Not only have I listened to a fair bit of music in the past few days, I'm also playing games again after a week-or-so break. Some of the album thought go more in-depth than others, because some interested me more than others.

Albums

Bones - Skinny

Putting out a mixtape every few months can't be easy, especially when you're trying to maintain quality, while also innovating. Over the past year or so Bones has developed his style considerably, resulting in some fantastic mixtapes (DeadBoy, Garbage, PaidProgramming) and really only one (arguably) failed experiment (TeenWitch). With Skinny, right from the start it's clear that Bones was perhaps going for a slightly more ominous tone. On "HollisterJeans" his flow has begun to disintegrate, with more slurred words giving the song a dirtier feel. Somehow, Bones has managed to craft a mixtape which sounds simultaneously familiar, and unique. The production has taken a step up from Garbage, and is now more varied and distinctive. Bones' flow resembles previous efforts on "Protein", but not entirely. There is a feeling throughout the mixtape that perhaps Bones is going for a bleaker sound, especially clear in the artwork. Of course, Bones' somewhat divisive singing style is back, depicting some rather gruesome themes on "IfYoureGoingToSpew,SpewIntoThis". Song lengths are just as brief as Bones' most recent tapes, something which I've never had a problem with, but may bother some. From what I can tell, Skinny seems to be the polar opposite of PaidProgramming: considerably less catchy, more moody, with some of the campiness cast aside (although not completely lost). Lyrics on Bones' tapes have never been particularily hard to decipher, but on Skinny they seem to have advanced slightly, evident on "TheNoiseInsideMyHead", among others. Bones' persona however, hasn't changed in the slightest, still aggressive, and sensitive when needed. Not only are his styles intact, they are perhaps more honed then ever before. Another highlight is "ShrimpPizza", on which Bones comes through with a violent verse, that seems to be cracking under the pressure. Bones seems genuinely tired on the track, and whether or not this was intentional, it fits the somber instrumental. "CranbrookEstates" has a beat which sounds like it would have fit SurrenderDorothy (Bones' singing side-project), and perhaps is not quite as suited to Bones' flow. "EmilioEstevez,TheMightyDuckMan" sees Bones telling a story through his flow, (see 1968 on "DeadBoy") one of his biggest strengths in my opinion. "Bubbles" is accompanied by a new style of singing from Bones, and while it isn't entirely successful, it shows that Bones is still taking risks at every turn. The bonus track, "SketchersBackToSchoolSale" has a fantastic instrumental, along with some solid verses from Bones. Why it was labeled as a "bonus" I'm not sure, as it could have easily been the ending track, closing the mixtape off quite nicely.

As with most Bones tapes, it will take a few more listens to discern the staying power of Skinny, but on first listen, it's certainly promising. Perhaps not as fantastic as DeadBoy before it, but still wholly unique. If you're interested in listening to Bones, all of his mixtapes are free, just look for them.

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

I'd never listened to Doom Metal before Dopethrone, so I didn't know what to expect. The genre sounds deep, slow, and just generally a lot more dirty than other genres of metal. It isn't as hard to get into as something like Black Metal, as it isn't as depressing and the vocals sound more aggressive than saddening. There are extended guitar-only sections throughout the album, at times seeming improvised. This didn't bother me particularly, but I did notice it and after a while it got a little tiresome. Of course, I probably need to give it a few more listens and try the rest of the genre, to fully appreciate the sound.

Cocteau Twins - (More than one album)

Over the past few months I've grown more and more fond of Cocteau Twins, to the point where I haven't found a single thing they've made that I don't enjoy. To be fair I haven't listened to everything, but my favorite albums so far are Heaven or Las Vegas, Four Calendar Cafe and Treasure. They've also put out some amazing EPs, specifically The Spangle-Maker and Tiny Dinamine. I'll have an in depth review of one of their albums next time I write one of these segments, but for now I'll move on to games I've been playing.

Games

Fez

From the beginning, Fez seems like a gorgeous, albeit simplistic platformer. By using perspective-based platforming, Fez crafts an experience which is nice to look at, but not challenging in any way. The only initial goal is to find cubes scattered throughout the world, which in turn open doors (similar to Mario 64 or other platformers of old). The game looks amazing, with some of the best pixel-art I've ever seen, but the only thing preventing the experience from becoming boring is the sense of exploration from filling out the expansive and confusing map. But even this seems overly complicated, and the gameplay loop becomes somewhat dry after an hour or so. From hearing a bit about the game when it released, I found out that there is definitely more than meets the eye. Tales of filling out pages and pages of notes to solve the ultimate puzzle in Fez sounds very interesting to me. But unfortunately I feel like I may have to trudge through the first part of the game to get to the more in depth puzzles. I wouldn't say the game is bad in any way, but I feel like if the art wasn't as phenomenal as it is, I would have given up. I will say that the NPC's confusion at the world around them is charming, and lends to the atmosphere of the world. This is a place where the only familiar shapes are 2D, and once the first cube is discovered early on the game the world is sent into dissaray. The characters are adorable, but the world around them is not, twisting and turning to reveal beautiful art at every corner. I'm going to try and make some more progress today and will report back once I have.

I've been progressing through, finding more cubes and generally getting more and more confused. The map is intentionally obtuse (I think), with many overlapping paths making it difficult to find out how to get where. Honestly, this has only frustrated me and seems kind of uneccesary. Fez wants you to be lost, but I'm not sure if I enjoy that aspect of the game. I'm currently stuck at 22 cubes, and one anti-cube, and I've decided to take a break to make room for an urge that takes a hold of me every September, when rain is prevalent.

Dark Souls (Playthrough 3)

I've played Dark Souls twice already, and gotten pretty far on a few other characters, but the game's brilliance stops it from ever becoming boring. As I stated earlier, I tend to get back into Dark Souls when I'm stuck inside because of the weather, such was the case today. Since I'm so familiar with the early areas it was easy to progress to The Depths, an area which I normally rush through but plan to thoroughly clear out this time. I'm using a dexterity build with an Uchigatana (which I'm upgrading as need be). I'm not sure which kind of armor to use, and have stuck with the thief's starter equipment (any suggestions?). I'm going to try and conquer each and every boss, be it required or not. I'm thinking of just getting Havel's Ring and then the set, but something tells me this may not be the best equipment for a dexterity build, but maybe I'm wrong. I think I might enjoy Dark Souls the most now that I've learned everything there is to learn and essentially trivialized the entire game. Now that I know where most of the best items are and how to beat all of the bosses, it's extremely satisfying to go through with a new character build. I would like to learn a ton about Dark Souls 2, but so far I haven't enjoyed the game as much as the first, but that's a subject for another time.