is a dramatic track that encircles the whole album in three and half a minutes and is a fine closer.

“Balibo” is a beast of a soundtrack. There’s no immediate hook melody here but Lisa Gerrard knows exactly how to create a feeling in the space of music and let you live it. Each song is really heavily crafted and while some seem minimal at first, there’s actually lots of sounds making a bigger single sound and so there is a lot of hidden depth. More instrumental than vocal, it’s closer to A Thousand Roads than anything else she’s done but this soundtrack has drenched in emotion and that’s just how we like them! Great stuff.

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Final Fantasy XIII Soundtrack Samples Online

Masashi Hamauzu’s soundtrack to Final Fantasy XIII now has 30 second samples online. You can jump across to the official site here for further details and to stream disc 1. From what you can hear, the soundtrack sounds epic in scope and diverse in its genres which makes for a tantilising treat. It also reminds me of Unlimited Saga. Hopefully discs 2, 3 and 4 will be available soon. The release comes on January 28th 2010 and I’ve already put my preorder in and there’s a great unboxing movie on the official site too.

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Game Review: Hyperballoid (PSN)

Ever since bat met ball, these type of brick smashing games have been made in all kinds of formats. The latest to hit the PSN is Hyperballoid. It’s cheap, it’s cheerful – but does it break(out) the competition?

The Premise

Same as all games, the aim is to smash the bricks and win the jewels from the tombs you’re playing. No story, just gameplay!

The Gameplay

This is strictly bat/ball at its basic level. It’s 2-D so no shatter/magic ball pizzazz however the urge to play and smash the bricks is still the same. What is clever with this game is that the bricks take moveable form, such as horses, chariots and all kind of moving objects or lifeforms. This adds so much spice into the gameplay, it makes it quite unique to the other types in the genre out there. There are the traditional power ups as usual such as the cannon, big balls, sticky balls and so on which seems quite standard. All in all, the game is humble and stays to its roots but does what it does well.

The Graphics

Well, its smooth but very 2D – even the ball doesn’t spin, its just a picture that goes where you bat it. The brick movement is smooth enough but dare I say freeware?

The Sound

Well, there is music but it’s not particularly memorable. It does the trick however.

The Replay Factor

The game supports trophies and has a relatively easy gold to get, which for the price of £3.19, is quite rare to have a gold in. The game has a bundle of levels, although there’s not too much dramatic change from one to the next. 2 player mode is available but as I am all alone, I’ve yet to test it out.

Positives

~Old Skool Gameplay is timeless

~Score challenges to other players can be fun

Negatives

~Poor graphics

~Repeditive in long sessions

The Verdict

For £3.19 this certainly does the trick, much more though and it wouldn’t have. Shatter and Magic Ball are more approachable and fun, but also more expensive so this comfortably fills the gap. Good, solid gameplay if very basic elsewhere. Get it for a quick fix or for a trophy fiend, not if you’re looking for light entertainment for a last long game.

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Jesper Kyd – “Assassins Creed II OST” Review

Following on from the epic score of the original, Jesper Kyd returns for Assassins Creed II’s OST and this time we’re going back in time! Spread over two discs, the soundtrack features some lush and beautiful soundscapes and while there’s a lot of dramatic evolvement, its quieter moments can easily stand up to all the massive orchestras.

Opening with “Earth”, it starts off quite serene and soon takes an eerie feel with the falsetto vocal slowly getting more shrill and anxious before the song breaks into full flow with strings, guitars and rolling percussion chugging away. The calm and the unnerving side by side is quite unique. “Venice Rooftops” continues the guitar elements which rolls effortlessly alongside ambient vocals and strings giving you a sense of grandure with free flowing motion as the cycles never stop and each instrument riff perfectly circles round. “Ezio’s Family” completes the trio with another filmic downbeat interpretation of the previous two songs but more centred initially on swelling string and vocal elements of the same tunes. This version has a sorrow by the bucketload and is particularly heartfelt.

“Florence Tarantella” is more baroque for want of a better word! It’s got that country dance feel written all over with Irish gig undertones, its a joyous little track. “Home n Florence” however begins more ambient with keyboards and pianos plinking away in seemingly random loops before a calming choral pad soothes it all away. It reminds me of the Tomb Raiders original triology of game music for some reason before it transitions into a more orchestrated tense movement.

“Approaching Target 1″ and “Approaching Target 2″ are actually quite tense ambient sections. The second one definately has more clout than the first as the timpanis get into the mix with deep brass sounds but overall the sound of sneaking is downplayed yet complex with lots of sounds playing out in the background instead. Very clever.

“Venice Fight” is a good cross over of electronica and orchestrated and reminds me of a Shadow Hearts battle track minus all the vocals. The smashing percussion really ups the ante here and leads onto the more fraught “Florence Escape” which throws everything into the mix – massive drums, discordant vocals, bending strings and heavy basslines. The change of tempo in the last two tracks actually makes the soundtrack feel like its on a mission.

“Tour of Venice” is delicate. Almost like watching a town from a rooftop and then swooping down, the track has a slow-motion feeling of descent into the depths below. The ever present angelic vocals against an uncertain backdrop of strings makes for a haunting theme of despair. Great stuff. “Flight Over Venice” is much more uptempo but is like a folk rock battle ballad – its got a real sense of grandure and history but never really breaks into a sweat. “Back in Venice” is more of the same acoustic lute on strings sound while “Dreams of Venice” has an otherworldly sound of light harps and glockenspiels dancing behind archaic operatic rants.

“Home of Brotherhood” uses distortion to great eerie effect while tense downplayed strings twist over eachother and a lone guitar plays solomn riffs. “Leonardo’s Intervention Part 1″ uses sparse piano, guitar and strings to great effect while an empty air sample hollows the song out. Finally disc 1 ends with “Venice Combat Low” which while is percussive, actually is quite fun to listen to with all the mini-riffs of different instruments baring through before “Venice Escape” ends of an anti-dance high with renaissance guitars and choral chants being placed over an electronic beat. It’s so different from everything else on the soundtrack to date, it really stands out!

Disc 2 returns to the lush orchestra with “Darkness Falls In Florence” which gives a tentative step into “Sanctuary” which is piano driven and very sombre. “Madam” is a short vocal ad-lib piece that leads to “Approaching Target 3″ which to me has a magic mirrors room feel to it, a waltzing mad circus haze. Again while not exactly breaking out into a frenzy, it keeps the tension high before “Flight Over Venice 2″ kicks in with its grande lutes, strings and vocals and this one kicks more butt than the first.

“Ezio in Florence” is a mixture of Metal Gear Solid sneaking ambience and the original Ezio track. It works quite well as the calm and the electric mingle. “Venice Industry” is a strange mix of choral arrangements and ambient persussive decays for the most part before “Stealth” tunes us into sweeping strings and out of time bleep shuffles which actually really don’t signify stealth to me at all! It’s not that its a bad track, its just…not very stealthy!

“Venice Combat” is another track full of electric emblishments over lutes, strings and big percussion. These tracks are unlike a lot of combat tracks and are a welcome distraction from all the other types of music. “Notorious” is a short track with a strange chugging percussive underbeat. “Night Mission in Venice” is suitable stealthy however with tick tocking strings in the background and sweeping low key strings.

“Chariot Race” is possible my favourite track on the soundtrack. It has a real beat and mixes electric guitars with Renaissance tuned strings and all kinds of percussive extras thrown in for good measure. It’s the most dramatic the soundtrack gets so far and really gets your pulse racing. In contrast “The Plague” is equally fantastic as its akin to a distorted fermented Silent Hill track. All kinds of reverbs and keyboard wizardry at in hand here and it all works perfectly.

Into the final chapters “Wetland Combat” ups the ante with percussions and strange voices you can make with a guitar for a great pulsing track which then takes a step further with “Wetlands Escape” which is equally as dramatic and these two tracks should be played back to back. “Leonardo’s Intervention Part 2″ however takes you right back to music at the beginning of the soundtrack – swirling and neverending. The acoustic guitar work in this soundtrack while not always prominent, is sublime. “Hideout” is a tension riser into the final track “Animus 2.0″ which is an eerie ambient bleeding of keyboards and whispers and is an ominous way to end the soundtrack.

Assassin’s Creed II OST is a strange one. It has no immediate hooks, riffs or come backs for most things. Yet for all it lacks its strangely compelling. More akin to a film score than a game score, it twists, turns and undulates through all kinds of time periods, genres and moods and gives you a great ride through them all. Jesper Kyd has weaved a complex thread of all kinds of greatness and it will take several listens before it really hits home just how understated in its brilliance this soundtrack is.

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Tori Amos – “Midwinter Graces” Review

Tori Amos latest album Midwinter Graces is a bold step into the Christmas genre, one that is unforgiving and cliched. However, this collection of winter inspired tracks are not quite the norm you’d expect.

Opening with “What Child, Nowell” you are treated to the hark back to early Tori times with pianos, harpsichords and a lot of brass. The use of sleigh bells in the chorus and the lyrics are the only real hints of the festive season. This is because the album deals more with the Winter Solstice and is more concerned with going way back in time to where the original carols came from than celebrating Jesus The result is a warm but complex mirage of different instruments and almost different faiths combining.

“Star of Wonder” has a beautiful arabic feel to it with some excellent string works and making this is an uptempo piano-rock track is inspired and while the verses are funky and quirky its the when it all comes together ala Scarlet’s Walk for the chorus’ it really hits home. “A Silent Night With You” is turn is a warm and fuzzy ballad which Tori does so well and is the first of several original songs. What I like about this track is that is feels very traditional in its songwriting and the waltzing pace of it is quite sweet.

“Candle: Coventry Carol” feels archaic! It’s the brass that does it – and the opening minute really feel quite sinisiter to me, almost like a siren of warning. From there the track completely changes dynamic into a lute led track – almost like a baroque track. It’s quite unlike anything Tori has done before and I’d happily listen to a whole album of this style – almost Loreena McKennitt-esque, especially with Amos using a high register for her voice this track.

“Holly, Ivy and Rose” is beautiful. Marking her vocal debut, daughter Tash appears here with some cute call and responses with her mum. Again, the pianos, strings and percussion really pull the song forward into a new territory of music for Tori to play with and the production throughout is fantastic. “Harps of Gold” is the rocking song of the album and while I find it uplifting and joyous – almost Christian rock (shock-horror), if fans struggled with previous albums efforts 500 Miles, Ireland or Cars and Guitars then you may struggle here.

“Snow Angel” is another original track and is hauntingly delicate. It’s realitively simple in its composition and that makes it no less effective. Tori’s always been able to make stand out beautifully haunting tracks and this is no exception. A personal favourite.

“Jeanette, Isabella” is beautiful in a different type of way. Reminding me of “Jamaica Inn”, its got so much fluidity to it, its like taking a ride down the calmest lake in heaven whilst being given a relaxing massage!  The marriage of piano, harpsichord, brass, guitar and soft percussion is sublime.

“Pink and Glitter” really divided me for a while. It’s a massive big bang number, a type of music that I really struggle with. However, this song is really fun to listen to and again has such a fuzzy warm flow to it you can’t help but like it. While its my least favourite of the album, its purely down to the big band and each listen lets me like it more. “Emmanuel” is a slow and delibrate track but one that conveys a lot of emotion and goes with the less-is-more approach.

The next two tracks are simply stunning. “Winters Carol” is taken from Tori’s upcoming musical and is very dramatic and dynamic, switching from rolling pianos to massive bridges and soaring vocals. I particularly love the church bells and the catchy chorus’. It’s five minutes of emotive twists and turns that doesn’t let up until the end – if winter had a rollercoaster, this would be it. “Our New Year” starts off like a ‘usual’ Tori ballad and then ends up giving us some massive climactic codas that leave you feeling actually, like your not listening to a Christmas record at all! The screams of “you’re not here” to dramatic string stabs is not like anything I’ve heard for a while from Amos.

For the bonus edition you have two traditional renditions of “Comfort and Joy” and “Silent Night, Holy Night” (albeit the title in German) with just piano and vocal and they are lovely. There’s also a 30 minute interview on DVD which goes right into what Tori was looking for with this album which is really insightful.

Rarely putting a foot wrong, Tori Amos has put together my favourite Christmas/winter album of all time. Each song is unique and there’s a lot of styles that I’d like to see Tori continue with and expand on. Not really for Christmas music fans celebrating with presents but one for when your on your own with a candle, some cinnamon wine and lights down low so the record can seep in and come to life. Fantastic.

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Game Review – Buzz Quiz World (PS3)

Buzz is back and I’ve always been game for a bit of buzzer action, but this time Buzz is better than ever…

The Premise

Buzz has never really changed over the years. Using non-gamer friendly buzzers, you take part in multple choice quizzes in a TV show environment. For this edition each round you build up points on to then give you time to survive answer questions in a grand finale (The Final Countdown complete with the famous song!).

The Gameplay

Gameplay is all about the trivia, however there are many types of rounds that put a good spin on it. Points Builder is just straight forward answering, Stop the Clock rewards speed, High Stakes see’s you bid points that you lose if you get the wrong answer and of course Pie Fight and Pass the Bomb which see’s you eliminate opponents with gusto. MyBuzz see’s you make your own mini quizzes which extends the shelf-life of the game way beyond the box and downloadable question packs are great additions too.

Where things are better this time is that now 8 players can battle out, the online mode is vastly improved with 5 rounds of gameplay. The single mode still suffers in places but this game is designed for multiplayer party fun. Lag online is non-existant and matchmaking games is easy and simple. Buzz now can also call you by your name and although its such a small thing, it really lifts the whole experience up a level.

The Graphics

The Buzz Studio is vastly improved. The graphics are fantastic, without slowdown and Buzz is always doing something crazy in the background. I personally love the way the playing area spins around comically each round. The characters also are well posed and fleshed out.

The Sound

Buzz’ voice is spot on and the question reader is too. Apart from that, every song clip and movie clip appears to be licenced so everything is perfect.

The Replay Factor

Buzz Quiz World is so replayable it’s fast becoming my most played PS3 game for the winter season. By meeting all kinds of players online and the mybuzz quizzes at your fingertips, you just can’t go wrong.

The Positives

~It’s everything you wanted in a Buzz game, brought up to spec

~mybuzz and new quiz packs means no repeating questions for a long, long time

The Negatives

~If you don’t like quizzes, you’ll struggle with this one!

Conclusion

Frankly fantastic. It trumps the original buzz games on PS2 and wipes the floor with the original PS3 game. Buy, buy, buy!

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Most Viewed – November 2009

Well November was a bit of a wash out for new posts due to my house move, but that didn’t stop November being the fifth busiest month of all time for hits! It was primarily down to one lady, Lisa Gerrard, who’s new album more than tripled the hits of the second placed artist. We’ll be reviewing all three new releases of Lisa’s this month.

01) Lisa Gerrard (2 months)

02) Tori Amos (^)

03) Brendan Perry (^)

04) Christopher Tin (v)

05) Hiroki Kikuta (^)

06) Imogen Heap (v)

07) Akira Yamaoka (RE)

08) Sarah Slean (RE)

09) Anonymous 4 (v)

10) Utada (RE)

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Games

01) .detuned (PS3)

02) Battle Tanks (PS3)

03) Numblast (PS3)

04) Shatter (PS3)

05) GripShaft (PS3)

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Charlotte Martin – “Rarities.6″ Review

Charlotte Martin loves to give. Rarities-6 is the final part of a 6 piece almost single like set of unreleased materials. Having only been able to buy the first 5 on tours, the last one was made available to buy online. HPM will now be officially campaigning to get the other 5 released online – these are fantastic!

“Shrink” reminds me of a cross between very early electric CharMar and Stromata’s era, almost like a crossing bridge over between the two. It’s catchy, full of neat embellishments and a little bit of funkiness to it too.

“Dangled” is a piano/vocal track and features some beautiful trademark layered vocals and ever rising and soaring choruses. There is real attention to little pace changes in this track and its what makes it much more punchy and emotional than your usual singer/songwriter stuff. Add to that Charlotte’s blood-on-your-sleeves vocals and you have a tremendous combo.

Finally “No Words”  reminds me of the work from “Orphans” and has a great sparseness and emptiness to it and all the keyboards have a harsh coldness to them. Combined with Martin doing a lazy slur over the verses and then giving it welly in the choruses it makes for a great end to the trio.

Obviously big Charlotte Martin fans should be the target audience for these mini-cd’s and everyone should lap these tracks up but each song is so strong, you could easily use this as a starting point for getting into her music too.

Now please can we have the rest released? Please?