"VG Music" v. "Real Music"?!

After I wrote "DEVILS NEVER CRY (because they) NEVER SURRENDER!", I got to thinking, What are some other musicians/bands that have also contributed to video game music? Some other bands that come to mind are Crush40, Megadeth, Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame), and Julien-K. I'm sure there are others that I'm not considering, but their names elude me at the moment. 

Crush40: They actually started off as under the name Sons of Angels, but eventually changed their name after the first Sonic Adventure. Most of their music was composed for the Sonic games, but some of their earlier work was devoted to NASCAR Arcade. 

This song, "Live & Learn," is from Sonic Adventure 2:

This next song, "Into The Wind," comes from their only full-length album, Crush40:

Megadeth: As any metalhead worth his lengthy locks knows, Megadeth's been in the metal game since the 80's, often focusing on contemporary socio-political issues (with some personal life-faith stories sprinkled in between). 

This song, "Sudden Death," was first featured in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock as the one of the last songs, which was intentional (when you hear the song, you'll understand). This song was later featured in Megadeth's 13th album, Th1rt3en.

As for a song that reflects Megadeth outside of the gaming industry, it's hard to pick just one! Aside from obvious picks such as "Symphony of Destruction," "Hangar 18," "Holy Wars," "A Tout Le Monde," "Trust," "In My Darkest Hour," "Peace Sells," and so much more, I decided to put in an unconventional song, "502," a song about the fast life on the road.

   

Trent Reznor: When he's not working on material for Nine Inch Nails or How To Destroy Angels, Reznor works on composing music score for films (The Social Network) or video games (Quake, COD: Black Ops II). 

Since I'm not too familiar Reznor's work with film and gaming, I'll use a recent score, the Black Ops II main theme:

As for music outside of gaming, like Megadeth, it's difficult to pick just one. Just about every song from PHM or TDS is pretty good as some exceptional picks from With Teeth, Year Zero, The Slip, and even Ghosts I-IV, I'll pick a personal favorite from 1999's The Fragile, "Into the Void:"

Julien-K: Julien-K's one of those bands that you have to be "in the know" to know their music, you know? Similar, to Combichrist, Noisia, and Da Octopuss, Julien-K has good dance beats, fuzzy noises, and catchy hooks, which promises for a good time on the dance floor.

One of their earliest contributions, "This Machine," has been featured in Sonic Heroes, serving as the theme for Team Dark. Julien-K also has contributed to the music score of Michael Bay's iterations of the Transformers franchise.

As for a song outside of gaming and the filmscape, the featured song is "Futura (DTA Mix)," some other songs to listen to are "Death to Analog," "Kick the Bass," "Systeme de Sexe," "We're Here With You," "Spring Palms Reset," and "Nights of Future Past," among others. 

So, with all that's said and done, I just made another list of sorts (and I didn't realize it, until now). Maybe I should work on making more lists in general. Well, that's all for now! Until next time, my fellow readers! 

DEVILS NEVER CRY (because they) NEVER SURRENDER!

I had the pleasure of spending time with a dear friend almost a week ago. We were driving back home after visiting friends and seeing old familiar faces when he played a familiar song through his phone (which was hooked up to his radio). Only I couldn't place the name of the song. So I gave up asked my friend, "Who is this again?" He looks at me and says, "You don't remember? This is Combichrist - this song is the main theme from the latest Devil May Cry!" 

Of course! How could I forget! That's why the song was familiar - this song plays during the introductory cinematic scene of the game, highlighting Dante's exorbitant lifestyle of women, fast times, and all-around recklessness. It's been quite some time since I've played DMC: Devil May Cry since I had already accomplished all that I could do (such as maxing out the Life/Devil Trigger bars, earning all combos, finding all secrets, ect. - I pretty much got my money's worth playing the game). Since I've done all that I could do gaming-wise, perhaps the only reason why I'd revisit the game would be for its music. 

Much of the in-game music was composed by both Combichrist and Noisia, two electronica  groups (in the broadest sense: they're actually Aggrotech and Neurofunk/Grime, respectively). The music composed for the game is fantastic and flawless - their styles compliment the re-imaging of the Devil May Cry franchise perfectly. As I mentioned a whiles back in my Da Octopuss post, this is the type of music that belongs in gothic, underground dance clubs of sorts. I've been loving this style of music, and quite frankly, I want more of this type of music in my life. Julien-K is somewhat similar, as well as Da Octopuss, so I've got that going for me.

Anyhow, here is the theme song of DMC:Devil May Cry, called "Never Surrender," the one my good  friend was blasting in his car radio:

And here is one of Noisia's offerings from the game:

Maybe after I'm done with this year's CD collecting quest, I'll devise a new list that'll focus more on this type of music.

100 Days of Happiness & 500 Days of Summer

At the time of this posting, someone I know will be approximately 25-30% complete with her personal "100 Happy Days" Instagram project. The goal is for her to make the most out of the next 100 consecutive days, to discover joy and happiness from the conspicuous and the clandestine, the ordinary and the extraordinary. By doing so, she hopes to become a completely different person - a person who is more loving, grateful, and appreciative of the life she's been given, regardless of what trials and tribulations she'll face along the way. I'm hoping she won't mind if I put a link here to her IG account, so you can see her progress yourself!

Her 100 days of happiness project has been making me think of my personal happiness as of late. Somewhere between losing "Rachel" and dealing with the monotony of work and school, I've lost the drive to make the most of life and embrace the simple pleasures of daily life while committing the fantastical moments to memory. This is alarming, considering that one of my key resolutions for this year (and perhaps to infinity and beyond) is to finish the year in a more happier state of mind. With this in mind, I do want to refocus my perspectives on life and try to be more mindful of what's around me, who I interact with, and what feel (physically speaking) on a day-to-day basis. I don't think I'll be devoting a 100-Day crusade to my personal happiness anytime soon. Although, if I did, #Day1 would involve 500 Days of Summer.

To this day, I can't remember how I came to discover this film - I don't remember anyone sharing this movie with me, nor do I recall ever seeing any promos of any sort for the movie. All I can remember is that I've somehow always known about it, in the same way people always just knew how to breathe, and I'm fine with that. This is one of those movies that always gives me that "pick-me-up" feeling, knowing that life has a funny way of saying that it's aware of who you are, and somehow, I'm always inspired to try and pursue a more active love life (whatever that may be) again and again. This is really the first time I've really noticed Joseph-Gordon Levitt (although I knew he was once in 3rd Rock from the Sun in his teen years, and he's been in other films prior to this one) and over the years, he's become one of my celebrity man-crushes (but I'm digressing here). The same applies to Zooey Deschanel - I only recognized her after I realized that she was also in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Trillian. I never really noticed how beautiful Zooey was until seeing this movie, mostly because we (just like JGL) saw her beauty in the most subtle of ways: her eyes, her hair, the way she laughs, the way she sleeps...rather than "taking it all in," we're given these little glimpses of her, of who she is, and when it's all compiled together, it's her (again, I digress, which is something I always do, I suppose). This is why my #Day1 would be this movie.

Lending A Helping Hand

In recent days, the opportunity to give money to friends and family to help them reach their financial goals has presented itself in my life. The truth is, I haven't taken any action to donate money to their cause and I feel bad about it. Which this guilt is valid since the opportunity to help them can be done online! Rather than donating just the one time and be done with it (as I will do), I decided that I'd surprise them and help them out by putting links here for you read. The hope is that you too will be inclined to spread some goodwill to those that you're not familiar with, and this goodwill is something that is critically lacking in my personal life. I can often be lost in my own little world, and fail to pay attention to both the big things that are going on in the world on both a macro level (the crises between the Ukraine, Russia and the United States) and on a micro level (the needs of the homeless, family, the community). I personally hope that these small steps can lead me to give much more than just money to those less fortunate than me. Until next time, fellow readers! 

Here are the links:

Click here to donate to "Japan is my next step!"

Click here to donate to "Duchess Vet Needs"

A Small R&R

Finally, after this past month and a half, I can actually write for my personal delight again! I spent all this time researching, outlining, and then madly writing two separate term papers - one as a class assignment and the other as a sign of things to come (it was a mock literature review designed to prepare us for the lengthy research process of our undergrad Senior Thesis). Now that both of these assignments are complete (and awaiting corrections/revisions by my professors), I can finally rest easy for this week (before I'll have to adjust my paper to reflect the evaluations my professors will impose upon me).

Unfortunately, this small break from my demanding school schedule is simply insufficient. I'm burned out from almost a whole straight year of juggling work and school, and how I'm holding up is beyond me. I'm afraid of how this Spring will end - I fear this will be my weakest semester thus far in my stay at this university. I know more there is more to life than good grades, but sometimes I forget that, and I end up placing a great deal of value upon a simple 5-letter grading system.

Anyhow, I hope to resumify my writing soon - there are things that I want to write about and try new experiences, hoping for positive feedback and results (more on these later, of course). For now, it's sufficient to say that I'm trying to be mindful to write more, for my sake. Until next, fellow readers!

Writing Again

Today, I bought a new journal! It's similar to the old journal that I had when I was drafting the "Dearly Beloved" Series over a year ago. Normally, when I write a blog post, I write it all ahead of time and when the time comes to post the next blog post, I quickly review and proofread the post (though some mistakes still slip through), before the post in question goes live (so to speak). However, as I was composing the letters for my Dearly Beloved series, I would take the time to sit down and write (literally write) a rough draft of the letter. When the time came to type it up, the majority of the letter stayed intact, but sometimes, changes (some minor, some major) would be made. I can't wait to relive that process of writing and making something that was so therapeutic, intimate, and socially bonding (since I had inadvertently moved many of my readers). It will be some time before I can start writing, but nonetheless, I'm quite excited to begin soon. More details will be revealed as to how these new letters will be composed. For now, it's sufficient to say that I want to restart writing such intimate letters again.

A New Computer!

I got a new computer! It's a 13.3in (to be precise) MacBook Pro with retina display. I'm actually typing this blog post with my new laptop now. This is the first time I have ever owned a Mac (like ever ever). This is mostly because I spent my teenage years working extensively with Windows operated computer systems, and I learned how to navigate through the software and modify the necessary hardware to make the most of the machine. I have zero knowledge of how a Mac works (save for the mini-iOS that's found in the iPhone/iPad) and that lack of knowledge makes me feel like I won't make the most of this laptop. I know many people who are avid Mac users, so I'm bound to learn a thing or two, right?

So here's where I'm at: right now I'm learning how to use the mouse-/touchpad since its not the same for a Windows laptop. I'm also trying to find the most common shortcuts (such as cutting/pasting text, closing/opening tabs, navigating between windows, and closing active windows, just to name a few) but no major progress just yet. I have much learning to do with this tiny machine.