I Was a Judge

For a night that is. Last night, me and my fellow radio weekend DJ Ricky Biggs filled in as judges for UCSB Battle of the Bands, the winner would go on to preform (opening act to get all technical) at UCSB's free summer concert the Extravaganza. I don't like to judge music dispite the fact I am a huge music snob, I just don't think its right for someone to judge art, it just is. I digress and besides, this is all about fun so I was looking forward to seeing what undiscovered gems turn up. I might see the next moterhead or Arcade Fire on stage, you never know.

I am not gonna name any of the bands that lost just give you highlights. The rules are simple, each band has a 20 minute set, and at the end we 3 judges decide on who the best band is.

1st band up was appreatly pretty well know in according to the 3rd judge (she went to UCSB and is part of KCSB, UCSB's college radio station). They were actually good and were my front runners right off the bat. If they checked their levels better and the lead singer would just close his mouth while they play the have the potential (i said potential) of being a Mogwai/Russian Circles/Red Sparrows type band.

2nd band started off well, but as they played I started paying attention to what they were playing and one could hear how simplistic its was. Then there was a huge pause after their first song and brought up 2 college girls to sing with them, I wish they wouldn't have. These ladies were not on the same page, pulling flat notes and not harmonizing properly are only some of the reasons how these ladies college girls killed this bands opportunity of opening the Extravaganza.

The 3rd band, which at last count had 11 people on stage including 2 saxophone dudes and an actual bridge section, took the stage with costumes and were ready to go. They were tight and you could tell they practiced cause of how professional their 20 minute set was. The crowd was loving them, they covered MGMT's Electric Feel and somehow made their version alot more upbeat than the original (dont know how but they did). They knocked off the 1st band as the front runners, 2 more bands to go.

The 4th band came on and what a tragedy that was. Everything was sloppy and thier style was totally generic. They had the whole 311/sublime thing going, but it wasn't working at all. Like 311 says, you gotta come original. The worst part about it was that you could tell that their band was totally feeling on themselves thinking they were all good, funny how perspective works. If someone told me to check out this band and I actually took their advice that somebody and me would no longer be friends after this show.

5th band was a nice escape, they definitely had a different sound and overall appeal, but anything good I was about to say was quickly squashed as soon as the lead singer let his preteniuos feathers fly, taking off layers of clothings, talking smack and thinking his band rules. If his music was actually good or he was talented in any way I would let him get away with being pretentious, but hes not so I am gonna burn this guy. Between his Gavin Rossdale look, super tight jeans, bullshit stage banter and generic music these cats did not get my vote.

I believe me and my fellow judges made the right decision and the 3rd band (Fire Department) with the Saxophone men won.

Big ups to Cindy and the rest of the Staff at UCSB for letting this radio DJ judge, it was a fun experience. And thanks again for the Turkey Burger, it hit the spot.

Follow Ricky here

Opinion Action - Why Mario Party 9 Will Fail

Mario Party, what can I say, its one of my favorite games from back in the day. Having 2 younger brothers plus my crew (all of which are still gaming in their 30's) have fond memories of sitting in my parents NJ basement button mashing, star stealing and treaty signing as this hybrid virtual board game became one of our favorite video games; so much so it became a staple of our AM gaming ritual. I have been an avid Mario Party player when it debuted back in 98 on the N64, not by choice mind you, but I quickly grew to love the game. We were suckers for this series, anticipating our favorite mini games, dreading being paired up with inept partners, and making fun of anyone who won any of the button mashing contests; all of these were contributing factors that had our collective of playing/following the series onto the Gamecube and eventually the Wii. Something happened to our Utopian gaming sessions, I moved to California.

So now that I am in killer Cali online gaming has kept my relationships with my brothers and other brothers supremely strong. Between Boston, California, NJ and NYC my core constituents still get down, and our recent collective purchase of Twisted Metal has proven to keep my East Coast counterparts up way past their bed times.

Which brings me to the sadness which is Mario Party 9. Despite my Wii collecting dust I would purchase this game in a heartbeat IF IT WAS ONLINE. But its not, which makes my head hurt. Nintendo is focused on their handheld connectivity but when it comes to Wii its non-existent. Don't get me wrong, their are plenty of Wii games that are online, just not any that I am going to put down Twisted Metal for. Mario Party 9 looks amazing, but why is it not online Nintendo? Doesn't it make sense to be able to play this party game online? Wouldn't that be a selling point to consider when marketing this game? Was it too expensive to support the online functionality of this game? This is a huge fumble on Nintendo's part by not supporting online capabilities when it comes to the Mario Party series.

You might be saying, "Haaris, why not play locally the way the game was meant to played?" Simple really, my friends in southern California don't really game. The rare and I mean RARE time my girlfriend games with me its always Tetris (which is awesome cause she is DAMN good at making mad lines yo). I would have better luck of creating lead into cupcakes then to initiate a new game into the mix. Mario Party is not one of those "5 minute games" that you can play before you go out for the night to actually "Party" it takes time, like a monopoly board game time.

This opens the doors surprisingly to the ps3 and the new Vita. With the Vita being able to do remote play and connect to your friends I don't see myself purchasing Mario Party 9, which is a shame really cause the game looks so DAMN good. I would rather invest in a $250/$300 Vita then buy another Wii game that will stay closed most of its life.

Elvira Sighting

Mistress of the night is still doing her thing thing, still funny as all hell and still looking good. Check her out:



and to be fair this is up at a pretty rad site that reviews all kinds of tasty beverages, check em here: http://www.thirstydudes.com/user/cassandra-peterson-aka-elvira-mistress-of-the-dark

Free Hodgy Beats EP, Free S.mouse! and New Sleigh Bells

Since I dropped the ball this week, specifically New Music Tuesdays, I am gonna hook you up with some serious bangers.

Hodgy Beats Untitled EP


First up Odd Futures audio slicer Hodgy Beats is dropping new music goodness, only this time he's got a grip of talented producers including Flying Lotus, Alchemist and Juicy J (this dude won an Oscar). The ep may be short, but its packed with some of the greatest beats I have heard all year coupled with Hodgy's destructive lyrical style makes this Untitled ep a must buy. Since we are talking about Odd Future then we are talking FREE music. Odd Future has proven that you can make music FREE and still be able to maintain yourself as an artist. Not only is this EP free, its production value and content is of the highest caliber, its a win win for everyone.

Get the free ep here

Abnorml Injustice Presents- Songs for​.​.​.​.​or the S​.​mouse! Tape

Lets get down on some more free tunes for you cheap mofo's shall we. S.mouse! has been called the worst thing to happen to Hip Hop, a scouge of the rap game, a candy striper of the hood if you will. highlighted in Angry Boys on HBO we follow the explosion which is S.mouse! implode when the realities of the game overtake and destroy his carrier. From the ashes S.mouse! drops the "!"(much like his label dropped him) rises with some free beats. He takes audio clips from this past season of Angry Boys and lays them on some seriously funky beats. Still waiting on his solo independent project "The Real Me" that is apparently getting an independent release, in the interm get your S.mouse! on with these tunes straight from Abnormal Injustice, for FREE.

Check it here


Abnormal Injustice Presents The Skateboarding GayStyle Tape or the Jen vs Tim Okazaki Tape

For those tiger moms and gaystyle skaters here Abnormal Injustice Presents The Skateboarding GayStyle Tape or the Jen vs Tim Okazaki Tape. If your lucky you can catch Tim skating at the local spots right here in Santa Barbara or see his mom (Jen Okazaki, mastermind and creator of the GayStyle brand) pushing grocery carts around at the local Vons (cause she cant afford to shop at Whole Foods) or training Tim's little brother at the local mini golf spot.

get it here for FREE



Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror

Originally signed to M.I.A. label for their debut album Treats Sleigh Bells is back and now on mom+pop with their sophomore record, Reign of Terror. How does it stack against Treats? Reign of Terror blows it out of the water. They are still producing a hyper aggressive sound on maxed out instruments, this time its a but more refined and structured. Its hard to imagine that its only 2 people in this band, even when they play live. Check out the new album and if you have a chance check em out live, they are fun to watch.

!!! live at Soho in Santa Barbara

Oh Tuesday nights, how slow and uneventful you are. Especially in the tiny corner of America known as Santa Barbara, what to do, what to do? I used my power of the hook up and got me and a fellow on air radio dj coworker Bernie Bags to come get some serious funky bass action on a Tuesday night. Much to my surprise he was ALL about it once I mentioned that it was a !!! (chk chk chk) show. I had 1 stipulation, we had to check out the opening act, Wild Belle, I have spun them on New Noize and only had their single so I had to check it, get it? More on that in a bit.

Stroll into Soho, a tiny venue with a whole lotta character, around 930ish (perfect timing by the way) and Wild Belle was just getting on stage. Things that you note at first glance included, theres like 5 people in the band, damn that chick can sing and shes super fine, does that dude have a saxophone? He does! and he plays guitar? and 2 keyboards, plus he's gonna sing.

Wild Belle was a nice, mellow opener of what was to come. This band must have started out as a reggae crew, as they were pulling some classic reggae movements, base lines and melodies mixed with their own sound. Did I mention the lead singer was not only strikingly beautiful, but her voice was, well strikingly beautiful. All in all check em out, I dug em and would definitely see them again.

Ok time to get down on some !!! Before going to this show I was super tired, I mean its a Tuesday night, the venue was at 75 % capacity tops, I wasn't having any fermented beverages and my bed was calling my name the whole night. Then !!! decide to come out. The only time I saw them was at a Coachella in like 2006/2007, it was in the middle of the day and I was 1/2 passed out during that show due to heat and sweaty hippies. I have only heard good things from hipsters and non hipsters a like.

Another quick side note about Soho. Its one of those venues that has a staple over 40 crowd that goes to any show they put on. This is especially good people watching when you mix an all ages show, as was the case this past Tuesday night.

!!! take the stage and withing seconds anyone who was feeling blah (like myself) instantly morphed into a dancing fool. !!! had 6 people killing it onstage, and at some point youngings would get on stage and shake it up until security threw em of stage, silly rabbits.

When you are talking about !!! your talking about funky bass, a WHOLE LOTTA FUNKY BASS. The bass player was like the pied piper and the crowd was in a total dance trance as he and his fellow band members forced the crowd to involuntary pull the crazy dance moves that would embarrass the most brazen tween. Oh white people, sometimes you just make my night.

Talking about white people, the lead singer, Nic Offer, is one bad motherfucking Motherfucker. His ability to uplift and maintain the groove level of the crowd at a steady high was uncanny, his dance moves would dissolve your retina's and his voice will make any ear hole bleed to make room for more sound to get in. !!! took a Tuesday night and kicked the shit out of it, so yeah they kicked ass, shoulda' been there.

On the Console - Road Rage, Demi-God Anger and Shanks

Oh the ps3, its my mistress and like any good girlfriend on the side I have to constantly shower her with new things. The last couple of weeks she has been getting a-lot attention.

Twisted Metal

I have been waiting 11 years since Twisted Metal Black dropped and I am happy to report that this 2012 version of Twisted Metal kicks some serious ass. I am currently running through the Campaign/Story mode (normal) 3 things jump out at you.

1.- These cut scenes are AMAZING. Great storylines, sadistic subject matter, and Calypso is a twisted dude. Eat Sleep Play did a wonderful job meshing live action with special effects to create a unique visual storyline experience. According to the almighty internet they are making a movie out of Twisted Metal which in all honesty does not need to happen, just look at these cinematic scenes. I force my human girlfriend to sit down and watch the "The Twisted Fate of Sweet Tooth" She was thoroughly disturbed by the imagery and asked me if what we were watching was a movie. She shook her head and proceeded to make my dinner. (perks of a human gf).

2. THIS GAME IS HARD!!!!! As stated earlier I am playing on Normal and this game is not for the faint of heart. This adds to the gameplay plus I love challenging games but the main reason I am having so much difficulty is that you use every single button on the controller. The learning curve is a bit steep, but I am sure once my muscle memory kicks in I will be ready for playing the game on Twisted. Currently I am stuck on the dollface race, so HARD.

3. These levels are huge. Twisted Metal shines when it comes to level construction. One of my favorite moments in gaming was in TM2 when you got to blow up the Eiffel Tower and it crumbled right before you, no cut scene, no camera redirect, it just blew up in real time wherever you were in the game. The same can be said about the level construction for the most recent Twisted Metal, only this time there is a lot going on, stages are HUGE, moveable parts, lava pits, electric fences, and break away buildings only scratch the surface of the level madness. Eat Sleep Play better have held on to those programming cats who put some serious love into each and every level.

Truth be told I havent gone online just yet, have to beat the game first. I did set up a clan, but again havent been able to bust that feature open just yet. Wanna be part of my TM clan? Friend me on the PSN, name is MenglerMeng, in the body put "theroamingronin" and mention that you read this and boom, we will get down!

Totally get your road rage one and pick it UP

Asura's Wrath

Finally a game with a brown dude who is not a terrorist! Well sort of, but I'll take it. Far to long have Pakistani's, Indians' and people of Middle Eastern decent have watch as every other race's gets some serious shine while we make up side characters or villains. Sure you have Dhalsim , but no one plays with Dhalsim (fuck that noise) Rikku (FFX) Zasalamel (Soul Calibur) and Altai ibn-la'ahad (Assasins Creed) to name a few. That my seem like a substantial amount of representation, but its not. No one I know, especially the Pakistani's and Indians will even play with Dhalsim, Rikku was amazing in FFX/FFX-2 a few appearances in Kingdom Hearts but never the main character. Surprise, surprise Zasalamel is not in the latest Soul Calibur and dont get me started on Assassins Creed. How are you gonna steer away from a bad ass like Altir? I know we will make an even more bad ass version of this dude, but this time make him white from France, and we will base all of our future sequels on this, WHITE character. Ok, time to climb off my political horse, thanks for bearing with me.

Asura's Wrath is the best non video game video game I have ever played. The buzz on all the gaming blogs is how much of a non game it is, and for the most part they are all right, Asura's Wrath is much more than a game, its an experience to behold. Sure its riddled with quick time events, but oh these quick-time events are god of war epic. Each level is broken down into a T.V. episode format, with intro credits and a too be continued messages tagged at the end of every episode. Even the fill-in single picture anime sequences with subtitles had a old school film feel to it giving it an almost 8mm look. The gameplay is pretty fun, to bad there is not enough of it, not nearly enough. Have I beat the game yet? Nope, but when I do I'll tell ya.

This game is great for the people who like to watch video games, its got humor along with some serious action and a whole lot of yelling in the narrative, at times I though Asura was going to go super saiyan, but instead of getting all blue eyed and blonde (racism is killing me inside) you grow some extra arms, try doing that Vageta....

I am not going to ruin any of Ashura's Wrath with any spoiler alerts but I will say this, the story-line is all over the place, drawing a-lot of their lore from Hinduism and Buddhism yet there are references to western divinity as well (Mithra is Asura's daughter, Mithra is a god in ancient Rome {technically Mithra started out as a Persian/Hindu god but was incorporated into the roman god system}) Whoa I just dropped double parentheses, word.

As far as gameplay goes its like this, there are a lot of qte's. Though it does not make the game extremely challenging it makes the experience very dynamic. Throw in the fact that it is done "episode to episode" format instead of traditional level by level and each episodes gameplay is totally different from the last you have a very unique and FUN experience. For example the opening sequence I am flying through space killing Zerg-like starships, then by the next episode I am action platforming, etc etc.

So to die hard fans of Capcom and anime buy this game. Hardcore fanatics of game play should check this game out as well, the story is really REALLY good. Hopefully Capcom will make this into a Franchise Series and with a bit more actual game play this game could be a game changer.

Fuel your anger Asura Style and if your brave enough young gamer, go for it.

Shank

YES!!!!! The sequel to one of my favorite games ever. If you haven't played with the first Shank go out and download a copy. From the storyline to the cartoonish graphics to the voice acting kudos to Klie for making a truly kick ass true sequel.

The story picks up right where the last Shank ended. Only this time you just don't play as Shank, on certain levels you play with the female protagonist, Corina. There are some differences between the 2 Shank games, but for the most part Klie has improved this game hand over fist. This is not to say that its perfect, far from it. Klie took out the Story driven Co-Op (which was my favorite) and messed with the pick ups that you get in the game. Instead of Co-Op story mode Klie decide to make the survival mode Co-Op (both local and online) and the survival modes are crazy fun and get crazy hard. The furthest I have gone is to level 28, and after every10 levels or so there is a bonus Zombie round. Currently am working on beating the game on hard mode and have yet to hit level 30 in survival.

The game is only 9.99, so pull out the homemade shank and force your peoples to BUY IT!!!!! Best investment in gaming right now. Hopefully they will support remote play on the PS Vita, it would be the perfect game to play on that handheld.

Check out my picks and leave a comment. Let the trolling begin!!!!

On the Console

Simply put, a new segment featuring games I am currently running through. Most video game bloggers and journalisst get advanced promotional copies of games that we "normals" have to buy in real time. So these will have elements of review-like-posts, but wont be full blown reviews.