Another super busy week at work this week, as my current game heads to Alpha. Not too upset by the extra workload though, as I had a good weekend making music, completing two new tracks. Things will hopefully get a bit quieter next week though, so I can continue working on new stuff in the studio, and also spend a bit of time with House of the Dead: Overkill, which I just ordered from amazon uk (It won't be released here in Germany)! Looks like a lot of fun from the trailer, I totally love the way they've pitched it, even if it is clearly very Grindhouse influenced. The engine for the game was licenced from my previous employer, so there are even going to be some (very) tiny fragments of my code in there somewhere! :)
The crazy increase in web traffic here seems to have died down to more typical levels now - still no idea what triggered that! Looks like it may have encouraged some renewed interest in my releases going by the latest iTunes reports, although I have to wait a while for proper numbers to come through. Thanks to everyone who has been supporting my music over the last couple of weeks though, every sale slowly gets me closer to buying some new studio gear! One cheaper little addition I'm really tempted by is the pro upgrade for Novation's automap software.. Being able to map controls to send keystrokes sounds like it would help integrating the controller with renoise, since renoise doesn't have the usual support for transport controls. Will hopefully get sometime to try it all out next week (inbetween sessions of blood soaked zombie filled violence, obviously... Oh, and that reminds me, new Walking Dead and Invincible books out in a couple of weeks!)
Showing posts with label games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label games. Show all posts
Happy New Year
Well, Christmas is over, and the new year has begun. Hope you all had a great break over the holiday. I had a couple of weeks off work, but didn't really get to spend much time on music, due to travelling around visiting family in England and Germany. It's going to be tough finding time over the next couple of weeks too, as the overtime is starting to increase at work now and starting to eat into my weekends.
Anyway, in typical first post of the new year style, it's about time for a top 10 of 2008..
TOP TEN THINGS IN 2008 (no particular order, and 3 or 4 of them aren't really from 2008)
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?(Album)
Braid (Game)
dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip - Angles (Album)
Toshio Iwai / I am robot and proud (Gig)
Joy Division (Film / Music)
Shape of Broad Minds - Craft of the Lost Art (Album)
Portal: Still Alive (Game)
The Tuss - Rushup Edge(Album)
Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist (Album)
Kelpe - Sea inside body (Album)
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Maybe it was because I had just moved away from dear old Blighty just as this album was released, or maybe because this was such a great comeback after Open Season, but at the start of the year I just couldn't get enough of this. Proper indie rock with a distinctly british air to it, this album really managed to blend the raw energy of their debut with the more thoughtful song writing of the follow up to form their most solid album to date. Only sad thing was that they canceled their gig in Frankfurt, so I missed seeing them live (although I had only seen them 3 months earlier, just before leaving the UK!).
Braid
In the days of multi million dollar video game blockbusters, it's refreshing to see that the little guy can still come out and make something that leaves the rest standing. With Braid, Jonathon Blow has created a masterpiece of videogame design, combining incredibly well though out puzzles with an intriguing story. And I don't just mean, a typical game story, like hero saves the princess, or macho space marine saves the planet by killing thousands of aliens (although it does play with the first of these). Braid's story is multi layered, and is actually about something. The more you dig into it, the more you find, which is incredibly rare in games. It's very rare that a game blows my mind like Braid did, and I strongly encourage all of you to check it out. Yes, it's just an old skool platform game with a twist, but it's also so much more!
dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip - Angles
I have to admit, after hearing the single before most other people (it was dan that booked me for my last UK gig at the start of 2007), it took me ages to get around to buying the album. But I'm really glad I did. The album isn't all killer, but when these two get their mix of spoken word poetry and beaty electronica right, it's just incredible. Really look forward to more from these two.
Toshio Iwai / I am robot and proud
It's been a quiet year for gigs really, but this one really stands out for a few reasons. Basically, since it was tying in with the Musik Messe here in Frankfurt, rather than just a plain old gig, Toshio Iwai gave us a 45 min talk on how he developed the tenori-on, his musical background, etc, before then giving his performance. Really interesting stuff, and nicely hit the balance for me between games and music. After his performance, a little act from canada took to the stage called I am robot and proud. I was really looking forward to seeing him play, as he generally doesn't tour in europe, so it felt like a bit of a once in a lifetime opportunity. He played an awesome set, and is probably the only person I've seen that really looks like he can play a tenori-on! The other bands on the night kind of used them as gimmiks, but with I am robot and proud, it really just fit in so much better. And to top the night off, I also got my copy of Electroplankton signed by Toshio Iwai!
Joy Division
Joy Division has always been one of those bands that I'd heard about a lot, but never actually heard their music, or any of the detail about them. I ended up going to see Control at the cinema earlier in the year, which was a great movie, and really is a great introduction to the band and their music. Since then I've been digging into their two albums, and also just saw the new Joy Division documentary that came out recently. So yeah, awesome music, shame I'm about 30 years too late!
Shape of Broad Minds - Craft of the Lost Art
I think this might have technically been 2007, but fuck it, I was a few months late.. More boundary pushing stuff from the Lex Label, this is definitely the most interesting Hip-Hop release for me recently. Also worth checking out related projects, like Dr Who Dat?, Jneiro Jarel, and the excellent free release The Fantastic JJ Project.
Portal: Still Alive
I missed the original since I only really play games on consoles, but this years XBox Live Arcade release was still suitably awesome enough to hook me for a week. As with all the greatest games at the minute, it's kind of short, but with no padding, making this incredibly interesting to play from start to end. Some of the puzzles can really mess your head up, and you find yourself using the game's physics system in some incredible ways, it often had me just staring at the screen thinking "how the fuck did I just do that?" If you need your spatial awareness skill testing, are looking for one of the funniest games of the last few years, or you just like cake, then you have to play this game!
The Tuss - Rushup Edge
Was this 2007 or 2008? Whatever, I only got it this year I think.. Is it Aphex Twin? It kind of sounds like him, and all the internet rumours seem to point to it, but whoever made it, it's one of the most original electronic recording of the year (or last year).
Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist (Album)
Venetian Snares albums are always a bit hit and miss for me, but this is the first that I will play over and over since Chocolate Wheelchair. This is VSnares doing what I love him doing - going completely stupid, mashing up a thousand random ideas, and producing the hyper detailed over the top ultra rave music that makes all other music sound sleep inducing in comparison. When Aaron gets it right, he genuinely makes the most hardcore exciting music you could ever imagine, and on this album he's at his best. This album makes me long for the days when my brother and I would head of down for some all nighter breakcore action down in London town.. Great days.. Anyway, I would give this record 7 stars out of 7.
Kelpe - Sea inside body (Album)
I know, another that isn't actually from 2008.. I think this is actually 2004.. but who cares, I discoverd Kelpe this year, and that's what matters! Apparently we're both from pretty much the same part of England too, he's from Loughborough, while I grew up in a little town just down the road called Shepshed.. maybe it was homesickness that got me listening to him this year! But anyway, great electronic music with tight beats, warm synths, and a kind of nostalgic melancholy feel, just the thing for winter. He did actually release a new album in 2008, so I should probably have picked that up and had that in this list to be more up to date, but well.. I didn't..
Honourable mentions go to Lost Winds (Game), my new guitar, PicPic (Game), Mrs Jynx's The Standoffish Cat (album), Robert Kirkman (whose The Walking Dead and Invincible comics continues to be all kinds of awesome), Heat Sensor's Touch EP (more well known for some awesome production work with MF DOOM (as Viktor Vaughn), this 4 track EP is well worth hunting for) and DJ Rubbish - Armageddon Session Vol 2 (album).
I'd also like to thank everyone that bought my music this year, and also to those who donated via paypal (using the link on the menu on the left). Look forward to more releases this year!
Anything I missed?
Anyway, in typical first post of the new year style, it's about time for a top 10 of 2008..
TOP TEN THINGS IN 2008 (no particular order, and 3 or 4 of them aren't really from 2008)
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?(Album)
Braid (Game)
dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip - Angles (Album)
Toshio Iwai / I am robot and proud (Gig)
Joy Division (Film / Music)
Shape of Broad Minds - Craft of the Lost Art (Album)
Portal: Still Alive (Game)
The Tuss - Rushup Edge(Album)
Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist (Album)
Kelpe - Sea inside body (Album)
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Maybe it was because I had just moved away from dear old Blighty just as this album was released, or maybe because this was such a great comeback after Open Season, but at the start of the year I just couldn't get enough of this. Proper indie rock with a distinctly british air to it, this album really managed to blend the raw energy of their debut with the more thoughtful song writing of the follow up to form their most solid album to date. Only sad thing was that they canceled their gig in Frankfurt, so I missed seeing them live (although I had only seen them 3 months earlier, just before leaving the UK!).
Braid
In the days of multi million dollar video game blockbusters, it's refreshing to see that the little guy can still come out and make something that leaves the rest standing. With Braid, Jonathon Blow has created a masterpiece of videogame design, combining incredibly well though out puzzles with an intriguing story. And I don't just mean, a typical game story, like hero saves the princess, or macho space marine saves the planet by killing thousands of aliens (although it does play with the first of these). Braid's story is multi layered, and is actually about something. The more you dig into it, the more you find, which is incredibly rare in games. It's very rare that a game blows my mind like Braid did, and I strongly encourage all of you to check it out. Yes, it's just an old skool platform game with a twist, but it's also so much more!
dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip - Angles
I have to admit, after hearing the single before most other people (it was dan that booked me for my last UK gig at the start of 2007), it took me ages to get around to buying the album. But I'm really glad I did. The album isn't all killer, but when these two get their mix of spoken word poetry and beaty electronica right, it's just incredible. Really look forward to more from these two.
Toshio Iwai / I am robot and proud
It's been a quiet year for gigs really, but this one really stands out for a few reasons. Basically, since it was tying in with the Musik Messe here in Frankfurt, rather than just a plain old gig, Toshio Iwai gave us a 45 min talk on how he developed the tenori-on, his musical background, etc, before then giving his performance. Really interesting stuff, and nicely hit the balance for me between games and music. After his performance, a little act from canada took to the stage called I am robot and proud. I was really looking forward to seeing him play, as he generally doesn't tour in europe, so it felt like a bit of a once in a lifetime opportunity. He played an awesome set, and is probably the only person I've seen that really looks like he can play a tenori-on! The other bands on the night kind of used them as gimmiks, but with I am robot and proud, it really just fit in so much better. And to top the night off, I also got my copy of Electroplankton signed by Toshio Iwai!
Joy Division
Joy Division has always been one of those bands that I'd heard about a lot, but never actually heard their music, or any of the detail about them. I ended up going to see Control at the cinema earlier in the year, which was a great movie, and really is a great introduction to the band and their music. Since then I've been digging into their two albums, and also just saw the new Joy Division documentary that came out recently. So yeah, awesome music, shame I'm about 30 years too late!
Shape of Broad Minds - Craft of the Lost Art
I think this might have technically been 2007, but fuck it, I was a few months late.. More boundary pushing stuff from the Lex Label, this is definitely the most interesting Hip-Hop release for me recently. Also worth checking out related projects, like Dr Who Dat?, Jneiro Jarel, and the excellent free release The Fantastic JJ Project.
Portal: Still Alive
I missed the original since I only really play games on consoles, but this years XBox Live Arcade release was still suitably awesome enough to hook me for a week. As with all the greatest games at the minute, it's kind of short, but with no padding, making this incredibly interesting to play from start to end. Some of the puzzles can really mess your head up, and you find yourself using the game's physics system in some incredible ways, it often had me just staring at the screen thinking "how the fuck did I just do that?" If you need your spatial awareness skill testing, are looking for one of the funniest games of the last few years, or you just like cake, then you have to play this game!
The Tuss - Rushup Edge
Was this 2007 or 2008? Whatever, I only got it this year I think.. Is it Aphex Twin? It kind of sounds like him, and all the internet rumours seem to point to it, but whoever made it, it's one of the most original electronic recording of the year (or last year).
Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist (Album)
Venetian Snares albums are always a bit hit and miss for me, but this is the first that I will play over and over since Chocolate Wheelchair. This is VSnares doing what I love him doing - going completely stupid, mashing up a thousand random ideas, and producing the hyper detailed over the top ultra rave music that makes all other music sound sleep inducing in comparison. When Aaron gets it right, he genuinely makes the most hardcore exciting music you could ever imagine, and on this album he's at his best. This album makes me long for the days when my brother and I would head of down for some all nighter breakcore action down in London town.. Great days.. Anyway, I would give this record 7 stars out of 7.
Kelpe - Sea inside body (Album)
I know, another that isn't actually from 2008.. I think this is actually 2004.. but who cares, I discoverd Kelpe this year, and that's what matters! Apparently we're both from pretty much the same part of England too, he's from Loughborough, while I grew up in a little town just down the road called Shepshed.. maybe it was homesickness that got me listening to him this year! But anyway, great electronic music with tight beats, warm synths, and a kind of nostalgic melancholy feel, just the thing for winter. He did actually release a new album in 2008, so I should probably have picked that up and had that in this list to be more up to date, but well.. I didn't..
Honourable mentions go to Lost Winds (Game), my new guitar, PicPic (Game), Mrs Jynx's The Standoffish Cat (album), Robert Kirkman (whose The Walking Dead and Invincible comics continues to be all kinds of awesome), Heat Sensor's Touch EP (more well known for some awesome production work with MF DOOM (as Viktor Vaughn), this 4 track EP is well worth hunting for) and DJ Rubbish - Armageddon Session Vol 2 (album).
I'd also like to thank everyone that bought my music this year, and also to those who donated via paypal (using the link on the menu on the left). Look forward to more releases this year!
Anything I missed?
Read more...
New toy
This weekend I've spent pretty much the whole time playing with my brand new iPod Touch. I've never really considered buying one, but my company decided to be completely awesome and buy one for everybody! I'm still not a fan of iTunes, but I have to say that I'm finding the iPod Touch experience pretty slick so far.
I think the most impressive thing is how integrated everything is.. The contacts list is a great example. You can tap on a contact in your list, tap on their address, and it switches to google maps and shows you their place on the map. Then you can tap to get directions from your current location (without gps). Then tap their name on the map again, tap their email address, and let them know you're on your way over!
I've already rushed over to the App Store to download a few bits and pieces - Last.fm so I can scrobble on the move, Guitar Toolkit, which is a handy chord guide for guitar newbies like me, and VNC, which let's you remotely control your PC.. very handy for kicking off some torrents on your home system ready for when you get back in the evening! :)
I'm still on the look out for some real music making apps for it.. I have a couple of weeks away from the main PC over xmas and new year, so I'm hoping to have some half decent portable options with me too. If you know any, then please add a comment below!
Oh, and in other recent news, the game I designed, PowerUp Forever, was released on Xbox360 Live Arcade. PS3 release should follow shortly. I've played the trial version a little bit, and I'm happy to say that it looks like it's turned out pretty good! I found a rather nice review here too!
I think the most impressive thing is how integrated everything is.. The contacts list is a great example. You can tap on a contact in your list, tap on their address, and it switches to google maps and shows you their place on the map. Then you can tap to get directions from your current location (without gps). Then tap their name on the map again, tap their email address, and let them know you're on your way over!
I've already rushed over to the App Store to download a few bits and pieces - Last.fm so I can scrobble on the move, Guitar Toolkit, which is a handy chord guide for guitar newbies like me, and VNC, which let's you remotely control your PC.. very handy for kicking off some torrents on your home system ready for when you get back in the evening! :)
I'm still on the look out for some real music making apps for it.. I have a couple of weeks away from the main PC over xmas and new year, so I'm hoping to have some half decent portable options with me too. If you know any, then please add a comment below!
Oh, and in other recent news, the game I designed, PowerUp Forever, was released on Xbox360 Live Arcade. PS3 release should follow shortly. I've played the trial version a little bit, and I'm happy to say that it looks like it's turned out pretty good! I found a rather nice review here too!
Read more...
New MP3 store
I saw that Amazon UK has opened it's new MP3 store this week. There are a couple of my albums up there to buy if you feel that way inclined.
Also, I'm told that the release date for PowerUp Forever (the XBLA and PS3 game I created the concept for and contributed music to) will be released on the 18th December. Strange for an XBLA game to be released on a thursday, but there you go.
Also, I'm told that the release date for PowerUp Forever (the XBLA and PS3 game I created the concept for and contributed music to) will be released on the 18th December. Strange for an XBLA game to be released on a thursday, but there you go.
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Audio experiment
A couple of audio experiments.. First, I wanted to have a little look into an easy way to add some mp3 clips to the blog posts today, as it'd be nice to occasionally just drop in some bits and bobs that I'm working on. This is a track I made today, which mixes up a few thing from the past week or so.. The weather here has been quite wintery, with a fair bit of snow (by English standards anyway) over the weekend. I was also feeling a bit homesick after getting some nice cards and presents for my birthday last week, but also made to feel really welcome in Germany by a nice series of answer phone messages from pretty much all of my girlfriends relatives. This track is part of my effort to try and turn my music into more of a diary of what's happening for me. See what you think..
The track is a bit work in progress, not mastered properly, etc, but I thought it might be cool to make things a bit more immediate, so you hear lots of bits and pieces as I make them, and not have to wait years in between releases. The only thing that might get in the way is webspace, as I don't have that much at the minute! We'll see how it goes..
Some random other things from today..
I'm up to episode 10 of Gurren Lagann!! Although i was quite into this series from the first episode, episode 8 blew me away today, starting to develop a habit for it now.
I just finished Spider-Man: Web of Shadows DS. Twice. Best Spidey game since Spider-Man 2. Now back to Pic Pic....
First rumours of a PSP2 have started to appear.
GamesRadar had a great feature on non-game gamer gifts for xmas. Reminds me of all the awesome toys I want to waste money on, like this Chun-Li by Revoltech, and this mini Pac-Man arcade unit (sadly not playable!)
The track is a bit work in progress, not mastered properly, etc, but I thought it might be cool to make things a bit more immediate, so you hear lots of bits and pieces as I make them, and not have to wait years in between releases. The only thing that might get in the way is webspace, as I don't have that much at the minute! We'll see how it goes..
Some random other things from today..
I'm up to episode 10 of Gurren Lagann!! Although i was quite into this series from the first episode, episode 8 blew me away today, starting to develop a habit for it now.
I just finished Spider-Man: Web of Shadows DS. Twice. Best Spidey game since Spider-Man 2. Now back to Pic Pic....
First rumours of a PSP2 have started to appear.
GamesRadar had a great feature on non-game gamer gifts for xmas. Reminds me of all the awesome toys I want to waste money on, like this Chun-Li by Revoltech, and this mini Pac-Man arcade unit (sadly not playable!)
Read more...
PowerUp Forever Review
I don't often mention my videogames stuff here, but I just saw this video review of the game I did the original concept for, and am so excited I just have to post it! :)
It still counts as Bovaflux content too, as you can also (just about) hear the music I made for it in the last minute or two of the peice. Can't wait for this to finally get released!
It still counts as Bovaflux content too, as you can also (just about) hear the music I made for it in the last minute or two of the peice. Can't wait for this to finally get released!
Read more...
Random November update
Well, I just kind of realised that 2008 is on the way out.. is it really November already? Starting a new life in Germany has really made the time go fast, and at times I've really been wondering if I can still manage to keep up making music. But well, making music isn't really something you can just decide to stop doing, so I always find my way back to it. The harder thing is doing all the stuff that surrounds it, trying to promote it, updating the website, etc. I really think it's about time the site had a bit of a tidy up though, as it's getting pretty old looking in places.. about time some new tracks were uploaded too I think.
Anyway, I thought I'd also update you all on some of the little goings on from this year. Not a big year for releases, but still a few interesting bits and bobs.
First up there's a couple of remixes. First out was my remix for Fuck off Machete, which you can find here. The gang seem to have gone pretty quiet since that release, but I hope they return some day, the are an awesome bunch.
Next up was the remix for Emulsion, which I think has turned out as probably my favourite remix I've done. Check it out at the lens records site.
I also saw that "Bomb It!", the graffiti documentary by Jon Reiss was released on DVD this year. This excellent thought provoking film features the opening track from my 2005 album. I can't tell you how proud I was to see my name scroll up in the movie credits! :)
I also released the much delayed EP, Yesterday, Tomorrow, Now, on [d]-tached records. Many thanks to everyone who bought a copy, especially the growing number of bovaflux fans from Japan! One great thing about direct mp3 sales is that I really get to see where every copy gets sold, and it sometimes really surprises me.
There won't be any new releases from me now until next year, but I will start uploading a few new tracks to the website and myspace pages, leading up to the new album release next year. In the mean time, you might be interested to know that I have some music featured in a new XBox 360 Live Arcade game called Powerup Forever. The soundtrack is pretty interesting actually, as it tries to always present something new by randomly mixing together a set of ambient tracks with a set of beat tracks, to give a kind of endless mix of music. Also worth noting is that I created the original concept for the game, but had to leave development of it behind once I moved out here to Germany. I haven't had a look at the game since the early prototype stages, so it'll be interesting to see how it shapes up.
Anyway, I thought I'd also update you all on some of the little goings on from this year. Not a big year for releases, but still a few interesting bits and bobs.
First up there's a couple of remixes. First out was my remix for Fuck off Machete, which you can find here. The gang seem to have gone pretty quiet since that release, but I hope they return some day, the are an awesome bunch.
Next up was the remix for Emulsion, which I think has turned out as probably my favourite remix I've done. Check it out at the lens records site.
I also saw that "Bomb It!", the graffiti documentary by Jon Reiss was released on DVD this year. This excellent thought provoking film features the opening track from my 2005 album. I can't tell you how proud I was to see my name scroll up in the movie credits! :)
I also released the much delayed EP, Yesterday, Tomorrow, Now, on [d]-tached records. Many thanks to everyone who bought a copy, especially the growing number of bovaflux fans from Japan! One great thing about direct mp3 sales is that I really get to see where every copy gets sold, and it sometimes really surprises me.
There won't be any new releases from me now until next year, but I will start uploading a few new tracks to the website and myspace pages, leading up to the new album release next year. In the mean time, you might be interested to know that I have some music featured in a new XBox 360 Live Arcade game called Powerup Forever. The soundtrack is pretty interesting actually, as it tries to always present something new by randomly mixing together a set of ambient tracks with a set of beat tracks, to give a kind of endless mix of music. Also worth noting is that I created the original concept for the game, but had to leave development of it behind once I moved out here to Germany. I haven't had a look at the game since the early prototype stages, so it'll be interesting to see how it shapes up.
Read more...
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